The hustle and bustle of the Market Street was like a breath of fresh air to the 'Young Mistress' as she delighted in being outside the Clan compound for the first time in four days - the stresses over that period had made it seem like a much longer time.
As Dàilán followed her escort - Chén'er and the youngest maid Chàng as they cleared a path for her - she thought about the previous night's dinner discussion with her Father.
The Third Clan Elder had been congratulatory towards his Heir's actions at breakfast that morning - talk of marriage for the Third Daughter of Guan house had been firmly vetoed by the Matriarch who had brought all three brothers in before her to lay down the edict.
Father mentioned that Second Uncle had seemed momentarily annoyed, but agreed promptly in the face of his mother's commands. The information had been promptly distributed to all the other Clans who had shown interest - along with a pointed reminder that the Guan Clan did have two other daughters from more senior lines of marriageable age.
Besides that was the tense discussion about Dàilán's other actions; Father had completed translating the ancient book she had found. He agreed that while interesting, it did not discuss any specific techniques that could be harmful.
Apparently, while considered old-fashioned and of limited use, simply meditating on one's Essence flow would not have harmful effects - it was generally considered too difficult to bother with for younger Cultivators - as it required a much higher level of internal focus and external detachment than the average lower level Cultivator usually was able to sustain.
He congratulated Dàilán on being able to surpass her peers at that particular aspect while once again pointing out that what she had done without first checking with a more experienced Cultivator was both foolish and dangerous - as well as unbecoming of an Heir; although he did approve of his Heir willing to take initiative and risk where appropriate, it had not been necessary in this case.
The Third Elder also commended Chénli's loyalty to death for the sake of her mistress and suggested that perhaps his Heir might be more appreciative of that level of loyalty. Thankfully, they were both able to assure him that they had discussed it at length and that Dàilán had made amends to her adopted sister.
So that led to them being able to leave the compound this afternoon once their morning routines were done. Surprisingly, Chén'er had included the new maids in the training and even more surprisingly to the young Heiress - though Chénli seemed to expect it - they had all held their own in various ways, especially Ài, who seemed more inclined towards sneak attacks than either Chén'er or Dàilán. When pressed, Ài admitted that her parents were from a minor clan who had fallen on hard times and they had trained her as best they could.
Her bodyguard and head maid had declared her intent to train them all to at least be able to match her; Chénli proclaimed that Dàilán would definitely need more protection the older she got - which set all the maids to suppressing laughter - and triggered Dàilán into attacking Chénli in embarrassment and getting another drubbing.
"Fried locusts, hot oil and chili!"
"Essence salves, Essence salves, two for a stone!"
"Silks from the north, wool from the east! Velvet from the west…"
"Red lotus Restaurant! Finest meals in Hujian! Special discounts for large parties!"
"Relics from across Jianghu! Essence Stones, Mysterious Fragments…"
"Fresh Mantou! Just baked, soft and chewy. Pork, beef, dog and bean filling! Best Mantou in Hujian!"
"Wild Essence herbs! Ginseng! Liquorice! Harvested by Hunters, not cultivated. Grown Wild!"
The shouts of the shop hawkers and smaller street stalls along the street snapped her out of her musings, her feet stepping towards a shabby stall where an older man smiled at her, his face wrinkling. Chén'er smoothly redirected their path, Chàng following behind in fascination.
"Is the young mistress interested in my Relics? Or the herbs perhaps? All found out there, genuine..."
"The relics are not," drawled Chén'er, scanning the shabby table, "Even I can see that and I am not half the expert my Mistress is."
The peddler shrugged, his grin not dimming. "Young lady is wise, others are fools. Money is good even if it comes from a fool." He dropped his voice conspiratorially, "My herbs however, mostly trash, yes… but for you, Young Mistress..."
The hawker smoothly parted the mostly everyday wild plants and stalks on the table that were not worth a second look, revealing a second layer beneath with much more vibrant Essence Herbs.
Dàilán raised an eyebrow in surprise. The herbs looked almost fresh picked - and were genuine First to Third Rank Earth herbs, a couple of them genuinely uncommon.
Chén'er blinked and moved closer - examining them with a couple of brief touches, while Dàilán nodded. "That is what I sensed - although… it is not the herbs themselves..."
The peddler smoothly covered them up with the trash plants, though Dàilán could now spot the glitter of true Essence herbs under the dross. "They have an interesting story - if Young Mistress is willing to purchase a few…?
"You are charging for the information? Not the herbs?" questioned Chén'er sceptically.
The older man laughed. "I am charging for both. Three stones for First Rank, Six for Second, Ten for Third."
Chàng gasped. "That is robbery! Mistress, come away - those herbs are not worth that much." The old man's smile only widened in response, waiting for Chénli's answer.
Chénli held up a hand. "Who else will you sell the information to?"
The peddler grinned. "Your bodyguard is a clever one Young Mistress." He winked at Dàilán, "For this offer - the information is told once only. Or you could buy only herbs... half the price."
Chénli studied the peddler, who met her gaze steadily.
Dàilán nodded her head decisively. "One of each rank and type, Senior. Full price is acceptable."
"A wise choice, Young Mistress." His right hand darted into the plants and darted back out so quickly into a bag that suddenly appeared in his left hand, that she could not see them move. A moment later the bag was pressed into her hands accompanied by a wink, "Consider the bag a gift - it will suffice to contain their Essence for a while."
The Heiress opened the mouth of the bag a fraction and immediately felt the refreshing feeling of Essence seep out; she nodded, satisfied, "How much?"
"Three first, two second, one third - Thirty one First Rank Essence stones."
As Dàilán's hand went to her pouch, a male voice interjected. "I will pay for Young Mistress Guan." The peddler deftly caught a small pouch that flew from behind the girls.
Dàilán and Chénli turned to see a familiar, round, smiling face. "Heir Ji?"
The Heiress made a small face, which the stout young man immediately picked up on, his cheeks colouring as his smile faded, "it is not regarding… I am aware that the marriage offer has been withdrawn - I would like to ask to speak to you on another matter… please consider the stones my apology. I will wait over there." He indicated a small tea house a few shops down and promptly rolled off in that direction.
Dàilán blinked. That was - she had never seen Fatty Ji act so seriously. Especially lately - all their interactions over the past month with the 'suitors brigade' had been almost over the top foolish in nature. A wisp of an idea teased her brain, but faded away before she could focus on it.
She turned back to the peddler. "Apologies for the interruption Senior."
"Not a problem, young mistress. As you seem to have another engagement, I will cut out the unnecessary dramatics and tell you the main points." The old man had a more serious mien now, settling back and pulling out an old pipe which he puffed on, producing rings of blue smoke.
A moment later he blew smoke out of his mouth and grunted. "Three days or so, travel North East, on the edge of the Fusou Wilderness, there is a Market Village. Any Relic hunters that are in the area - they sell their finds there for provisions and stuff. I check there twice a month. Usually only low level stuff, but worth it for me."
He shrugged. "I was there three days ago. Village was in a bit of a flutter. Seems like the local Mountain is getting a bit of a reputation as haunted or something - villagers swearing up and down they have seen lights and strange noises. Kinda ignored that - you hear that sort of thing a lot out in these nowhere towns."
He jabbed the stem of his pipe at his table. "Those though? The village apothecary told me he got them from a Relic Hunter that walked into town the day before and traded them for a bunch of general purpose gear and walked back out again. Idiot apothecary sold them to me for what he thought was a lot - it was not, although I had not expected to be able to sell them for quite as much."
Chénli bristled, "If you cheated us…"
The old man nodded calmly, "Here is the interesting part. I have been doing this trade for a long time - ever since I lost a fight when I was younger to a cheating Cultivator who went for my knee...' he coughed, flushing slightly in embarrassment, "...anyway, I have managed to advance in my own way - and the thing with Essence Herbs and Plants is, once they are picked they start losing Essence. I knew this was the closest decent size city I could expect to find a good market for them, but I also knew it would take me a bit less than three days to get here."
Chén'er deflated, nodding in apology. "I understand, Senior. You thought they would lose value by the time you brought them here."
The old man smiled. "I have a few tricks I use to slow down Essence loss - they would still be trade-able - but I fully expected them to lose half their Essence."
Dàilán frowned. "You said, expected? But they seem… well, almost fresh?"
The old man jabbed his pipe in her direction again. "Exactly. Never seen anything like it. They have only lost a fraction of the Essence they had when I purchased them. If that apothecary was telling the truth, they have been out of the ground for at least four days. I have a couple hundred or so years of experience telling me those herbs were in the ground last night, even though I have been carrying them for three days."
Dàilán's eyes narrowed. Her studies as a Relic Hunter were suggesting something. "These herbs came from somewhere with an extremely high Essence Concentration. And you said the villagers had noticed odd things happening… that hunter found something."
"I am thinking so. Granted it is only suggestive, but - I also spoke to the local blacksmith. He said the Hunter would be back at the next Market Day - fourteen days from tomorrow." He grinned, "I have every intention to be there."
"Just for a few herbs with high concentration?" asked Chén'er, puzzled. "Is it really worth it?"
"You, I like." The old man pointed his pipe at the young bodyguard as Chén'er blushed. "Here - something for the dangerous beauty." Out of nowhere the peddler produced a small dagger, perfectly sized for smaller hands and presented it to Chén'er, who blinked then gasped as her hands closed around the grip.
"This is… Essence imbued ivory?! The blade is steel but…"
The peddler nodded. "The Ivory is affecting the blade - it will not stay regular steel for long. It would be right dangerous in your hands if you fed it." He grinned again. "Since I like you, ten stones."
Chàng let out a small squeak as Chénli tossed the stones over. "Deal. And my apologies for doubting your story. I take it the blacksmith…?"
The old hawker nodded, catching the stones and pocketing them. "Same Hunter sold him a boar tusk. Said the fellow thought it was from a regular boar, but it turned out the blacksmith had to use Essence forging to work it. The smith made a couple of weapons - that one was all he was willing to part with. Reckoned he could get better prices come Market Day."
Dàilán's eyebrows flew up as Chénli choked. "This could be an Essence weapon if it was not so new. With time and the right wielders…" Chén'er shook her head in disbelief, "I am surprised he let you have it!"
The old man snorted. "I know that, you know that… they are a bunch of bumpkins. It is amazing that blacksmith could even do Essence Forging. See why I am going back? The furrier had a pelt he would not even let me look at."
He glanced over at Dàilán. "So, will I see you here in eighteen days? I plan to get a hold of the hunter directly - grab anything he is willing to sell. Maybe with a more knowledgeable buyer, he might be willing to provide more?" He winked, "That is my hope anyway. And I doubt any other peddlers will be able to outbid me now for the other weapons the blacksmith made, so..."
Chénli nodded furiously. "We will be here. Just do not spread it around, please."
The old man laughed. "Everyone else gets my usual spiel about arduous searching in the wilderness. But if you're not here before highest flight, in eighteen days, I sell the information to the next willing customer."
Chén'er rolled her eyes. "Be here way before the Golden Crow flies that high, old man." She grabbed Dàilán's hand, "Come on Mistress, we can not chat to one old man all day, people would get curious."
The old man smiled. "Good for my business."
Chén'er glared, "No telling others, you promised!"
The old man winked. "Sharp knife best move then."
Chén'er started then bowed to the old man, grabbing her mistress' arm and walking at a fast clip toward the tea shop where Fatty Ji waited as Chàng hurried behind them.
The Young Heiress looked down at her arm with amusement, "Problem?"
Chén'er dropped her arm as they reached the shop. "Sorry… I, you were right… I think he might be part of my Master's sect… or maybe was once?"
Dàilán looked back at the stall owner who was again shouting out his wares. "Definitely coming back in eighteen days then."
Chén'er hummed as they walked over to Heir Ji who had a hand raised, sitting at a table for four. "Whatever Heir Ji wants better be worth it."
Dàilán sighed. "He was not acting the fool like he has lately… best to find out."