The Awakening of the Awakener

Gleaning Information

He was an idiot. An absolute one hundred percent, complete moron. He had no idea what would possibly possess him to do something as stupid as what he was currently doing but clearly something had and that something were these stupid morals. On the other hand he did need to know what the Mountain and Sea gang wanted and why they were in town, but that most certainly did not stop him from realizing just how stupid that he was being at the current moment. He was just breathing in stupidity. Following them was probably the worst idea that he could possibly come up with, and yet here he was doing that exact thing.

Granted, he knew that he needed to know what they were doing, and no sane human was going to just encounter the Mountain and Sea gang and then turn and snitch on them right afterwards. That would spell certain death, and most people did not have the same protections as people such as himself had. They had no magic to protect them, they could definitely not fight their way out.

Unless they had the ability, or one ability, to use the magic endowed within, they would not. Perhaps if they did not fear for their lives, but any who did not fear for their lives when the Mountain and Sea gang came were idiots. More powerful people have been living in terror of the gang. Lu Ping knew that it would be difficult to find any information unless he followed them. Yet, that did not mean that he enjoyed that fact. He knew that this was a dangerous endevour. He was not one to give up, but the nerves that he felt in the face of those members? He was not entirely sure that this was going to end well. Still, he hid around the corner, peering over, continuing his spying attempts. 

Unfortunately, there was not much that spying on the members of the Mountain and Sea gang actually told him. He knew that they were looking for someone, or something, the constant questioning of the city folk told him that, but he could never get quite close enough to actually hear what they were talking about, and he was not sure it was a good idea to activate his vision of hearing, after all, what would happen if they could sense it? It was not exactly common, but among some of the more high ranking members...

Lu Ping shook himself a bit. He needed to focus. His inability to focus was what was going to kill him one day, he needed to settle himself. He could not live in fear of the Mountain and Sea gang forever. It was something he would need to overcome eventually. Even if that eventually was so far in the distant future that he doubted that he would live to see it. He was just so used to hiding from them...what would he do if he did not need to anymore. It should be considered a good thing, and he knew that. Unfortunately, Lu Ping did not believe that it would ever end. He had made peace with the fact that he was likely going to have to worry and hide from the Mountain and Sea gang his entire life. 

Still, if that was truly the case, why was he following them? He could tell that they were relatively powerful. It was waving off of them, the intense power. Yet, here he was, following them like a bloody moron who was awaiting death. They would not kill him, though. No, they would torment him, capture him, drag him back to the foothold, but they would not kill him. Lu Ping felt that perhaps murder would be a mercy. A mercy which he knew that he would not be granted. He was too...special, and important to their plans, be cursed. They would never risk killing him.

Lu Ping sighed, if he wanted to truly know what was going on he would need to get closer. There was no other option. He could be seen, but the next time that they spoke to someone it was a risk that he was well going to have to take. He could not just do all of this and get no results. That would be tragic, and he was not willing to have gone through all this torment and fear and deal with all the memories, just to get no information. It was not conductive to what he had done, what he had risked. 

So that was exactly what the did. He knew that it was rather risky, but it was a risk that he was going to have to take. It was actually a lot easier then he had originally thought that it would be. Then again, he supposed that since he was garbed in old clothes, and was now clean and had gained on a healthy amount of weight perhaps they did not recognize him. He did not dare think that they were not trying to search for him, but perhaps these two specific members did not know of him, or rather, did not know what he looked like. He could only hope. 

"We were wondering if you had seen a girl?" Lu Ping's brows furrowed. A girl? At least he was in the clear then. "She worked as a consort for a while, unfortunately it would seem as though she had left not too long ago, and we were wondering if you had known anything about that?" The store owner shook their head, and Lu Ping breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I do know that they recently got into some icy water though. One of the Young Masters from the nearby sect had rushed in to save her. Then again, she seemed to have a fascination with the master of the sect for some unknown reason." 

Lu Ping's heart froze in his chest. He knew who they were talking about. After all, he was one of the people who had helped with them. This was not good. they were looking for the Windtakers! He needed to stay calm...

"A nearby sect?" The girl muttered under her breath. "The Token must be there then." 

Lu Ping inhaled sharply. He knew that they would come looking for it. The assassin had been trying to get at the girl that XiFan had saved. Why did he not connect the dots sooner?