William Anderson
Stories
6
Chapters
2,147
Words
340.2 K
Comments
0
Reading
1 d, 4 h
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Muchen picked up a few more barrels of wine while he was in Jiuli City, still sticking to the cheapest stuff he could find. After multiple rounds of distillation and filtration most of the original taste would be gone anyway. He still felt pain in his heart as he shelled out the silver. Making liquor was ultimately a profitable endeavor, of course, but it would be so much more profitable once he had his own winery to go with the distillery. Establishing a new business and putting it on a sound financial…-
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After Xinyi cowed the quarrelsome elders, the rest of the meeting went smoothly. Muchen had to take over and smooth some ruffled feathers, but he didn't mind playing the good cop to Xinyi's murderous cop. The funny thing was that her evident willingness to wipe out a whole family for annoying her proved their bona fides as much as her raw power. In a world where might made right, if you didn't act like you had the right to trample over anybody in your path people would tend to question your might. Muchen…
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It took a little more persuading, but in the end Zihan agreed to hear him out once she was sober. Getting Shuchang to the meeting was a bit trickier, but in the end he couldn't resist the lure of a solution to his romantic dilemma. He showed up to the bar at noon, together with Xiaomei. The bartender showed the two of them to a back room where Muchen and Zihan were already waiting. Shuchang and Zihan tensed up when they saw each other. Muchen stepped forward to intervene before the situation could…
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Muchen woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. When he took into account how much booze he'd put away it was relatively mild, but it still wasn't a pleasant way to start the day. He forced himself to crawl out of his bedroll and step into the open air, noting in passing that his biological clock had woken him up with the dawn despite everything he'd done the previous night. He paced around his tent, then jogged in place for a moment. Already, the headache had largely faded away. Muchen headed…
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55 •
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Muchen didn't recognize whatever treasure the beast was carrying, but he could see its effect on the rest of the team. Shuchang, in particular, reacted as though he'd been electrocuted. "Hurry!" Shuchang said, breaking into a run. He barely broke stride as he leaned down to scoop up his spear in passing. Muchen sprinted after him. The rest of the team followed, their cultivation and conditioning not quite up to the same standard. Muchen felt his legs start to burn. He could keep up a jogging pace all day…
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55 •
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The lunging beast collided with the flat of the blade. The shock of the impact sent Muchen staggering backwards, thankfully towards the relative safety of his team's position. He managed to extend his arms and force the snarling mutated head away from him. It was still closer than he would like, but he'd managed to create just enough space for the nearby swordsman to take a swipe at it. The sword hit with a clang, not finding a weak spot nor smashing through the beast's armor, but striking with enough…
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55 •
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Their hunting party set out the next day bright and early. Everybody involved seemed to be in good spirits. Muchen had some butterflies in his stomach, but did his best to put a good face on things. For his part, Shuchang seemed as chipper as ever. The act of leading a small party into the dangerous wilderness obviously didn't lay heavily on his shoulders. Muchen hoped that his confidence was founded on something besides youthful exuberance. He also hoped that the first monster of the day, at least,…
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Muchen joined his hunting party for dinner. The six of them gathered in front of Shuchang tent. As the leader of their expedition and the leader of their party, Shuchang naturally commanded the position at the head of the camp, near the north gate. He'd be the first one manning the defense in the case of an emergency. He also hadn't skimped on the creature comforts. His tent was made of fine material more than a grade or two above what Muchen usually wore for his clothing, and the glimpse Muchen had of…
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He spent the next few days gathering information and dodging bar fights. There was a limit to what he could pick up without being nosy enough to draw attention, but Muchen was able to confirm the basic outline of the situation. Zihan was from a small family. Her father was a government official in the Qianzhan Empire, but with mediocre talents and no major backer behind him he wasn't able to wield any real power. He'd been able to secure a do nothing job in Jiaoqu Town that paid enough to feed his family…
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Normally when somebody showed up to drink early in the day and was on a first name basis with the bartender, it was some kind of grizzled old man. Instead, Muchen turned to find that the interloper was a beautiful young woman. She was dressed in hunting leathers that did little to hide the rather impressive shape of her body, and with her hair swept back into a high ponytail she cut quite the heroic figure. She also stood nearly as tall as Muchen. "Sorry to interrupt," she said to Muchen, not sounding…
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