The bazar was a place where you could find all kinds of things to buy. However, this time Gu Chenling was disappointed and did not find the right weapon for himself. Not willing to give up, he used his jade to look up where else to find weapons in Tranquil Lake City.
Luckily, as he found out, Tranquil Lake City had a whole street dedicated to weaponry with black smiths, weapon dealers and everything along those lines. The first few shops he visited mostly sold the most commonly used weapons. This included a variety of swords, spears and other close combat weapons which did not appeal to Gu Chenling.
Only upon entering the seventh shop which was actually a specialized weapon shop with its own smithy did Gu Chenling find his interest attracted by the different weapons on display. The shop carried various foreign weapons, specialized and obviously customized weapons. Browsing through the items on display, he quickly found himself in front of a shelf with soft weapons like whips, rope and chain weapons.
Remembering the time the city guard had restrained and apprehended the thug in the auction house, Gu Chenling couldn't help but feel tempted. A weapon that could serve other purposes other than just attacking and defending sounded good.
His eyes were soon drawn to one weapon that looked like a combination between a meteor hammer and a rope dart with a bulbous metal weight on one end of a long, vermillion red rope and the other end holding a sharp dart.
He had seen videos of masters using the rope dart and meteor hammer before and had thus an idea on how these soft weapons could be used and what their advantages were. For one, the attacks and attack patterns were difficult to predict and one could easily attack from a distance while also being able to attack at closer range, strangling and restraining the opponent. The disadvantage was, however, that these weapons were difficult to master.
But Gu Chenling did not feel discouraged. With a skill manual with high compatibility it would be easier to learn as he had already experienced with the movement skill.
Without wasting another thought on it, he decisively bought the rope dart meteor hammer combination, spending 30.000 merit points. As he paid for his purchase he came to realize that existing wealth seemed to be a hidden requirement for becoming a bounty hunter.
If you did not have any proper martial art skills and weapons, then you would not be able to pass the assessment. And good skill manuals as well as weapons cost a lot of merit points, merit points that the average ghost would not spend easily. Nevertheless, Gu Chenling did not feel any heartache at spending so many merit points as he still had a lot left over before he would reach his bottom line of 499.000 merit points which was the amount he needed to apply for reincarnation.
He soon returned to the familiar booth of the first order senior, not wanting to delay his purchase of a martial arts weapon skill. Gu Chenling did not want to have to wait another few days in the case the stall owner left and he had to search the whole bazar for that one booth again.
"Senior, I chose my weapon," Gu Chenling said and held the rope dart hybrid up for the other to see.
The cloaked figure observed Chenling and the weapon in silence, tapping a rough and aged index finger onto the wooden surface of the booth in front of him as if in deep thought. Finally, the tapping stopped and the stall owner waved his hand. A skill scroll appeared at that very moment and then flew into Gu Chenling's hands.
"The Winding Dragon Tail weapon skill should be suitable," the stall owner spoke, "It is one of the best martial arts skills to practice with a soft weapon."
Gu Chenling scanned the skill scroll, feeling an instant connection and feeling of affinity much like he did with the movement skill he got prior, maybe even more this time. The aura surrounding the scroll was also much stronger.
"How much do you want for the skill scroll?" He asked without hesitation, already expecting a high number.
"150.000 merit points."
'As expected…'
Gu Chenling nodded, paid for the scroll and then left Tranquil Lake City happy with his purchase.
When he came home, just as usual he was in no hurry. He prepared dinner and ate, took a bath and then settled down on his bed to look at the newly attained martial arts skill. And just as with the Moon Swallow Step skill he sank into some sort of trance while reading as he started emitting a strange light along with the skill scroll.
Just like that a night passed.
Starting from the morning after aside from his daily chores and training in the Moon Swallow Steps he also started practicing the new weapon skill, dedicating more time to the new skill than the already familiar movement skill.
The Winding Dragon Tail skill had twelve levels, three more than the Moon Swallow Steps. So it was obvious that the weapon skill was of a higher quality grade than the latter.
As he practiced Gu Chenling also noticed that the difficulty in learning was much higher, frequently retaining small cuts and bruises in the process. But he had already expected this so he was not discouraged. He just lived a slow life and practiced his martial arts skills without any pressure nor urgency.
Life in the underworld was good.
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Meanwhile, in the world of the living…
Song Yuyuan opened his eyes with a gasp, his heart pounding hard in his chest. His body was drenched in cold sweat and lay paralyzed in bed from fear and the agonizing pain that ran through him just before he woke up.
It took a long time for him to calm down and regain control of his body. Habitually, his eyes fell on the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. It read four o'clock, still far from the time he was supposed to wake up.
Groaning and rubbing his face in frustration, Song Yuyuan thought back to the nightmare he had before he woke up. Considering how he had had nightmares in succession for close to a month now, he should long be used to it. But reality was different.
Faceless figures in familiar school uniforms mocking him and shoving him in never-ending school corridors, his head being pushed into a toilet bowl and suffocating him. But the worst of all came at the end of each nightmare. While the torture and bullying differed from dream to dream the ending was always the same. It ended with him standing at the edge of the the school building's roof, looking down at his faceless bullies and jumping down. Song Yuyuan had tried to resist jumping so many times, tried to force his legs to step back from the edge, but nothing helped. His dreams still ended with the deafening sound of his bones being crushed, his skull being split open and the excruciating pain that went along with it.
The pain felt so realistic. How was one supposed to get used to all that?
Song Yuyuan closed his eyes and burrowed himself in his blanket with only a tuft of hair still sticking out. He tried going back to sleep as he knew that he would have to get up two hours later to go to school. Yet, like all the mornings before sleep made itself scarce. He only managed to fall into a shallow and restless sleep an hour or so later.
It was no surprise that when the alarm did ring, Song Yuyuan woke up feeling even more drained than before going to sleep. However, he still knew to get out of bed, albeit slowly and groggily.
When he entered the bathroom to wash up, the face that met him had heavy dark circles under his eyes and looked so exhausted as if a ghost had drained his spirit. Fortunately, after brushing his teeth and washing his face, he looked a bit more alive.
Taking his school uniform out of his wardrobe, Song Yuyuan had a complicated look on his face, feeling both dread and guilt for feeling reluctant to go to school, knowing that he should feel lucky. He had only been wearing the uniform for three months now since his family had moved to this part of the city due to not having enough money to stay at their prior place because of his medical bills.
Before they had moved here and he had to enter a new school, Song Yuyuan had been in and out of the hospital for most of the seventeen years he was alive because of him suffering from cystic fibrosis which not only affected his digestive system but also his lungs. His lungs especially gave him trouble as he often suffered from lung infections growing up. As if that was not enough, his condition worsened at the beginning of his second year in high school due to accumulated damage to his lungs which resulted in respiratory failure. But thanks to luck or some other fortunate events they managed to find lungs fit for him as an organ transplant a few months back.
The surgery passed without any hiccups and Song Yuyuan was able to be released from the hospital after a month of recovery and observation even if he still had to go back for regular checkups. Now, more than four months later he was almost fully recovered from the surgery.
While it was fortunate that the organ transplant was successful, the surgery and all the other medical expenses had drained their family's savings. And thus they had to move to a less expensive neighborhood and Song Yuyuan had to transfer schools.
After getting dressed in his school uniform, he grabbed his bag and left the apartment. No one was at home to prepare breakfast for him so he had to grab something to eat on his way to school. His parents were busy working and earning a living, both of them working two jobs and were therefore rarely home. So Song Yuyuan had to either cook for himself or buy food outside.
Like almost every Monday morning he ended up buying fried dough sticks and soy milk at a stall nearby and finished his breakfast while standing at the bus station waiting for the bus. As he saw the bus approaching his mood kept sinking lower. He quickly threw the clear plastic bag and paper cup from his breakfast in the trash and then boarded the bus that had stopped in front of him by then.
The way to school took around twenty minutes. Before heading to the classroom Song Yuyuan dropped by the dorm first to pick up a few things.
In high school most students stayed in dorms as it was supposed to help maintain a better learning environment. Only on the weekends did the students go back home if their families lived near. Song Yuyuan was no exception despite his condition.
As he stood in front of the closed door of his dorm room he took a deep breath, knocked and then opened the door.
Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him. But no one said a word. It was unnerving.
Song Yuyuan said two quick words of good morning and then lowered his gaze as he entered the room without getting a reply. He was already used to this treatment and wordlessly went to his desk located under his bunk bed on the left side closest to the bathroom and fetched a few books from there. After stuffing them into his bag he quickly turned and exited the room, all under a heavy silence and the scrutinizing stares of his three roommates.
It had already been three months since Song Yuyuan had moved into their dorm room in the middle of the school year. Of course, he did not expected to be close to his roommates from the very get go. But this silent treatment and alienation even three months into living together was definitely not within his calculations.
By the time he reached the classroom there were already a good number of students there. Yet, just like in his dorm room what greeted him were silent stares. The conversations that had been heard while he had still been in the hallway died down as soon as he appeared in the doorway.
Song Yuyuan kept his gaze lowered as he went to his desk, not meeting anyone's eyes. After storing away his bag he sat down at his desk, lay his arms in front of him and buried his face in them.
A long moment later the conversations started up again as if he was not there, as if he did not exist.
Lying there on his desk, Song Yuyuan couldn't help but think back to his nightmare. Faceless people wearing the school's uniform watching and tormenting him. Wasn't all this alienating behavior the reason for his nightmares?
But then again, up until now he had yet been physically or verbally bullied by anyone in the school, only being alienated by his fellow students but nothing more. He did not know where the physical abuse in his nightmares came from. Was it his fear manifesting in his dreams?
Either way, he had no time to waste another thought on that as the homeroom teacher entered the class, the classroom having filled up by now with every student sitting at their desk. The school day started while Song Yuyuan silently endured the suffocating feeling in his chest that always came when he was at school.