Playing The Victims [BL]

Chapter Nineteen | First World

He became immediately unsatisfied when he heard that they only wished for the serum for the Voch plant of all things. When he had opened his mouth to try and sell them more items, the man standing a little behind the pretty youth, in the mask, narrowed his purple eyes and the man felt like he had taken a few more steps towards his grave.

He choked on his own saliva as he reeled around and headed over to the desk to fetch their item. When the middle-aged man, who had inherited this shop from his father, glanced back over his shoulder to see if the masked-man was still watching him, he was surprised to see his attention was entirely on the boy at his side.

The man's lip curled in distaste, but nevertheless decanted some of the syrup-like textured serum into a smaller vial and brought it back over after a few minutes. The younger of the two accepted it happily, thanking the man wholeheartedly.

The shop owner could only think of how bizarre the young man's reaction was, it was only Voch serum. But looking at the boy's expression, with twinkling dark eyes, he couldn't bring himself to think ill of the boy. He just nodded his head in response, unable to bring himself to look over to the masked-individual.

After paying, ShuNing practically skipped out of the shop with his spirits completely lifted. When they took a few steps down the path, ShuNing looked up at his companion. "One down, only one item left to go!" His excitement was infectious, to those who passed by them, but for ZhangFeng he found his complex thoughts had returned. He wanted to pinch the boy's cheeks.

With a fraction of the mental weight lifted from his shoulders, ShuNing found that he was able to breathe once again, able to enjoy what's left of this city. He even felt so generous as to ask ZhangFeng if he wanted to go to any shop- and surprisingly, he did.

As they walked for a short time, ShuNing tried to guess what shop he would be taken to. Perhaps a blacksmiths? But he hadn't seen ZhangFeng with any weapon of sorts. Perhaps to a sweet shop? No, from the expression that the older man had tried to disguise after ShuNing fed him some, he guessed that elder brother disliked sweet things.

And he doubted the man was going to buy souvenirs for family or friends. ZhangFeng strikes him as a loner type, but the thought of family deepened ShuNing's thoughts. Did his companion come from one of the big families within XeClan? Or did he earn such a prestigious title, one he didn't know, by his own merit?

Seeing how socially-inept ZhangFeng deliberately was when in a public place, the suggestion also didn't feel right. Ah, such a man of mystery. It was infuriating.

They stopped outside a humble-looking shop, and from what ShuNing could see, through the open frames where glass would stand, were coils of various fabrics. ZhangFeng had brought him to a..tailors?

"This shop," ZhangFeng spoke for the first time in a while, "is the sole establishment within this city that is befitting of its title as legendary." The younger man looked back and forth between the shop, and his companion. The man appeared transfixed, as if excited?

As ZhangFeng stepped inside, ShuNing was dumbstruck. The man who believed himself above many things, who had many flaws that he would of course deny, was obsessed with fashion? He was always dressed spectacularly though, in fabrics that were different from any other within XeClan.

It made sense that ZhangFeng knew the layout of Xinshan, if the residence he was travelling to in the past, was here.

Following the man inside, through the less-than-impressive door that remained slightly ajar, ShuNing was greeted with a narrow shop that was stacked full of fabric. He blinked, glancing around and only when he craned his neck up did he realise where all the space was. Staircases wound their way up, sticking flush to the walls. From what he could see, there seemed to be four levels.