Conspiracies in Garakil

In a mere two days after making his request, Shui received word that it was complete. As an additional benefit of his training, he had learnt all he needed to know about the current affairs of the city and general details about Scaly Canyon, but he still looked forward to seeing what the young man working for Artisan Palace would give him.

The destination for the handoff was the same tavern as last time, but when Shui entered, it was already cleared of all occupants besides the blonde young man who stood up to greet him.

"Welcome, Sir Protector. The information you asked for has been compiled on this. I hope it meets your expectations."

Shui took the jade card that the young man handed him and quickly looked through its contents. He found a summary of the recent events in the city as well as a suspicious pair of disciples that were noted as potential enemies. He was already uncomfortably aware of the Lava Stream Sect disciples in the city as well as the people behind them, but the jade card also mentioned the heinous acts they had committed since arriving. He knew that they were scoundrels, but he hadn't expected that the two had killed or severely injured over twenty people since entering the city. Though Shui didn't think of himself as a hero of justice, since they were his enemies, he decided to be merciless when the time came.

The next point of note was regarding the period known as breeding season. At around late spring and summer, most of the dragon subspecies within the canyon went into heat. When in heat, subdragons would eagerly lay eggs through either sexual or asexual means. The good news about this was that it would be much easier for Shui to find an egg in Scaly Canyon, but as there would be an abundance of powerful subdragons diligently searching for any threats to their eggs, it would be much harder to get near them. Nonetheless, this was the most popular period in Garakil, as many cultivators were willing to risk their lives to secure an egg because of their high value. Thanks to the Angel of Shadows, Shui had no need to worry about his wealth, but the prices listed would be very tempting to most vagrant cultivators.

There was also information on the major powers inside the city, but Shui skipped that section to read the map of Scaly Canyon. The map marked the territories of the dragon kings inside the canyon as well as the timings when they were seen, along with areas suspected of having dragon nests. In terms of how useful it was for completing his mission, Shui had no complaints, so he decided to give the young man a small hint in return.

"This should be quite useful. In return, let me give you a warning. I'm not sure how the Palace plans to gain a footing in this city, but you should be wary of the folk from the south. I'm not the only one looking for an egg."

Shock appeared on the young man's face as he considered Shui's warning. Although he knew of Shui's status as Protector and how important he was to the Palace, Shui's appearance made it hard for him to believe that it was all true. Of course, he was still someone put in charge of this branch, so he wasn't dumb enough to let his feelings cloud his judgement, but he hadn't expected much from Shui. However, despite only being in the city for two days, Shui managed to uncover information that they were still looking into. 

"I, no, the Palace is grateful for this favour!"

With awe and fear in his eyes, the young man bowed his head. Shui knew how the young man thought of him before and after he revealed this hint, but he didn't think much of it because he had acted professionally regardless. 

"No need to exaggerate. I look forward to the Palace's future growth."

"Yes, Sir Protector!"

Leaving the young man to take advantage of the information he received, Shui exited the tavern to return to his inn. The schemes that were underway would allow him to move more freely inside Scaly Canyon, so he planned to wait until the day before the incident to enter. Even if the Palace used the information to curry favour with the city's administration, it was too late to stop the incident, so he didn't tell the young man not to interfere. Shui might save someone if they were right in front of him, but he didn't see the need to put his hand in this battle against Garakil's authority figures. However, there was one issue that he was willing to resolve in advance.

He knew that the pair of disciples from the Lava Stream Sect had learnt that he was in the city, and he was even leaving the woman watching him alone so that she could feed them his location. Nonetheless, they insisted on enjoying themselves until he entered the canyon. It wouldn't have bothered him as much if he had only heard about it, but he had coincidentally caught them torturing someone while he spread his spiritual sense throughout the city the previous day. Due to how in sync he was with the land, he could hear their screams as they were burned alive. The incident reminded him to be more careful during his training, but he had to get the bad taste out of his mouth.

"Huh?"

The young lady who had been monitoring Shui was bewildered by his sudden disappearance. She had been warned to treat him as having an Earth Realm cultivation, so she maintained her hereditary stealth technique whenever she tailed him. He stayed in his inn for the most part, but she hadn't had any problems so far, so she wondered what went wrong. 

Intending to check the situation, she was about to leave the alley she was in when she was suddenly knocked out.

"I'll deal with you and your damn Mistress later."

With his stalker taken care of, Shui headed towards the pair of disciples. He had marked them after the torture incident, so just by thinking about it, he knew where they were.

The two were in their room at the best hotel in Garakil. They were less irate after learning that Shui had entered the city, but since he was holed up inside his inn for the most part, it was hard for them to make a move.

"Damn it! When's that guy gonna get out of his room?" Harol complained.

"Just have some patience, Harol. He should be here on a mission to become a core disciple, so he'll have to leave the room eventually. You should enjoy this freedom we have while it lasts."

"Unlike you, it's hard for me to enjoy myself like this. It's like I got food stuck in my teeth that refuses to budge. I'm gonna take a look at his inn."

Ignoring the relaxed Jali, Harol headed towards the exit. Jali was about to follow him to make sure he didn't do anything reckless, but before he could see the door, Harol was sent flying into the furniture.

"There's no need to look for me. I came here to send you two off."