Violet Heart

by Patrick Laplante

  What should I call you? Ling Dong asked the small drake as he eyed the crows perched on the tall mountain trees. He patted his body in search of secondary injuries. Sure as rain, he found a few fractured ribs and some hairline cracks scattered across his skeleton. Drakey had done much to cushion his fall, but there was only so much momentum he could dissipate.

  I’ve settled on Darkwing, the small drake said. It’s got a nice ring to it, and it’ll be very suitable once I reach the level of a king or monarch.

  Darkwing, Ling Dong said, savoring the name. Good name. Then his stomach growled. I don’t suppose you know where we can find lunch?

  Lunch is anywhere we can find it, Darkwing replied. But I don’t think we should linger. This isn’t our territory.

  He glanced at the crows, who hadn’t moved despite Ling Dong waking. Though he found it odd that Darkwing hadn’t eaten them, he figured the fledgling drake had his reasons.

  The duo left their small clearing and moved deeper into the woods. Red eyes followed them from the shadows as they familiarized themselves with their surroundings. It wasn’t long before they found a small stream. Ling Dong drank the cool water with cupped hands while Darkwing dipped his head in its icy waters.

  The crows have stopped following us for now, Drakey said. They’re the monarch’s eyes. More likely than not, the monarch has evaluated our threat level and determined our status. Given the usual rules, we are food.

  I thought beasts valued strength and hierarchy? Ling Dong said, alarmed.

  Only among those who are part of the mountain, Darkwing said. Some beasts will be too lazy or busy to chase us. Unfortunately, we need to eat, and they’ll consider anything we eat stealing. Should we steal anything, they’ll try to chase us out. Then, if we kill any demons, they’ll consider us as bullies. Suffice to say, we’re in a bit of a pickle.

  Couldn’t we just fly out? Ling Dong asked.

  There are many powerful flying beasts here that would tear me to shreds if we tried, Darkwing said. That, and I’m also not in any shape to fly.

  Ling Dong turned to look and noticed a few large gashes on Darkwing’s back. His wing joints were swollen and raw, and there were many small tears in the drake’s wing membranes. Wounds he’d likely sustained by protecting him and breaking his fall.

  What do you need to recover? He asked. Hoofing it back would take too long.

  I need spirit fruits with healing properties, Darkwing said. But they’ll likely be guarded.

  Ling Dong pondered for a moment. Let’s find some low-hanging fruit, he said. He activated his Demon-Subduing Eyes. They glowed light purple as he looked around for energy veins. Several streams of violet light converged together and headed east. There should be something in that direction.

  Ling Dong kept his Demon-Subduing Intent tightly sealed as they searched, having learned his lesson during his encounter with the demonic bat. While things were slower this way, it was less draining if he didn’t use this function, and they would avoid much unwanted attention. It wasn’t long before they arrived at a peculiar tree. Despite being in a temperate area, the tree seemed tropical. Several large yellow fruits grew on its branches, each one the size of a small melon. A small snake was coiled around the tree, guarding the fruits and waiting for them to ripen.

  If we don’t steal, we’re just passing through, Darkwing cautioned. But the moment we do, expect immediate harassment. Despite his words of caution, he was salivating at the sight of the spirit fruits. They weren’t yet ripe, but their energy would still aid his recovery substantially.

  Can we find spirit fruits like this away from the mountain? Ling Dong asked. He knew the answer before he asked. Demons occupied mountain ranges containing dense demonic energy for a reason. Since they wanted to return to the plateau in a timely fashion, it was essential that they heal his wing. Thinking about the plateau, he recalled that if Darkwing hadn’t dived down to save him, he wouldn’t have been injured; he’d have been dead. Thank you, he said.

  Darkwing shrugged. Huoying said they were teaching us a lesson. This is standard practice among demon beasts. If you’re strong, you learn. If you’re weak, you die. I’m sure it was nothing personal.

  Wait here and I’ll snatch those fruits for you, Ling Dong said. Don’t worry, I won’t kill the snake, he added, seeing Darkwing’s frightened expression.

  He walked through the shadows as he approached the tree, which swayed in the light mountain wind. The demonic snake was only an early-purification demon beast, and while it appeared to be sleeping, Ling Dong could sense its invisible gaze permeating its surroundings.

  He counted the seconds and observed every breath in and out of the serpent. He observed the movements of nearby birds and the rustling of bushes. Spirit foxes roamed cautiously around them while rodents were nowhere to be seen. Then, as the sun was beginning to lower in the afternoon sky, he pushed off a freshly summoned earth platform. His surroundings blurred as he quickly snatched the spirit fruits and stuffed them into his bag of holding.

  A roar of anger sounded, and a large tail smashed over toward Ling Dong. He summoned an icy shield and blocked the blow, which sent him tumbling away from the tree toward Darkwing. The drake picked him up, and they ran together as though their lives depended on it.

  You dare ssssteal from this mountain? A voice sounded in their minds. Get back here and give us your corpse in compensation.

  The ground burst open, revealing a large ball of tangled snakes. Venomous fangs bit at him, forcing him to swat them away with the back of his sword. He ducked behind a tree, which suddenly exploded and revealed an asp that had been hiding itself deep within the rotten bark. It plunged its teeth into Ling Dong and injected a small amount of venom through his iron skin.

  Darkwing appeared beside him. He, too, was under assault. Not only were foxes, wolves, and even elk chasing him, insects were doing their part as well.

  “Here, catch,” Ling Dong said, tossing him the spirit fruits. The black drake ate them in a single gulp. Then Ling Dong swatted away the crowd of demons around him. They smashed into trees and let out loud yelps. Several of them seemed to reevaluate their ambush and ran away, not wanting to get caught up in the duo’s escape.

  Soon they reached a patch of woods where a swarm of crows appeared. Don’t hurt them, not even lightly! Darkwing sent, just in time for Ling Dong to pull his blade back. Fortunately, these creatures were weak. They peppered him and Drakey with tiny, insignificant wounds. The annoyance made him realize that their goal was likely to annoy them, to chase them off the mountain.

  Were those spirit fruits enough? Ling Dong asked.

  Not nearly, Darkwing answered. I’ll need a few dozen times more if I’m going to make a full recovery.

  Ling Dong cursed under his breath. You could have told me that before we poked the hornet’s nest.

  I thought it was implicit, Darkwing said indignantly. Look at me. Look at how huge I am. You should just know how much I need. Children know this.

  Ling Dong smacked his forehead. Humans don’t just know these things, Darkwing. We need to be told.

  Newborns know this! Darkwing shouted back.

  Assume I know less than a newborn! Ling Dong said.

  The ground shook beneath them, and a large badger emerged from the soil. It had the same cultivation as Darkwing, and its claws swept in a wide arc. Ling Dong could only form some quick hand seals and summon a wall of earth. Then he formed a few more and summoned thick vines that burst out of the ground and entangled the creature.

  Quick, let’s enter this cave, Ling Dong sent, gesturing toward an opening in the mountain.

  I don’t know… Drakey replied. Whatever’s living in there is probably more powerful than that badger.

  I don’t care, Ling Dong said. Anything is better than being out in the open. Anything is better than being pecked to death by a thousand crows.

  The duo ran into the three-meter-tall excavation, where they found a mother bear and her cubs. She roared at Lin
g Dong, who dodged her swatting paws and grabbed her by the torso. He tossed the large initial-purification bear like a child, sending her out of the cave along with her cubs.

  Then, seeing the swarming animals outside the cave, Ling Dong formed a few dozen more hand seals. Rocky walls burst out of the ground and sealed off all but a small hole in the wall. He took out a few dozen flags from his bag of holding and stabbed them into the rocky soil. Then he crushed a few hundred high-grade spirit stones and activated his makeshift warding formation. It hummed to life, and the rodents that had been trying to sneak through the opening suddenly recoiled in fear. They were safe, for now.

  Ling Dong slumped onto the wall of the cave, and Darkwing sprawled onto his back. They regained their breath before looking at the entrance with fear and apprehension. They’d survived this round, but it wouldn’t be long before they had to repeat the process again.

  And this time, the beasts would be ready for them.

  Chapter 14

  Jin Huang walked down the glass steps of the Alchemists Association, carefully weighing all his options. After selling multiple times to the attendant downstairs, he’d determined that their low prices wouldn’t change regardless of his grade. Their services were convenient, but it would be difficult to make a significant profit while remaining under their heel. He needed to break free somehow, or at least find an alternate buyer.

  “Greetings, Master Jin,” the usual attendant said, welcoming him warmly. “What can I do for you today?” He had a bright gleam in his eye, likely due to the prospect of a fat commission. The other attendants glared daggers at him, which was to be expected, given his recent good fortune.

  “I’d like to sell a few bottles of pills,” Jin Huang said, placing gleaming jade bottles onto the table. There were over a dozen distinct auras this time, compared to the three before. They didn’t all give off the usual golden glow; half the vials shone with a lesser, silver light.

  The attendant could barely disguise his disappointment. His false smile faded for a brief moment before making a rapid recovery. “You’ve made quite a variety of pills this time, and much less than normal,” he said cautiously.

  “A senior at the library told me that this was the quickest was to improve my skills,” Jin Huang said with a smile. “Besides, you told me last time that demand had dropped for your three most popular pills. Since I’m far too busy to do any market research, I thought I’d make a little bit of everything. I’m sure demand for pills couldn’t possibly drop all the way across the board.”

  The attendant’s smile faltered once again, and nearby attendants snickered softly. “I naturally understand your concerns,” the attendant said. He picked up one of the vials and used his carefully honed appraisal skills to identify it. “A least-grade dragon strength pill, for example. I haven’t seen one of these in ages.”

  He unbottled the first vial and wafted its medicinal off-gas toward his trained nose. “It’s too bad,” he said wistfully. “With silver seals, there’s not much demand, but if they had golden seals… the price would be much higher.”

  “How convenient,” Jin Huang said, placing six more vials of pills on the table. Each of them gave off a golden glow, and the red pills resonated with the qi in his fire foundation pillar. Such a pill would grant a burst of destructive fire qi that would boost all fire techniques by a full level. “I wasn’t sure how much these were worth, so I thought I’d hold on to them. But since you say they’re worth selling, I trust you.”

  “And you won’t regret it,” the attendant said, taking Jin Huang’s obvious signals in stride. “These pills are worth twenty percent more than usual these days, so I can pass on ten percent of that directly to you. After all, the Alchemists Association is a business. We still need to make a profit.”

  In this transaction, the two had exchanged their standpoints. The attendant was disappointed with the amount of silver-grade pills, so he would pay Jin Huang more for gold ones. Meanwhile, Jin Huang would rather keep gold-seal pills than sell them at such a huge discount.

  “I’m glad these pills are in demand,” Jin Huang said. “I guess I got lucky. The guild’s bounty list isn’t so reliable these days. I can’t just gun for the more profitable pills like I used to.”

  “Alas, those days were an anomaly,” the attendant said, opening another pill bottle. The pill was deep blue, and Jin Huang felt his soul solidify slightly just by smelling it. “Take this sea-god barrier pill, for example,” he said. “The demand is ten percent below the normal price in Evergreen, regardless of whether it has a silver or gold glow. But since you’re a friend, I can give you five percent less than normal for the gold-seal ones. Would you happen to have more of these?”

  “Only two bottles, unfortunately,” Jin Huang said. “I thought the demand wouldn’t be so high, so I didn’t bother making more. As for the silver-seal products I made… I’ll just hold on to them. You never know when you’ll need to defend against a soul attack.”

  “If you have more than ten bottles, I can make a case to my manager to offer you five percent more on sheer bulk,” the attendant said.

  “No, I think I’ll hold on to them,” Jin Huang said. “I wasted my time making them, and I’ll just accept that as the cost of business. Perhaps I can sell them when I return to Quicksilver City.”

  “Forget the sea-god barrier pills,” the attendant said, grabbing one of the remaining bottles. He opened each of the bottles, one after another. Then he singled out another two varieties, both with a silver glow. “These two pills varieties don’t have high demand, so I can only offer you ten percent lower than indicated on our bounty list.”

  “Then I’ll keep them,” Jin Huang said, retrieving the bottles.

  “For the others, however, I can offer you full bounty list price,” the attendant said. “Would you happen to have more you’d like to sell?”

  This was full capitulation—if Jin Huang made what he wanted, he wouldn’t try to shortchange him anymore. Little did he know that the damage had already been done, and the seeds of vengeance had already been sown.

  “For these ten varieties, I’m happy to make the trade,” Jin Huang said, using his incandescent force to separate them from the group. He then withdrew a large number of vials from his bag of holding and set them down on the table. Half of them joined the ten vials. “I’m sure these small quantities won’t make a difference in the overall market supply?”

  “Of course not. They’re just a drop in the bucket,” the attendant said. His eyes darted to the two remaining golden vials. “About these cultivation-stabilization and qi-flow pills…”

  “I understand that you can only deal with the prices your management gives you,” Jin Huang said. He swept up all but three of the vials, returning them to his bag of holding. “I’ll sell these three, but my cultivation could really use bolstering. I’ll just use these on myself.”

  The message was clear—for certain pills, he was all right being given what he was owed, but from now on, he expected a premium for high-demand gold-seal pills.

  “I’ll pass the word on to my manager and see what I can do,” the attendant said, his eye twitching. “Will you be requiring any more help?”

  “Not for now,” Jin Huang said. “I haven’t been out for a walk in a while. See you when I get back.” Having said his piece, he walked out of the Alchemists Association amidst the snickering attendants. Though it had only netted him roughly ten percent more than normal, every little bit mattered.

  Now to sell the rest of these pills, Jin Huang thought, patting his bag of holding.

  The scent of jasmine wafted in Jin Huang’s general direction as he entered a luxurious pill shop. It was the eighth such establishment that he’d visited, and like the others, its décor was opulent. Elaborate blue-gold runes covered every square inch of its marble walls. They provided much-needed cooling to the sweltering air that traveled into the shop with each new guest.

  “How can I help you today, esteemed master?” a middle-a
ged woman said as he entered. She was dressed in a simple qipao, and her cultivation was stuck at initial foundation establishment. Given her age, it would be difficult to advance without some outside help. It was just the kind of person he was looking for.

  “I’m looking to sell some pills,” Jin Huang said. “Could you arrange a private booth for us to discuss?”

  “Of course, esteemed guest,” the woman said, leading him to one of the many small doors in the shop. She immediately began serving tea for Jin Huang, who proceeded to place a single bottle on the side of the table. The woman’s eyes flickered toward the bottle, but she quickly regained her composure.

  She’s not making as much as she’d like, Jin Huang determined. She wants the pills, but she’s likely only entitled to a small cut of their sales.

  “An initial-grade meridian-cleansing pill,” the woman said. “With a golden pill glow. However, since you’ve requested a private room, I’m sure you have more to bring out than this.”

  “This is your personal bonus, should you provide me with satisfactory service,” Jin Huang said, smiling. “It’s something you can consume in a short amount of time, and it will surely help ease the problems you’ve encountered in your cultivation. There will be no need to include it in our bill of sale.”

  The woman gulped. “What might I be able to assist you with?”

  He brought out another ten vials. Without exception, they all had a golden pill glow. “In addition to wanting to sell these, I’d like some information. I’ve noticed that there are very few shops that sell pills, and even less that sell medicinal ingredients. All their prices are in lockstep and abnormally high. Thus far, those I’ve asked spoke about public safety and market regulations. I don’t buy it.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to answer you, but I could get in trouble,” the woman said nervously. “I’m sure that you know our official answer by now…” Then, seeing Jin Huang reach out for the pill bottle, she stopped him. “But since you’re so generous, I could share some insights. I need to warn you in advance that you might not like the answer. The turnover for alchemists in Evergreen City is high for a reason.”