Chapter 194: Hantan city.

Chapter 194: Hantan city.After formally verifying their destination, Lee went over to the horses and brought all seven along. They didn’t need that many, in fact, they didn’t need any at all and could walk the whole month till they got to Hantan city, but the elemental master liked his suggestion.

Lee’s idea was that Shade and the elemental master would play the roles of nobles and he would be their servant. That would allow the two to ride the horses the whole day long, without anyone noticing their awkward hand positioning.

They were still shackled and, besides the inconvenience, there was another problem. It was impossible to change into new clothes like that.

Lee thought of a solution, though. From the wares the bandits had robbed, he picked out two robes. He carefully took them apart at the seams, separating the fabric into usable pieces. Then, using a needle and thread he found among the supplies, he sewed the robes back together directly on the bodies of the two handcuffed people.

To the elemental master’s questioning gaze, he said, "What? Does it look like I’m doing this shit for the first time?"

The explanation was sufficient, even unnecessary, and the next morning the trio departed.

The bandit gang they eliminated wasn’t particularly rich, but they had robbed enough so that the three people could last for a month. As soon as they left the forest and got on a regular road, the travel conditions changed completely.

They arrived to Hantan city without any incidents twenty two days later and, from the looks of it, it was due to them properly utilizing the horses. Obviously it was something new to the two cultivators, but Lee enjoyed the trip as if it was form of vacation.

***



"Have you been here before?" Shade asked Lee, but the latter pretended to ignore the question.

After traveling through forests and vast grassy fields, they were back in a mountainous area, but this time the atmosphere around them was completely different. The road was packed with people – merchants and peasants with smaller and larger wagons going to and from the city in the distance.

In fact, they couldn’t see the city yet. The tall and long stone wall was what indicated it was there, and already from the distance Lee could judge that the place was at least twice as big as the inner part of the Nethermoon sect.

The city was built in the mountains and well fortified against attacks of beasts or regular army. And, contrary to the Nethermoon sect, it had only a couple of entrances.

The closer they got, the wider the road became. At the same time more and more people joined from the surrounding areas.

At first, Lee was confused by the enormous amount of food supplies being brought to the city. What baffled him even more was that the merchant wagons coming from the city were almost empty, carrying none of the ore or metal goods that should’ve been typical for the mountainous region.

As if guessing Lee’s train of thoughts, Shade explained, "Hantan city is the largest hub of alchemy products on the continent. The Han clan has ruled it for many millennia and managed to maintain neutral relationships with every single political force. Even the Celestial Abyss doesn’t allow themselves to throw their weight around here, but do the business the regular way."

"Good!" Lee said with a nod, "So you’re fucking rich."

"Don’t worry, you’ll be fully compensated for your extra efforts." The elemental master said, "I don’t like to owe anything to anyone. In fact, I’m surely going to need Blackbird’s services in the future so meeting in person is good for both of us."

After spending almost a month with him, Lee knew that the guy was incredibly arrogant, but at the same time merciless and scheming. He never revealed his name or who he actually was. He never spoke about his plans, but the more time he spent with him, the more certain Lee became that this was the guy the sect master had to spy on.

From bits and pieces of information Shade and the elemental master shared on the way, it became obvious that his intention was to become junior elder right after joining the Nethermoon sect, elder within next few years, and the sect master in a decade or two. Of course, the plan failed after elder Wang unexpectedly took over the sect, but clearly it was by no means over.

From observing the two, Lee came to conclusion that elder Luo had remarkable insight and great ability to judge character. Besides the fact that he left these guys alive, some elemental master eyeing the position of a sect master in a sect hundreds of miles away from their home didn’t make any sense. Clearly there was much more to this.

Fortunately, it wasn’t Lee’s job to find out the truth – he only needed to place the beacons.

***

"This is as far as we go." Shade said to Lee after the trio passed the wide city gate, "You won’t be allowed inside the inner city, so you’ll have to wait until we get the shackles off and I come back."

Lee’s first impulse was to retort about them trying to hoodwink him, but Shade guessed his thoughts, and said, "I’ll be back in a couple of days. Meet me in the Bubbling Cauldron – it’s next to the biggest marketplace. You can sell the horses there if you want – we don’t need them anymore."

"Two days." Lee said, and without looking back led the horses away.

After giving it a quick thought, he was certain that Shade would return. The fact that the two never intended to kill him clearly pointed at Blackbird being a part of organization they didn’t want to antagonize or planned to use in the future. More importantly – there was no feud between them so there was no need to start it now.

There was the possibility that neither Shade nor his master didn’t want to risk attacking Lee while they were shackled, but with their experienced they surely could’ve killed him if they really tried.

While pondering about his current situation, Lee found the marketplace and sold the horses. He would’ve loved to keep one or two, but it was a luxury he couldn’t afford in a foreign city. More importantly, he intended to spend the next two days exploring the place.

If at some point things went awry, he needed to know the city to be able to escape or have a place to lay low for a while. Also, he kind of was interested in the alchemy science that allowed the city to prosper.

There was the scent of herbs and something burnt that met Lee on every step he took, and faint smoke of different colors come from the many open windows. It wasn’t hard at all to believe he arrived to the city of alchemists.



***

Turns out the precautions were unnecessary. Two days later, at the sunset, Shade showed up at the Bubbling Cauldron – the alehouse Lee was hanging around for half the day, waiting for him.

The guy looked all fresh and clean, dressed in high quality leather gear. He didn’t have the shackles anymore, but his attitude towards Lee hadn’t changed. After emptying a large jug of beer, he led them to the inner city.

"I didn’t get a spare token, so can’t get you in yet." He said, "But there is a way."

"Wasn’t it easier to pay me and part our ways?" Lee asked.

"That was the plan." Shade said, "But turns out your services are needed much sooner than we expected."

Lee didn’t like it at all. Without shackles Shade could easily overpower him in a direct confrontation. Could it really be that in the end the two decided to get rid of him? The situation stank, and as it turns out – literally as well.

Shade led him to a secluded alley not far from the wall separating the inner and outer city. There he entered a shack, not much larger than an outhouse and opened the trapdoor on the floor.

"The Han clan built Hantan city thousands of years ago copying Celestial Abyss’s layout." He said, "Fortunately, they repeated the sect’s mistake and the sewers for both outer and inner city are connected. Follow me!"

There was no way Lee would’ve went in first, but he couldn’t find a reason to not follow Shade. If the man had decided to kill him – he would’ve been long dead. Even though Shade was only an elemental warrior with an earth spark, in the back of the alley he could’ve already overpowered Lee. There was no reason to play games – the escape from the Nethermoon sect was over.