278 Big Li and Little Li meet Little Yan

When he went to buy stuff this time, Remian loaded a small hand-cart with sacks and crates. He doubled his foodstuff calculations to include Little Yan's needs, got extra wooden dishes and utensils (they used chopsticks), herb-gathering tools, a second set of bedding (otherwise he'd be sleeping in the chair again tonight), two hats, three masks, four scarves and five sets of clothing at roughly Little Yan's size.

"Two sets of tunic and pants; three casual plain robes." Little Yan hugged her new clothes when he showed them to her. "Thank you! I love them!"

Remian breathed a slow sigh of relief. He'd been worried she'd ask about skirts and dresses, all of which he basically knew nothing about. The clothes he'd gotten her were functional, almost utilitarian, and there was nothing particularly pretty about any of them, but they were clean, new, and well-made (at least he thought so).

Big Li or Little Li would be horrified to wear such poor, plain clothes, but Little Yan beamed as though she'd just been given treasures.

As Little Yan tried on her new clothes though, Remian thought of something and realized he'd slipped up. With his back to the girl changing clothes, he said, "We need to get you new shoes too. Yours are almost falling apart. What's your size?"

There was a pause. "I can go with you. I can wear a hat and go try them on myself."

Remian thought it over. "That would be good. Shoes must fit comfortably, and simply telling me your size is risky. Best to try them on yourself."

In order to hide the slave-brand, Little Yan wore a headscarf, and a mask, and then added a bamboo hat on top of that. Hesitantly, almost shyly, she followed him out and back to the markets of Scorched Earth City.

Who knew they'd bump into Big Li and Little Li.

"Lem Yan?!" Little Li gasped. "Where have you been?"

"Lem Yan?" Big Li gaped. "Who's your girlfriend?!"

Zhao Feng and Mu Hou were actually also there. From Big Li's thoughts it was easy to see that they had beaten out, outspent, or outright bought out the other three of the competition.

"She's not…" Remian began, then hesitated. Just how was he to explain Xiao Yan? Sister? Employee? Pet??

"Master, are these your friends?" Xiao Yan asked suddenly.

Just to clarify, based on her language, the word 'Master' here addresses him as her teacher, not her owner. In other words, she was claiming to be his disciple.

"Oh? She is your disciple?" Big Li immediately lost interest.

"Oh? You have a disciple?" Zhao Feng suddenly started paying attention.

Uhoh. What did we do to draw the eye of this homicidal calamity?

"Do you have other disciples?" Zhao Feng asked.

"Um… yeah?" Remian said, thinking of Mindy, George and Tim.

"Are they all capable of using the same abilities you have, to sense danger in the mists?" Zhao Feng pressed, intently.

Remian frowned. "Um… I don't think so? Maybe one or two of them might have picked it up on their own. But it's not something I teach them."

"What DO you teach them?" Little Li asked.

"What did I teach them…?" Remian scratched his head. "First, I taught them how to roast meat. Then I taught them how to wash dishes properly. I guess you could say it's mainly survival skills, and a bit about how to hunt and fight."

"How to fight? You?" Big Li burst out laughing. "You can't even fight Little Li!"

"Hey, at least they can cook." Little Li defended Remian.

My dear aunt, if that's what you call a good defense, please don't defend me!

"It must be hard… seeing as she's a cripple. She can't cultivate either." Zhao Feng observed. "A cripple teaching a cripple… I'm almost curious. Almost."

Mu Hou suddenly cleared his throat. "Ease off. He's probably just tricked her along for cheap labor."

"Labor? Whatever for?" Big Li asked, eyes wide. "Do you know what he's been up to?"

"Of course. I know everything!" Mu Hou said expansively. "Remian came in to the Alchemist Guild to sell trapvine cores on his own the other day. Tell me, Remian… has your harvest increased since you have a free helper at your side now?"

Remian didn't think there was any reason to hide it. "Definitely."

"Ah." Big Li suddenly look enlightened and just a little more approving of Remian.

"Ugh." Little Li, on the other hand, looked a bit disgusted.

Zhao Feng, on the third had, completely lost interest.

As for what they were thinking… Remian was trying not to hear it, but he heard it anyway.

Mu Hou was thinking, [Big Li looks impressed! I should really increase my intelligence network and keep a closer eye on the going-ons about town!]

Zhao Feng was thinking, [So, they're not a potential military asset. If he could train a cohort of scouts able to sense danger ahead of time, he could have been invaluable, but like this… forget it. This is a waste of time.]

Big Li was thinking, [Looks like Lem Yan is not a total empty-head. At least he knows how to exploit others for profit. Perhaps he's not entirely hopeless.]

Little Li was thinking, [I can't believe he's not paying her for her work! That's not fair!]

All told, nobody questioned her identity as his disciple. Nobody even thought about whether or not such a claim was true. A disciple following her master around town… what could be more natural?

Of all their thoughts, it was Little Li's that triggered Remian the most. [She's right. I should give Xiao Yan some spending money as a reward for her labor. Otherwise, she might grow up with a warped sense of the value of money. But not too much, not yet. Giving her too much early on could be disastrous.]

"Hey, come work for me instead! I'll pay you for your work!" Little Li suddenly offered Little Yan.

"Can you sense dangers in the mists?" Little Yan asked.

"Uh… no?"

"Then we're going to die." Little Yan shook her head. "Sorry, but no."

Big Li and Mu Hou were laughing at the side.

"What a direct refusal!" Mu Hou chuckled.

"But it's such a valid reason!" Big Li laughed heartily.

"But…" Little Li hesitated. "But he's a guy! He might… do something to you."

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"Oh? Such as what?" Little Yan asked, peering at her with narrowed eyes.

Uhoh. Now Little Yan seemed to be irritated. Remian suddenly detected a slightly mean streak in his new disciple.

"Um… he might… make you do things… you don't wanna do." Little Li had a slight blush in her face.

"Oh?" Little Yan's mood turned dangerous. "You mean… like tie me to a chair, and tear off all…"

"WHOA!" Big Li clapped both hands around Little Li's ears in such a hurry, it happened with enough speed and force to almost knock her younger sister unconscious. "Lem Yan! What have you done with that girl?! What have you DONE?"

"Nothing like that!" Remian protested. Such words… such ideas… to Big Li and Little Li, those were taboo, nothing proper girls like themselves should even consider thinking about, especially not in public!

But coming from Xiao Yan, Remian almost felt his heart drop. Considering her time as a slave-girl… was she speaking from experience?

Remian jumped into teacher-role, and turned on Discipline mode. "Xiao Yan! Where did you hear such words from? Who was it you heard such things from? Tell me!" [Yan-yan, would you please not get me into trouble like this?]

Xiao Yan froze, then lowered her head and stepped back as if sheepishly. "T-those men yesterday…"

Zhao Feng shook his head disapprovingly, but at that point, Mu Hou was almost rolling around on the ground laughing.

"You are never to speak to them or go near them again!" Remian said in as righteous a tone as he could muster. There. That should make it clear that such things did NOT come from him. At least, not where Xiao Yan was concerned. Hmm. What if Phoebe…

Big Li must have seen a queer look in his eye at that particular moment. "Lem Yan! What are you going to do with her?"

"Me?" Remian snapped out of his thoughts in a hurry. "I'm just taking her shopping for shoes."

"And then?"

"Then we're going to look for more trapvine cores."

"And then?"

"Then…" Remian paused. "I'm going to take her to a place where there is no slavery!"