Rogue One: An Untamed Story

Chap 22: Business Is Going Well

Liu Yang's Pov:

As expected, Mister Liu's--in no relation to Liu Yang--business remained steady. People would come and go, half of them buying more than they could carry and Mister Liu would get two times richer.

At some point of the day, Liu Yang was allowed to take a break. She sat on the step of a shophouse and twirled her dagger between her fingers mindlessly. Her eyes watched lazily as she then threw Huiqing into the air and sent a burst of spiritual energy.

The blade danced in the air, she let it do a few spins then when it dropped, she caught them again with just two fingers.

"Ooh!" Someone said and clapped. She is broken out of her thoughts and looks at the small crowd of ten that had gathered to watch her. "Do another trick!" A man said and threw some coins at her feet.

The cultivator grinned inwardly as she bent down to pick up the coins. She feels the urge to lecture him about rudely throwing money at her feet like she was a dog being rewarded for doing a trick, but then she thought: "It's the same thing, isn't it?"

She stands and unsheathes both of her daggers. Her arm trembles slightly when she catches sight of the words engraved on her right blade but pushes the thought away.

Then, her performance begins. She makes her daggers twirl and spin, and she dances along with them. Within two minutes, she is slicing her daggers through the air and she moves quickly as if she were fighting an invisible opponent.

As her show draws to a close, she sends burst of spiritual energy to her daggers. Fwoom! In an instant, fire engulfed the blades and she throws them high into the air. The loud cheering fuels her on. Then she turns and runs up a wall.

When she was high enough, she leaps off against the wall and swipes her arm. The fire is extinguished, letting Liu Yang catch her daggers in between her teeth. Finally, she twists her body so that she lands back on the ground and on her feet.

Pain shoots up her leg with the still-healing wound, but she bites back the pain in favour of keeping up with her appearance in front of the crowd. With all the excitement from the crowd, she had completely forgotten about her leg. Oh well, she'll just buy more healing salve from Mister Liu.

Immediately, the crowd--having grown in numbers--thunders with applause. Their cheering and whistling was that of thunder and Liu Yang was the lightning buzzing in the air.

She removes and sheathes her daggers and bows. "Thank you! Thank you!" She grins widely now as she spots that even Mister Liu was clapping.

Everyone tossed whatever money they had on their persons at her. There was so much at one go that Liu Yang decided to just put her satchel on the floor so that they could put their money in it. When the crowd was finished and dispersed like fishes, Liu Yang's bag was almost overflowing.

Mister Liu generously gave her a qiankun pouch to store it all. Because she never had one before, Liu Yang was fascinated by the pouch. She was amazed at how something so small could carry so much and yet weigh nothing at all.

Although it seemed much, what Liu Yang had earned on her own were just copper coins. Not gold or silver. Even with everything added together, her earnings won't amount to even a quarter of what Mister Liu had earned.

Liu Yang sighs, a little tired from her performance. Mister Liu gives her a look that tells her that her break was over--even when they both knew that she didn't really have one. She sighs again and decides to just continue helping with the shop.

Mister Liu's shop sold everything. From windchimes to pottery, to charmed things and special talismans. His most popular item: drawings of the infamous Yiling Patriach, was said to scare away evil spirits from inhabiting your house and to prevent possession.

Liu Yang doubted that those drawings actually worked. But she thought that there wasn't much harm in telling people that they did. It's just a white lie. No harm in that, right?

Or so she thought at first. It wasn't until she examines one of the drawings and a warding talisman Mister Liu made, then did she take back what she said.

This wasn't just a white lie. It was so much more than just a lie. It was a scam.
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