The mercenary corps executive held the porcelain tea cup with both hands, as if his hands were trembling from the cold and he was trying to find comfort in the warmth of the tea. He did not drink the tea, as he had not mind for it.

Wu Long, on the contrary was enjoying the taste, looking at the man with a pondering gaze.

“Were you instructed on what to do if I was not interested in the usual?”

“Yes, I was instructed to offer you access to precious techniques and legacies-…”

“Heh”

Wu Long’s chuckle stopped the man from continuing as the emotion in it clearly told him the attitude of the former toward this offer.

‘He is not interested in techniques?’

The man became completely baffled as precious techniques and legacies were one of the most attractive things to cultivators, even if they already had their own, since one never knew when they would discover a hidden gem that fit their current needs perfectly.

“And what if I was not tempted by anything you offered?”

Wu Long smiled and the man hesitated for a bit, a bead of sweat going down the side of his forehead.

“Choose wisely”

Wu Long said, and a sudden realization appeared in the man’s eyes. He gulped, mulling over whether he was right or not, but finally opened his mouth.

“I… I was told to th-…”, he started, and taking a pause to take deep breath, closed with “…threaten you with all that you care about”.

“Good choice”

Wu Long nodded and the man exhaled with relief, now completely sure of the rules. The former was interested in only the truth and avoiding it to not antagonize him would have sealed his fate.

“Tell me all of the key locations of your mercenary corps”

But then, he shuddered at the next words, looking up from the tea cup he started at the entire time into the calm and emotionless eyes.

“I…”

He chocked on the next words as the words “choose wisely” from before reverberated in his mind.

He finally sighed, and started talking. The rain was pouring down on the street, as the pedestrians walked by the tiny tea house. They curiously looked at the two large men barring the exit but no one was brave enough to approach, only looking as they passed by. There were two man sitting by the window, one talking extensively, and another only occasionally opening his mouth to seemingly ask questions, mostly listening and drinking his tea.

The sound of the rain covered up any semblance of their conversation, and the curtain of water droplets obscured the vision of the two as only silhouettes.

Eventually, the man who asked questions placed the empty tea cup on the table, nodded and stood up, patting the shoulder of the other one who continued sitting two times with light taps, looking down into his own cup of tea that was no longer steaming, still full as it was at the start of the conversation. The man who sat slightly shuddered at the gesture, and continued to sit as the other one left the tea house.

The two at the entrance looked at the man who sat, and seeing no reaction from him moved to the sides as Wu Long came out into the street under the rain, and blended into the crowd as the tea house was left completely still with only the monotonous sound of the rain reverberating in the ears of the man sitting by the window.

—

Wu Long arrived at a tiny house, and as he approached close saw the gate open as a beautiful young woman with an umbrella stood on the other side. Her gray eyes with slight green mixed into them looked at him with anticipation and eagerness to learn, as well as joy at seeing a familiar face she somehow grew accustomed to seeing in that short period a year before. Her black lustrous hair gradually became ash gray from halfway down, though it was not as clearly seen since they were woven into a complicated hairstyle. She was exposed to various alchemy substances every day enclosed in her room without proper ventilation so her hair became gradually discolored, but as it grew out it created a gradient color change, making her appearance a little peculiar.

Her clothing was still as modest, obscuring her sensual figure and leaving only a little skin exposed.

“Have you been well?”

Wu Long smiled and she nodded with a smile as well.

“Thank you very much for the last scroll you sent, it was… ah, pardon my manners, please come in, let’s talk inside”

Her thoughts raced to the alchemy texts he sent her previously but she then gasped as she came closer, covering him under her umbrella too. They came inside, closing the gate behind them.

“Sister Rui wanted to meet you as well, but she is busy lately with her new position”

“I heard from her, I also heard you have been busy with the Alchemy Tower”

He nodded, and asked back, her face slightly darkening at the mention of the Alchemy Tower.

“I have been testing the theories you taught me, and making a lot of progress, but…”

They walked in and she folded the umbrella, placing it by the wall as she turned to look at him with an apologetic look.

“I am sorry, I had to burn the precious scroll you sent me. When I was asked where did I learn the new techniques, my coworker told them that I received a package from the Soaring Feather Trading Company.

I was told to hand it over, and thinking that if I hid it it could be stolen I decided to burn it instead, in case someone went through my belongings”

She then said as her eyes slightly reddened.

“You did the right thing, so you don’t have to apologize”

He smiled as he raised his hand, wiping a tear that went down her cheek as she looked at him.

“I should thank you for keeping your word about not passing what I teach to you instead. Even sacrificing learning the rest of the scroll as you did. But you don’t have to worry about the scroll, since, as before, it is something I wrote from memory and thus can do again”

He reassured her as her cheeks slightly reddened and she turned slightly to the side. She was surprised to find incredible comfort in his gesture and a slight reluctance as it ended and he took back his hand.

“Um… I made some tea”

She said, clearing her throat beforehand as she tucked a hair lock behind her ear that became slightly red as well.

“Haha, I had some on the way, but I would gladly enjoy some more made by your hands”

He chuckled and followed her to the sofas in the living room they were in, sitting down as she went to the kitchen and brought back the small teapot and cups.

As she poured the tea and sat down across the table from him they started discussing what she learned and what she did not have time to before having to burn the scroll.

‘Hmm, this taste sure is different’

At some point he caught himself on a thought as he sipped the tea. And even if the tea leaves were cheap and the porcelain cup was an old ordinary one, to Wu Long this tea tasted much greater than the expensive tea he had just not long ago.

𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ