Hidden Operatives

Shen Fei went to the Mercenary Association early the next morning.

Glory City's Mercenary Association stood halfway down the main street of the West District. It was a three-story bluestone building, with a facade that was not particularly imposing but made up for it in sturdiness.

A waist-high stone pillar stood on either side of the entrance, each carved with the association's emblem.

There were few people in the hall when Shen Fei entered. Several mercenaries sat on benches in the corner, polishing their weapons, while a middle-aged man in a short gray jacket stood behind the counter, leafing through a ledger with his head lowered.

Shen Fei walked up to the counter and set down a heavy cloth bag. Its opening loosened, revealing neatly arranged pill bottles and several cultivation manuals wrapped in beast hide.

These were some of the supplies Xiao Ning'er had delivered yesterday. After taking inventory last night, he had picked out a batch of things suitable for low-tier cultivators. The manuals were basic Breathing Techniques copied from those in the Sacred Family's storehouse. They were not particularly precious, but they were practical.

"I'm looking for someone named Su Ming," Shen Fei said.

The middle-aged man behind the counter looked up at him. Shen Fei was still wearing a close-fitting outfit of coarse, dark gray cloth today, without any family insignia. He looked like a young cultivator working on his own.

The middle-aged man asked no further questions. He turned toward the back room and called out that someone surnamed Shen was looking for Su Ming.

Before long, Su Ming emerged from the back room. He had grown a little taller since their last meeting in the alley, and his back was much straighter. His shoulders no longer hunched as he walked, and he carried himself with a newly forged toughness.

When he saw Shen Fei, his steps faltered. Then he hurried over, surprise and a trace of irrepressible excitement in his eyes.

"Brother... Brother Shen," Su Ming called. Then, feeling that the address was not quite appropriate, he moved his lips, unsure what else to call him.

"Call me whatever you like." Shen Fei pushed the cloth bag toward him. "Take these. The pills are for building your cultivation foundation. There are three sets of cultivation techniques, all basic ones suitable for ordinary people with no foundation. Pick suitable people and hand them out. Don't waste them."

Su Ming looked down at the contents of the bag and reached out to touch the pill bottles lightly. His fingertips brushed the patterns on their surfaces, his movements careful. He was silent for several seconds, and when he spoke, his voice was a little tight.

"Brother Shen, these are too valuable. I... how can I repay you?"

"You don't need to." Shen Fei's tone was level. "They'd only sit around gathering dust in my hands. Take them and use them. Just put the steel where the blade needs its edge."

Su Ming clenched the edge of the cloth bag, his knuckles turning white. He had so much he wanted to say, yet he could not get a single word out.

When Shen Fei had spoken to him in the alley last time, he had thought it was just a chance passerby offering a few casual pointers. He had never expected Shen Fei to actually come looking for him again, much less bring so many things.

"Let's find somewhere to sit." Shen Fei glanced around the hall and walked toward an empty table in the corner.

Su Ming followed him, cradling the cloth bag carefully in his arms, and sat down across from him. He placed the bag on his knees and guarded it with both hands, as though afraid its contents might get knocked and damaged.

Shen Fei leaned against the back of his chair and looked at him calmly. "How much do you remember of what I told you last time?"

"All of it," Su Ming answered immediately. "Every word, clear as day."

"Then tell me what you plan to do next."

Su Ming did not answer right away. He lowered his head and thought for a while, gathering his words. When he spoke, he sounded considerably steadier than before.

"Brother Shen, you told me to hand these things out. I know you didn't mean for me to use them all myself. I know a few brothers in much the same situation as me. They all have some foundation in cultivation, but they lack resources and techniques. I want to bring them in first and see if we can put together a small squad."

"What else?"

"Also..." Su Ming paused. "I want to look around the Black Market and see if I can find people like us. Not the kind who just drift through their days, but people with a fire bottled up inside them, determined to climb higher. Plenty of commoners' children in the city can't even get their hands on the most basic Breathing Technique. All they can do is hard labor. If we can bring in a group of people like that and nurture them little by little, they'll definitely be useful someday."

Shen Fei listened without much change in his expression, but his eyes softened slightly. Su Ming's words were much as he had expected. His thinking was clear, and he did not reach for heights beyond his grasp. His steps were small, but they landed firmly.

"That's a sound idea." Shen Fei took a folded piece of parchment from inside his clothes and slid it across the table to Su Ming.

"Remember these addresses. The third door in the alley behind the West District smithy, the teahouse beside the secondhand stall in the southern market, and the row of abandoned barracks at the foot of the city wall. I've already had someone make arrangements at all three places. Your people can stay there from now on. No one will come checking."

Su Ming unfolded the parchment and looked it over. The addresses were written in great detail, even marking which alley to turn into and the door numbers.

He looked up at Shen Fei, his lips moving. He wanted to ask how all this had been arranged, but felt he should not. In the end, he simply folded the parchment carefully and tucked it inside his clothes, close to his body.

"Brother Shen, don't worry." Su Ming's gaze was resolute. "I won't let all your effort go to waste."

"It's not about putting my mind at ease." Shen Fei stood and brushed the dust from the hem of his clothes. "It's about putting your own mind at ease. Think things through before you act. When you're unsure, don't force it. Keeping your people alive matters more than anything else. A dead genius is nothing. Only a living good-for-nothing has a chance to turn his fortunes around."

Su Ming nodded, engraving every word into his mind.

Shen Fei said nothing more and turned to leave. When he reached the doorway, he tilted his head slightly and glanced from the corner of his eye at Su Ming, who was still sitting at the table.

The boy held the cloth bag tightly, as though afraid everything inside would vanish the moment he loosened his grip. Shen Fei withdrew his gaze, pushed the door open, and stepped out into the sunlight.