The corpse dissolving powder was the biggest problem in Ki's opinion but it also helped to identify and narrow down who was behind the scenes.
Only an influence that was connected to the central lands could afford to use corpse dissolving powder.
Most of her guesses had been confirmed after seeing the man's main facial features but after seeing the corpse dissolving powder she was partly sure of who was behind the attack on her.
One or more of the half bloods merchant groups were being supported by either a sect, organisation and noble family and did not wish for a new person to appear as a competitor and disrupt the current balance of power that had been built up.
Ki followed him back towards their main building where he he had a store set up to purchase and sell many things like beast furs and meat from hunting.
After identifying the enemy, Ki made her way back to her room after she had investigated a little longer.
Dismantling her traps and entering the room she entered a state of meditation once again and began to practice once again with the resources that she had collected from the blood of the man who died.
After completing her task she went to go meet up with Alf and handed over the note book containing several businesses or individuals that seemed to have potential which he could recruit into his group while Ki kept the main ones with the highest potential for herself.
She then visited the rooms of Lumi and Rayleigh to check on them and discovered that their qi had become much purer.
It would not be long until they would be able to make great strides towards the transcendent realm so she spent a little time sparring with them so that they could improve their martial arts even a little before they breakthrough.
After she had finished she sat down with Rayleigh and Lumi opposite her and spoke. "How is your training with your arctic fox going? Are you able to instruct it well enough to track and spy on someone yet?"
Both of them had been trained on how to handle their beast contracts and see through the eyes of their beast and hear what they hear if they concentrate hard enough so if they had made their beasts more stealthy then they would be able to track and spy on others without being noticed.
Lumi calmly responded. "I can do it."
Rayleigh thought for a while and then replied. "It should be no problem since I have had enough practice. It's just that this city is a little unfamiliar."
Ki nodded and then spoke. "That is no problem since I have already drawn out a map and listed a couple of small hiding spaces that could be used. For now I want Lumi to use her arctic fox to watch the movements of this store and see who goes in and out regularly and draw a rough sketch of their faces if they seem suspicious or important. Rayleigh I need you to use your arctic fox to spy on the movements around the blacksmith in this location and make sure to protect the safety of the brother and sister if they come under harm but if they are in danger you must inform me right away."
Right after she spoke, they looked over the map that Ki had described and began to send out orders through their beast contracts.
Not only had they benefited greatly by having the contract but as their qi continued to grow so did the foxes abilities.
As soon as they received the order they speedily exited the room and then stealthily headed towards their destination to carry out their task.
Ki was finally able to head back to her room to get a good nights sleep now that everything had been resolved and she could visit the twins the next day.
Unknown to her as she had entered a deep sleep, several people arrived outside of the twins store from their rivals business.
First they messed with the sign on the building and then kicked in the door and began to mess up the store.
Several weapons were picked up from the shelves on the walls and then put into large bags.
The people who had caused the store to become a mess and looted many things had woken up the twins.
They came towards the room as the brother held one of the hammers in his hand ready to defend himself and his sister.
As they entered the room where the group of people were causing the stores destruction the sister caught sight of a certain item within one of the peoples hands.
The sword she had been tasked to sharpen was within the hands of one of the intruders so she was going forward to grab it and take it back but her brother pulled her back and spoke. "What are you doing in here? Put everything back!"
One of the intruders looked towards him with a look of superiority and spoke. "I am so sick and tired of you kids messing with my business and constantly getting in my way. From now on you will have nothing and just remember this… I will never allow you to join them. Only I can receive their support."
His business had been flourishing thanks to the outsiders support and he had gained a lot during their cooperation but he knew that it would not last that long.
In reality he was just a useless pawn in a game to break the kids down so that they would be recruited by his supporter and then he would be abandoned.
The only reason why he had been receiving the support was because of the twins and the task to make them desperate enough to be recruited but he had other thoughts.
He did not wish to lose his support and he would not let the twins take it away from him.
At first it was purchasing the goods from the twins at low prices through other people and selling their goods at high prices.
Next it was continuing to work with his supporter to cut off their line of customers and making sure that they could not pay off their bills.
Then it had reached a point where he sent people to harass the brother and sister to make them feel unsafe.
Today was just another 'plan' to get them to give up so the store was wrecked and many goods were stolen but now that he had been seen and the twins were brave enough to come into the room and face him and his people he had other thoughts.
He looked at the brother protecting his sister and his thoughts became devious. 'Maybe I can use this opportunity to get rid of them.'
As he thought this he looked down at the sword in his hand and began to unsheathe it and then looked towards the brother and sister with a sinister grin.
In the world no plans are perfect and can often be changed because of an individuals own motives.
Not every human being can follow along according to how they have been instructed no matter what promises or benefits have been given because there will always be those who want more or do not wish to lose what they have.
The man knew that he was going to be thrown away if the twins are recruited so he thought it might be better to get rid of them and collect everything within the store before anyone finds out and then escape towards the capital where he can set up a new life for himself.
He believes that with the resources given to him and the stolen items he had gained would be more than enough to start a new life for himself.