"Were you with Berry last night?" Lang didn't seem to believe Guanin's words, but he asked to be sure.
"Yes," unlike what Guanin expected, William admitted it himself.
"See? I told you, hahaha!" like winning the lottery, Guanin laughed wholeheartedly.
"I was with the young miss last night as she stepped in to save me from that disciple," William acted like he didn't know Guanin and returned the finger from before with another.
"You…" Guanin was almost about to lose his cool, but he controlled himself at the last moment. After all, he was famous for being violent and vicious in the academy, a big bully to those weaker and lower than him in status and power. So, if he moved a finger now, he would just confirm the words of William.
In his eyes, William dug his own grave by what he just said.
As for Lang, he seemed to not be surprised by what he heard. From the white and simple clothes of William, he instantly recognized him as a porter.
In Lang's mind, this fitted exactly the typical actions of Guanin. And the words of William also matched the kindhearted Berry of his clan.
"Then what happened?" Lang didn't change his interrogating tone, but William noticed the slight pause before his words.
"She was angry as that disciple who gave her dirty nicknames and humiliated her in front of his people," William didn't lower his finger or even shift his eyes away from Guanin.
"Do you want to die? Brother Lang, don't believe any of that bullshit!" If Guanin could barely control himself earlier, then this time he hardly could. Just before he would move a single inch forward, Lang stepped in and intervened.
"Easy brother Guanin," Lang said in a tone that carried no speck of respect, "I have to hear everything this kid knows before doing anything to him."
He then intentionally paused before adding in a calm and domineering way, "You know this matter is related to my clan."
Guanin glared at the handsome features of Lang before he finally retreated. Lang just gave Guanin a hidden warning to not mess up with the important witness in front of him, and Guanin had to comply in the end.
Guanin would be brave in front of people like William, but against someone like Lang, he'd know his limits. He was just this kind of a coward and a sly spirit master, a disgrace in the eyes of Lang and William.
A true spirit master should lean towards facing troubles and challenges directly in the face, not evading them and leaning to use underhanded methods to achieve results.
William inwardly snorted as he watched the dark expression at Guanin's face while walking away.
'You called this upon yourself, don't blame me for being honest!'
"Humph! As if I didn't know about his toxic tongue speaking behind our backs," Lang finally revealed his true face once Guanin withdrew.
William was a mere porter, a person that Lang would never put in his eye. The expression he made was a mix of anger and disdain. As William expected, these two had a long history of enmity.
"Forget about him, but do you know what really happened to Berry?" Lang's face changed and became a bit gentler. When he saw the weird look over William's face he added:
"Berry is famous for her kind heart. She doesn't like to see anyone getting mistreated. Forget about him, he seems to hold a grudge against you from last night."
"Thanks for young master's understanding," William cupped his hands in a gesture of respect as it was the tradition of gratitude between spirit masters, "but regarding young miss, she left after helping me and went deeper inside the forest."
Even if William was touched by the kindness of Lang, he would never be foolish enough to sell himself out and spill out the truth.
"Oh," a look of disappointment flashed over Lang's face before he returned to be calm, "sorry to disturb you then. If I ever need a porter this week, I'll fetch for you. What's your name again?"
William knew Lang was trying to buy his silence about this incident using this empty promise. After all, if the news widely spread about what happened to Berry, many might take them as fools.
Even if people like Guanin knew about what happened to Berry, the clan wanted to control the spread of news. The academy also wanted the same, or else dark minded people might try to further muddle the water.
"Thanks for the young master's generosity, my name is William."
"Alright, see you later."
William only heaved a deep sigh of relief after Lang moved away with his entourage. In fact, his little lie had a small flaw, but luckily Lang didn't notice anything.
If what he said was true, then he was considered the last person to see Berry before what happened to her. If Lang thought deeper about it, took this matter a bit more seriously than he did just now, he'd have seen through this and have William come with him to the clan to get interrogated.
Luckily for William, his identity as a porter served as the best cover up for him. Not a single one would suspect a porter to do anything to a spirit master. And so William got out of this problem easily without having much trouble.
"I need to hurry and leave the academy as fast as possible," he knew Lang might be a bit careless. If anyone else from the clan's upper echelon heard about this story, that flaw would be spotted.
William didn't think Berry would stay all this time in such a state. At this moment he was glad he didn't stay behind with her.
William wasn't worried about discovering his little lie. Once Berry woke up, she would stand up for him. He was worried about getting his little lie discovered before Berry would wake up. The anxious family members of hers might do anything to unravel the entire truth.
He only was worried about Guanin. That sly spirit master seemed to hold his grudges to the heart.
This time it was his luck, but William didn't want to depend on luck for long. If he waited here for more than a day, Guanin might find any excuse to get him into trouble. So he decided to wrap everything he wanted to do here in one day, then leave without taking a single glance behind.
As he reached the market again, he found the place more bustling with disciples and masters from the academy. He headed directly towards the merchant he dealt with in the morning.
"Young master, what brings you so soon?" the merchant instantly recognized him, while looking in slight disappointment at the emptiness behind William.
"I want to buy more stuff," William entered the stall and sat over an empty corner. And the merchant followed.
"What do you need?" the merchant asked with a drooling expression on his face.
"I want the Homos clay, the scarlet vibrant ore, a hundred light candles, and a strong bow," William narrated what he wanted.
"The Homos clay and the scarlet vibrant ore are all present here in large quantities. But the bow…" the merchant paused, showing a fake face of struggle.
William knew this merchant was specialised at dealing with materials like crystals, cores, materials, and ores, not weapons. But he was a merchant, so he must know who was the best to sell good weapons here.
"Just buy it and add your fees," William leisurely said, "I need a bow with a price not exceeding one thousand crystals. A good one, not just a mere toy," he added while giving a serious look on his face.
If he wanted, he could simply take a look around stalls specialising in selling weapons. But he'd have to waste more time and might not even get what he wanted in the end with the same price range.
"Leave it to me then," the merchant smiled widely. After all, his fees would add more profit to him. "How many kilos do you want for the other two goods?"
"What's the price of the kilo?" William didn't give a direct answer before adding, "and stop playing those little games with me. I hate people wasting my time."
The Homos clay was a fairly common material in this world. It was found just near big riverbeds, with few uses in alchemy.
So, its price was fairly low. From William's old memories, he recalled the price wouldn't exceed ten crystals per kilo.
As for the scarlet vibrant ore, it was found in the widely scattered mountains all over this world. That ore was just like the clay, with few uses limited mostly to decorations.
The ore was in a diamond shape, with bright redness that gave its scarlet name. Spirit masters tried to use it in forging, but whenever they smashed it or exposed it to heat or spirit power, it violently exploded.
Without melting and hammering it, how could they use it in forging? So, it became useless, only used for its beautiful look.
But in William's hands, anything useless would become extremely valuable.