An Immortal's Retirement: To Achieve Peace

“Has he been here all this time?” Lee Heng asked.

“As long as I’ve been here.”

“Damn,” Lee Heng muttered. “All this time. All this time we were dancing in front of a tiger’s den.”

Dai Heng came in dressed in a long tunic and pants, hair still wet from bathing. He handed each a cup before running back to the other room to finish his business.

Lee Heng reached into his robe and dug out an old wine sack, one made from the aged leather of a spirit beast. He poured some liquor into each cup. We both raised our glasses towards one another and downed the contents of the spirit wine.

Dai Heng groaned lightly as the qi-infused spirit burned down his throat.

“Still the iron stomach?”

“Still the lightweight?”

“Hm.”

There was a moment of silence as Lee Heng collected himself.

“Is he as strong as they say,” Lee Heng asked.

“If not stronger.”

Lee Heng nodded.

“What about his kindness? They called him a gracious cultivator, protecting the mortals and his land the best he can.”

I frowned.

“No. If he were a gracious man, he’d unite the lands and rule them like a gracious king. Or he’d at least fight off injustice where he could. He’s just another powerful old bastard who wants to be left alone,” I replied.

Lee Heng stared at me.

“Are you sure you should be speaking those words out loud?”

“He doesn’t care. A few mortals have even cursed him at times. He’s unbothered by words, for the most part, only actions.”

“What a strange man,” Lee replied.

I shrugged.

“What about the fifth ranks? I heard there were a few fifth-rank women seen around the area. They say one of them almost beat Fatty Peng to death.”

“His companions,” I replied.

Lee Heng nodded, though I think he got a different meaning from that word than I did.

“Platonic,” I added.

“Really?” The man asked.

I nodded.

“And what about you then?”

“Huh? What about me?”

“What’s your connection with the Immortal?”

“I am the Immortal.”

Lee Heng snorted.

“And I’m Sun Wu Kong,” he replied.

I frowned, reaching for the man’s wine sack and pouring myself another drink.

“Don’t joke about that,” I muttered before downing the whole cup.

“Then give me a good answer.”

“I’m… amicable towards him. Neutral really. Just don’t hurt the mortals and make sure to go directly through them before you do anything in this valley and you’ll be fine. He’s a real docile guy Lee, boring really.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Lee Heng took the wine sack from my hand before I could pour myself another drink.

“Hey!”

“I need a sober man tonight Bill, and either the answers you’re giving me are honest or you’ve really lost your iron stomach.”

“I’m sober,” I replied.

Lee Heng stared at me intensely for a moment, even sending some of his sense to sweep over my aura.

Well, I guess I had given the man some reason to doubt my sobriety. From his perspective, everything I’ve said thus far must sound like the ramblings of a drunk shithead.

He’s known me for decades and as far as he knew I was a third rank cultivator, just like him. And no third-rank cultivator would insult an immortal, claim to be the immortal, and then call him boring.

Lee squinted.

“Have you been poisoned-”

“Noo. I’m fine and well, I’m just telling you how it is. Leave him be and keep to the law and he’ll leave you be. Also, don’t fight anywhere within the Desert Strip, he can sense it.”

Lee still looked at me, untrusting.

“I swear it. Haven’t you wondered why it’s always so peaceful here? You’ve never noticed the few cultivators that go missing in the night sometimes, always the violent ones. Remember Do Lang? What do you think happened to him?”

“I do remember him. His clan says they lost track of him nearly a decade ago and still don’t know where he went. Most of their members were celebrating his loss rather than mourning it though. The man was a known… oh. Oh, I see. Did he try to hurt a mortal?”

“He tried to take one,” I answered. “And he got taken instead.”

Lee took a moment and stroked his beard in thought.

“Are you able to get in contact with him?”

“Nope.”

“You’re lying.”

“I refuse to get involved with a bunch of greedy merchants and their negotiations. You should go ask the mortals instead-”

“Bill, this is personal.”

Now that took me by surprise. The man's anxiety had been rising this whole time, but I thought that was due to the topic. But now that I focused in on his aura, there was something more there, something more than business worries.

There was fear, genuine fear.

“Over the years, I’d like to think we’ve become friends-”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I cut in. “Acquaintances maybe, but you’ve ripped me off plenty of times.”

The man sighed in partial defeat.

“But go on,” I added.

Lee Heng took a deep breath before speaking.

“I would like to think that I know what kind of man you are. I think, like me, you feel a disdain towards the evil of this world. I believe you're a man of noble fiber and have a gracious soul-”

“I’m about to say no,” I interrupted.

“Fine!” The man yelled. “I think you’re a lazy and lucky man who sits around and does nothing all day, but I do believe you care about right and wrong, even if to the smallest degree. And I’d like to think you’d do the right thing at a minor cost to your own sloth.”

There was a moment of tension as Lee wondered if he had lost any chance of getting my aid, and me being me, I held it for as long as possible. His aura twisted up in anxiety at every passing millisecond, working itself into a Gordian knot, and just when he was about to give up all hope, I replied.

“Maaaaayyybbbeee,” I answered. “How minor of a cost would it be?”

Lee’s aura loosened

“Just come with me and listen, then you’ll know everything.”

Lee turned to walk through the curtains and out of the tent, and I followed. We worked our way around the campsite, walking around barters and parties. A few people glanced at us, at me specifically. Word must have gotten around of the one cultivator who was known to live here before the immortal had been revealed. They must have seen me the same way Lee did, as a possible connection to the immortal who lived in this land.

Shit.

I wasn’t exactly a secret to them, but now I was known and being watched.

Rin Wi, I said telepathically. Can you flex some Immortal Aura around here, and make it similar to the one I was emitting with the sects?

I got a telepathic nod in response and suddenly everyone, including Lee Heng, had their senses focused towards the back of the camp. Rin Wi’s qi left as soon as it came, blipping right out and leaving everyone confounded.

I took the opportunity to hide myself from all but Lee.

If the merchants saw me, they wouldn’t want to hurt me or steal from me, they’d want to talk to me, which was definitively worse from my perspective. I could always snap away a murder hobo, but that option wasn’t available with a diplomat.

All the negotiations would be Chin’s problem, not mine. At worst, he could have Rin Wi growl at them from a distance. That seemed to get them in line pretty quickly.

Eventually, we arrived at a heavily occupied tent, one that was almost the size of a circus and had two floors to it. The second floor was a wooden platform, one that had been assembled before the tent was put up.

There was a lot of foot traffic in the area. Men and women of all ages walked in and out of the place eagerly. Some of them were smiling while others were trying to hide their face. Their auras radiated all types of emotion, shame, guilt, joy, and lust.

I looked at Lee Heng.

“A brothel?” I asked.

The man didn’t speak and just went inside. I sighed and did the same, undoing my stealth as I entered.

Unsurprisingly, the inside of the tent was cramped with thin fabrics separating the area into different rooms. The fabrics themselves were enchanted to not let any sound or light pass through them and the area seemed to have a cleaning array floating through it, making sure no stench would bother the customers.

The cloth walls were painted with menageries of beautiful half-naked men and women, and the air was filled with the sweet smell of qi-infused perfumes and stringed instruments.

Finally, at the open center of the area, we saw the nearly naked band of men strumming and singing their instruments in harmony. One of the women looked up and smiled at me, and I politely shook my head. Then the man did the same and I shook my head again.

They both frowned a little and went back to their music.

In the center of the area was a front desk, manned by a large and burly woman, a half-dwarf, meaning she had the height of a human with the proportions of a dwarf. Her wrists were as thick as a neck and her hands were the size of dinner plates. She was at the peak of the fourth rank and talked to all the customers that came in. Her job seemed to be a bursar type, collecting money from the clients and guiding them to their awaited rooms. She had an imposing frame and most of the clients were weaker than her, making everyone very calm and respectful in her presence.

“Lee Heng? What are you doing back so soon?” The woman asked.

“I’m here to speak with the Madam,” Lee answered.

The half-dwarf looked at him, then at me and her eyes seemed to carry some understanding.

“Go ahead then,” she said.

Lee Heng nodded and guided us into another hallway. This hallway was short and unoccupied by customers and lacked the sound-numbing enchantings that the other fabrics did. Here there were muffled whispers and light snoring.

This was probably the staff’s quarters. Brothels never closed after all.

Finally, we stopped at one set of curtains that seemed to lead to another large area.

“Madam, may we come in?” Lee asked through the curtain.

“Oh Lee Heng, you’re back already?” A voice responded.

“Apparently he couldn’t get enough,” I quipped.

“And you’ve brought someone with you?” The voice asked.

“Yes,” Lee said with a sigh. “Someone who can help.”

Again, there was another moment of unspoken understanding.

“I see. Well, do come in then. “

Lee nodded, parted the curtains, and entered. I followed.

Inside was a room filled with books and scrolls and jade pieces. At the center was a desk clattered with organized spirit stones and jade pieces. The books and scrolls were set up in an organized pile at one end and a big enchanted box full of spirit stones sat at the other.

The person sitting at the desk was at the fourth rank. Her aura radiated from her body with strength and seduction and her skin gleamed brightly even with the small amount of lantern light within the room. She had brown maple-colored skin and straight fire-red hair that fell gently down her shoulders.

She got up from the desk and walked to greet us. Even the most useless action was meant to draw eyes. Lust and desire wafted off of her soul and into the minds of anyone who could want it. Her hips seemed to speak and her eyes seemed to beckon with every blink.

A succubus, I thought. That was rare.

She raised her hand out to mine, clearly expecting me to take it.

“Madam Rose,” She said firmly.

She was expecting a kiss, or maybe even a bow I think.

I shook her hand.

“Bill Terrance,” I replied.

She watched me for a minute, smiled, then laughed a beautiful laugh.

“I see. Please don’t take my actions as an insult. I meant nothing by it I assure you.”

She had a charm to her, one that all beauty and seduction cultivators naturally had. I hadn’t fallen for it of course. I couldn’t fall for this type of charm, not unless the person executing it was at the fifteenth rank, and even there I still might not fall for it. I was incapable of romantic love or lust.

People who were resistant to her charm tended to have a certain belief about succubi and their practices.

“You’re a succubus,” I replied. “You can’t help it.”

“Indeed,” she answered, turning herself to greet Lee.

“Lee, my darling, is there any news that you need to give me so quickly?”

“Your problem Madam. I believe this man can aid you with it.”