The players split off in different directions. Xu Huo, Guan Sheng, and Qian Xuwen followed several black-robed players. After passing through a narrow passage, they emerged into a small garden. Somehow, it was still in full bloom despite the season, and its heady fragrance filled the air. A masked figure wearing a gray robe came over and announced that the prayer was about to begin.
At the center of the garden stood a Twin Snakes bronze statue. A crowd gathered around it. The gray-robed figure raised both hands and bowed to the statue, then began reciting the prayer in fits and starts, pausing now and then to remind everyone how to pray or to tell them to make their requests to the statue. It was as if the thing standing there was not a cheap bronze statue, but an all-powerful wish-granting machine.
The pointless activity didn't last long. When it ended, the gray-robed figure announced that free trading could begin. Players were welcome to trade in the garden or leave to look for other players. Then the figure disappeared into the flowers.
There were quite a few people here, and the players weren't in a hurry to leave. Black-robed figures brought out food and drinks, and everyone chatted in a friendly atmosphere, trading small items or putting rare and strange things up for auction. The whole process was fairly pleasant.
Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen stood behind Xu Huo. They had checked the food and drinks and found nothing wrong. Some people had approached them to peddle their wares, but Xu Huo had turned them all down. He stood silently in a corner, seemingly waiting for something.
Halfway through the trading, a player asked whether the Twin Snakes Organization sold Potions and items to outsiders.
"The Twin Snakes Organization only