Chapter 46: The True Reason

"Now what?" She looked at me. The frown on her forehead tightened.

"Nah, it's nothing," I said. I had seen Dou Chai at the stall ahead. He was alone and seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

I started walking again without paying anymore attention to him. He was below me now, there was nothing he could do to me.

Lin family had a mansion just near the auction house. It occupied the space just right of Pinchu lake. Opposite to them was the Town Lord's abode. Other than the auction house, it was a largest building in all of Pinchu Town.

Lin family courtyard was not as big as Gang or Dou family's. Because they also owned the auction house, they couldn't occupy too much land. Still, as the wealthiest family of this town, their mansion didn't lose out to the Town Lord's in terms of building materials and design.

I'd told Ling'er that I wouldn't be entering the gates of Lin family at all. The business would take place in a pavilion just near the market. Although it was also owned by them, the danger would be in the lower spectrum at least.

Selling so much, they would surely look for my background. I have high hopes about my bluff but not everything could go perfectly. I knew to be prudent in such matters.

"Big sister Lingling, why are you wearing such a crude hat?" The boy recognized Ling'er as soon as he saw her. She paused hearing him and sighed.

"I have lots of trouble these days."

The inside of this pavilion wasn't that hot. Whichever cloth this tent was made of, it shielded us from the outside heat.

I put my bags on the floor made of equal-sized wooden planks. The weapons made a dangerous sound while the scrolls muffled.

"You must be the disciple of Master Poison Asura." There was an elder of Lin family here. First rank of Visera purifying, he could take me down but I had a good chance of running away if things went amiss.

"Indeed. This young lady here can vouch for me."

And so began the trade of items in which I was already very familiar. I was the seller this time, so I had to suck money out of their pockets as much as possible.

They checked each and everything carefully. Lin Cheng, the boy who addressed Ling'er as big sister, was very keen. He immediately recognized the value of a dark scroll in which I'd written one technique.

He also noticed that most of the weapons came from Gang family. The elder didn't speak about this so the boy was silent. After they finished roughly judging the value of goods, they realised that paying me in gold kins would still take lots of counting.

I could've asked these to be sold in my name at the auction, but I gave all the goods except the dark scroll exclusively to Lin family. I couldn't careless if they appeared on the auction tommorow or not. The scroll must be auctioned, though.

They gave eight golden tickets to me, with each I could ask for a 1000 golds from any Yellow Rocks Mansion in Shang desert. In a way, they were like bank cheques.

I nudged Ling'er and she spoke the words that I'd forced her to memorize. It didn't require much acting but I still told her to tone down her cold attitude.

"Dear brother, would you help me in a small matter? You see, this mister here only wants elder Han to know of the trade we made. I-"

"Young lady, this is no small matter!" Elder Han protested. To him, keeping a such a big transaction a secret was impossible unless...

"Elder Han can take all the money that'll come from selling that scroll."

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My generous offer shut his mouth, leaving him unable to say anything at all. Stuck in the same rank since many years, he also desired to increase his cultivation. He'd read the initial contents of the scroll and he was blown away.

This would definitely sell for hundreds of golds! With such a large sum, he could most likely afford to try for another breakthrough.

Lin Han agreed. Thankfully, there weren't other Lin family members there to ambush us. Lin Cheng really was trustworthy. Though, he kept asking if I could just sell the scroll to them.

"My master wants it to appear in tommorow's auction. If that doesn't happen, then I'm afraid some things might disappear instead."

It was a covered threat, like that of a sheathed sword; harmless until drawn out. Lin Cheng and the Elder knew what I'd meant.

...

"No matter who it is that's searching for you, I'm sure they'll know who you are, just like that boy. You won't even have to tell them anything."

On the way back, I again told her about her poor disguise. She seemed displeased by that. I had been nagging her about this for a while now.

"So what do you suppose I should do? Wear a mask all the time?" She glared at me. Although it was me who was trying to help her, Lingling's behaviour was the same. I wasn't offended though, I knew she was always like this. Sharp on the outside but soft in the inside.

We were going through the market, it was packed like yesterday. She wanted to return to the hotel very discreetly but doing so would instead make people more suspicious.

Ling'er treated others as if they were out for her blood. When she bumped into a porter, she stared at him as if she would suck his soul. The poor man ran away like a terrified puppy.

"This won't do," I sighed, "You don't even know how to pretend. You are always defensive and conscious, and you generally wear combat ready clothes. That marks your unique behaviour, making you easily identifiable."

She was worse than Chunu in that regard. Feng Yi was the complete opposite. She knew what to dress and how to act in different situations even though she was younger than both of them.

"Now I'm hesitant to be with you." I stopped and looked around. There were tents and people everywhere. Practitioners walked with expressions of superiority. I sometimes saw Viscera Purifying oldies as well.

"Ling'er, the best disguise isn't always covering oneself up. You have to be wholly different and for that, you must start with a dress of an unexpected style - that which you'd never wear."

I spoke like an expert and yes, I was an actual one in such stuff. Yet, there was also another goal behind telling her to do this, a rather personal one...

"Let's go inside that shop. I'll buy you some." I turned around and pointed at a tent which had hanging dresses and wooden mannequins.

I had become one of the richest individuals in this whole town. I wasn't going to be using those golden tickets here but I still had lots of gold pouches left with me. Her perfect disguise would probably cost around 10 golds and that was next to nothing for me now.

After this, I would have to find Hu Shuo and put him to work. By now, he had to be devastated by poverty. We would most likely leave tommorow at night or the day after at early morning.

'He has worked as a clerk at Yellow Rocks Mansion. He should have connections with travelling practitioners or even merchants who regularly visit this town,' I thought, stroking my rough chin.

I was expecting his refusal but wasn't worried in the least. Shamed by prostitutes, singled out by his own friends; he was a desperate man, vulnerable and broken. I would slap myself if I couldn't make him easily submit to my whims.

After all, that was the only reason why I approached him time and time again....

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