Chapter 4: City Lord
Once Hao stepped foot into Glory City he immediately remembered why he disliked his Reishi so much in the past. Hundreds of thoughts pressed upon his mind like a flood trying to storm a port only to be held at bay by a will of steel until the cacophony calmed down and soon disappeared behind the mental wall Hao called into being to guard his mind.
'A folly on my part to forget my Reishi's side effect but no matter. Even if the thoughts of all these people should manage to overwhelm my senses I have faith in myself to not succumb to their negative emotions again.' 900 years of serene solitude. Of mental tempering. Hao truly hoped the faith he had placed into himself held true, for everyone's sake.
'Though would the great spirit have placed me in this place otherwise? I doubt it.' Exhaling steadily, his confidence strengthened to not succumb to his inner demons again, Hao opened his eyes once again and this time, without interruption, took in the city that was Glory City.
The city possessed no concrete streets, only gravel and sand, flanked by houses made of wood and stone. From large ones to smaller ones, to stalls at the side of the street, with people bustling to shop and mingle, the place that was Glory City carried a lively atmosphere inside of it.
Children playing, teenagers sauntering with the air of someone who thinks he is cool but really isn't, adults both young and old, each with their own marks upon them to show the strife they had each gone through, sometimes large and obvious, sometimes small and hidden.
While Hao took all that he saw in with an open-minded curiosity, the group of guards accompanying him obviously felt much more secure being behind the tall walls of their home town, depicted by carefree joking and laughing with each other. Occasionally, the group of guards would pass by a group of chattering and giggling girls which resulted in strutting like a group of parading peacocks, eliciting even more giggles from the group of whispering girls.
All this and more Hao took in and for the first time in two millennia felt at peace in a city inhabited by, what was obvious to him now, humans.
'Peace from within truly isn't simply a saying. How blind I was back on earth. There is so much more to life than the negativity that I could see and feel. More subdued than the prominent negative emotions but the lightness, happiness and cheerfulness is there, like a candle in the dark. You only have to open your mind and choose to see it and you will see and be happy.' With a smile adorning his face, the group kept on walking while Hao's attire obviously attracted attention towards him but he didn't care.
His soul was currently absorbing the positivity of the city which he had ignored in the past, only focusing on the negative and it showed. His face brightened considerably from its constant contemplative neutral complexion while the barrier in his mind attained a light sheen to contain his Reishi and keep it under control more securely.
Hao himself though, maybe for the first time in his life, was not aware of what was happening to his soul and mind and simply allowed himself to relax. While in this state of weird enlightenment the group left the main square of Glory City and entered the upper-class area, no doubt.
The houses grew in size and prize, the people became more pompous with an air of ignorant importance about them, eliciting a soft laugh from Hao once he spotted these people. That though, did not diminish his good mood in the slightest and again he took in the area they passed through.
All seemed rather stiff and rigid here, straightened and supressed under stifling regulations, laws and rules of conduct and etiquette.
Even his little group of soldiers seemed to be affected by the area's mood. The soldier's prior good nature roughhousing was left behind and into place stepped stoic masks of soldiers meant to keep the law and order. This, of course, elicited another light snort from Hao, which drew confused looks onto him from the soldiers but none said anything until it was forgotten.
Following the no doubt aristocratic district was an area confined behind another set of walls. Not all that large but it was immediately clear that only the most important people resided behind those walls.
With a short nod towards the guards stated at the entrance to the upper district Hao's group was let through and came upon one compound larger than the next. Symbols of power adorning clans until those clan compounds were left behind and another great mansion, the biggest in the village no doubt came into their view. The entrance gates depicted a symbol of a blizzard or something alike, probably carrying the family's name in its meaning.
"Halt! Identify yourselves!" The guard at the entrance, clothed in fine garments with silvery blue armour on said, a stern expression on his face.
The guard captain of Hao's group, a man named Shen Bu the man had told Hao, stepped forwards and bowed slightly in reply before answering the guards appeal.
"Greetings, my name is Shen Bu, captain of the city guard, returning from an escort outside of Glory City. We have news we would like to relay towards the city lord with your permission." Shen Bu replied, with an eloquence Hao hadn't suspected of the man.
Before answering the guard sized up the captain and everybody in his group, his gaze remaining on Hao a while longer as if trying to assess a possible threat until he nodded shortly, which signalled his permission towards Hao's group and his guard colleague who swiftly waved them through.
Upon entrance their group was received by one of the servants who motioned for them to follow him which they did without preamble. Hao and some of the guards meanwhile began to inspect the manor they were led through.
Fine marble for the floors, paintings on the walls and vases of fine ceramic flanked the corridors, obviously showcasing their riches, a decadence that left a sour taste in Hao's mouth.
Hao himself may have, once upon a time, founded his own clan, the Asakura family, but despite being quite wealthy the family never showcased their riches like this. After all, every shaman worth anything at all, no matter how small, knew of the unimportance of material possessions. The only value money, gold or other things held were the value the human gave it. The material itself held none whatsoever.
Seeing something like this from a family Hao had suspected to be shamanic in origin left him strangely disappointed in a way.
While Hao was once again submerged in his thoughts, a habit he had grown used to while being apart of the great spirit or even before then, the group arrived before another set of marble doors which, after a strong knock from the servant, swung open without warning.
Stepping inside the group came face to face with two men. One sitting behind a large wooden desk, working on some papers while the other sat before said desk and was reading another letter by the looks of it. Upon their entrance both men looked up and mustered them with an intensity that caused the soldiers to stiffen in place. Hao though had to supress a small smile at the faces the soldiers were making.
"What is it?" The man behind the wooden desk asked with an air about him that practically screamed 'busy' to Hao's face who, yet again, had to supress his laughter at the situation. Why he found all this so comical to begin with he didn't really know either. Possibly, because he spent 900 years inside of an entity that, for a lack of a better word, was omniscient and omnipotent and made quite clear to Hao how truly unimportant and small he and everybody else in the universe were.
"City lord Ye Zong, elder Ye Xiu" Shen Bu began, first bowing to the man behind the desk followed by the man sitting in the chair before the desk, after which he continued "My name is Shen Bu, captain of the city guard and I recently returned from an escort mission outside of Glory City. We had little to no contact with demon beasts, though we had a run in with a group of mercenaries sponsored by the dark guild as we later found out after interrogating one of them. Though, why they were told to attack they didn't know, only to bring all the cargo they could gather back with them."
"The dark guild again?! Gods above, those cretins never have enough, do they?! Any injured or dead?" the city lord ranted after which he calmed himself, obviously feeling rather strongly about this 'dark guild' from what Hao could gather. Maybe an independent organisation?
"Only injuries sir, nothing major. Those wounded should be up and about soon enough without lasting damages." Shen Bu replied, causing the city lord to nod once in understanding.
"Perhaps a small bonus is in order, hm?" The man before the desk, Ye Xiu, a man with a rather long beard and light hair, spoke up towards the city lord who nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, I believe that should be an adequate reward for a service well done. Would you take care of that brother Xiu?" the city lord asked back, to which Ye Xiu nodded without hesitation,
"Anything else?" The city lord asked, turning back towards Shen Bu in askance, who glanced over towards Hao shortly before hesitantly replying in the positive with a short nod.
"So?" The city lord asked rather impatiently, to which Shen Bu straightened slightly, having only now realised that he hadn't really answered the man.
"Apologies, my lord. On our way back, shortly before reaching Glory City we spotted a boy, this one here to be more exact, exciting the woods around Glory City with nothing but a makeshift tunic made of plants on his body. Obviously, we questioned him about his motives and whatnot but I believe it is not wrong to say that all of us received quite the shock upon hearing that this boy had never even heard of Glory City before arriving here, leading all of us to the same conclusion in the end. There are other humans outside of Glory City."
After Shen Bu finished his recounting of the events, silence permeated the room. Hao, obviously was the centre of this silence, with heavy gazes pinned upon him, which he returned with nothing but a calm smile on his lips. He didn't really mind after all. He already had learned and experienced quite a lot since coming into Glory City so he was grateful in a way.
"This… is certainly not what I expected when I saw your group entering my office. Thank you, captain Shen Bu, for your services and bringing this boy to us. You may leave us now and enjoy your evening." The city lord addressed the captain and his soldiers who threw one last glance towards Hao, bowed to the two elders and swiftly left the office, the doors closing behind them soundly, leaving Hao alone with the city lord and elder Ye Xiu.
"Please, take a seat boy, I am curious about your tale. Would you like some tea?" The city lord asked Hao who didn't hesitate and sat himself down in the chair opposite the large desk and nodded in thanks towards the offer, which resulted in a steaming cup of tea being placed before him shortly after.
After taking a small sip from the tasty beverage of rather mild aroma, Hao felt the gazes of the two men upon him once more, knowing only too well about the curiosity hidden inside their minds only held at bay by decorum and etiquette, which left Hao in kind of a conundrum.
'Where exactly do these two geezers expect me to begin?'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone