v2c69: Heaven doesn't Always Shake (Patreon)

“Me next! Me next!” A woman exclaimed, her eyes wide and eager.

“Of course, My lady! Which background would you like?” Yun Ren said in what he probably thought was a suave voice.

It took all Gou Ren had not to snort.

Gou Ren’s face was carefully blank, as he held up two boards, full of images. It was supposed to be a day of exploring, with Tigu gone at the “Hill of Torment” and Xiulan resting at her sect.

Instead, his brother had talked Gou Ren into helping with a business venture. Something Yun Ren had been up, late at night preparing.

The first time Yun Ren had sold his images, the people had been a bit skeptical. Now, with the colourful signs, and eager shouting, they were lining up.

His brother grinned as a flash of light came from his hands and crystal.

“There you are, My Lady, a beautiful portrait for a beautiful woman.” He said cheerfully. The crowd gasped as he turned around the image, cast onto the piece of stone.

Well, it was two images. A landscape one, and one that had the woman projected overtop of it, so she looked like she was sitting in a field of flowers.

Let it never be said his brother was unimaginative, or not quick to exploit an opportunity to make money.

The heavy coins linked into Yun Ren’s hand, and more people crowded around, begging for them to be next.

Gou Ren kept an eye on his brother. He could see the sweat on his forehead, and he wasn’t standing up as much anymore, so he was most certainly overdoing it.

But his eyes were bright. He wasn’t even counting the money even more, just depositing the coins beside him, so he would work on the next image. His eyes were already searching for somebody else… when Gou Ren loudly cleared his throat.

“I must apologize, dear customers, but the image master needs his rest.” He pitched his voice so it could be heard, booming out over the clamouring crowd. Everybody startled at the sound, even Yun Ren, who seemed to just start to notice his shaking hands. He flushed.

“One more!” Yun Ren declared, and the crowd cheered. “You Sir!” He said, pointing to a young man a bit further back. “How about you, you;ve been here a while!”

The young man, a boy really, not that Gou Ren could talk, came forward, a bit awkwardly. You Ren winced at the crutches, and the one leg that hung limp. His clothes were still of fine quality though, and he almost looked a bit familiar. Had Gou Ren seen him before?

His brother however, just nodded, as the boy selected a background. A few flashes of light, and the boy was sitting atop Cloudrest Peak, with Pale Moon Lake City stretching out behind him. His grin brightened, and he bowed.

The crowd grumbled, at the attraction closing, but nobody actually got pushy, to Gou Ren’s surprise. They all obligingly dispersed.

Gou Ren helped his brother clean up. “I wonder how Tigu is doing?” Yun Ren asked absently, as he picked up some more of the stone slabs. They were actually from the Verdant Blade Sect. The Disciples had to punch through them as training, or so An Ran had said, and they had given them a bunch when Yun Ren had asked, earlier in the morning.

After Tigu had easily put her fist through an entire stack, then shrugged, leaving for the hill.

He caught the bag that was thrown at his head, and raised an eyebrow at the clinking of coins.

“Shes either having a lot of fun—or that hill is going to be littered with statues of naked Jin.” Gou Ren snarked, as he picked up one of the other signs.

His brother burst out laughing. “Really, she still does that?!”

Gou Ren shrugged. “Sometimes. I nearly pissed myself when I hopped onto a big rock out back and came face to face with Jin’s bits.”

His brother kept laughing.

They finished cleaning up, though his brother was a little unsteady on his feet.

“I actually think I’m gonna take a nap or something.” Yun Ren sighed. “That was a bit more intense than I thought it would be. The auction is soon, right?”

“A few hours still.”

“I’ll go and see if Lanlan is out of her meeting then. She looked a bit annoyed.”

Gou Ren grimaced. She had been smiling like Meimei smiled, after a servant had called her up to the Elders. Right at the gate, when they were about to leave. They had offered to wait for her, but she had waved them off. “I’ll take this stuff then—don’t look at me like that, I’m good to carry it. You, however, can take some of my load for me.”

Gou Ren’s hand jerked up, as he caught a bag full of coins.

“Thanks for holdin’ the signs, yeah?”

Gou Ren rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t need to be this much.”

“Ladidadia, can’t hear you, too tired.” His brother sang, as he walked away, carrying his signs with him.

Gou Ren sighed, and started walking, picking a random direction. The entire place was hustling, and rustling. There were tons of people on the street, with the teahouses full. He had some time to kill, so he wandered around for a bit. He checked out some more of the stalls, and gimaced at the prices.

He’d never complain that Yao Che was being stingy with some of his prices ever again. Sure, the engraved hammer was pretty, but if he wanted it all done up he’d just ask Tigu.

He grabbed a bite to eat, and kept up his pace, when something caught his eye. The boy with crutches who had bought the image from Yun Ren had tripped. The stone wasn’t broken, but he looked embarrassed and annoyed. While life went on around him, not even giving him a second glance.

Gou Ren chewed his lip for a moment, before heading over.

“You need some help?” he asked.

The boy startled, looking up at his proffered hand.

He looked at it, almost suspiciously, before he reached out, allowing Gou Ren to lift him to is feet.

“Thanks.” he mumbled.

“No trouble. The stone is a bit heavy, especially with one hand, yeah?” The boy nodded, but it looked a bit like the admission pained him. “How about you tell me where you’re going, and I’ll bring it along for you?”

The boy’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t need pity.” he said, more to himself, than Gou Ren. Gou Ren considered just leaving it, but the kid was probably around thirteen or so.

“Of course you don’t honoured customer.” Gou Ren said. “Just the help offering to help out, yeah?”

The boy mulled his offer over, and nodded, looking away.

Sheesh, the kid had some pride, he thought.

But with a shrug, they set off, towards where the cultivator houses were. It took a while, as Gou Ren kept pace with the quiet boy, who kept sneaking glances at him, but they mostly remained quiet.

Eventually, as the boy spoke.

“This is as far as I need.” He bit his lip and looked to the side. “Thank you, sir. What did you say your name was?

“Xong Gou Ren, yourself?”

The boy nodded his head. “Bowu.” The boy’s lips quirked into a smile. “And Fear not! This Young Master shall repay you a hundredfold.”

Gou Ren rolled his eyes, at the boy’s sardonic grin.

“Yeah, yeah. Have a good day, kid.” He said, waving him away, and setting off.

He paused, and turned around, looking at the open door as the boy hobbled inside. He reached into his pocket, and out the piece of paper Xianghua had given him.

The symbol on the door matched.

He shook his head. Things weren’t that much of a coincidence, were they?

He set off again, and glanced up at the sun.

Eh, enough time had been spent.

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“And this piece is sold! We thank the Framed Sun Sect for their patronage!” The older woman standing at the front of the room intoned. She had a few wrinkles, and a few strands of greying in her red hair, but she was still quite beautiful, despite her age.

“For the next piece, we have five Initiate earth-element pills! Refined in Yellow Rock Plateau!” There were noises of interest from around the room.

Xiulan sat primly in her seat, as she watched the proceedings. From the second level, reserved for the sects. The rest of the Elders were in  their positions, but they were off to the side, in a more open area. Beside her, both Junior Brother Gou Ren and Yun Ren sat, looking mostly bored at the proceedings.

“Is this it?” Gou Ren asked, frowning. “Its just a bunch of those “cores”, some grass, and some pills. Ain’t there supposed to be like… heavens shaking treasures, or something?”

They had been quite excited at the start, but their enthusiasm had waned as the proceedings went on. Xiulan privately thought they had heard a few too many stories, but she could not blame them. They were mere farm boys.

“If there were heavens shaking treasures at every auction, I think the heavens would fall down.” Xiulan said. The brothers let out snorts of laughter. “It is a fairly normal auction, all told. Some things are useful for us, some things we do not need. And normally, ‘heavens shaking treasures’ come at the end, anyway.”

Both boys nodded.

The pills were sold, and the room dimmed slightly.

“Now, we have come to the moment you have all been waiting for. We originally had another item for you today, but this just came in, and we, the Azure Jade Trading Company, could not help but share it!”

She held up a jade slip, with the symbol of the Azure Jade trading company symbol on it.

“We are not normally ones to auction off objects without the physical thing here, but we are the Azure Jade Trading Company! We swear upon our honour, we will deliver these items without fail from our headquarters!”

There was more murmuring.

And what is being auctioned, esteemed customers, is five bags of Gold Grade Rice.”

The murmuring ceased. Eyes sharpened.

“The bidding begins at two hundred and fifty silver coins!”

Hands went up. The woman smiled.

The Xong Brothers glanced at each other.

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“Kind of a wash, eh?” he muttered to his brother.

“Yeah. I dunno what I expected.” Yun Ren muttered, as they waited at the gate for Tigu to return.

Xiulan was waiting with them, along with a few other people. It was surprisingly empty. Only a few people were actually waiting at the gate.

Gou Ren squinted into the darkness, the sun having long since set—

Movement.

“Hey, I think I see them!” His brother perked up.

At the front of the procession was a flash of orange hair. Gou Ren raised his hand to wave the giant smile on Tigu’s face plainly noticeable.

Then he saw the people behind her,.

Xiulan’s students, along with two people he didn’t know, trudged along.

In contrast to the smiling, orange-haired girl, the rest of them looked exhausted and sweaty, with minor wounds covering their bodies. Li and An Ran looked vaguely traumatized.

Gou Ren raised an eyebrow at Tigu, and the makeshift basket full of odd, black… he squinted.

They looked like enormous spider legs.

“We found a nest! And they taste good! It was great!” Tigu enthused. She shoved a goopy leg into his hand.

Gou Ren stared blankly at it.

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This chapter was extremely annoying to write. I think I got across most of what I wanted to, but I'm uncertain of it.

And the obligatory 69 joke.