56 Information

Keeley ran into Han Jin's arm and nearly fainted due to the strong stinking odor. Her legs softened, and she almost collapsed. Luckily, Han Jin caught her in time.

She looked up and asked in a trembling voice, "Are they… all dead?"

Han Jin nodded. "Did someone go after the Morgan Commercial Corps?" Cessacioun frowned.

"Don't know. The killers may be from outside the corp, but it's also possible that there were disagreements within the corp," Han Jin replied in a low voice. "At least we now know they have a wizard."

Keeley's face was pale and without a trace of blood. All of the past months had been torment for her. While the others had been enjoying the laid-back life of the forest, she had been desperately eager to leave and find Morgan Commercial Corp. But she was just an ordinary warrior with neither strength nor money. It was impossible for her to survive alone, not to mention other things. And, she was beautiful. Beauty usually attracted danger in times like these. She clearly knew that.

She was sure that something must have happened to Morgan Commercial Corp on the day when she had revealed her identity in the Eleventh Town and no member from the corp had come to see her. She had wished that her friends would protect her and help her put down the rebellion within the corp. But she couldn't ask them to do this, because she had never made any contributions to the group. They took good care of her, which was already very kind of them; she couldn't expect them to risk their lives for her. Her enemies were obviously much more powerful than all of them.

Now that she knew they had a wizard, she grew even more hopeless.

Just then, Little Joseph rushed in with his long sword. He must have heard the thunderous sound. "What happened, my lord?" he asked.

"Not bad, boy. I thought we had scared you away a long time ago," Han Jin laughed.

Little Joseph blushed, "How could I... You are my employers now, and it is my duty to serve you!" He got closer to the cave as he said that, and instinctively covered his nose because of the strong stench. "What's the smell?" he asked.

"Don't ask too many questions, it has nothing to do with you." Han Jin replied. He glanced at Keeley. "Let's go back, shall we?"

She softly pushed him off and nodded.

***

They were all in low spirits after coming back to the hotel, especially Keeley. She went directly upstairs to her room without talking to anyone. Han Jin didn't want to waste any of his time either. He sat down by a random table, took out the prepared wood, and focused on his engravings.

Time passed, and it was late in the evening, but Sunier still had not come back. Cessacioun was beginning to get worried and went out with Little Joseph to look for her. Han Jin was feeling lazy, so he didn't go with them. Instead, he went upstairs, stood with his back leaning on the chimney, and looked at the city's night scene.

The word "cultivate" in the phrase "cultivate one's body and mind" had its profoundness'. Many cultivators lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests to cultivate their minds. They pursued a natural state by sitting alone and watching the flowing of clouds or listening to the melody of the tides' rising and falling. The saying, 'To live in a forest for personal seclusion, to live unknown to the public in a city for great ambition,' was simply an excuse made up by pedantic scholars to make themselves seem more sophisticated. One would only choose the city for cultivation if they wished for their talents to be discovered. If one really wanted a secluded life, how could a loud city be better than a tranquil forest?.

Han Jin had seldom left the city since he had started his cultivation due to various reasons, but he had formed a habit of spending time alone in a high place to watch the bright stars overhead and the myriad of twinkling lights underneath. He needed to calm himself down, experience the feeling of isolation and loneliness at the top, and rid his mind of his day to day struggles. This would be helpful for his cultivation.

Suddenly, he smelled a faint scent. A figure was sitting beside him.

"Just came back?" Han Jin lightly asked.

"I posted a lot of tasks and waited there for a long time," Sunier replied. She handed over a bag to him. "All are third-grade magic crystals with earth elements. I stored the other fourth and fifth-grade magic crystals with me."

Han Jin took the bag and gauged its weight in his hand. "That's a lot!" he exclaimed.

"Three hundred or more."

"How much did you spend on them?"

"Not very much; earth element magic crystals are very cheap. It only cost me one hundred golden coins for all of them, including those fourth and fifth-grade magic crystals."

"Sunier, you... are you famous in Wild Willow City?" Han Jin asked with a smile. No ordinary person would consider one hundred golden coins as 'not very much'.

"Don't ask me about that. I don't want to talk about it." She changed the subject, "Everyone from Morgan Commercial Corps was slaughtered?"

"Yes."

"What's your opinion? Shall we... keep helping Keeley or not?"

"What do you think?" Han Jin asked back instead of answering.

"I talked with her about her family affairs just now. In accordance with their rules, she can only have access to the inner management of of the commercial corp only after she has passed her examination. Which means, she doesn't know much at all right now and can't give us any information."

"Yes, I understand. The question right now is not whether we should help her, but whether we get anything out of helping her," Han Jin replied with an expression of approval. "If we are doomed to fail even if we try our best, why take so much of a risk? Her enemies are much stronger and better informed than us, no matter if they are from Holy Crown City or part of the corps. What good is it for us to confront them?"

Sunier fell silent. It would be cruel for Keeley if they decided not to help her just by having a short, private conversation. But Han Jin didn't think he was doing anything wrong. He had to take the safety of his team into account. He would rather be cruel to one person than being cruel to a whole group of people. 

"We need a rogue," Sunier whispered. "If we can get a high grade rogue and a high grade warrior, our team will be perfect. At least, we can find out what happened in Morgan Commercial Corp."

"I remember Moxinke said the same thing," Han Jin replied slowly. "How about… we recruit one from the Mercenary Association?"

"It's not practical." Sunier shook her head. "You don't understand how hard it is to have a good team. What if the person we hire is a narrow-minded person who just wants trouble? It could destroy our whole team. For instance, your space ring. They might not be happy with you having it and ask for something in exchange."

Han Jin unconsciously cast a glimpse at his space ring, and a smile appeared on his face.

"But..." Sunier suddenly remembered something. "We can buy information! How about I release a task tomorrow to gather any information related to Morgan Commercial Corp? If it's possible, we can give Keeley a hand. You didn't see her just now, but her eyes were swollen from tears and she looked so desperate. But if it is dangerous..."

"Okay." Han Jin shrugged. Keeley's enemies, at the least, had a wizard working for them, which was dangerous enough by itself. Who knows what other dangers they might face? But since Sunier had changed her mind, he didn't want to shut her down immediately. All that could be done was to watch the plan unfold.