Everything Was in Place

Xia Lin stopped and turned around. Sera's deep, dark red eyes still seemed profound beneath the afternoon sun.

"Can't really call it a plan." His tone was casual. "I just happen to have a little something that... might come in handy."

Relying on his hazy memories of the Lower City's winding alleys in Orlando, Xia Lin led Sera into a secluded street thick with the smell of herbs and spices.

There were, just as he'd expected, several small but rather timeworn herb shops and alchemy supply stores here.

Xia Lin picked the most unassuming-looking shop, with a string of dried lizard tails and several bunches of unidentified herbs hanging by the door, and went inside.

The shop was dim, and the air was thick with a pungent herbal smell. Sera couldn't help wrinkling her brow, her nose twitching beneath her veil.

An old gnome with a monocle, hair as messy as a bird's nest, and a few green stains on his chin was dozing behind a counter piled with bottles and jars.

"Boss, you've got a customer!" Xia Lin knocked on the counter.

The old gnome jolted awake, nearly dropping his glasses. He straightened them and studied Xia Lin and Sera with sharp little eyes. "Buying or selling? Let me make one thing clear: no credit, and I don't take anything of dubious origin."

Xia Lin slid over the piece of parchment with the copied recipe. "Boss, take a look at this. How much of it can you get together? The ingredients need to be the right age and processed to the highest standard."

The old gnome picked up the parchment and held it beneath the dim oil lamp. His eye narrowed behind the monocle as he read each line, muttering to himself. "Dawn Dew Grass... Hmm, I have that. Just got a batch of three-year-old stuff in the cellar. Bellflower pollen... ground or whole flowers? Moonlight Moss... I'd have to go outside the city at night to gather that. Only the fresh stuff has any kick..."

He worked his way down the list, nodding at times and shaking his head at others. When he reached "Heart of Dusk," his bushy little brows furrowed. "Heart of Dusk? Never heard of it... What kind of strange thing is that?"

He set down the parchment, then slowly dragged a massive ledger out from beneath the counter. It was thicker than a city wall's bricks and bound in what looked like cheap reptile hide. The crooked gnome script on its cover read "Record of Rare Treasures."

The old gnome spat on his finger and began flipping through the musty ledger with a rapid rustle. Dust drifted down in little clouds.

Sera took half a step back in disgust.

"Aha!" the old gnome suddenly cried. His eye gleamed behind the monocle as he jabbed a saliva-stained finger at a line in the ledger. "Found it! The 'Heart of Dusk' you're looking for is called 'Spirit of Eternal Night' in my records!"

Xia Lin's heart stirred, but his expression remained unchanged. "Then do you have any Spirit of Eternal Night here, Boss?"

"Have it? If I had that stuff, would I still be stuck in this lousy herb shop, breathing in the stench of people's feet?" The old gnome shot him an exasperated look. "Young man, I have most of the things on your list, and I can guarantee the right age and processing. But there are three things my little shop can't provide. Spirit of Eternal Night is one of them."

The old gnome cleared his throat and launched into an explanation, speaking like a seasoned information broker. "They say Spirit of Eternal Night can only be formed, in tiny grains no bigger than rice, by certain ancient trees deep in forests that endured a long age of darkness before basking in the first rays of sunlight again. It exists almost exclusively in the songs of bards and the secret collections of certain ancient families. Forget my little shop—even in all of Orlando, I doubt anyone would dare claim they had any in stock."

Spirit of Eternal Night... The name sounded somewhat familiar to Xia Lin.

He vaguely remembered that when he'd built what was said to be the grandest mansion in Changhe City, he'd spent a fortune on a batch of ancient timber from a mysterious merchant who claimed to come from the Eastern Continent. The wood was supposedly "steeped in a thousand years of darkness and imbued with the essence of eternal night." It had been dark in color and exuded a strange, delicate fragrance. His Old Man had treasured it and used it for the most prominent support pillars in the main hall.

Could it be...

Seeing Xia Lin lost in thought, the old gnome raised another herb-stained finger and continued. "The other two will be just as hard to find. The first is Graveyard Ghost. That stuff is wicked. It only grows in old burial grounds steeped in death. I've heard people have seen it in the abandoned old graveyard outside Orlando. You could try your luck there."

He paused, then raised a second finger. "The other is Pride of the Griffin. It's the longest, hardest crest feather on an adult griffin's chest, a symbol of the glory of the sky. It won't be easy to get. A live griffin will rip you apart like a rat, and even if you find a dead one, it has to have died of natural causes. Feathers damaged by magic or blades lose most of their potency and are no good for medicine." The old gnome smacked his lips.

"How much would the rest of these common ingredients cost?"

The old gnome's eyes shifted as he picked up an abacus and rattled through some calculations. "Since you're serious about buying, I'll charge you four silver coins and fifty coppers for the ingredients that meet your requirements for age and processing. Not a copper less!"

"Deal!" Xia Lin readily pulled out his money pouch. He knew he couldn't hesitate now, or the old fox might spot something and raise the price.

While Xia Lin paid, he secretly activated [Item Appraisal].

A pale blue screen flashed across his vision. The old gnome's jars and bottles were all clearly marked with their age, purity, and processing method. They were indeed quality goods that met his requirements, and the price was fair enough.

After stuffing the large bundle of pungent herbs into his Space Bag, Xia Lin felt much more at ease.

The two walked out of the dim herb shop side by side and returned to the Lower City streets of Orlando, with their salty sea breeze and bustling crowds.

"All right, we've taken care of part of it." Xia Lin patted the pouch at his waist and let out a long breath. "Dawn Dew Grass, Bellflower pollen... The common stuff is all pretty good in age and quality. That old gnome didn't rip us off too badly."

Sera's dark red eyes, hidden behind her veil, swept over Xia Lin. Her tone was flat. "Just the 'common' stuff. Those three rare ingredients—Graveyard Ghost, Pride of the Griffin, and whatever that Spirit of Eternal Night is—sound like one bigger headache than the next."

"They're definitely going to be a pain." Xia Lin nodded. "But where there's a will, there's a way. When my Old Man built the mansion in Changhe City, he bought a batch of wood supposedly from the East, 'imbued with the essence of eternal night,' just to show off. I don't know if the story was true, but at least it gives us a lead."

"You're so poor you're nearly eating your boots for dinner, and you still have a house?" Doubt filled Sera's dark red eyes. She looked as if she'd just heard a gnome announce that he planned to run for the next King of the Elves.

"In a borderland like Changhe City, houses are the least valuable things around." Xia Lin waved a hand, his tone carrying the hard-won wisdom of experience. "There's land everywhere—wilderness stretching across the mountains. All you need is the courage and strength to develop it. My lousy mansion has a lot of land, sure, and a few imposing-looking wooden pillars inside. But it wouldn't fetch much if I tried to sell it."

"So your plan is to go back to Changhe City and tear down your house first?" Sera's tail-tip curled into a question mark behind her. She clearly had reservations about Xia Lin's "wild idea."

"Tearing down the house can wait, and we don't even know if that wood really is Spirit of Eternal Night." Xia Lin shook his head and brought his thoughts back to the matter at hand. "The priority is finding Graveyard Ghost. According to the old gnome, it grows in the abandoned graveyard outside Orlando. Of the ingredients we're missing, that's the one we have the best chance of getting."

He glanced at the sky. The afternoon sun was blazing. "If we go now, we can scout the place before dark. It's abandoned, so there shouldn't be much danger..."

"Don't say 'there shouldn't be much danger.'" Sera cut in at once, a trace of caution in her voice. "Xia Lin, I don't trust that mouth of yours. The more relaxed you are, the more likely trouble is to find us."

Xia Lin coughed dryly. "All right, you're right. Better safe than sorry. If we're going to a creepy place like a graveyard, we should bring something to counter the undead, shouldn't we?" He flashed a merchant's grin. "Do you know where the most famous temple of Lord of Dawn and Light, Randall, is? Right here in Orlando! Holy water that costs five silver coins a little bottle elsewhere—and has to be booked in advance—here... they sell it by the pound!"

They crossed several busy shopping streets and headed toward Orlando's famous Temple District.

The closer they got to the Temple District, the more the bustle in the air gave way to an atmosphere of solemnity and reverence.

Bathed in the afternoon sunlight, Randall's Temple of Dawn glowed a soft, warm ivory white. A massive sun emblem gleamed atop the temple like a sun that would never set.

The plaza before the temple was packed with people, far busier than Xia Lin had imagined.

Believers and tourists poured in without end to pray, seek Divine Grace, or simply admire the temple's splendor. A long queue stretched from the temple doors all the way to the edge of the plaza.

"Good grief, there are so many people!" Xia Lin clicked his tongue at the seemingly endless line. "Randall's followers are even more devout than I thought."

"Maybe it's just because the holy water is cheap here," Sera said expressionlessly.

With no other choice, the two joined the long queue.

Xia Lin was fine. He wasn't a particularly devout believer to begin with; he was mostly there to see what all the fuss was about.

Sera seemed a little uncomfortable. She pulled her veil lower and tried to avoid the sacred aura radiating from the clergy and fervent believers around her, which unsettled her.

Time passed as they waited. The afternoon sun gradually sank westward, and the hot air grew cooler.

It wasn't until evening, when the setting sun had stained the temple's white walls a warm orange, that they finally reached the counter selling holy relics.

The attendant was an elderly Priest who looked spry, with a neatly groomed beard.

His gaze was gentle and wise, and a kind smile rested on his face.

"Travelers from afar who have lost their way, may the light of dawn show you the path." The old Priest's voice was as steady as an evening bell. "How may I assist you?"

"We need holy water. A lot of holy water." Xia Lin got straight to the point and placed two silver coins on the counter. "The kind that makes those fellows who like wandering around in the dark feel uncomfortable."

The old Priest smiled and took two large earthenware jars from beneath the counter. Their mouths were tightly sealed with wax, and each was filled with a generous supply of blessed holy water.

"Two silver coins. May Randall's blessing be with you."

Xia Lin hefted the two heavy jars, nodded in satisfaction, and put them into his Space Bag. This much holy water would be enough to wash the entire old graveyard from one end to the other.

"All right, ammunition replenished." He patted the pouch at his waist. It was already getting dark, and the magic lamps were lighting up along the distant streets. After a moment's thought, he said, "It's getting late. Going to the old graveyard at night would only add unnecessary risks."

He turned to Sera. "Let's find somewhere to rest for the night and recharge. We'll head to the old graveyard first thing tomorrow morning."