Chapter 289 - The Pompous Merchant

Yuzu recalled the memory of that angry, pompous merchant that had come into her shop years ago. Even after discovering that he making demands of her with a contract from a different pawn shop, he didn’t apologize and leave. Instead he continued to complain about the contract, lumping all pawn shops under the same label, calling them all swindlers and cheats.

Even back then at the age of twelve Yuzu understood that the man was trying to get under her skin. She wanted to kick the man out and send him back to the shop where he originally signed the contract, but she was intimidated by his rage. After all, she was young and inexperienced. At the time she had just started occasionally watching the shop alone without Xiang or Zwei’s supervision.

She ended up listening to him yell at her for half an hour, her fear turning into irritation as she realized he was all bark and no bite.

Then she had an epiphany that turned the entire situation around.

~

I understand now.

Yuzu set aside her memories as she evaluated Jun Yi Kong’s words with a calm objectiveness. This person was someone who once held incredible power, but now due to Fate he had been trapped in this well for millennia. He was constantly berating her and deriding Fate, showing no respect for her or her predecessors.

His recollections of his interactions with the Saint who had locked him in this prison, and Akahi who had made deals with him, placed him in positions of power over them. They were coming to him, not the other way around.

But for all his boasting Jun Yi Kong was the one who was trapped here.

His disdain and hatred of Fate was understandable, but he also clearly both respected and acknowledged the power of Fate.

Despite just having met Yuzu he insulted and derided her constantly, projecting his prejudices of Fate on her. However Yuzu was completely unfazed by his words, because his actions clearly betrayed his true intentions.

Jun Yi Kong had the ability to bring Yuzu into the space, surely he had the ability to cast her out. Even if he didn’t, he didn’t need to tell her about his past or his predicament. Though he had said it as if he were casually gloating Yuzu clearly saw his motives.

Yuzu had chosen a precise moment to let Jun Yi Kong know that she was not affiliated with Akahi. Jun Yi Kong had reacted with shock. The seeds of doubt were placed in his mind.

Had something gone wrong?

Had the deal with Akahi fallen through?

Or perhaps Akahi had even purposefully set things up this way…

It was time for Yuzu’s counter attack.

“If you detest dealing with Fate so much, I can leave.” Yuzu said, “I know nothing about your deal with Akahi, nor can I say I’m on good terms with her followers, so I really can’t help you there. But I should let you know: This world is no longer accessible by the guru-chi.”

“What?”

“The destruction of the trial basin has destroyed one of the anchors of the sending ritual.” Yuzu nodded, “Though you probably have already guessed this, I thought I’d mention it.”

This was a piece of knowledge that Yuzu had kept hidden up to this moment, one that she had gathered from when she was Fate Cycling in their resting spot, before she had been dragged into the spiritual plane by Jun Yi Kong. From her visions she already knew that any attempts Somm might make to send himself or Yuzu into the Trial world would fail.

If I leave and Akahi’s followers don’t come for you… Is there anyone in this world that can save you? Or will you be stuck here for eternity?

Yuzu looked upon Jun Yi Kong with a serious gaze, her grey eyes shimmering with golden threads.

Am I now your only hope?

Yuzu didn’t need to say anything more. The pressure in the air around them lessened. Jun Yi Kong’s aura changed, ever dark and brooding but no longer hostile.

The words of the old saint echoed in his mind, “I sentence you to rot… for eternity.”

The old saint’s words final words to him were true. The location in the spirit world where the old saint had hidden Ying Zhen was hidden was never exposed.

In that ancient Era, known as the Era of Monsters, Jun Yi Kong disappeared from existence.

Four millennia later, seemingly by pure chance a Goddess of Fate had found a trace thread in the aether that led her to Ying Zhen.

Over the next several thousand years, Jun Yi Kong and Akahi had many discussions.

The Exalted world had changed drastically. The chaos of the Era of Monsters had been subdued, and the three Divine Kingdoms had been established. Catalyst formulas and information about the path to immortality were being spread by the God of Knowledge.

In Jun Yi Kong’s time there were no gods, because there were no Exalted who were purely from a single domain. But in the next era, armed with new knowledge, Exalted were able to excel their previous limits and ascend to the highest peaks of divinity.

In the era of Gods and Demons, the only existence that could be said to be on par with the gods were the three evils from the Era of Monsters.

But Jun Yi Kong, the Evil known as the Demon King, had been completely suppressed in his seal.

Only in Akahi’s final moments of desperation did she turn to Jun Yi Kong for help, unravelling a small portion of his seal and giving him control over the pocket world of Ying Zhen.

Thus, the Demon King Jun Yi Kong became the custodian to the Trial of Requirement.

But now at the very end of the deal something unexpected happened. The trial was destroyed and was now in shambles, a follower of Akahi had not appeared as she foretold. Instead there was only this girl before him, attuned to fate but not even an immortal.

This girl who didn’t even know his name.

This fact bothered Jun Yi Kong immensely. It was something that he had suspected, a nagging feeling from when he devoured the sacrifices sent to him by the guru-chi and read through their memories, the only glimpses of the world that he had had over the past thousand years.

The old saint had sealed Jun Yi Kong away, but the Demon King’s name still lived on in legend. After Akahi had discovered him, his name had slowly been forgotten by the world.

If this last thread between him and Fate was cut, would he be isolated from the world for the rest of eternity?

“Little Yuzu, I have a proposition.”

Yuzu’s eyes shone as she heard Jun Yi Kong’s words.

~

A few days after the pompous merchant had barged into the shop, twelve year old Yuzu was sitting at the counter reading while Xiang managed the shop.

The chimes over the door rang as a number of hired hands came into shop, carrying a number of wooden crates.

“What’s this?” Xiang asked, standing up.

“Six crates of silks and jewelry, as previously arranged.” The merchant said, walking into the shop.

“And you are…?” Xiang asked with a confused expression.

However he was even more bewildered as the merchant ignored him and walked over to Yuzu.

“Yuzu, good morning.” He said with a warm smile, “As you can see, I’ve fulfilled my side of the deal.”

The young girl finished the passage in her book, calmly setting it down on the counter. She walked around to the other side, inspecting the contents of the crates with a critical eye and a cold, almost bored expression.

Xiang could only stand back for the moment and watch as his little sister commanded the attention of the merchant and his men.

“It’s good, one moment please.” Yuzu said. She walked around to the back of the shop, returning with a small chest and a contract parchment. She opened the chest, revealing twenty gold coins in two neat stacks.

Xiang’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he quickly stepped in front of Yuzu, closing the chest, “Wait one second, let me see that contract.”

“Xiang, this is my deal.” Yuzu frowned, “Go away!”

“Sorry, one moment sir.” Xiang said, taking the chest and contract in one hand and ushering Yuzu to the back with the other.

The walked to the kitchen where they spoke in hushed voices.

“Xiang! You said you would let me do my own business!” Yuzu scowled.

“I did— but this is a lot of money— Did that merchant bully you while I was away?” Xiang hissed, “That’s almost all our savings! You can’t just make a deal like this.”

“You never said I had a limit!” Yuzu retorted, “And I did not get bullied. I snatched this business from MuTang Pawn Shop.”

“MuTang? Those phonies?” Xiang’s brows furrowed, “What kind of business?”

His anger subsided as he scanned the contract that Yuzu had arranged with the merchant.

“Master Zhu has a huge purchase that he needs to make over his competitors, but he lacks the capital. He’s putting down his wife’s luxury belongings as collateral to make the purchase.” Yuzu explained, “The terms are in our favour, the payback period is short since he just has to distribute the goods to his local contacts once he purchases them. MuTang are idiots for not jumping on this.”

“Don’t insult our competition, it’s not professional.” Xiang muttered, his eyes widening as he read the terms of the contract. Indeed, it was as Yuzu said. No, in fact the deal was even better than he expected. “These terms… How did you get him to agree to this…”

“Don’t make me look bad in front of the customer next time!” Yuzu yanked the chest and contract out of Xiang’s hands, as she returned to the front.

“Is there a problem?” The merchant asked with a concerned expression.

“Not at all.” Yuzu said, placing the contract down on the counter, “Just stamp here with your seal and we’re set.”

~

Yuzu cast her eyes around the chamber, looking at the holy statues of saints that were lit by the mystical starlight streaming in through the open ceiling. The intricate, geometrical cage of fate threads shimmered around her, their complex workings far beyond her comprehension.

She maintained contact with Jun Yi Kong’s silver string, which connected to his soul which was trapped in an infinite dark well within the monstrous statue at the center of the chamber.

A part of her awareness even reached back to her physical body, which remained in the ruins in the Fuha Swamp. Somm was resting on the other side of the room, his eyes half open as he rested while keeping an eye on Yuzu and Nilya’s motionless forms. The guru-chi seemed unaware that Yuzu was no longer in her body, as she remained in a silent meditative pose.

“Little Yuzu, I have a proposition.”

Jun Yi Kong’s voice rumbled across the chamber.

“Release me, and I shall send you and the boy back to the physical world.” Jun Yi Kong said, “I shall even provide him with a hollow ember, satisfying the original deal.”

Yuzu’s eyes glinted as her lips pressed together in a tiny grin.

“Sorry,” Yuzu shook her head, “No deal.”