Chapter 196: A Good Deal

Chapter 196: A Good Deal

It is clearly becoming night, and typically in these situations, you would set up a watch.

In this case, I let him know at this tree house can seal itself up, while still maintaining airflow. We can still maintain somewhat of a watch, but anything that could or would break through these walls would give us enough warning to run away.

And anything that wouldnt give us enough, we wouldnt be able to fight, anyway.

After I say something to that effect, he thinks about it and agrees.

He offers to take the first watch, which is worded as if hes doing a favor to me. Of course, I know this is just him being wary. A natural game played between two parties who are unsure of each other, but still cordial.

In his case, it appears he trusts me, but only to a point.

To help gain more of his trust, I quickly agree and let myself fall asleep. Obviously, while maintaining my awareness.

This is where my abilities that Ive been training will shine. It will allow me to maintain a baseline idea of whats going on, even while being inside of a dream.

As my eyes finally close and I move to sleep, I discover an interesting synergy between my awareness ability and my new cultivation.

Normally, it would be like a fuzzy picture of the surrounding area, with things that happen, like sudden sounds or vibrations, appearing clearer.

Now, theres an aspect of Qi woven inside of it. Uses of cultivation abilities will catch within the picture, as my scan is also active at the same time.

So, when Ive actually fallen asleep, Im still able to see the wisp of spiritual sense moving from him to me, probing to see if Im actually sleeping. For all intents and purposes, I am.

He seems to relax at finding this out, retracting his sense. Next, he seems to look at me with a weird look of gratefulness and confusion. This quickly turns into a shake of the head and a new look of conviction.

Like the way I had acted earlier, people rarely trust others that easily. And frankly, shouldnt.

Still, I have a great feeling about this guy.

But not just him.

There are so many people out here that one too and can do a lot of good in the world if they have the chance. Whether its the money, ability or their circumstances, think all these people want to be better.

To do better for others.

Almost as if responding to my thoughts, I can see his spiritual sense float outside of the tree to do his job. Over the course of the night, he seems to relax more and more, and keeps throwing grateful glances over at me.

It's easy to forget the difference is a safe place at night can do for a person. Considering the injuries I saw on him; it looks like he wasnt able to find or make such a thing when he went deep into the jungle.

Hes holding hidden cards. Some of his likely requires him to store away energy in some manner.

I just cheat through it with a totally different source of energy, mana.

I pivot my mind away from this and back to the absurd amounts of materials hidden within this jungle.

Like the jungles back on earth, there is an enormous amount of flora and fauna diversity in this jungle. Things that are surprisingly hard to find, but easy to if you know what to look for.

Once again, some people know these tricks, but its not widely known and across such a variety of plants

We get so much done in the day that we managed to actually fill half of the space in the treehouse by the end of the day.

With this much in storage, he brings up a thought.

Young Master, I actually have some contacts that would absolutely love to purchase these. It can sometimes be hard to sell things quickly and to a discerning buyer, but I procured quite a few things from them that helped me on my journeys.

If youd like, I could get you in contact with them and you could sell these to them. I know they pay an above average price for such high-quality goods and in such a large quantity.

He leans in close, despite the fact that no one is around.

They also sell a variety of goods that arent normally available because of certain oppressive guilds. Perhaps these could help you as you attempt to get stronger and progress.

This could be quite the good contact for me. Especially with me being on the bad side of the Alchemy Guild, Im clear to be blacklisted in quite a few areas. While I may have had some success in other aspects of the business world, in that area, they will put some pressure on.

Ill probably be using Mei Lins family to sell to, as it will show obvious support but I shouldnt put all my eggs in one basket.

With this in mind, I quickly agree and a huge smile grows on his face. This will probably help his standing grow in the long run, as he will have introduced a good seller.

By the time we end there for the night and he takes first watch, we seem to have grown a bit more naturally comfortable with each other. He may be extremely grateful and trusted me after healing him, but time and discovering a persons personality through shared experiences is what builds real bonds.

As I sleep for my portion of the night, I can see with my awareness him delicately holding a weathered drawing of a beautiful young girl and woman. His jaw shakes in sorrow, with tears in his eyes.

Even after this time, it looks like it takes everything for him not to cry out in anguish.

After a while, he puts it away. Returning to his watch, silently.

Im definitely going to help this man.

I think I should ask more about his situation tomorrow.