>>6299927<span class="mu-s">“Oh HO! My reputation precedes me, does it? Yes, it is I! Or so I have been told. Truthfully, I’ve never heard the word until I met these fine people, or if I had, I had long forgotten it.”</span>
“No, not YOUR reputation. Not exactly.” Chang smiles thoughtfully. “There is a seminal text in my master’s possession which described what must be your ancestor or relative, the Sovereign Jiang… A primordial chaos spirit, of both the Celestial Court and the Sea of Darkness.”
<span class="mu-s">“I am!”</span> The Naked Emperor pauses. <span class="mu-s">“Am I?”</span>
“You are,” you whisper, since you heard the hundun’s ultimate origin straight from the mouth-analogue of the Dark Goddess who spawned the first of their kind, through the rapine and consumption of an ancient fairy-god.
“I confess that Ma Wufeng—though she is surely a most fair and lovely countenance, and wise and kind of soul—can probably not provide that which her former master could have… And which MY master requires.”
“Such a shame,” Ayla answers the strange swordsman, with a tone implying that he should probably scuttle off and leave you be.
“But it is said that the Sovereign Jiang could provide many a miracle cure, in his nigh-infinite power and wisdom…”
Your hackles—hairier than ever right about now—begin to raise. Ayla’s aura tightens around her chakras, too, the free flow aligning for arcana—ready to cast. All at once, the atmosphere has shifted and changed.
“I was tasked with securing such a miracle, from the late proprietor of this place,” Chang Lanseoul continues, as calm and collected as ever. “How fortuitous to find it here. Perhaps you even brought this hundun to trade, only to find Ziwei Bo sadly absent?”
You narrow your eyes. That’s not entirely wrong… Except, of course, for the bit where you never intended to give Empy up, and always meant to rob Bo instead. Your grip tightens on the soft and pliable surface of your strange, dumpling-shaped demigod. You see where this is going, and you don’t like it.
“Perhaps you would acquiesce to trade with this humble servant, instead?” Chang Lanseoul asks innocently. “My master is quite wealthy, and has given me considerable leeway to trade in his stead.”
<span class="mu-s">“Oh my! It is rather flattering, to be so desired, ho ho…”</span>
