Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 861: Wisdom of the Weak

The cool night air of Gilded Fate City was a sharp and refreshing contrast to the stifling incense and nervous sweat that filled the Golden Cicada casino. Li Yu walked down the brightly lit avenue with a relaxed posture. The heavy spatial pouch was already in his storage ring and contained a truly staggering sum of high grade spirit stones. It was a fortune but to Li Yu it was simply the byproduct of a very entertaining evening.

He didn’t realize it yet but after all these winnings he had slowly started becoming a bit addicted to gambling. The thrill of the unknown, the chance to strike it rich and obtain a fortune that would have taken years to earn otherwise. It was all so thrilling and the biggest problem of all was that he kept on winning so it all felt incredible.

Mei walked beside him and she was still vibrating with pure adrenaline. Her eyes darted back and forth and she occasionally let out a small breathless laugh. She had watched a single person earn so much in a single night. It was a story she would remember for the rest of her life.

"We should step off the main street." Li Yu said softly. He gestured toward a quiet shadowed courtyard nestled between two towering luxury restaurants.

Mei nodded quickly and followed him into the dim alcove. The sounds of the bustling crowd faded slightly behind the thick stone walls.

Li Yu reached into his robes. He retrieved a separate smaller spatial pouch he had prepared while waiting in the VIP vault. He held it out toward the young guide.

"For your excellent services today." Li Yu said with a warm smile. "You kept me away from the bad places, showed me a great time and you brought me immense luck."

Mei looked at the pouch and hesitated. After a little bit she reached out with trembling hands and took it. She opened the drawstring and peered inside.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The amount of wealth sitting inside the small pouch was completely beyond her comprehension but it was just a tiny fraction of what Li Yu had earned today. It was a vast sum of glowing spirit stones. It was enough to change the destiny of an entire mortal lineage.

"Young master." Mei choked out. Her voice was barely a whisper. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "I cannot... this is too much. I only showed you the way. I did not do anything to earn this kind of fortune."

"You earned it by being an honest guide." Li Yu replied gently. "Wealth is meant to be shared when fortune smiles upon you. You were with me today so you had a part to play in my luck. Keep it hidden though. Do not let anyone see what you carry."

Mei tried to speak but the words failed her. Large tears spilled over her eyelashes and tracked down her dirt smudged cheeks. She clutched the pouch to her chest as if it were a fragile lifeline. She sobbed quietly in the shadows of the courtyard. The heavy crushing burden that had been weighing her down for months was suddenly lifted in a single instant.

It became obvious that there was a deep and painful story behind her tears. People only cried like that when they were standing on the very edge of an abyss and a hand unexpectedly pulled them back.

Li Yu did not question her about it though. Everyone had their own struggles and their own secrets. He had offered his help in the simplest way he knew how and he did not require a tragic story to validate his generosity. She was indeed with him today and without her, he might not have even been in these places to earn the fortune that he acquired.

"Now." Li Yu said after giving her a moment to compose herself. "Take me to a nice inn where I can rest for the night. And if you still wish to work for me, you can return in the morning to continue showing me around the city. There are still many sights I want to see."

Mei wiped her face frantically with her sleeve and nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course young master. I will show you the grand gardens tomorrow. I know the perfect inn for you."

She led him out of the courtyard and down a wide avenue lined with elegant glowing trees. They arrived at a sprawling establishment called the Cloud Ascendant Inn. It was a luxurious place designed for wealthy merchants and high tier cultivators.

Li Yu paid for a premium suite on the top floor to enjoy himself. He turned to Mei near the entrance.

"Go home and get some rest." Li Yu instructed. "Meet me here after the sun rises."

"I will be here, young master." Mei bowed deeply. "Thank you. Thank you for everything."

She turned and practically ran down the street. She hugged her arms tightly across her chest to conceal the pouch hidden in her inner pocket. Mei didn’t feel worried about having all this wealth, she wouldn’t be robbed in public, the city was much too secure for such things.

Li Yu walked up the grand staircase and entered his lavish suite. He closed the heavy wooden door behind him. He walked over to the large window overlooking the city and pushed it open.

Li Yu then stepped up onto the windowsill and melted seamlessly into the night air.

He followed Mei in secret. He used his cultivation technique to mask his presence completely. He floated high above the rooftops and kept his eyes trained on the small figure darting through the streets below.

Mei moved with incredible caution even though it was safe. She avoided any place not public as those were the most dangerous. She constantly checked over her shoulder to make sure she was not being followed by thieves or jealous local guides.

As they traveled, the environment began to change drastically.

The pristine white stone avenues gave way to cracked cobblestones. The glowing jade decorations disappeared. The sweet smell of expensive incense was replaced by the stench of cheap alcohol, rotting garbage and unwashed bodies.

This was the slum district of Gilded Fate City. It was the dark shadow cast by the blinding light of the casinos. It was a place where people who had lost everything came to rot. It was also the home of the countless invisible workers who scrubbed the floors, hauled the heavy crates and guided the wealthy tourists to keep the grand machine of the city running.

Li Yu watched from the sky as Mei navigated a sprawling maze of makeshift shelters. The homes here were constructed from patchwork tents, rusted metal sheets and scavenged planks of rotting wood.

She finally stopped in front of a large patched tent tucked away in a muddy corner of the district. She looked around one last time before slipping through the heavy canvas flap.

Li Yu drifted down from the sky and landed silently on the remains of a broken stone wall just outside the tent. He closed his eyes and gently extended a thin thread of his spiritual sense to probe the interior.

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The inside of the tent was incredibly dim. It was illuminated by a single flickering lamp.

There were three other people waiting inside. An older woman who looked frail and sick was lying on a thin straw mat. A middle aged man with heavily calloused hands and a pronounced limp sat on a wooden crate. A middle aged woman with sharp tired eyes was pacing the dirt floor.

"Mei." The middle aged woman gasped as her daughter entered. She rushed forward and grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "You are so late. Do you know how worried we were? The streets are dangerous at this hour."

"I know, mother." Mei whispered excitedly. "I am sorry. But I had to stay with my client. You will not believe what happened today."

The middle aged man stood up with a heavy sigh. "Did a drunk cultivator cause trouble again? I told you to avoid the gambling district at night."

"No father." Mei shook her head rapidly. "It was nothing like that. Look."

She reached into her jacket and pulled out the spatial pouch. Just seeing the pouch made the two gasp slightly. That pouch itself was worth quite a bit. She untied the string and tipped it forward. A pile of high grade spirit stones spilled out onto the dirt floor.

The pure radiant light of the stones instantly banished the shadows from the tent.

The family froze completely. The mother dropped to her knees and stared at the glowing pile in absolute shock. The father gripped his wooden cane so hard his knuckles turned white. Even the frail grandmother pushed herself up onto her elbows to look at the miracle.

"Heavens above." The father breathed out. His voice was trembling. "Mei... what is this."

"It is a tip." Mei said as fresh tears began to fall down her face. "The person I was guiding today was incredibly lucky. He won a fortune at the Golden Cicada. He won every single game he played. When we parted ways, he gave me this pouch. He said wealth is meant to be shared."

The mother looked up from the stones. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of relief and terrifying suspicion. She grabbed Mei's hands tightly.

"Tell me the truth." The mother demanded softly. "Did you do bad things to get this wealth? Did you steal it? Did you make a dark deal with a corrupt master?"

"No mother, I swear it." Mei cried. She squeezed her mother's hands back. "I was just an honest guide. He is a very kind young master. He did not ask for anything in return. He just gave it to me."

The family collapsed into a collective embrace. The mother buried her face in Mei's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably. The father wrapped his thick arms around both of them while tears silently tracked down his weathered face.

"We have enough." The grandmother whispered from her mat. She clasped her hands together in prayer. "We have enough to eat tonight. We have enough to pay for the healing medicine."

They cried together for several long minutes. It was the release of a pressure that had been crushing them into the dirt for far too long.

When they finally pulled apart, the father looked at the glowing stones and then looked at his daughter with a serious expression.

"You must be incredibly careful, Mei." The father warned her. "Luck in this city is a fleeting thing. It can turn around in a single instant. A man who gives away a fortune today might become a desperate demon tomorrow when the tables turn against him."

"I am guiding him again tomorrow morning." Mei told them. "He wants to see the gardens."

"Then you must keep your guard up." The mother instructed firmly. She began to quickly gather the glowing stones and shove them back into the pouch. "If his luck fails and his mood sours, you run. If he seems no good or acts violently, you get away immediately and run directly to a city guard. Do you understand."

"I understand." Mei nodded dutifully.

"You are a wonderful daughter." The father smiled gently and patted her head. "We are so lucky to have you."

Just as the mother finished hiding the spatial pouch beneath a loose floorboard of the tent, heavy footsteps approached the tent.

"Rent collection." A sharp cruel voice barked from outside.

The canvas flap was ripped violently to the side. A woman stepped into the dim interior. She wore cheap, flashy jewelry and a sneer that twisted her face into an ugly mask. She was the local enforcer for the slum lord who owned this miserable patch of dirt. Two muscular thugs stood right behind her.

"Rent is due tonight." The cruel woman demanded. She crossed her arms and glared at the family. "And do not forget the installment on the money your idiot son owes. Pay up or we start taking fingers."

Li Yu watched closely from his perch outside. He expected Mei to proudly produce the new pouch of wealth to pay the debt and banish the cruel woman forever.

But the middle aged mother was vastly smarter than that.

In the blink of an eye, the mother’s entire demeanor shifted. Her shoulders slumped. Her face contorted into an expression of utter despair and exhausting misery. She looked like a woman who was carrying the weight of the entire world and was finally collapsing under the strain.

"Please have mercy." The mother wailed loudly. She fell to her knees in the dirt. "We barely made ends meet this week."

She reached into her ragged apron and pulled out a small ratty coin purse. Her hands shook violently as she untied it.

"We skipped meals to save this." The mother cried. She poured out a meager handful of low grade spirit stones and a few broken coins. "This is everything we have. It covers the rent for the tent and barely a quarter of the loan installment. We will starve for the next three days just to give you this."

The cruel woman looked at the pathetic pile of coins. She sneered in absolute disgust and snatched the coins from the dirt.

"Pathetic." The enforcer spat. She kicked a wooden cup across the tent for good measure. "I do not care if you starve. You owe a debt. I will take this garbage tonight but you have exactly one week to come up with the rest of the installment. If you are short again, we will drag the young girl away and sell her to the pleasure barges to cover the cost."

The mother wept loudly and pressed her forehead to the dirt floor. "Thank you. Thank you for your mercy. We will find the money. I swear it."

The cruel woman snorted and turned around. She pushed through the tent flap and marched away with her thugs trailing behind her. The tent remained completely silent until the heavy footsteps faded entirely into the noisy ambiance of the slums.

The mother instantly stopped crying. She wiped her eyes and sat back on her heels. Her expression was completely calm and calculating once again.

Mei looked at her mother in total confusion.

"Mother." Mei whispered frantically. "Why did you do that? We have the new pouch. We got enough from the tip to pay off the rent and the entire loan completely. We could have been free of them tonight."

The mother sighed heavily. She looked at her daughter with the weary wisdom of someone who had survived the slums for decades.

"It is never that simple little bird." The mother explained patiently. "If a family of starving rats suddenly pays off a massive debt with high grade spirit stones, the snakes will immediately ask questions. The source of the money will come into question."

The father nodded in agreement. "They would assume we stole it or that we found a hidden treasure. The slum lord would not just take the payment. He would send his enforcers back to tear this tent apart and take the rest of the wealth. They would torture us to find out where we got it."

"We will pay the debt in small installments." The mother concluded. "We will complain and weep and pretend to bleed for every single coin. We will make them think they are squeezing blood from a stone. That is the only way to survive when you are weak."

Li Yu sat on the ruined wall in the darkness. A warm genuine smile spread across his face.

He listened to the family quietly discuss their plans for buying medicine and securing better food without drawing attention. He watched them huddle together in the dim light of the lamp. They had absolutely nothing but they had each other. They were clever, fiercely protective and deeply loving.

It was a beautiful display of family.

The scene made Li Yu think of his own family back when he was much younger. He remembered the simple struggles of his parents in their village. He remembered the quiet dinners, the shared worries and the unbreakable unity of a family trying to survive a harsh world together.

Li Yu pushed himself off the stone wall and floated silently back into the night sky. He left the slum district behind and headed back to his luxury suite. He felt incredibly peaceful. The wealth he had won at the rigged tables was nearly meaningless to him but seeing what it meant to that family made it the best prize he had won in a very long time.

He wasn’t here to save the world but if he could make a difference with those he met and they had the ability to take advantage of it; he was more than happy to see them successful.