A Coward

"That's a door, not trash on the roadside. It won't disappear no matter how often you kick it."

The fat man—plus his three friends—turned around to look at Shou. "And who might you be?" He scrutinized Shou's clothes and started analyzing him.

Shou walked forward, took the keys out his pocket, and opened the store. "I'd be the owner, Welcome to the Store of Fates." He smiled.

The man, Ah Liang, laughed, and tossed his head like an ardent pony. "I thought it would be a washed-up bum accompanying this run-down shack of a store, but you, Sir, look rather amicable. Anyway, don't mind if I do." He played around with the diamond-ring wrapped around his fingers.

Ah Liang strutted forward—the floor seemed to be quivering slightly—and stared at the door-frame. He then stared at himself. He patted his rotund belly and sharply sucked in his breath. Impressively, he managed to shave of an extra volume and entered by sliding in sideways. After entering, he took an expensive silk handkerchief and dabbed the accumulated sweat of his face. The three others came in normally.

As soon as the light hit their eyes, their sight fell on the impressive decor. The whole place looked completely different, making them question if they hadn't actually strolled through a portal.

Ah Liang gulped. It turned out the City Lord may have been right after all.

As a rich man in the City of Extended Delight, there was no way he'd associate himself with any random shop. There was only one reason he would traverse such a shabby road; He had gotten a message this morning: 'The three families have begun moving'. Of course, a sinking stomach overwhelmed him immediately. It may not seem much for the City Lord, but Ah Liang didn't have any political backing of any sort. If the three families were his opponent, he'd never be able to sleep well.

He was a coward by nature. And it was that cowardice that brought him to this store, as he immediately made his servants check for any clues. It turned out, it was because the three families all met in this mysterious place just yesterday.

Now that he witnessed it for himself, suspicions rose that this place was a cover for whatever these families were planning!

"What brought you here," Shou asked the four of them.

Ah Liangs face immediately changed, he managed to show the best smile he had. "Well, I've been hearing some good reviews, and I planned on checking this store out since then." He bowed down, his fat shaking. "My name is Ah Liang, my family owns a few businesses around here. The three behind me are of similar bearing. In fact, the tall one, An Bai and I are part of the Golden Dragon Circle." The tallest among them stepped forward and lightly nodded.

Ah Liang was trying to test the water, by announcing his reputation. Usually any commoner of clear mind would get overwhelmed and fawn over him.

Shou nodded nonchalantly.

"The hell is that?"

First it was the three great families and now came a circle named after a flying reptile. Were these people just making stuff up as they went?

The mans eyes shot open. 'This boy here doesn't know about the circle?' No, that can't be! Even a child would had heard of them.' Was the guy trying to provoke him, saying his reputation was not worth knowing? Perhaps... was the youth testing him?

He tightened his guard as his suspicion rose even further. Such was the nature of a coward. "Well, it isn't important anyway," he said and grinned, "We've come to buy... uh, stuff..." his voice trailed off as he realized he had no idea what this place was selling. The people behind him nodded.

"All right, why didn't you say so from the start," a perfect smile bloomed on Shou's face as he led them to the counter. "By the way, have we met each other before? You seem familiar."

The four guys looked at each other in confusion. They each shook their head. "I don't think we have."

"Ah, it doesn't matter anyway." Shou shook his head. "Well, since you heard reviews, I expect that you have already heard what we do here, so I won't go into too much detail. If you pay the appropriate amount, you will be able to enter an illusory world and experience a different life with no repercussions." He pointed at the painting on the counter. "Currently, we only have one instance, but there will be more in the future."

Ah Liang said nothing. However, in his mind, he was screaming: 'Code words! These are absolutely code words! I have no idea what he's talking about!'

"No good?" Shou stared at the silent men.

The cunning Ah Liang saw the change in mood and quickly corrected himself. "No it's fine, I was just thinking about something else. So how much does it cost?"

"Well, since you are four people—it's 60 spirit stones," Shou quickly calculated.

"Understood, I will pay for all of them." Saying that amount meant nothing to him would be a lie, but it was of greater importance to see what secret this shop hid. As a successful business-owner from a wealthy family and a member of the Golden Dragon Circle—a gathering of the richest men in this city—his only pride lay in his assets.

Shou was internally amazed. Really, rich people worked different after all. He thanked him from the bottom of his heart. "Okay, follow me then," he then paused, "ah, we don't offer any food here."

Ah Liang's eye twitched in response. What was that supposed to mean? And why was the youth looking at his belly?

An Bai, the other member of the Golden Dragon Circle and who had been silent the whole time, stepped forward and whispered into Ah Liang's ear, "Hey, Fatty Liang, is this alright? I followed you because I trust your instincts but it feels like all we did was get ripped off."

"Relax brother. There are three things I'm confident in: my money, my belly, and my senses. This is no ordinary place. The Circle may have agreed to buddy-up with the City Lord, but I feel like he is hiding something important from us."

"So what? Every good transaction has hidden intentions. A good businessman knows how to make a deal that does not suffer from such variables."

"See, this is why you are residing at 3rd place in the Circle, you're too straight-forward." Ah Liang shook his head. "A good businessman finds what's hidden and uses them to their advantage. Your worries are unfounded. I've even brought my two best bodyguards—they've both reached the 4th stage. We'll pretend like they are our friends and that this is only a regular outing."

The tall An Bai shrugged his shoulders. "Well, if you say so, I will trust you."

"It's fine, I tell you."

"Hey," Shou called out, "are you guys coming or not?" He looked at the two guys whispering in silence.

"Yes, yes, sir!" Ah Liang hopped toward Shou with his followers right behind him. As he entered he saw the four brown-glowing artifacts and his intrigue was immediately piqued.

"Uwah, don't jump around with that big body of yours, you're shaking this whole place!" Shou shouted and supported himself on the wall as he felt the tremors vibrate on the ground.

"Ah, sorry." Ah Liang bowed down with a smile.

Another one of Ah Liang's friends (bodyguards) promptly stepped forward. "Watch your attitude young lad!" he shouted as he looked down on Shou. "Your lackadaisical expression is starting to annoy me. Show proper respect!" His face slowly shifted into contempt.

The eyes on Ah Liangs face widened. 'What was that guy suddenly doing?' Did he misunderstand the owner for someone orindary? "Hei Er, back down."

"But Sir—I mean, brother!" The man seemed discontent, but he swallowed his words.

Shou didn't bother to react. Instead he led them to one of the cores. "Who here wants to start? Hover your hand above one of the cores. Right after, you will enter the illusory world."

Illusory world? Ah Liang tilted his head in confusion. It's the second time he heard it now. In the beginning he thought they were code-words, but it seemed he was wrong.

The bodyguards face darkened. "What illusory world? Big words for someone who hasn't even seen the world."

Ah Liang was left speechless. An Bai looked at him and smiled dryly. "One of your best men, huh?"

The other bodyguard was a lot calmer. He simply stepped forward. "Now now. Since we already paid, let's just go with it. It's a simple matter after all. So who wishes to go first?"

They all faced each other in silence. In his mind, Ah Liang knew he'd never go first—he was too big a coward for that. An Bai on the other hand was rather interested. As for the bodyguards, it was their duty to test it for dangers. But who between them would go? They seemed to communicate that with their eyes.

Shou watched the group—three men hovering around one big one—when a sudden epiphany hit him. "Ah, I know who you remind me of!"

"Ah, me?" Ah Liang blurted out.

Shou nodded. "A long time ago, when I was wandering through the cosmos, I came across an undiscovered galaxy. There, three small moons revolved around a gigantic planet." he pointed at the big man. "You remind me of the planet."

"All right, that's it!" Hei Er the bodyguard jumped forward and pulled his sword. His head shone red.

"Ah, what's wrong, why are you mad?" Shou backed away. He dodged the first slash.

"You dare ask?" the bodyguard growled.

The systems voice resounded: "troublemaker detected, preparing punishment."

"Hahaha, it's my time to shine," the idling Si shouted out. "This time, you won't stop me Shou!"

"Hey, calm down," Shou reminded her and ducked as the sharp edge barely missed his hair, "I don't want any gruesome murders here."

"It's fine I got it. After the necessary simulations, which amount to none, I've found the appropriate way to punish troublemakers."

"Hei Er are you out of your mind?" Ah Liang broke into a cold sweat! How did it suddenly escalate like this?

In the background, out of nowhere, delightful string music began to play, and Si cheerfully hummed to the beat.