86 One Lapse pf Judgmen

Lan Jiu stood in front of a wide meadow. "Huh?" He was unsure how he had gotten here. However, with time, he came to realize that this place was well-known to him, though it had been a while since he had come here, which was why the man had a hard time remembering it at first. 

Before he could process everything, a strong stench of alcohol appeared right behind him, stinging his nose. He turned around and saw a white-haired woman with a flushed face. She wore the Waning Principle robe, though on her hip a bottle of strong wine, instead of a traditional sword was strapped. She was of small stature, but Lan Jiu would never dare take fault at her for that. That was because this woman was his master—Hong Jiu (1 check Author Note).

"I see. This is a dream."

Hong Jiu took her flask and rammed it on Lan Jius's head. For a mere figment of his imagination, this attack hurt unexpectedly badly.

"Fuck!" Lan Jiu held his head. "What was that for?"

"Who are you calling a dream?" The woman humphed, placing her hands on her waist while staring up. "Also, I've told you to stop spacing out when talking to me."

Lan Jiu bit his lips. That woman, no, that drunkard hadn't changed at all. She was as violent as she was small. But in the first place, this dream was a recreation of his memory, after all, it would have been weird if she was different from how he knew it. This meadow was also a training ground for those from the Waning Principle Sect, though it had probably been destroyed and razed to the ground by now, just like the rest of it. He didn't mind though, as most of the time, he dozed away instead of properly practicing here.

"You are spacing out again, aren't you?" Hong Jiu squinted her eyes.

"Mercy," Lan Jiu yelled, lifting both his hands. "I wasn't spacing out, I swear."

"That's good, that's good. Hic." Hong Jiu rubbed her face. "You should know, it only takes one lapse of judgment for plans you've made your whole life to come undone."

"If that is so, shouldn't you stop drinking," he remarked, carefully mulling over her words.

Hong Jiu clicked her tongue. "You don't know anything, alcohol makes me more aware of my surroundings, you fool." She paused. "That reminds me, how far have you gotten with creating a new beer?"

'Why am I getting nagged even in my own dream? Is that the only thing I remember of her?' Lan Jiu could not help sighing, wishing to be freed from this mental prison. "It's come along well, you needn't worry."

For the first time, the small woman's face lit up. "That's good. I always knew you had talent when it came to brewing, unlike cultivating. How about becoming my designated brewer instead of some lame assassin. I don't know if it will work, but I can try putting in a good word with the elders."

If it was the old him, he might have misunderstood and thought his master was underestimating him. But he realized by now, that this was only her unique way to show that she cared. Hong Jiu was different from the other elders of the Waning Principle sect, for she was disillusioned by the killings and bloodshed. If possible, she did not want her disciple to step down the same path.

Lan Jiu patted his master's head, much to her stunned surprise. "Thank you." He'd never done so before and only dared to do it because this was his dream.

"Have you mastered the art to act drunk without a single drop of alcohol? You've truly become bold, I am proud," Hong Jiu spoke with an irate, yet emotional voice.  "Still, there are things you shouldn't do, no matter how hammered you are. So it is time to die." With a smile, she took out her heaviest flask, aiming at his head.

"Wait, wait, wait," Lan Jiu shouted, desperately flinging his hands. If someone as strong as her hit him with that thing, he might really leave for an early afterlife.

"As I said, 'A moment's mistake leads to a lifetime of punishment'."

"Wait!" Lan Jiu yelled from the top of his lungs, and he screamed himself out of his dream, awakening in the inn-room he had rented. His body was full of sweat as if he had just relived a nightmare. "What the fuck..." He had a ghastly expression.

The man held his head, glad that it was still in the same place. It had been so long since he thought about his master, yet he hadn't expected her to visit him in this way. 

Lan Jiu stood up, putting on his robe, and opened the windows, letting bright light in. Once more, he felt grateful to have witnessed the sun rising once more. "They haven't reported me, it seems."

He was referring to the customers in the Store of Fates. A week had passed since he had entered. Amidst the tumult, he too had heard about the 'announcement' of the City Lord. At first, he thought it was because of him that the shop got punished, but if that were the case, his head would long have been on the chopping block. 

Many things had changed since then, though they weren't for everybody to realize. The City continued moving just like always, though there was an underlying current of anxiety among each citizen. Though it wasn't anything Lan Jiu himself bothered with.

An abrupt knock on his door caught his attention, causing him to stiffen due to nervousness. But he knew exactly who it was. "Come in."

Li Yangyi opened the door. "It's as messy as always, does the sect not teach you how to keep the place clean?"

Lan Jiu knew this wasn't true. It was quite the opposite, as he had since small been thought not to leave any traces, and with a life on the run packed lightly, the room looked as if no one was living in it at all. But he wasn't in the mood to argue with that guy. "Let's go, if we leave too late, all the cores will be snatched by someone else." He had come to realize with time, that his boy was the most distrustful one of them all, shown by how he insisted on picking him up every day.

The boy from the Li family gasped at that thought. "You are right!" And thus, the two of them made their way to the Store of Fates. This had become their daily routine now.

Even within the shop itself, things had changed. Mostly the completion rate of the customers had a rapid rise. For one, Li Yangyi himself had now surpassed the 50% rate, making the Li family proud. Zhang Yong was close to catching up on him though, even if he had nothing to do with the village, showing one did not need to be involved with the witch or her history to make progress.

However, the person who surprised the others the most was Mei Xue. She had a completion rate of 67%! it was well-recorded that this woman was a once-a-century genius, but when the gap was put in numbers, that fact hit twice as hard—especially since she came to this shop after all of them.

Shou saw the two of them enter. The others had already arrived, making them the last of the regulars. He could not help asking, "Aren't you guys at war?"

"Yinyi and I are just kids, we should leave these complicated things to the adults," Li Yangyi spoke unabashedly.

Zhang Yong shrugged his shoulders. "I've been long kicked out from that family, what they do does not affect me."

"I'm adopted," Mei Xue spoke. "We don't even have the same name."

"You guys are so quick to use their names when it helps you, but when it becomes a liability, you drop it as if it was a hot potato. . ." Shou was genuinely impressed by their shamelessness.

"Well, in the end, the City Lord is specifically targeting the family heads. I mean, uncle Won has asked formally to take over my fathers' place and pleaded with the elders," Li Yangyi said. "Apparently, the City Lord will forgive the family then."

"If father was that easily intimidated, he'd not have become the family head in the first place." He clenched his fists. "And it isn't like we have truly done something wrong, so why should we bow?"

Zhang Yongs face turned livid. "It is true that what the City Lord has done was truly vile this time. Trust me on that one, I will deliver justice when it comes to it."

"But completing the game has priority. In comparison to the rewards and change of fates, the small war in the city is nothing. It's as simple as that," Mei Xue interjected. "That reminds me, aren't you sanctioned?"

"Yeah, but you guys are still visiting," Shou spoke nonchalantly. "It doesn't really feel like anything happened, quite honestly."

"What will you do about the new customers though," Zhang Yong asked.

"Those who are destined to arrive will come regardless of the obstacles." He pointed at Lan Jiu. "Just look at this dude."

The long-haired man jolted, realizing the conversation had shifted to him. He deliberately made himself small so as not to get dragged into this conflict, yet he was still singled out. 'Why me?'