บท 34: Trading Information Part 2

Now that this was out of the way and his help was assured, it was time to gather information about this world. She needed a better understanding of it if she was going to be here for a while. So, with that thought in mind, Nastasia asked. "What is this place called?"

Not being sure what place she was wondering about, Li Yu Rong gave a few different names. "This realm is the Mortal Realm, the town is called Menchang, and this..." he gestured around them, "is the Palace of the Four Gates." After that was said, he asked her. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

Of course, there was! Nastasia had so many things she wanted to know, but the problem lied in having the right words to ask them. Fortunately, she had prepared a pencil -which she had Paoxiao create- and paper to draw out the things she couldn't ask in words.

Sliding off the bed, she went over to the table and sat on a cushion. Taking the pencil in hand, she began to sketch out the many creatures she had seen roaming about here and there. Once she was done she walked back over to the bed taking a seat as she handed over the drawing.

"What are these?"

Seeing the life-like drawing in his hand, the first thing Li Yu Rong felt was awe for her skill. The next was a bit of confusion. Some of the Spirit Realm denizens she had drawn should have been unseen by her human eyes. While some could be made visible if they so chose, a good many of the ones she had drawn did not have this ability.

Biting back his question until after he answered her own, he said. "These are the denizens of the Spirit Realm." He then pointed to each of the ones that were similar looking, but with slight differences, saying. "This is a water sprite, this an earth sprite, and this a fire sprite... they're playful, but won't do you any harm so it's okay to be around them."

Then he pointed toward two similar looking creatures. They were much larger than the sprites but weren't much bigger than a toddler. Their eyes were shaped like almonds, their hands were three-fingered, and their heads were bald. Though it couldn't be seen in the sketch, their wrinkled skin was a muddy green.

"These are Deceit Whispering Elves." Li Yu Rong than looked at her carefully. "How did you see them?" He had started to ask, "how did you come across them," but the wording was more difficult and it was important that she understood what he was asking. Therefore he changed his wording.

Deceit Whispering Elves whisper lies to tear apart relationships of all sorts between others. Their favorite had been to invade dreams with their whispering, planting ideas of the other's betrayal. They would then hide themselves to watch the ensuing battle between both parties as they foolishly fall into the lies they were told.

Though this pair of elves were the failures of their clan and kicked out that he allowed them to stay here, they still held to the desire of not allowing themselves to be seen by humans. How was it then, that she had seen them well enough to draw their exact likeness?

Nastasia thought over his question a moment and then answered. "I watching the water sprites play, they splashed water on them and they jumped out from the long grass. Their shocked faces cute." She laughed lightly. "After helping them dry off they followed me, smile and wave when they see me, and they give me flowers."

A little surprised to hear the last part, as Deceit Whispering Elves were not ones for such kindnesses. Even though the ones in his yard were failures for not liking to deceive, they still kept to themselves and only interacted with others if there wasn't much of a choice to do otherwise. It was unheard of to hear such things of them.

That explained, he pointed toward a cat with large pointed ears and two tails. Though the spirit energy they held wasn't anything to scoff at, they did not have the ability to make themselves seen. "How did you see the two-tailed cat?"

"It sleeps by me when I play the flute."

Brow furrowing at this answer Li Yu Rong began to ponder the possibilities for such a phenomenon to occur. "Do you have such creatures in your Realm." Perhaps the people from her realm had an ability to see those of the Spirit Realm?

Not knowing how to explain that they did, but as fairy tales that only small children believe in, she simply shook her head. "No"

Then could it be an effect of the contract he made between them? However, most of what was placed in the contract were for her protection and shouldn't have allowed for one to see what one ordinarily could not see. After a moment more he decided to have Lu Se Ying look into it.

If Asya had the ability to see already within her, then perhaps the energy of her realm was similar to the energy of the Spirit Realm. If that turned out to be true, then he wouldn't have to keep her confined to specific areas of the Palace of the Four Gates. If this were to prove true then he might also be able to take her along to the Spirit Realm during the annual meeting between the five Gate Keepers without fearing her being poisoned by the spirit energy.

It was a meeting that happened every year and lasted an entire week, not counting the time it took to travel to the appointed meeting place. To be away for so long after what happened recently didn't sit well with Li Yu Rong. Especially since Asya had only started to learn about this realm.

"Li Yu Rong?"

Hearing her voice call out in question snapped him from his thoughts. "Hmm?" He turned eyes from the sketch in his hands to her face. He set the drawing down off to the side.

"I said, you tell me about the town?" Nastasia repeated herself. "I go walk around the town, I don't know about."

Though it was heavily fragmented, he understood what she was asking and what she wanting to do. Li Yu Rong reached out and grab a strand of Asya's hair. "Because of your hair and your eyes, you can't go into town. Soon, I'll work out a way for it, but not right now."

Downcasting her sky blue eyes as she looked at her red hair being fiddled with between his fingers, she thought of a solution herself. It was too much to go into the details right now so she would wait until after seeing if Paoxiao was capable of doing it for her. If it could be done, then she would show it to Li Yu Rong as that would be far easier than explaining for her.

Thus, as she nodded her head, she then asked as she held up her arm. "What is this?"

Reaching out to run his fingers down the mark, he said with a smile. "It's for your protection." She didn't know the word "bǎohù," and so wrinkled her nose in confusion. Seeing this, Li Yu Rong then said. "It won't hurt you. I'll tell you more about it later."

He certainly could not say it now. Though she depended on him to hold up her sky, her feelings for him were more towards friendship than ones between lovers. If he tried to explain what the mark meant now, Asya would probably be angry at being tricked into the contract.

"The books in the library, you're free to read them to learn more about the two realms. If you have any questions, you can ask me about them." Patting her head as he stood from the bed, Li Yu Rong said. "I have something I urgently need to do, I'll be back tonight."

One of the things he had to do was to make preparation for his journey into the Spirit Realm and the other was to find Lu Se Ying. He wanted him to check the energies in Asya's body. If her energy was similar to the Spirit Realm and if she would be able to travel there without getting poisoned.

Nastasia saw Li Yu Rong off, feeling a bit disappointed. She had been hoping to get a bit more information about the mark. It had been bothering her ever since one of the creatures she had met recently looked at the mark in shock, but would say nothing about it.

Well, there was nothing she could do about it now, and he did promise to tell her later. Since nothing could be done, she began to think about her plan for being able to go into town. Nastasia had a reason for wanting to visit.

So, in high hopes, she left in search of Paoxiao.