My Tavern in the Cultivation Wasteland

The third hunting group passed through Blackstone before noon.

Lin Yuan noticed because all three had come from the west.

The first group had stopped only for food and water before continuing toward Green River City.

The second had stayed for breakfast.

Now four more cultivators were approaching Wandering Cloud Tavern on foot.

They weren’t injured, but several days in the wasteland showed in their dusty clothes and tired expressions.

Bundles of beast hides were tied across their backs. One man carried several curved horns beside his storage bag, while another had a tightly wrapped sack that gave off the unmistakable smell of fresh beast materials.

Instead of entering the tavern, they stopped at Qiao’s General Goods.

Lin Yuan happened to be standing near the entrance.

Qiao Ren came outside.

One of the hunters untied a hide and held it out.

Qiao examined it, then shook his head.

The hunter reached into his storage bag and produced something smaller.

Qiao shook his head again.

After a short conversation, the four cultivators crossed the road.

”Food,” the tallest said as they entered. ”And two rooms.”

Su Mei led them to a table.

Lin Yuan returned to the kitchen.

Xiao Lan glanced through the serving window as the hunters placed their bundles beside their chairs.

”Hunters?”

”Looks like it.”

”Whatever’s in that sack smells terrible.”

”Don’t open it.”

”I wasn’t going to.”

Lin Yuan placed two finished dishes on the counter.

”Table six.”

Xiao Lan carried them out.

The four men ate quickly.

Halfway through the meal, they ordered another jug of water and two more dishes.

Lin Yuan paid little attention until he entered the dining hall with their final plate.

”...should’ve stayed another day,” one of the hunters was saying.

The tallest man shook his head.

”With what? Half the valley was empty.”

”Not empty.”

”You saw the tracks.”

”That’s my point.”

Lin Yuan placed the dish on their table.

The conversation stopped.

He glanced at the bundles beside their chairs.

”Good hunt?”

The tallest cultivator looked down at the hides.

”Better than usual.”

”You don’t sound happy.”

The man gave a tired laugh.

”Finding beasts is good. Finding too many isn’t.”

Lin Yuan paused.

”Too many?”

The cultivator took a drink.

”You know the broken hills west of here?”

”I know where they are.”

”We hunt around there a few times each year. Usually takes us ten days before we have enough to make the trip worthwhile.”

He tapped one of the bundles with his boot.

”This time we had enough after four.”

”More beasts?”

”More tracks. More movement.”

One of his companions leaned forward.

”Three packs in two days.”

”Same kind?”

”Different.”

That caught Lin Yuan’s attention.

”Any idea why?”

The hunters looked at one another.

”Food, maybe,” one said.

”Something could be pushing them out,” another added.

The tallest man shrugged.

”We don’t know.”

The cultivator carrying the horns spoke next.

”We found a Rockhorn Deer too.”

”Dead?”

”Very.”

”What killed it?”

”Something with claws.”

The man spread his hands apart.

”Large ones.”

”Did it eat the deer?”

”Some of it.”

The tallest cultivator shook his head.

”Not enough to tell us much.”

”Could’ve been disturbed.”

”Could’ve been territory.”

The hunters had guesses.

None had an answer.

”How far west?”

”About two days on foot.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

Whatever was happening, it was still two days away.

He looked down at their table.

”Food’s getting cold.”

The tallest hunter picked up his chopsticks.

”Right.”

Lin Yuan returned to the kitchen.

The hunters stayed overnight.

The next morning, Lin Yuan found them outside Qiao’s General Goods again.

The tallest man held a folded hide.

Qiao Ren stood opposite him with his arms crossed.

The hunter spoke.

Qiao shook his head.

Something else came out of a storage bag.

Another refusal.

Eventually, the hunters gave up and returned to the tavern for breakfast.

Qiao crossed the road a few minutes later.

Lin Yuan was arranging bowls near the kitchen entrance.

”You look disappointed.”

”I sell general goods.”

”I know.”

Qiao glanced toward the hunters.

”Apparently they don’t.”

”What did they want?”

”To sell.”

”Hides?”

”Hides. Horns. Claws. Medicinal parts.”

Qiao lowered his voice.

”One of them has a beast core.”

”You’re not interested?”

”I’m interested.”

Qiao rubbed two fingers together.

”I’m not interested enough to put that many spirit stones into something I don’t normally trade.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

Qiao looked toward the hunters.

”Wrong goods for the wrong shop.”

Then he returned across the road.

The hunters finished breakfast soon afterward.

As the tallest man lifted a bundle onto his back, he glanced at Qiao’s shop.

”Four more days carrying this.”

”Green River City?”

”Where else?”

The four hunters left along the eastern road.

More hunters passed through over the next two days.

Not enough to crowd the road.

Enough for Lin Yuan to notice.

Some returned with little to show for their trip. Others carried hides, bones, claws, horns, and sealed containers holding materials Lin Yuan couldn’t identify.

Most were heading toward Green River City.

The extra traffic was good for Wandering Cloud Tavern.

It was good for Qiao too.

Hunters bought medicine and replaced damaged talismans. One group purchased rope and lamp oil before heading west.

But whatever they brought back continued east with them.

On the second afternoon, two wagons appeared along the road.

Lin Yuan recognized the man riding on the first before the caravan reached the courtyard.

Chen Wei.

The merchant raised a hand.

”Owner Lin.”

”Back already?”

Chen Wei stared at him.

”It’s been weeks.”

Lin Yuan thought about it.

”Has it?”

”You need a calendar.”

”I have customers.”

”Those are different things.”

The wagons entered the courtyard.

Four Ironhoof Beasts were led toward the stable while Chen Wei’s companions headed for the tavern.

Chen Wei was about to follow when he noticed the building across the road.

He stopped.

”There’s a shop.”

”There is.”

”That wasn’t there last time.”

”No.”

Chen Wei looked at Lin Yuan.

”Yours?”

”Qiao Ren’s.”

”Who’s Qiao Ren?”

”The owner.”

Chen Wei waited.

Lin Yuan didn’t add anything.

After a moment, Chen Wei looked back at the shop.

”He rents from you?”

”Yes.”

”Huh.”

Chen Wei crossed the road.

Lin Yuan continued checking the stable.

By the time Chen Wei returned, he was carrying a small paper package.

”Useful place.”

”Tell Qiao.”

”I already paid him. That’s enough praise.”

”Two rooms?”

”Two rooms.”

”Su Mei handles rooms.”

”I know.”

Chen Wei started toward the tavern.

Another group appeared from the west.

Three cultivators this time.

One had a rolled hide across his shoulders.

Chen Wei watched them approach.

”Hunters?”

”Probably.”

”Seen many?”

”More than usual.”

Chen Wei looked at him.

”Something happen?”

”They don’t know.”

Lin Yuan told him what the earlier hunters had reported.

More tracks than usual.

Different beasts moving through the same area.

A Rockhorn Deer found dead.

Chen Wei listened without interrupting.

When Lin Yuan finished, the merchant looked west.

”Could be temporary.”

”Could be.”

There wasn’t much else to say.

The arriving hunters entered the tavern.

Chen Wei followed them inside.

Dinner was busy.

Hunters occupied two tables.

Chen Wei’s group took another.

Several ordinary travelers filled most of the remaining seats.

Lin Yuan and Xiao Lan worked both stoves while Su Mei moved between the kitchen and dining hall.

For more than an hour, Lin Yuan had little time to think about anything beyond the next order.

The second stove kept both sides of the kitchen moving.

Rice came off one.

Meat and vegetables came off the other.

Xiao Lan handled a pot while Lin Yuan finished another dish, and plates continued leaving the kitchen without the long delays they would have faced a few weeks earlier.

Eventually, the rush slowed.

Lin Yuan carried the final dish into the dining hall.

Chen Wei was talking with two hunters.

”...if you’re carrying beast cores, don’t sell to the first buyer you meet.”

One hunter laughed.

”You buying?”

”Depends on the core.”

The hunter’s hand immediately moved toward his storage bag.

Chen Wei raised his cup.

”Finish eating first.”

The hunter stopped.

”Fine.”

Lin Yuan continued toward another table.

He collected an empty plate and returned to the kitchen.

Later that night, he stepped outside.

The courtyard had quieted.

A few voices still came from the tavern behind him, but most of the customers had gone upstairs or returned to their camps.

Across the road, Qiao’s General Goods remained open.

Two cultivators stood inside beneath the light of an oil lamp.

Near one of Chen Wei’s wagons, three figures gathered beneath another lantern.

Chen Wei and the two hunters from dinner.

One hunter held a dark object wrapped in cloth.

He uncovered part of it.

Even from where Lin Yuan stood, he could sense a faint trace of spiritual Qi.

Chen Wei took the object and examined it.

He turned it once in his hand, checked one side, then handed it back.

The hunter said something.

Chen Wei shook his head.

Another number followed.

Chen Wei answered.

The negotiation continued for a short while.

Eventually, the hunter nodded.

Chen Wei reached into his storage bag.

Several low-grade spirit stones appeared in his hand.

They changed hands.

The hunter counted them carefully.

Chen Wei took the wrapped beast core.

At that moment, Lin Yuan felt a faint response from the Territory Core.

He didn’t summon the panel.

There was no need.

The hunter finished counting his spirit stones.

Chen Wei stored the beast core and headed back toward the tavern.

The hunter tied his now-lighter bundle and followed his companion toward their room.

Lin Yuan remained beside the courtyard wall.

Four days farther east, the markets of Green River City were still waiting.

Tonight, the hunter didn’t need them.