While I stand here, I can ‘feel’ the guardian lion occasionally glance at me. Almost as if to say, ‘Really? You aren’t going to ask for something else, for giving me that?’

Of course not. It’s clearly the alchemist’s shops guardian lion and to take it away from its job, more than I already have, would likely have the opposite intended effect.

After a bit more time spent like this, it eventually settles down.

However, just as it does, a young man about my age comes jogging down the stone street with a large backpack on. It appears this is a regular thing, as people automatically move out of his way.

Some people starting moving to the edges of the street, just by seeing him.

That can’t be a good sign.

As he gets closer, I begin to realize why people were moving away from him.

He smells horrendous.

My scan automatically notifies me that many of the scents on him are from alchemical ingredients, both beneficial and deadly. Based on the shape of the bag, they must be tightly sealed in containers.

He, however, still carries the smell from collecting them.

As he jogs to the entrance towards me, he appears to be a bit winded. Finally reaching me in all his stinky glory, he pauses in front of me with a quizzical look.

Shaking his head, as if coming to a conclusion, he plops his bag… right on top of the living guardian dog’s head.

Just based on the look on the dog’s face, this is massively irritating for it. The young man, on the other hand, has a refreshing smile on. He gives me a quick look at me.

“So, waiting for an order, huh?”

Well, he’s not wrong.

“Yeah, just waiting out here with the guardian lions.”

He nods his head as he pulls out some kind of leaf, which he chews. “Yeah, I see it all the time. You’ve come to the right place, you know. My dad’s the best at this stuff.”

He then leans his butt against the guardian lion. The lion’s face turns into a scowl, not even trying to hide it.

Does he not know that it’s alive… or is he doing this on purpose?

Just as I think that, I can hear the slightest *poof*, as a massively satisfied look crosses the young man’s face.

The lion looks like it might kill the idiotic young man.

“Uh… I’m not sure how to say this, but should you really be resting your bag and butt on that lion?” The young man’s face changes to a confused and slightly obnoxious one.

“Huh? Why shouldn’t I do that?”

“You mentioned you are the alchemist’s son, right?”

“Yeah?…”

“And does anything seem off to you about this particular guardian lion?” He glances at the clearly angry lion, in contrast to the peaceful one next to him.

“Nope.”

Oh Dear God, he’s an idiot.

He continues pointing straight at me, “What does seem off to me though, is some foreigner who seems to have eyes, but fail to recognize Mount Tai!”

Oh God, he’s an idiot Young Master type. And not even the rich kind!

It is at this point; he yelps and grabs his butt. The backpack starts falling off the lion’s head, but the id- young man catches it in time. Clearly, the lion has had enough of his shit.

Figuratively, I hope.

He flips back to me. “You! What have you done, you scoundrel?!”

The doors to the alchemist shop burst open and a middle-aged man in decorated robes walks out. Contrary to his sharp appearance, he has a weary face on and already has his fingers pinched on the bridge of his nose.

Taking a look at the both of us, he speaks.

“Okay, what is going out here with you two in front of my store?”

He then looks at the backpack in the young man’s hands and his butt once again laying on the guardian lion. He looks up in the air, in despair, whispering to the sky, “Lord, why did you give me such an idiot child as a son? What have I done to deserve this?”

Seemingly not hearing his father’s pleas, the young man points towards me. “This man here had the audacity to tell me what I could and could not do!” At this, the father’s eyes squint at his son. First in disapproval, but then closes. Almost as if beginning to give him the benefit of the doubt.

He puts his fingers back to the bridge of his nose.

“And what, exactly did he tell you to and not to do, my beloved son?”

Man, I really do not envy this man. I’ll try to not to make this an issue for them, since it seems he has his own troubles.

With this, it is easy to assume that the man is the owner and alchemist for this shop. Behind the alchemist is both Lin and Ai, they seem to be anxious, for some reason.

Maybe the negotiations weren’t going well?

The young man’s voice catches my ear again. “He dared to tell me to remove my backpack and buttocks from the lion’s head! He even asked me if there was anything, I noticed about our guardian lion. Like I haven’t been seeing it since I was young! Like I was some kind of idiot!

“Only a fool would believe there is something special about this silly statue.”

He slaps its head with his leaf.

The guardian lion has its eye on the alchemist. No expression.

The father’s eyes glaze over. After a moment of silence, he begins nodding subtly to himself. The young man’s eyes light up. The father turns to me.

“I apologize for my son's embarrassing display of disrespect. I’m assuming that you are the master of these two young women here?”

I hesitantly nod, both at the comment and the sudden sageness coming from the older gentleman.

“As I thought. Also, the fact that you were able to perceive the guardian lion’s true nature, at your age and without qi, is quite amazing. Once again, I must greatly apologize for my son’s conduct and you can have the items I spoke with your assistants about, as a gift.”

“No, we couldn’t! That’s far too mu…”

“Please, I insist. It will make what I must do later much easier for me to bear.” His eyes have a steely look as he says this.

I actually feel kind of bad for the young man now.

A look over to him, shows that he still has no idea what’s coming to him.

Yep.

Maybe this older gentleman has the right idea.

With this, I can’t help but to accept, as he heads back into the shop and grabs the items. After handing them to Lin, he then asks his son to bring in the backpack and to go inside. Confused, the young man heads inside. Before he walks inside, I can see him bow to the statue, as if in apology.

As we walk away, we can hear the pained screams of the young man echo from the building. The fact that no one seems to care on this street, is telling.

We head to the other side of the street, confirming that everything is as we needed. In fact, it appears that the father added a few more dead seeds than we had asked for. When I asked on the way back, why they were having trouble, it appears that typically you need a sponsor to buy certain items or show competency in alchemy beforehand.

Really, it’s the typical ‘You need a job history to get a job, but in order to get a job history, you need a job. Unless you have enormous amounts of money, then you just do what you want. Unless you are a demi-human. Then get out,’ situation.

In a way, the young man was a boon to us and gained us the trust of the alchemist.