Destiny in Cinders

Chapter 111: Karmic Chain

”I understand.” An Jing closed his eyes and calmed down after a while. ”Let’s focus on our current predicament before pondering about the future.”

It was pointless to think about things that he couldn’t do anything about. He focused and meditated on the Sword of Tranquility before inspecting his current status. The things he bought from the black market were all still with him. He had only lost a single drone subunit.

When it came to his own body, he had expended one stream of Evenstar lethal qi to test out his power in the beginning and used four more to protect himself from the initial blast. Defending against the shockwaves cost him two more streams, totaling up to seven. He started with thirteen streams and was down to six, one of which being his origin stream that shouldn’t be used for no good reason. That left five available for him to use for the time being.

At the end of the day, he was only a River Essence cultivator that had a harder time converting essence into proper spirit qi, so recovering spirit qi took quite a long time. He needed a full fifteen minutes to gather one stream of qi from the jadeslice steel.

He did have firearms and his spirit-beam guns with him, but after seeing the full set of artifact armor that the Fengdu Guard used, he was certain that the OverSight would barely be able to breach their defenses. There was no way he could go up against these fighting machines that were armed to the teeth. All he was equipped to do was bully people from Void Embrace who didn’t have bulletproof mantles or gang members in Skysource. Being able to escape a conflict between powerful elites with his life intact would already be quite the feat.

”Keep your stimulant pills ready,” Yvelbane reminded. ”It’s able to give your vigor a short boost to help you recover stamina. Coupled with the sharpness of Evenstar lethal qi, you’d be able to unleash quite a bit of destruction.”

”Alright.” He kept the little vial of pills in one of his outer pockets for ease of access.

After he reassessed the situation, the sounds of fighting grew quieter and quieter. One side would soon emerge victorious, though he had no idea who. It didn’t come as a relief to him either as he had a feeling that the Fengdu Guard would be on the winning side, and once they no longer faced resistance, they would search the black market thoroughly.

An Jing’s current position was far too obvious, so he needed to hide himself. He used the drones to survey the situation once more. The two Purple Mansion cultivators were still fighting high in the sky, so there wasn’t a need to keep an eye on them. He focused on the third underground floor and the black market’s deeper parts instead.

Once he was sure that nobody was nearby, he made his move. He decided to head back to the mineral store, Ocher Hill, which was situated at the outermost area of the third basement floor. The storefront itself didn’t attract attention and also had a warehouse he could hide in.

Apart from that, it was also the most resource-rich place he could think of. Even if the shopkeeper of Ocher Hill had fled with the most valuable goods in store, the stuff that remained would no doubt still be useful to him. Cultivators using Evenstar Ivory Divine Seal would never complain about having too many metals and minerals.

Quietly, he made his way toward Ocher Hill. When he arrived, he noticed that his scouting hadn’t been thorough enough. There was still a survivor there. The storefront of Ocher Hill had collapsed, leaving only a small opening, while the support structures on the side didn’t seem too stable.

The walkway outside the store was filled with soot and smoke. The state of the store made it look like it had been robbed clean. Given the shape it was in, typical burglars wouldn’t dare to approach it. An Jing only heard the faint sound of breathing when he entered the ruined store.

”Someone’s still alive!” He turned in the direction of the voice. He wasn’t that shocked that the shop was robbed. Cultivation resources in this world were far more valuable than mundane precious metals. An Jing had been a little late to the party.

However, the presence of the survivor wasn’t something he expected. This was a weakness of drone subunits. They wouldn’t be able to detect such faint breathing without getting close enough.

An Jing took out his flashlight and pointed in the direction of the breathing and saw a familiar face. This was the female shopkeeper who had energetically served him when he was there. Her face was completely covered in blood. Though he hadn’t seen her face earlier due to the veil, her hairstyle and figure matched what he remembered.

She had taken a shot in the neck that went on to brush against the back of her head. Red blood flowed out of her wounds along with some green liquid. She had lost almost all signs of life. The only thing that kept her conscious enough to breathe and sustain her in that state was the vital talisman clutched tightly in her hand.

When she noticed An Jing’s arrival, her irises constricted as her eyes turned to him in a pleading manner.

”She’s about to die. The vital talisman is ten times more expensive than your recovery talisman because it can provide the purest kind of vital qi. Even if your innards are ruptured, they’ll recover. However, the Six Cranial Meridians in her head have been heavily injured. Unless a Foundation Building cultivator with the viridian-life aspect steps in, she will no doubt die. The only reason she’s still alive is thanks to the evergreen wood implant in her that shielded her last shred of vital qi.”

”I’m not capable of saving you,” An Jing said with a sigh as he came close. He had seen too many corpses and spoke frankly. ”I do not have any medication nor recovery talismans on me, so all I can do is watch you expire. What is within my power, however, is to offer you a quick death. I can also lend an ear to your last words or wishes. Since you’re trying so hard to survive, there must be something that you still have to do.”

The shopkeeper looked up slightly, the pleading look fading from her face. She wasn’t that young, and any experienced cultivator would notice the telltale effort she put in over the years. Her ocean-blue eyes scanned An Jing with some special bloodline ability or ocular technique.

All of a sudden, she clutched the vital talisman in her hand tightly to squeeze out one last bit of vital qi. ”Friend, sorry for showing you such a laughable sight. I know that I’ll die for sure, yet I’m still pathetically clinging to life.”

”What’s so laughable about this? You better bet that I’ll struggle till my last breath too, dying or not.” He noted that she wanted to sit up and helped her up gently into a cross-legged position. It was then he noticed two gunshot wounds near her chest. The bullets didn’t go through due to her sturdy constitution.

She took a deep breath and cycled her energy, causing her face to flush unnaturally red. This was a final burst of energy she could muster before dying. She took out a white-silver card and handed it to An Jing. ”This is an unsigned merit card. You’ll be able to withdraw 7655 merits from any bank of the Lianshan Group. Those are my life’s savings. Feel free to take the trinkets on the counter too.”

”I’m not guaranteed to survive either.” He received the card with a furrowed brow. ”Even if I do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much for you. I don’t really lack money right now.”

”I know. You’re the kid who sold the void spirit stone a few days ago,” she said, forcing a smile. She knew who he had been from the start. ”I also know that you don’t lack money, and that you might struggle to emerge alive from this ordeal just like me. But what if...”

As she spoke, she took off her watch. It was her personal terminal. Using her chip, she caused a map to appear. ”This here is an emergency escape route that my company and our partners have set up. Maybe it’s still usable. If you can escape, and if you’re willing to help me... If... I know I can’t do it myself anymore, so all I can count on are these ’ifs.’ If you can, tell my son... tell him that Mama needs to go on an extended business trip...”

Her head hung lower as her voice got softer. Her words were starting to sound less intelligible. ”He doesn’t know that I work in the black market... thinks that I work... in Ocher Hill HQ... He’s about your age... good grades and has a scholarship... quite promising future... If nothing gets in his way, I believe he’ll become a big deal... Sorry... always lying... I...”

The last of her life left her empty husk. An Jing sighed as he picked up the watch that contained her personal information and address. He looked at the map and merit card in his hands with a perplexed expression. ”This must be yet another link in the karmic chain.”

”She isn’t really counting on you to make it out,” Yvelbane said, before switching to a merciless tone. ”I’m sure she was thinking that if she didn’t offer up her valuables, you’d search her corpse after she dies and make a mess. She also has a child your age, so she pities you and hates herself for thinking that way. This karmic link has nothing to do with you. She was only projecting her child onto you. You don’t have to accept this undertaking.”

”I know,” An Jing said. After a moment of silence, he went to the deepest part of the store and pocketed the merit card. ”But are you sure you can’t say the same for me? Maybe I’m the one projecting onto her. My mother... is she well? Since we met by fate or circumstance and since I took her money, I should at least make an effort for her.”

He then smiled in a carefree manner. ”I’m not saying I’ll be able to solve all problems. But Yvelbane, if I do survive, can’t I just do the bare minimum of bringing her son her last words?”

Yvelbane didn’t reply, though it deeply approved of what he said. If An Jing would’ve changed his mind because of what it said earlier, no amount of moralizing from it would have any point. At the end of the day, Yvelbane was just a just immortal sword that felled fiends. Though its suggestions were at times cold and calculating, it didn’t mind seeing cultivators who had the attitude of doing whatever good they could even as they went around vanquishing evil.

An Jing didn’t waste time searching the shelves for useful things with his flashlight. Though he wasn’t counting on finding anything good, he did stumble across some surprising loot.