Lost Token - Li Liling.

A stone door slowly slid open, and Shu He steadily stepped out while rolling his neck and stretching his arms, the hallway was empty like usual with a weak gust of wind whistling down the stretch of rock flooring.

'Those pills are really good, I managed to awaken my 4th meridian over 2 days yet there's still about 1/3 of the pill left'.

Shu He recounted his progress as he started walking down the hallway, he had spent a full 2 days in meditation, so his body felt stiff from sitting still for so long, it had been a while since he had spent so long in a meditation session.

'I was already more than half done with that meridian, but 2 days is still ridiculously fast, the difference between this pill and using the natural qi is humongous, it's no wonder that people say sects are basically required as a cultivator.'

In his 3 years he had progressed his cultivation a full stage between Qi Ignition and Blood Enhancement, plus 3 meridians towards Meridian Awakening, compared to now that may seem extremely slow but he also spent a lot of time with combat training alongside Gang Bo, even more so when Bai Shun visited, he also spent time to train his skills as an archer from scratch in an attempt to cover his flaws and practicing with his 'Sight' to discover more about it.

And that wasn't all, he wasn't living a free life so he had to work in Orefine to make a living, unfortunately there wasn't a need for hunters there because most their food came from livestock and farms situated near the city, so he took up labour jobs wherever he could which took up a lot of free time.

And on top of that, there was the elephant in the room, compared to naturally absorbing qi the Qi Puddle Pill was like heaven on earth, it solved the two major problems that a cultivator as to deal with which are their qi absorption rate, which was the rate their bodies could extract qi from the surrounding atmosphere and the qi concentration in the atmosphere itself, both greatly affecting ones rate of cultivation.

'Those 3 years in that worn down house were worth it' He joyfully thought.

He turned in the long hallway to exit outside, but as his vision turned the corner he managed to catch a figure standing listlessly ahead of him.

'Hm?' His brow rose as he inspected the figure, it was a bit later in the day right now so seeing someone here wasn't unusual, but compared to the morning rush it was a lot rarer.

The young man had the classic sect robe as everyone did, his hair was short and black with brown eyes that were currently rather dull.

"…Wei Yu?" He spoke lightly to keep his voice from echoing too much.

But Wei Yu didn't seem to respond.

Shu He's brow furrowed as he steadily walked up to him, even when he reached and stood next to him the boy didn't respond, he looked at what Wei Yu was staring at.

'Is this his room?' He noted the number 42 on the door, it wasn't too far from his surprisingly.

"Wei Yu?" He spoke again in a slightly louder voice.

No response.

'What on earth is wrong with him?' He cocked his head sideways, thinking for a second.

He then put his hands near Wei Yu's left ear and focused his Qi on his muscles there then-

*CLAP* A loud clap echoed down the hallways, almost sound like a mini-sonic boom just a bit exaggerated.

"Aaaaaaaa! Whowhatwhenwhere?!" Wei Yu jumped out of his skin while almost falling over, he even let out a shriek that was much higher pitched than he expected to hear.

"So you aren't dead after all".

"Dead? What? Oh, Shu He it's you!" The light returned to Wei Yu's eyes as he snapped out of his shock and recognised his attacker.

"Yes it's me, what are you doing standing out here like a ghost? You didn't lose you key did you?" Shu He joked.

'Of course you wouldn't lose your key, it's your token after all' he thought to himself.

"…" Wei Yu's expression froze as Shu He could see a trickle of sweat drip from his brow.

"…Seriously?" It was Shu He's turned to be shocked as he stared at Wei Yu in front of him, his expression told him everything.

"How in the heavens did you lose your token?"

"I went to the entertainment district-"

"Oh" Shu He felt he heard all he needed to already, he knew what kind of person Wei Yu was before so him being caught up in all the fancy stuff in the entertainment district was bound to enchant him.

"Listen! There was lots of good food, so I spent a bit, but I was still fine! Then some senior sisters came along, and they asked me to come with them and-"

"You ended up spending all your points? How much?"

"Nearly 300 points…" Wei Yu looked down shamefully.

Shu He felt his palm embrace his face in second hand embarrassment.

"…How'd you lose your token then? You need it to spend points" He asked reluctantly.

"Near the evening some places started selling great liquor and I bought some for me and the senior sisters… I got too drunk and… must have lost it somewhere because of it…" His eyes started turning dull the further he got into the explanation.

Shu He sighed "I get it, no need to say more".

'I really don't want to hear it' He thought to himself.

'I forget sometimes that there's no such thing as an age restriction for alcohol here.'

'Those senior sisters of his would be suspicious had the token restrictions not been in place, there's no reason to steal a token since it can't be used by anyone but the owner, he must have just dropped it somewhere' He looked at Wei Yu like he was looking at a clumsy child.

'Though they still fleeced all his points in another way' He sighed once more.

"Then you should just go get a replacement from the pagoda, why are you standing outside of your door like a homeless person?"

"B-but I heard that if you go in to the negative on your points it'll affect your chances to become an inner disciple!"

"And who did you hear that from?"

"The senior sisters from yesterday…"

Shu He felt a headache coming on, he didn't know about the requirements to become an inner disciple yet, apparently they would learn when they were closer to the requirements so he couldn't say that he was wrong.

'I wonder if they gave him that warning because they'd get in trouble if they caused a new disciple to go in to the red…' He considered, but he didn't know enough to tell if he was right.

He sighed for the third time.

"Let's go to the pagoda, I wanted to visit there anyway."

"But I don't have any points…" Wei Yu spoke sadly with slight tears in his eyes.

"You're a cultivator stop crying over something so little" Shu He shook his head before speaking again "I'll help you out here".

"Shu He! Really?!" Wei Yu's eyes shined with sunlight as he stood up grabbing Shu He's robes.

"Just this once! Also I have one condition!"

"What is it, I'll do it no matter what!" Wei Yu was almost like a puppy that had met its new owner.

"You're not allowed to set foot into the entertainment district again until I say so!"

Hearing that Wei Yu paused, a hint of hesitation entered his eyes.

"…Not even a little bit?" He asked.

"If you do I'll chase you down and personally make sure you meet the same fate Jin Bao recently met".

Wei Yu's face turned as pale as a sheet of paper, his legs closing slightly.

Clearly, he had heard the news of Jin Bao's twins death.

"Come on, let's get this done quick" He patted Wei Yu's shoulder as he walked past him towards the exit.

Wei Yu managed to follow 30 seconds later after recovering from shock.

…

Before the two stood the Covetous Dragon Pagoda, people were entering and leaving in droves yet it wasn't as busy as the time Shu He entered before.

"Here again…" He murmured to himself.

"This pagoda is definitely impressive! It's even bigger than the grand furnace" Wei Yu spoke as he was stood beside him.

"By the way, how much exactly is a new token?" Shu He remembered he hadn't managed to ask this detail yet.

"If I remember correctly it was 50 points" Wei Yu replied, scratching his chin.

"50-!" Shu He couldn't help but seethe through his teeth.

"Sorry… is that too much?..." Wei Yu spoke while becoming downtrodden.

"It's damn expensive, but I can afford it- You'll owe me though, so you better pay back in the future".

"Definitely! I won't forget this!"

"You better not" Shu He finished speaking as he entered the pagoda, like before people had formed lines each waiting behind the nicely decorated wooden counter, however they weren't going to visit these ones since they were for general transactions, they were heading towards a different counter off to the side for other inquiries.

The lady stood behind the counter had the neat black and white robes that all the other attendants had; her long orange hair stood out as did her jade green eyes that turned to the two as she saw them approaching.

"Welcome, may I ask what you need today?" She asked in a gentle and polite tone.

Wei Yu stepped forward with his head slightly hanging in shame as he spoke.

"I'd like to ask to replace my token".

There was a slight shift in her facial expression a slight surprise before it quickly turned back, but Shu He managed to catch it.

'I'm guessing people rarely misplace theirs then' he thought to himself.

"Very well, the fee is 50 points and will be deducted from your total once you reassign your token" She spoke precisely and cleanly, she went out to the back for a few seconds before returning with a simple wooden block with a cloth on it, laying there was a blank sect token with no engraved writing.

"Ah, you see… uh… I don't have enough points in my account…".

"That's fine, you will go in to the negatives however you can earn points like normal until you balance returns to normal" She explained.

Shu He slightly shook his head as he stepped forward.

"I'll pay his fee for him" He said as he held his token forward.

She looked between Shu He's token and his face pausing for a moment, she seemed to be remembering Shu He's face.

"That's fine, we will need to transfer the points first however since we cannot deduct points for the replacement from another's balance."

She pointed over to the small device on the side of the counter.

"Then, please place your token here".

Shu He did so.

"Please note that there is a 10% transaction fee, so we'll need to transfer 55 points in order to pay for the replacement".

Wei Yu felt a hint of fear at that moment since he could almost hear Shu He's neck creaking towards his direction.

"That's… fine". Shu He managed to squeeze the words out.

'This is basically a fricking bank down to the annoying terms and conditions!' He yelled inside his mind.

There was silence as the lady was at work interfacing with the metal plate that was in front of her, all sorts of lines and symbols moving on the smooth metal.

"Please remove your token".

Shu He obliged and took a look at the points counter the flashed up on it.

'542, my winnings from the grudge arena just went poof…'

After a little bit longer she nudged the unassigned token towards them.

"The transfer is complete, once you activate the token the cost will be deducted." She said, signalling for Wei Yu to pick up the token.

He meekly did so, picking it up like it was the most precious treasure.

The token lit up before everything became engraved on it once more, Shu He looked over and saw the points value was at '3'.

'He really did spend everything…'

Wei Yu then bowed deeply to Shu He.

"Thank you so very much! I'll definitely repay you in the future".

"Make sure you do; now go ahead without me I have something else to ask".

"Oh right, you said you were coming here anyway before right? I'll see you later then!"

Wei Yu then happily toddled off to his room.

"It's nice that you care for your friend, but make sure it doesn't affect your cultivation" A gentle voice echoed a warning from behind him, Shu He turned around to see the orange haired lady smiling slightly at him.

"Thank you for the warning…" He nodded slightly.

He knew that he had to prioritise his cultivation, that if he kept shoving his nose into other's problems it would get out of hand; But right now he didn't think 55 points meant much in the long run, maybe something would come of helping Wei Yu.

And if he was honest, he kind of liked him, he was a bit of an idiot but not the stressful kind.

"You had something else you want to ask me?" The lady asked.

"Yeah, erm this may sound a bit weird coming from a new disciple like me, but can I speak to Old Yu?"

Her brows rose in surprise.

"That is a surprise, what do you want with the owner?"

"He… gave me a certain item the other day, I wanted to ask him about it" Shu He said, trying not to speak too much.

"An item? May I know what item?" One of her brows rose, Shu He's lack of explanation made him sound a little suspicious.

'Should i? It should be fine right? She's his subordinate after all'.

He reached in to his robes and pulled out the plain black scroll, placing it on the desk between them.

The lady's mouth dropped open before she snatched up the scroll, examining every inch of it before unfurling the plain white paper, then she closed it and gently placed it back on the table.

"I shall return this to him when he returns" she said as she calmed her breathing.

"He's not here?" Shu He asked, slightly disappointed.

"He's out of the sect right now, I don't know what he's doing" She shook her head.

"May I ask your name?" She asked him.

"Shu He" He responded without much consideration; her reaction told him everything he needed to know.

"My name is Li Liling and I'm the current manager of this pavilion" She introduced herself, brushing her hair to the side.

"The manager? I thought Old Yu was the manager?" He expressed his confusion.

"No, he's the owner but he doesn't do much around here".

"That old man lied to me…" Shu He muttered, clearly remembering that he said he was busy last time, so he needed to leave.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"When you opened this scroll, do you remember what happened?" Her words were clear and his eyes seemed to hold some expectation.

"I don't remember anything".

As soon as he spoke her expression drooped.

"No.. that's not quite right, it's like I should be able to remember something, but something is stopping me?" Shu He spoke his true feelings, ones that confused even himself.

Her expression lightened up again, but a hint of uncertainty was clearly present.

"Thank you for telling me, I'll be sure to get this back to Senior Yu when he returns"

"Okay, thank you for your help" Shu He bowed with his hands together before he started to turn to leave since what he wanted to do was done.

"Just one more thing, Junior Brother Shu He"

He heard Li Liling's voice calling him from behind, so he turned to look.

"In the future don't use your blood for things carelessly, you might sign a contract you can't back out of otherwise!" She warned, causing Shu He to connect the dots in his head, his expression contorting in anger.

"That fucking old bastard!" He yelled, not caring about his surroundings.