Chapter 7: A Favor from the City Lord
The tax notice felt like a lead weight in Li Wei's hand. Twenty thousand spirit stones. It wasn't a fine; it was a death sentence for any normal business, a blatant message from the guilds: "We own this city. Leave."
For a moment, the old Kenji Tanaka resurfaced—the man who would have panicked, scrambled to rework a budget that couldn't be fixed. But that man had died under truck-kun's wheels. The new Li Wei, the Shopkeeper, felt a cold, familiar calm settle over him. This wasn't a crisis. It was a negotiation. And he had just been handed the ultimate bargaining chip.
He focused on the new, golden listing in his system interface.
Item: Soul-Anchor Amulet (Heaven Grade - Mid) [CUSTOM ORDER] Rental Fee: 1 Favor from City Lord Bai / 48 hrs Description: Stabilizes a critically damaged soul core. Prevents qi deviation and spiritual collapse. Effective for core damage sustained during a failed breakthrough attempt.
The system's intelligence was terrifying. It hadn't just identified a target; it had diagnosed a deeply hidden vulnerability. City Lord Bai's reclusive behavior over the past year, the canceled public appearances, the increased security around his manor—it all made sense now. A failed breakthrough attempt had left his core damaged, teetering on the edge of a catastrophic qi deviation that would not only kill him but likely level a city block.
The guilds were using his authority. The System proposed making him a client.
"Alright," Li Wei murmured, his voice echoing softly in the vast, starry vault. "Let's make a house call."
He didn't need to speak the order aloud. The Jade Tiger Monk, the new bodyguard unlocked at Level 2, stepped forward. Unlike the Sentinel's silent intimidation, the Monk moved with a serene, graceful purpose. It bowed slightly to Li Wei, then placed a hand on his shoulder.
The world dissolved into a swirl of green and gold light.
It wasn't teleportation as cultivators understood it. It was the System briefly reassigning the shop's spatial coordinates. One moment they were in the pocket dimension, the next, they were standing in a lavishly furnished, dimly lit bedchamber.
The air was thick with the cloying scent of medicinal herbs and the faint, acrid tang of corrupted spiritual energy. In the center of the room, on a large bed of spirit-enriched sandalwood, lay City Lord Bai. He was a man who had once clearly been powerful, but now his face was pale and beaded with sweat, his body trembling with suppressed agony. A complex medical array glowed faintly on the floor around the bed, but it was clearly failing, its light flickering weakly.
Two elderly physicians and a stern-looking woman in guard captain's armor—his daughter, Bai Ling—jumped to their feet, drawing weapons and qi.
"Who dares?!" Captain Bai Ling snarled, a whip-sword of gleaming water qi materializing in her hand. Her aura, at the peak of Foundation Establishment, filled the room.
The Jade Tiger Monk simply took a single, silent step forward. It didn't release its own aura. It didn't need to. The absolute, unshakeable calm it projected, its mere presence that had bypassed all of the Manor's defenses, was a more potent display of power than any energy blast. The physicians cowered. Captain Bai Ling held her ground, but her eyes widened in shock and fear.
Li Wei stepped out from behind the Monk, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. He ignored the guards and looked directly at the gasping City Lord.
"City Lord Bai. My name is Li Wei. I believe you have a problem. And I," he said, gesturing to the floating, glowing image of the Soul-Anchor Amulet the System projected beside him, "have the temporary solution."
City Lord Bai's pain-glazed eyes focused on the amulet. He tried to speak, but only a pained gasp came out.
"Don't listen to him, Father!" Bai Ling cried. "This is a trick! An assassination attempt!"
"Is it?" Li Wei asked, his voice calm, echoing the Monk's serenity. "Your physicians have no answers. The arrays are failing. You can feel your core unraveling. You have hours, maybe less. What do my motives matter if I can stop it?"
He let the question hang in the herb-scented air.
"The price," the City Lord rasped, each word a struggle.
"Simple. A favor. Specifically, the revocation of these." Li Wei willed the system to display the tax notice, its officious text glowing in the air next to the amulet. "The Artificer's and Alchemist's Guilds are attempting to use your office to illegally strangle my business. I want it stopped."
Bai Ling stared, her fury warring with her desperation. "You would blackmail the City Lord?"
"No," Li Wei corrected gently. "I'm offering a transaction. A rental. My product," he nodded to the amulet, "for his influence. A fair trade."
The City Lord's eyes, sharp with a politician's cunning even through the pain, studied Li Wei. He saw no malice, only cold, transparent commerce. In his world of constant deceit, it was almost refreshing.
"Do it," he choked out.
"Father!"
"Do it!"
Li Wei nodded. "The contract, please."
The now-familiar soul-bound scroll appeared before the City Lord. With a trembling hand, he infused it with a wisp of his crumbling qi, sealing the agreement.
The moment the contract was signed, the Jade Tiger Monk moved. It flowed to the bedside, its jade fingers moving too fast to see. It didn't touch the City Lord. Instead, it plucked the glowing amulet from the projected image, making it real. With a gentle touch, it laid the amulet on the City Lord's chest.
The effect was instantaneous.
The City Lord's back arched off the bed as a wave of pure, golden energy washed over him. The trembling stopped. The labored, ragged breaths evened out into deep, calm draws. The flickering medical array stabilized, its glow strengthening in sympathy with the amulet's power. Color returned to his face.
He sat up, slowly, his hands coming up to clutch the amulet like a lifeline. A single tear of sheer relief traced a path down his cheek. He looked at Li Wei, his eyes clear for the first time in months.
"The favor..." he said, his voice strong once more. "It is granted. The notice is void."
Captain Bai Ling slowly lowered her weapon, her face a complex mask of gratitude, shame, and lingering suspicion.
"The guilds will not be happy," she stated.
Li Wei offered a small, thin smile that didn't reach his eyes. "The guilds are not my customers. Their happiness is not my concern."
The Jade Tiger Monk placed a hand on his shoulder again. As the world began to swirl back into the form of the Celestial Vault, Li Wei delivered his final line.
"The rental period is forty-eight hours, City Lord. I recommend using the time to find a permanent solution. The late fee... is severe."
They vanished, leaving the rulers of Red Maple City in stunned silence, the ghost of a system's contract binding them more firmly than any law.
Back in the vault, a notification glowed.
[ Favor Secured. Hostile Economic Action Nullified. ] [ City Lord's Debt: Incurred. ] [ Shop Reputation Updated: 'Feared by the Powerful'. ]
The game had changed. Li Wei was no longer just a shopkeeper. He was a creditor to the most powerful man in the city.