Chapter 19: “Whadya Got This Time?”
Zar and Tar were on their way to oldman Po, both carrying a robust basket with vegetables latent inside, covered to be protected by the sun and any potential nosey people. They were still a reasonable distance from Ploughing Sect civilisation which gave Zar time to notify Tar of something important.
“Erm, Tar...”
“Hmm?”
“The vitatoe thing right...”
Tar attempted to hold in his laughter due to the amusement he gained from how Zar pronounced that particular word. “PSH- *Ehem* Yes...” Tar replied, attempting to then regain his composure.
“Well, I do not know what is so funny about vitatoe-”
“HA- Sorry. Continue.”
Zar felt his blood-vessels dilating, but he displaced his annoyance and continued trying to make his point. “Well, I do not recall whether I told you and the villagers of a convenient lie I told Po, but when I was talking to Po, he was quite aware of Qi and its mysteries, he was aware that in days of long ago, we Giaths were able to use Qi to grow vegetables beyond their usual capacity. I did not want to raise suspicion that we Giaths are capable of using Qi to cultivate land and produce at this very moment...”
“So, you are saying you lied to Po about where you sourced the Potatoes from so he wouldn’t become suspicious about how you acquire them, right?”
“Yes Tar, indeed.”
“So, what lie did you tell him?”
“Ha. Yeah. I told him during my travels as a hermit, I met an old lady who was capable of growing these potatoes with a secret technique she knew but wouldn’t tell me.”
“And what did Po say?”
“I think he believed me, he asked me if I source the potatoes from that old lady so that we could distribute them.”
“Do you plan on lying to Po again Zar?”
“Honestly, that is why I am talking to you now, how do you think we should approach this?”
“Do you trust Po Brother Zar?”
“Not enough to entrust him with the knowledge that we Giaths possess Qi, no I do not.”
“Do you think Po will catch on if we try to perpetuate the lie?”
“Considering that Ploughing Sect Leader Peat has entered and left our sect, I assume that news has already travelled of our nature and appearance, our orange hair camouflage more than likely is useless, I would theorise that Senior Po, if he cares, knows that I had lied and that more than likely, Qi was used to grow those potatoes from our side.”
“You think he is that thorough of a thinker Brother Zar?” Asked Tar.
“My first impression of him was that he was quite sharp I must say, I guess we will have to wait and see.”
“Indeed Brother, let us focus on walking, when we reach, as you call him, Senior Po, we will just have to see how it goes, placing some of our fate in the hands of Gods.”
The brothers continued their walk, houses begun appearing periodically, with people working the fields, more and more people walking to and from the Central Ploughing Sect indicated that Zar and Tar were close to their destination, the brothers noticed the strange looks they are receiving and overheard someone saying:
“My how tall those men are, do you think?”
“Oh, doubt it – it is not our business anyway...”
The two brothers continued walking attempting to not raise suspicion, “Po lives just outside the Central Plaza; he is just around this corner here.” Tar and Zar twisted and turned until they were before the door of a relatively large house when it was brought into consideration the size of the other houses. Zar stepped up, put his basket down, took a breath and knocked on the door hoping for success.
“These robes and hats come in handy, our size in respect to how tall we are does invite some stares however.” Thought Tar outloud, waiting for the door to open.
“Mhm...” Said Zar, far too nervous to care, suddenly there was a few twists and turns of the doorknob, and then it swung open.
“HALLO!” Came a loud feminine voice from the door. “HOW MAY I HELP YOU YOUNG TALL GENTLEMEN?!”
Tar couldn’t see who was at the door since it was blocking his view in the direction it opened, Zar found himself staring at an old lady. “Oh, yes, excuse us, we are here to see Senior Po.”
“LOUDER DEAR, I AM GOING DEAF!” Tar felt a sense of relief since he thought Senior Po was a crazy, loud old man with a feminine voice.
Zar, raising his voice, replied. “WE ARE HERE TO SEE SENIOR PO.”
“OH, MY HUSBAND? YES, HE IS JUST BUSY AT THE TRADING HALL, HE MADE BIG A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO SELLING SOME POTATOES. THEY HAD A FUNNY NAME, COME IN DEARS, I WILL PREPARE SOMETHING FOR YE!” Zar signalled to Tar and Tar picked up the basket he also temporarily placed on the floor and went inside with Zar.
There was a large corridor which split multiple directions, the kitchen was at the north of the corridor, the living room would be at the right, and a study room close to the front-door on the left, in the study room was a staircase which allowed one to either go down to a potential basement, or up to the next floor. Pleasant aromas filled the room, particularly nuanced scents that Tar and Zar found extremely soothing. The old lady whilst walking Zar and Tar into the living room noticed their reaction to the smells. “THOSE ARE CALLED INCENSE DEARYS, WE MAKE AND SELL THEM, YOU SHOULD BUY SOME, GOOD STUFF, NOW TAKE A SEAT ANYWHERE YOU WISH.”
Zar and Tar sat down, Zar sitting where he had fell asleep once before. “I had slept here on my journey before, I had no idea the oldman was married,” Zar semi-whispered.
“I see.” Replied Tar, unsure of what to say back to the generic statement.
Zar and Tar waited patiently for something to happen, soon the old lady came back in, wobbling as she walked not due to what she was carrying, but simply due to the obvious hardships she faced during life. She placed a tray on a floor-level table, Zar and Tar shuffled in from where they were sitting toward the table where aromas of heated foodstuffs and floral smells from hot cups dissipated from. “SOME TEA AND WARM BISCUITS FOR YE, I TELL YA, MY HUSBAND HASN’T BEEN THE SAME RECENTLY, HIS HAIR GREW BACK AND HE LOOKS YOUNGER THAN ME! HE SAID THOSE VITATOES HE TRADED WITH SOME HANDSOME MAN HAD SPECIAL PROPERTIES, BEFORE LETTING ME GET IN ON IT, HE TRADED THEM ALL FOR AN INCREDIBLE SUM OF MONEY, WHAT A SELFISH **** *** *** * ** **** ** ****** * ** **.” Zar and Tar both looked at each other with extreme discomfort, and Tar having a rather robust sense of humour nearly spat out the floral tea he was drinking due to the torrent of laughter he wished to release. Zar saw Tar holding the laughter in and gave a most evil glare to insinuate that he better behave and thought privately to himself.
“I should have never brought such an immature man along with me...”
“WELL, NO MATTER – I CAN’T WAIT TO DIVORCE HIM ANYWAY! ENJOY YOUR TEA AND BISCUITS, MY HUSBAND WILL BE BACK SOON, I AM SURE.” The old partially-deaf lady headed into the study room and up the stairs, seemingly to her bedroom. Zar and Tar awaiting some conformation that she was out of sight and out of mind.
“That, was eventful!” Tar stated sarcastically, breaking the silence.
“Yes, and you are- never mind. Now we just await Po’s presence.”
“Hold on a moment, so you gave Po the Mineral Qi infused potatoes, and Po never gave any to his wife who could have greatly benefited from their healing properties?”
“From what we just gathered due to her immense frustrations; I would suppose this to indeed be the case.” Zar replied. Tar put his hands on his face and leaned back, he was feeling an array of emotions, from shock, relief, responsibility and a great many other things. He then said:
“I have a deduction brother, Qi is a most controversial, volatile subject beyond our Giath Sect, and it seemingly has the ability to bring people together and tear people apart with equal strength. That Senior Po’s wife has the right to be angry, she is old and withering by the day, and Mineral Qi, as it has helped us significantly, could have cured her from a variety of issues she experienced. 170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxdfwfLRaI
Furthermore Brother, rather than Senior Po doing the right thing and lending but a small piece of the ‘vitatoe’ he preferred to cash in the Qi infused foodstuffs, one must wonder what revenue can be made from such a specialized foodstuff that it would cause Po to sacrifice his own wife's health for said profit.”
Zar listened most intensely to Tar’s well-structured point, and replied, “hmm... With each day, the gravity of Qi and its emergence increases, holding such a priceless secret that has such significance is a difficult thing to carry upon one's shoulders. From the ability to heal, to the ability to attain superhuman characteristics... For now, brother, we focus on the mission, if there is a way to aid the Senior Po’s Wife, we will do this-” Suddenly, before Zar could finish his sentence, the doorknob twisted and turned in similar patterns and swung open with a similar velocity just as well.
“TEA, HOT BISCUITS! HAVE YOU FORGIVEN ME DEAR WIFE?” Zar and Tar becoming thoroughly frustrated by all the shouting but equally thoroughly enjoying the interesting taste of the tea and the biscuits created quite a contrast. They remained silent, awaiting Po to realise their presence as he walked through the corridor. Steps came closer to living room where the smell of Biscuits and Tea emanated from. “Oh, is that you Zar?” Zar rose from his sitting position and greeted the old man in the stature of a towering bear. “You haven’t gotten taller, have you?”
“Me? No, no, ha. Nice to see you Senior Po.”
“Likewise, you made me a fortune, you are definitely in my good books, who is this, another ‘hermit’ along your travels?”
“You could say that.” Zar replied.
“Here to talk business Zar? Did you visit that ‘old lady’ again?”
“You could say that...” Zar replied again cryptically, feeling somewhat exposed...
“You gonna eat the rest of those biscuits, eh?” Asked the oldman greedily. Tar and Zar looked at each other and shrugged, handing the biscuits over to Po as a show of good faith, the tea in and of itself was a new fresh taste to enjoy anyway. “Give me a moment young men, i just need to settle down and change into something more appropriate, I will be with you quick and fast!”
Time passed...
10 or so minutes later, Po came running downstairs, grabbed a pillow and sat on the floor at an empty space by the table, opening with, “So, Whadya got this time Zar?” Zar looked at Tar as to ask him to trust him, Tar agreed via gentle body language and Zar went on with whatever he was going to do. It started with Zar entering into his basket and grabbing out a larger than large sweetcorn with kernels the size of grapes. He carefully placed the waterfilled aromatic sweetcorn on the table, if there was no tea and biscuits, the naturally gentle aromas of the vegetables in the baskets would have taken over the entire house. Senior Po’s eyes opened and glistened like a child presented with his favourite toy after years of being without it. “You spoil me rotten young man! I would have preferred to marry ya over that old lady upstairs!”
Tar smiled sinisterly and sipped some tea to cover his face so Zar wouldn’t notice.
“Ha, you sure are funny Senior Po. You do have more hair than from last time.”
“It started growing back ya know? After you gave me those pot- *ehem* vitatoes, everything has been on the up and up ha! Goodtimes!” Po said proudly whilst he nibbled on some hot biscuits. Po then thought for a few moments and continued. “You giving them to me for free?” As he picked up the weighty sweetcorn for inspection.
“Not quite Senior Po, instead, we need to know a few things, in exchange, we will give you some of these vegetables for whatever you may need them for.” Zar said stroking his chin in anticipation.
“Ohh?” Senior Po hummed, putting a biscuit in his mouth, then another. After some chewing, he replied, “what could an old man like me possibly have that YOU might need?”
“Well...” begun Zar, but then Tar interrupted.
“We need information, about your Sect Leader, Peat.”
“Going for the tiger's head huh? Well, ye produce is good enough, I suppose ya managed to get that ‘old lady’ to strike a deal with you ‘hermits?’”
“Something like that...” Replied Zar yet again.
“Look, I could hardly care less where you get this produce from, nor will I attempt to ask - I already have an idea anyway. I am just a filthy selfish merchant who is trying to make a buck before the Lions and Serpents sect invade in the coming years. I’ll strike ye a deal, you keep an influx of this superfood coming into me, say one small inventory every growing cycle, I will keep my mouth shut and tell ya everything ya want.” Po concluded, grabbing a small toothpick to get the remnant biscuit particles off his teeth.
“Deal!” Tar said before Zar could say anything.
“So, whadya wanna know boys?” Po said with a cunning glare...
End of Chapter 19.
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