Rest In A Demon’s Embrace

When gazing upon the copper cauldron at one of the shops in the night market, Luo Xiao was reminded of Overseer Zhu back at the Cloudsoar Academy. It reminded him of his training as an alchemist, which somehow had been put at the back of his mind when hehim and Jiang Yao decided to go out adventuring.

His hand reached out for the cauldron, picking it up gently and examining it. There were a few dents and scratches in the copper surface, however none were at the important holding regions and they wouldn’t make the cauldron structurally unstable. Those were simply signs of use and age.

Luo Xiao turned to look at Jiang Yao after he examined the inside and outside of the cauldron. “Can we get this?”

Jiang Yao raised an eyebrow at the dinky looking old thing. “There are probably better cauldrons in the specialized shops. We don’t have to get this old one.”

The young man nodded slowly at the explanation and began to put the old cauldron down, still somewhat unwilling to part with it. He couldn’t explain why, but he was somewhat drawn to it; - perhaps his intuition was triggeredtriggering, or just his soul, but Luo Xiao almost felt like he needed it more than anything.

“You young men don’t know what you’re talking about. There are no better cauldrons than this one.”

The third voice that joined in the conversation was the storekeeper, who up until this point had been observing them from under his wide-brimmed hat. Until nowUp until this point, neither Jiang Yao or Luo Xiao had paid any attention to him, given that he practically blended with the background of the stall.

“No better cauldrons?” Jiang Yao almost instantly looked at the man with skepticism. Looking at his appearance, he noticed thatthe way he appeared, his long beard was unkempt, and so were his clothes. The only parts of his face actually visible were the tip of his nose and below, with his lips tightly puckered as he spoke.

He literally appeared to be an old man at the end of his years, with nothing remarkable on him except perhaps the faintest scent of herbs.

“Exactly. There is no cauldron more faithful than this one, no cauldron which will respond to the alchemist’s bidding swifter, or be as gentle or aggressive as they want.”

A moment of silence occurred between the three in the busy street as Jiang Yao simply stared at him, while Luo Xiao glanced once more at the cauldron. He certainly could feel that it held something special, some quality in it that had drawn his eyes to it, but to say that there’s no cauldron better than it felt a bit of a stretch.

Jiang Yao opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but the seller was even faster than that. “Don’t tell me that you know better than an alchemist. The boy next to you can judge on his own whether the cauldron is worth it or not.”

Begrudgingly, Jiang Yao closed his mouth, refraining from another comment. He was almost tempted to drag Luo Xiao away from this sharp-tongued old man, but decided to try and keep his budding anger in check. He absolutely disliked being countered like that, especially given the situation.

“It’s ok, Jiang Yao, he doesn’t mean harm” Luo Xiao smiled gently at him, before once more looking at the cauldron. Perhaps he was too trusting, even after everything that had happened around him and to him, but Luo Xiao didn’t feel like the seller was lying much.

The cauldron in his hand was pretty small, at least smaller than the one Overseer Zhu had back at Cloudsoar. It was dinky,Dinky and dented, and scratched, yet Luo Xiao still felt that it had some sort of special quality to it. It was a mystery what that was, but maybe in the future he’d find out. Quickly, he scanned it with his spiritual sense, and to his delight, there seemed to be nothing wrong or evil about it.

“It’s not going to hurt to get this one,” Luo Xiao smiled gently when he looked back at the grumpier-by-the-minute Jiang Yao. However, his words clearly didn’t convince the demon that quickly, so he added, “in the wWorst case, we can get another one later, alright?”

Seeing Luo Xiao stare at him with those beautiful phoenix eyes, Jiang Yao could do little more than feel his anger melt and frown disappear. He lightly sighed before putting down the payment on the stall.

The old man didn’t seem to bother even looking at it or checking whether it was the correct amount, he just simply noddednodding at the two. “It’s all yours now.”

Luo Xiao smiled, thanking the man before putting the cauldron away in his storage pouch. He’d have plenty of time to study it later, even if that time might be after the two would havehad gone through the Beast Ridge.

Jiang Yao then took Luo Xiao’s hand, holding it tightly with their fingers intertwined as the two moved on., They kept looking through the stalls as the night grew deeper and deeper. Many riches were on display, and so were many herbs;, a large majority of which the two bought samples of for later.

Luo Xiao absolutely would be using them when practicing alchemy, especially given that the Academy’s ample resources were not in this little town. Plants such as the Mountain Dew Flower, Jade Yang Herb, and Sun-Glazed Hyacinth, which were not native to the Beat Ridge were especially nice to have.

After all, not even Jiang Yao had the power to summon the entire storage of the Academy, nor did he have enough interest in alchemy to keepstore many different herbs in his own possessions.

In the end, only alchemists could judge other alchemists, an idea he almost rolled his eyes at, but in the end, he stilland yet silently listened to his Xiaoxiao’s requests to buy this or that herb from the stalls and shop.