Chapter 9: The Village's Request
The guild's boycott settled over Red Maple City like a frost. The usual bustle around the Celestial Vault's street faded into an uneasy quiet. Cultivators would glance at the obsidian door with longing or fear before hurrying past, unwilling to risk the guilds' wrath. For two days, business was dead. Li Wei spent the time organizing his ethereal inventory and discussing the philosophical nature of contracts with the silently attentive Jade Tiger Monk.
The silence was broken on the third morning by a sound utterly out of place: the frantic, desperate pounding of fists on obsidian.
Li Wei willed the door transparent. Outside stood not a cultivator, but a group of mortals. Their clothes were rough-spun and dusty from the road. At their head was an old man with a weathered face etched with deep lines of worry, supported by a walking stick. Behind him, a younger woman clutched a crying infant, her eyes red-rimmed.
The system identified no threat, only extreme distress. Li Wei dissolved the door.
The old man stumbled inside, his eyes widening in terror and awe at the starry expanse of the Vault before he fell to his knees, kowtowing on the polished floor.
"Great Immortal! Please! You must help us!"
The Iron Sentinel remained still. The Jade Tiger Monk stepped forward, not with threat, but with a calming presence, and gently urged the old man to his feet.
"I am no immortal," Li Wei said, his voice softer than he used with cultivators. "I am a shopkeeper. What is your trouble?"
Tears streamed down the old man's face. "I am Elder Guo of Fallow Willow Village, two days' journey north. A monster, Great One! A terrible beast! An Earth-Scale Python! It has claimed the river valley where we grow our spirit grains and hunt! It has already taken two of our hunters! We cannot fight it. We sent word to the city, to the sects, begging for help..."
His voice broke. The young woman behind him spoke up, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury. "They refused! The city guards said it was not a priority! The disciples at the sect gates laughed and said they were too busy preparing for some tournament! The guild halls wouldn't even let us in! We are out of options. We heard... we heard whispers of a shop that sells heaven's power. We have no spirit stones, but we have everything else! Our harvest, our livestock, our—"
Li Wei raised a hand, stopping her. He didn't need to hear more. The system had already analyzed the plea.
[ External Request Received: Pest Control. ] [ Target: Earth-Scale Python (Earth Grade Beast). Threat Level: Moderate. ] [ Client: Mortal Village. Financial Capacity: Negligible. ] [ Analysis: Fulfilling request provides significant reputational ROI and counters guild narrative. ] [ Proposed Action: Dispatch Guardian Unit. Accept non-standard payment. ]
The guilds had overplayed their hand. In their bid to isolate him, they had abandoned the very people the powerful were supposed to protect. They had handed him a golden opportunity.
"Your livestock and harvest are of no use to me," Li Wei said, his tone not unkind, but pragmatic. The villagers' faces fell into despair. He continued. "But your problem is bad for business. A stable region is a profitable region. I will handle your python."
Elder Guo stared, disbelief warring with desperate hope. "You... you will? But the payment...?"
"The payment will be your testimony," Li Wei stated. "You will return to your village. You will tell everyone who will listen who helped you when the city and the guilds turned you away. That is my price."
It was a currency more valuable than spirit stones. It was the foundation of a brand.
He turned to the Jade Tiger Monk. "See to it."
The Monk bowed. It did not ask for details. The system had already provided them. It placed a hand on the trembling Elder Guo's shoulder. "Visualize the location of the beast," Li Wei instructed.
As the old man closed his eyes, the Monk's jade form began to glow. With another swirl of light, they vanished.
The remaining villagers stood in the vault, shivering amidst the grandeur. Li Wei offered them a seat with a wave of his hand, and simple stools of light materialized. "The wait will be brief."
It was.
Perhaps fifteen minutes later, the air shimmered. The Jade Tiger Monk reappeared, its serene form unmarked. It was followed by Elder Guo, whose expression was one of pure, unvarnished shock. In the Monk's hand, it held a massive, bloody fang longer than a man's forearm and a shimmering, yellow-brown core the size of a fist.
[ Target Eliminated. ] [ Assets Acquired: Earth-Scale Python Fang (Crafting Material), Earth-Scale Python Core (Alchemy Material). ] [ Contract Fulfilled. ]
"The beast?" the young woman whispered.
"Gone," Elder Guo said, his voice hollow with awe. "It was... it was so fast. The beast struck from the river. The green immortal didn't even move. It just... pointed its staff. A beam of light pinned the python to the bank. Then it walked over and... and removed its fang. Just like that." He mimed a gentle plucking motion.
The Jade Tiger Monk presented the fang and the core to Li Wei, then returned to its post.
Li Wei willed the core to float into a new display case labeled 'Alchemical Reagents.' The fang he placed on the counter. "A souvenir," he said to the stunned villagers. "A reminder of our contract."
Elder Guo fell to his knees again, this time kowtowing repeatedly. "Thank you, Great Shopkeeper! Thank you! We will sing your praises for a hundred generations!"
"See that you do," Li Wei said calmly. "Now go. Your village is safe."
As the grateful villagers retreated, their prayers and thanks echoing behind them, a new notification appeared in Li Wei's vision.
[ Reputation Updated: 'Protector of the Weak'. ] [ Guild Boycott Effectiveness: Reduced. ] [ New Rumor Mill Unlocked: Rural Communities. ] [ Quest 'Break the Boycott' Progress: 25%. ]
The guilds had tried to use the city's rules to crush him. In response, Li Wei had not broken their rules. He had simply changed the game, moving the board from the city's corrupt streets to the desperate countryside. The first crack in their foundation had been made not by a sword, but by a act of calculated, profitable mercy.
The message was clear: If the city won't serve you, my shop will.