"Your genius little plan there, asshole," said one of the guards with obvious sarcasm dripping from his voice.
I looked desperately at my friends, scanning their faces for any brilliant ideas. There was no choice left other than making a mad dash for freedom.
"Don’t even think about running away," warned another guard, apparently reading my mind.
So much for that brilliant escape plan.
"How about this interesting proposition," the first guard continued smoothly, after deliberately letting the rest of the legitimate workers pass through and leave us standing there alone. "You and your entire gang can go completely scot-free."
"If?" I asked suspiciously, knowing there had to be a catch.
"If," he looked meaningfully at each member of the gang and then directly back at me, "if..."
Just say it already.
"You..."
Yeah, me?
"Give us..."
Give you what!
"Fifty coins for each person in your group. Right here, right now, no negotiation."
"I TOLD you idiots we should’ve tried bribing them!" Liangyu said with exasperation.
Jian just facepalmed dramatically, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No wait, hold on there, Liangyu. We came to this damn place for forty!" Qinyue protested loudly. A desperate lie, might I add.
"Yeah, well, now you’re gonna need to pay fifty. Per person. Pay up immediately or get lost," the guard said firmly.
"Ugh, fine! Whatever it takes!" I said through gritted teeth. "Here, take your damn money." I reluctantly handed them the extortionate coins they demanded and we finally entered the godforsaken place.
Fucking guards wasted our precious time just to piss us off and squeeze money out of us.
Anyway, now that we were finally inside the town proper, it was time for us to search for this mysterious Mei Lian girl. I had a reasonably clear sketch of her with me, so all we really had to do was ask around the local population.
She’s quite the famous healer throughout the region because she had won some kind of prestigious healing competition a while back. That’s exactly how I got to know about her reputation in the first place, so finding her shouldn’t prove too difficult.
We began walking deeper into the town center.
You know, with such a huge, well-established town, you might think the place would be bustling with people during broad daylight hours. But it was actually quite... eerily deserted. The very few residents who were walking around the streets were completely covered from head to toe, heads down, clearly just trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone.
Yup. Something was definitely seriously wrong with the place.
"So, where exactly do we begin our search?" I asked the gang, surveying the unusually quiet streets.
"How about we begin at a damn restaurant? I’m hungry as hell after all that traveling and drama," Qinyue grumbled, clutching her stomach.
After searching the mostly empty streets for quite a while, we finally discovered a tiny, somewhat run-down shop tucked away in a corner. We went inside cautiously and there weren’t any other customers at all. The place was so unnaturally quiet that our voices almost echoed off the walls.
"You think this place is actually closed for business?" Liangyu asked uncertainly.
"The Laughing Goose Tavern is never closed, folks!" came a boisterous voice from inside what appeared to be a small kitchen area.
Then out came a young dude who was by far the most genuinely cheerful person we’d encountered in this depressing town so far. "Welcome! Welcome to my humble establishment! My name is Han, and I’m your host today. What can I do for you fine travelers? We’ve got the famous Spicy River Carp Hotpot, our signature Immortal Fragrance Noodles, some delicious Crispy Lotus Root Cakes, and a little bit of premium Drunken Peach Wine to wash it all down with. Our special item though, is the legendary Five-Spice Spirit Duck! Just a tad bit expensive compared to the other dishes, but I guarantee it’s worth every coin!"
"Well, isn’t he refreshingly cheerful compared to everyone else?" Jian observed quietly.
We all sat down at a worn wooden table, ordered a generous amount of food, and started eagerly devouring everything once Han brought the steaming dishes over.
And let me tell you, they were bang on delicious! It wasn’t even because of my heavy hunger, the dishes really did tickle my tongue.
"You guys definitely don’t seem like you’re from around here. Are you visitors from out of town?" Han asked conversationally while refilling our drinks.
"Yup, we’re from Longyao," Liangyu replied between bites.
"Ah, I see exactly what happened. Those corrupt guards took some serious cheese and cheddar to let you inside, didn’t they? Yeah, they keep pulling that extortion scheme ever since this place has been put on official lockdown. Never passing up an opportunity to make some easy money off desperate travelers."
"By the way, what’s actually going on with this town? Why this whole mysterious lockdown situation?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"You guys seriously didn’t know about our whole situation?" Han asked with surprise. "Well, allow me. You see, our town was really cool and peaceful, with no major problems or issues whatsoever, just until about a month ago. Our beloved King Cangyuan, who used to be the chillest, most reasonable ruler you could imagine, all of a sudden decided to put our entire town under strict lockdown. Nobody knows why he made this decision, it was completely random and out of character. And as if that wasn’t devastating enough, his soldiers have been recently demanding more than ninety percent of our total income as mandatory taxes! They’re basically straight-up looting us blind!"
"Damn, I’m really sorry to hear about that terrible situation," I said sympathetically. "And what’s the deal with those mysterious crates we saw being unloaded outside? What’s actually in them?"
"Honestly, I have no idea what they contain. The soldiers just beat the shit out of us if we dare to ask questions. And the few brave souls who tried to fight back against this treatment? Well, let’s just say they’ve been turned into the soup you’re currently drinking."
Qinyue immediately spat out a mouthful of her soup in disgust.
"Just kidding about that part," Han said. "I just meant to say they’re very much dead now."
"Well, you certainly don’t seem to be much affected by all this chaos. You’re still happy and chill despite everything," Jian observed.
"Yeah, being happy and maintaining a chill attitude is kind of my personal specialty in life. This place isn’t called the Laughing Goose Tavern for nothing, you know. Maybe I only focus on seeing the positive aspects of situations, or maybe I’m desperately using humor as a coping mechanism to deal with my crippling depression. Who really knows for sure?"
There was a decidedly awkward pause as we all processed that unexpectedly dark revelation.
"You’re quite the unique specimen, Han," Jian said finally.
"Why thank you for that observation. Do you guys need anything else before you head out?" Han asked cheerfully.
"Oh yes, actually," I said, carefully removing the folded sketch from my pocket. "Do you happen to know this woman? She’s Mei Lian, supposedly a master healer."
Han looked at the picture and his previously cheerful face immediately got dark and serious. "Dude! That’s... she’s the exact healer that King Cangyuan is currently holding captive in his palace! What kind of business do you people have with her?!"
We were all taken aback by this shocking twist for a moment.
"Why would any king have the need to hold a skilled healer captive against her will? If he needs her professional services for something, can’t he just offer her legitimate work and proper compensation?" Liangyu reasoned.
"Yeah, that’s exactly how King Cangyuan usually handles all his business dealings. I told you before, he’s normally super chill and fair. But it’s only recently that he’s completely changed and turned this tyrannical way," Han explained with concern.
Yup, something was definitely seriously off with this whole bizarre scenario. And who even gets a golden opportunity to both hire a new talented member for the sect AND investigate some potential serious wrongdoing at the exact same time! It was the perfect opportunity, and our sect was gonna bloody well seize it with both hands.
"Anyone interested in investigating this whole mysterious situation?" I said with an excited smile, looking around at the gang.
"Fuck yeah, let’s see what’s up," Qinyue declared enthusiastically.