Winter festival

The city of Wolfden was very lively at this time, many people had set up stalls to sell their goods but there were also various food vendors and small booths to take part in some games to win prizes.

Whether it was the people of Wolfden or some visitors from outside, they all seemed to be here to enjoy the pleasant and friendly atmosphere within the city during the festivities.

Some jugglers, dancers, singers or other types of performers were putting on a display within the streets while others were setting up competitions to take advantage of the many people that were visiting.

Within the large crowd a group made their way through the crowd enjoying a steamed meat bun but surprisingly they dressed a little more fashionable compared to most of the common people who were within the streets.

Not too far away was a couple of people dressed in ordinary clothing who were always keeping watch over them from a certain distance.

While everyone was enjoying the atmosphere the young lady within the group stood among them and blocked the lower half of her face with a fan elegantly while her eyes calmly watched over her surroundings.

Ki had arrived early with her brother, sister and Evie to enjoy the winter festival that was taking place within the city.

In order to bring in more trade to the city but also increase the overall populations positive view of those within power, certain things had to be arranged to keep them happy.

The seasonal festivals was one of the things that had become a thing to celebrate within the streets of the city, if it had been many years ago nobody would feel that it was safe to do so but after the previous city lord and the nobles were dealt with the security of the city and their livelihoods had improved significantly.

Although Ki had arranged things to become this way, she still had not experienced it first hand but she did know of the effects that it brought to the city.

Walking hand in hand with Naara, she visited several stores and viewed several small food stores that were selling rice balls, osmanthus cakes, steamed buns, bowls of soup or broths and also skewers of meat.

Some stalls had set up fortune telling stalls, talisman and other items were for sale to help ward off bad luck or evil spirits or for other purposes.

Ki looked over at her sisters excited face and said. "Don't believe in this fortune nonsense.. these people may not even be real monks or taoists but are just using this chance to make some money from those silly enough to fall for it."

Naara looked up and puffed up her cheeks. "Hmph!"

She turned her head away in a tantrum but Ki just let out a small laugh. "Haha.. fine, you can have what you want. Just tell me."

Secretly in her heart, she had a certain disdain for even the real so called Taoists or monks.

Back when she was on the run and fighting for her life, she was also hunted down by a group of benevolent looking monks who spoke righteously to her.

They asked her to put down her butcher knife and destroy her dantain with a kind face full of sympathy but back then she had long reached a point where she would no longer listen to others even if their intentions seemed to be kind.

Since she refused their request, they immediately turned cold and tried to kill her stating they could only get rid of the evil with their own hands and had failed to save another poor soul,

They live in seclusion cutting off their worldly desires and only really appear in the world because of their sects actions or they have set out on their own spiritual journey but the problem was that their hearts failed to understand humanity as a whole even after chanting and reading through many scriptures.

In their view, it is right to be forgiving of others sins but if that person continued to kill and cause a mess in the world then they have the right to purge away that evil to make others lives no longer in danger.

However the problem lies in their actions and thoughts, a moment that they have acted may be when the person has already fell into despair and can no longer be saved…

If they truly wished to save the poor souls in the world then they should have acted as soon as tragedies occurred to reduce the fallout or at least give the victims some form of hope, instead they secluded themselves and when they appeared they became tools used to strike down the so called evil.

Just because she was dubbed by others as evil and hunted they came to ask her to stop killing and put away her sword…

Not only that but they asked that she would destroy her dantain, if she did that then she was essentially giving those who had hunted her previously the chance to catch and kill her so of course she would not listen.

After completing their task, they would most likely disappear and never inquire in how she was treated after she had given herself up.

They would never truly know the weight of their words or the effects of their requests if the opposite party truly followed their wish to save them.

From then on she avoided those types of people as if they were the plague, she just couldn't stand their holy act like they knew what was best for her as they spoke like they truly cared for her.

Ki felt a shiver go down her spine as she recalled those bad memories but she still let her sister do as she pleases for the day so long as it does not bring them any harm.

After visiting several stores her sister excitedly skipped with several talismans in her hands.

Looking at them, Leon turned to Ki and asked. "Is it true that these things are useless?"

Ki shrugged. "There are many mysterious things in the world so I cannot just say that it won't work… but I would say that it would only work if it was written by someone who is highly knowledgable in that area and the right materials are used. These cinnabar talismans and the paper seem to be poorly made but also the writing is messy so I very much doubt their effectiveness. One thing you need to know as a member of this family.. is how to notice the difference between a real and a fake or between high or low quality products. If you fail to notice the subtle differences you will be easily scammed and lose out on a lot of money."

Leon's face suddenly turned a little pale. "I understand sister…"

Behind them, Evie clutched a small talisman behind her back and looked towards Leon after hearing Ki's words.

She then turned her head away for a moment while blushing and tightening her clenched fist around the talisman further.

She had also secretly bought a talisman after an old woman had done a palm reading for her during their time browsing the various stalls.

The woman had said that she would have a difficult time with her love life in the future and offered her a marriage talisman.

With the talisman, the odds of her achieving success should be raised a little in a potential relationship with a close male partner.

Evie suddenly remembered that the only male that she was even close to that was her age was Leon but even now he had not treated her as anything but a friend.

Although she had yet to fully understand her own feelings, she knew that Leon was a little dense when it came to more complicated relationships between a boy and a girl, there had also never been any discussions in the family about his marriage partner.

After the palm reading she decided to purchase the talisman because she had figured out a little about her own feelings in that moment.

She really didn't like the idea of him marrying another person but if the family arranged it then she may never have a chance to go against it so she could only put her hopes upon the talisman.

She clutched the talisman in her hand while a hopeful look appeared as she gazed at Leon's back but then she thought to herself. 'How will he even notice my feelings now that I have just become aware of them? Should I tell him?'

However even if the talisman was useless, often times humans need this type of item or stimulation in their lives so that they can realise their true feelings but also have something to rely on so they can gain enough courage to step forward.

She did not notice that a pair of eyes had watched everything play out and there was a playful smile on Ki's face behind her veil.