The Innkeeper

Chapter 2252: An oath?

Confirming their status was easy enough. River genuinely had sufficient knowledge to pass off as a Spirit doctor in training, but since his meridians were crippled he couldn’t actually treat anyone. Thus, he pretended to be Pearl’s assistant, while she actually carried out the treatment under his guidance.

After passing the test, they agreed to work at the clinic for food, boarding and minimum pay - considering that Pearl lacked the actual certification of a Spirit doctor. They didn’t mind, because both of them knew it was only a matter of time before they’d be forced to leave. Sooner or later, the influence of Baron Nester would reach them. Thus, that night they lay in their beds staring up at the ceiling, unsure of what the future held, or how long they could enjoy the measly comforts of minimum wage.

Pearl fell asleep, but River’s mind would not rest so after a while he got up and walked out, wearing the necklace. With an anxious heart and a confused mind, he wandered the streets of the city mindlessly, hoping to encounter that chance, that opportunity his intuition had been guiding him towards.

Through sheer force of will, he pushed aside the daunting, crushing weight of knowing that his life was going to end soon, and that there was nothing he could do to avoid it. After all, in the entire history of the Land of Rivers, none had survived torn meridians before.

He pushed those thoughts aside and kept searching the city for anything - any opportunity he could find.

Unlike the wilderness, the city was absolutely buzzing with activity for the streets had been covered with removable canopies to protect the pedestrians from the rain. Every so often, a guard patrol would pass by, with many of them emitting the aura of a n early stage Qi training cultivator, displaying just how formidable the strength of the city guards was.

Thus, River found himself roaming the city feeling both unusually safe, as well as apprehensive. If those guards ever turned on him...

As the dwindling minutes turned into hours, the desperation River had shoved down slowly started bubbling up, its grip on him unshakable. There was nothing - there was no answer in the illuminated streets of the city, nor was his intuition working anymore, as if it had all been an illusion.

Eventually, there came a time when River reached the limit of his strength - both physical and emotional. Tears welled up in the corner of his eyes, though he did everything in his power to keep them from rolling down. He could not cry. He could not show weakness. He had to be strong.

It was in the midst of this daze that he walked until he found himself standing in front of a large statue of the Lord this city belonged to in the center of a large intersection. He cut quite a noble figure, his armor making him look indestructible and his sword granting the observers great reassurance.

In a desperate attempt to distract himself from the devastating, heart palpitating desperation that was filling his being, River studied the people who seemed to almost worship the statue. He noticed that quite a lot of the residents were tossing coins in the pool around the statue and making a wish. He didn’t believe in such wishes - how could they possibly come true?

Yet in that moment, even in his disbelief, he was willing to try anything.

"Please, oh lord, please, I beg you, help me look after Pearl. Help me give her a good life... help me bring her joy... help me..."

River fell to his knees, mainly out of weakness, though those around him assumed that he was deep in prayer to the statue. While such things weren’t exactly common, it wasn’t as if they never happened.

River didn’t care. He felt the strength in his body leaving. He felt the darkness closing in - a darkness even the lights of the city couldn’t keep at bay. He felt the end...

"Are you just going to give up after all that?" a voice cut through the haze in his mind, crisp and clear unlike the rest of the world that seemed to be drifting away from him.

Normally, given his state, River should have felt confused due to his current state. Instead, when focusing on this voice, he found that his mind felt reinvigorated.

He looked up and found a man dressed in a strange, black attire, looking down at him with his hands in his pocket.

"Give up... after what?" he asked, unsure of what the strange man was talking about.

The odd man pointed at the statue.

"You’re going to ask for help, all for the sake of your beloved. But just because you didn’t get the answer, you’re going to give up?"

River shook his head, looking down with an unresigned look.

"I don’t want to give up, but my body can no longer match the strength of my will," he whispered.

The man nodded, as if that was an acceptable answer.

"And what if I showed you a way to get that strength? What are you willing to endure? What will you do... once you get that strength?"

For a moment, River just looked at the strange man, his mind blank. He seemed to notice something, though it took him long enough. It seemed that no one besides him seemed to be paying attention to the man’s unusual clothes. It was almost as if... he was the only one who could see him. Then, something clicked in his fatigued mind.

Could this be the answer he was searching for? Could this be the opportunity?

"As long as I can get the strength to give Pearl the life she deserves - as long as I can protect her, and let her be happy, then I can endure anything," River said, his eyes blazing with unquestionable conviction.

The man merely nodded, as if accepting his answer.

"Are you willing to... swear an oath for what you would do for this power, and what you would use it for?" the man asked, his words suddenly carrying an ominous weight.