Chapter 32: Careful Observation dictates…take the rock
Unfortunately for Zhen Liu, he was not given some cheat power in his eyes or a cheating all knowing system to explain things for him when he got transmigrated. He did have the archive ring and the symbol on his left hand, but they weren’t doing shit either. Evidently, Zhen Liu had to rely on his own instincts for this moment.
‘Alright Tommy bo-…Liu boy? Liu, just Liu, time to put your luck and instinct to the test!,” Zhen Liu thought to himself as he and Jin Fang began to carefully look through the old man’s wares.
The old man had about seven items for sale on his blanket: a small bronze eight-sided mirror, a ball made of a cloud patterned cloth, a small rusted blade with no proper handle, a hair pin made of blue stone, a chunk of amber with small bone fragments inside of it, a turtle shell carved with scrimshaw and a crystal pocket watch.
…
…
Wait a minute…what the anachronistic hell?
“Hey, how much for the-”
“Oh, apologies,” the old man said as he removed the pocket watch and placed it into his robes, “That piece isn’t for sale I’m afraid. I have a bad habit of emptying everything in my pockets.”
An apologetic smile formed on the old man’s face as Zhen Liu stared at him. Zhen Liu had already written the dude off as being a time traveler or a fellow isekai’d fellow, but he wasn’t about to call him out on it. ‘Yeah this stuff is clearly magic or whatever passes as way more powerful than necessary in this world, I need to pick incredibly carefully now.’
While Zhen Liu was mulling over his choices, Jin Fang had already picked an item.
“How much is this?,” Jin Fang asked as she held up the blue hair pin. Now that it was a bit closer to eye level, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but notice that embedded into the delicate looking hair pin was the image of a pair of serpents intertwining each other up and down the hair pins’ length made of what appeared to be gold. They were surprisingly detailed.
“Ah that old thing? It used to belong to a queen from a far away land…” The old man looked a bit misty eyed for a moment before shaking his head and answering Jin Fangs’ question. “You can take it for a silver piece.”
Jin Fang was taken aback at the low price being pitched. She had seen similar pieces before at other vendors and they’d always be going for at least three gold pieces.
“No way, that’s much too low a price. At least take this gold piece for it,” Jin Fang said as she prepared to hand over the coin.
“The price is only one silver,” the old man insisted, “But if you do give me the gold coin, feel free to take another item as well. I recommend the ball. It works well with those with an Aeroqi expression.”
Jin Fang was about to thank the old man for the items after exchanging the coin for them, but stopped when she processed the words he just said. ‘How did he know what kind of aether I express?’
“And you young man? Anything I’m selling of interest to you?”
“This one,” Zhen Liu said as a he picked up the piece of amber, “It looks interesting.”
The old man looked a bit surprised at Zhen Liu’s choice, a feeling made plain by his raised brow.
“Really? That piece of amber is most useful in the hands of crafters, you sure wouldn’t want the blade or the shell? They’re both more practical and straightforward, useful in the hands of a warrior,” the old man told Zhen Liu, “even ones of unusual circumstances.” A profound curiosity filled the old man’s eyes as he studied Zhen Liu, who had begun to fiddle with the piece of amber in his hands.
“Well despite how I look, I consider myself more of a crafter over a fighter,” Zhen Liu said as he put the chunk of amber away into his own pockets, “What’s that old saying? Looks can be deceiving, right?”
“…indeed.”
Zhen Liu was about to reach towards his own coin purse before the old man stopped him with a raise of his palm.
“No need young man, the gold coin that your beloved paid me was more than enough. Besides, wouldn’t want to keep you two from the exhibition match any longer than I already had.”
“How did you-”
“Ah! He’s right!,” Jin Fang interjected while pointing towards the colosseum entrance. People have begun to walk in and line up, if the two didn’t hurry they’d be stuck in the cheap seats.
“We’d better get going! Thanks for the items, mister,” Jin Fang said as she took Mini into her arms and pull Zhen Liu away. The latter took one last look at the old guy before placing his gaze towards the colosseum.
‘Good luck old fellow, hopefully my own journey will be as productive as yours someday…maybe more.’
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As the couple and their pet hippo left his vicinity, Raleigh began to scratch his bearded chin in deep thought.
‘Should I consider it fate or fortune that my old friends’ treasures has returned to the hands of her descendants?,” Raleigh thought to himself, “Perhaps both.”
A moment later, he retrieved the blade with no handle, the turtle shell scrimshaw and the little bronze mirror and returned them to his pockets.
He took out the crystal pocket watch from earlier and proceeded to open it. As he did, the world around him seem to slow ever so slightly.
‘Hmmm. I assumed I had the right time to give these last three away…perhaps the place is wrong? Well, no matter. Just need to do it later then.’
Raleigh stared at the pocket watch, the ticking mechanism inside going ever onward, then proceeded to close the pocket watch and-…
…
…
A youth attending the booth front for one his friends stared blankly into space, bored out of his skull or in deep thought, no one knew for sure. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait there long.
“Thanks for covering for me man. Last time I get roasted newt, I tell you now!”
“Huh? Oh yeah, no problem…hey. This is gonna sound weird, but was there another vendor across from yours?”
“Huh?”
“Over there was an old guy on a blanket.”
The booth owner turned to where his friend was pointing and saw…nothing save an old oil lamp post.
“Man, you need to go drink some water. It’d be impossible for someone to set up a booth there.”
The youth stared for a bit before nodding in agreement.
“Yeah… I’ll go do that…”
