Date (Y/M/D): 1000/10/08
Season: Autumn

Spurred by the enigmatic words of your Mentor Ci Zheng to forge your own path to Nirvana, you have spend much of the last month now separated from your mentor wandering the between the frigid precipices of the hiemal Zhanbei. Though the cold in this land is something you are very accustomed to having been born in this wintry land, despite being only the beginning of Autumn, you cannot help but feel that the weather is getting considerably colder than usual.

Be it due to the fact that you have long relinquished the thick warm fur coats that once embraced your body that you always wore during you time as a bandit, and now have in its place a meager reddish sanghati - or due to the strengthening howls of the fabled Frost Dragon of legend said to lurk at the furthest reachest of the Northern Limits far north from Zhanbei, this feeling of considerable coldness you feel on your flesh has perhaps subconsciously led you on the way to the warmer Jienu Hu Great Woman Lake Region of Zhanbei.

After days of trekking, occasionally stopping at villages for alms and a simple shed under which to rest, you eventually find yourself in the warm embrace of the atmosphere of Pengquan Luxuriant Spring Town. Perhaps it is because many have sought this region for the same reason as you, the town is bustling with activity, and filled with the tender scent of spring boiled eggs and warm wine being peddled in the many stalls that line the pebble paved streets. Behind the facades of many hot spring shops are strange pillars of basalt bearing layers of curved patterns from which puffs of vapour emerge from the tops, ocassionally conjoined with tall brothel with many balconies from which perfumed women beckon passing men with their patterened handkerchiefs.

Another location in the town proper that sees quite a number of flows of people and cart bearing packhorses appears to be a very tall and large building constructed from very large columns of darkwood almost the size of an elephant, and bearing the height of a two storied building. Facing the Eastern gates, this building is apparently the Quangang Tradehouse, where much bartering and auctions take place. Being a prosperous town managed by merchants - the presence of such a building is not surprising.

Beyond this building there is are four long semicircular bridges of polished basalt that ford over a channel of warm springwater. Around the bridges entrance and exits and even on the paving you are surprised to see all manner of Taoist symbols and sculptures of menacing Tiger-Turtles placed in very precise locations. These bridges are kept very clean, with a few men nearby in a stone building sweeping the area assiduously.

It is these bridges that lead towards the northeastern end of the town bringing one who crosses it to the foot of a hill on which a large series of staircases are built. From the bridge, you can see the staircases lead to around 7 landings gradually bringing its climber up the hill, at the top of which you can just about see the yellow roof of a large monastery partially obscured by trees that grow there. It is there that the rumored specially commmissioned Buddhist Monastery - Zhihuo Yuan Sustaining Flame Monastery - was built, and is currently occupied by the Buddhists of the Noble Flame Sect. But based on a casual survey of the area, you don't seem to find any Buddhists in the town apart from yourself!

Much of the place around the town is quite hilly and forested, with the main roads leading east towards the Capital City of Wenkang Market, and southwest towards Cikuang Town. It is likely that other villages dot the areas around the town, mainly reachable by dirt paths that stray from the main roads.

While strolling through and soaking in the warm atmosphere of the town, you gather the following rumors:

1. It seems that the Nine Toads gang has recently successfully ambushed a merchant caravan headed for Cikuang Town and has went into hiding. The Merchant Protectors are looking for reliable information about their whereabouts, promising a minimum reward of 10 silver taels and more should the information help apprehend the vile bandits.

2. A terrible Swamp Hippo has devastated much of the residents of Zhilin village nearby. Only 5 people survived its mad rampage and now seek refuge in the town and any expert who can dispatch this terrible creature.

3. The Noble Flame Buddhist Sect is hiring workmen to help in construction of a new Hall, promising payment of 5 silver taels a day with food and lodging included as long as one diligently carries out work properly. Applicants need only be of good health and considerable strength. Those hired should be prepared to work for at least a half a year and must report for work in the early in the morning at the break of dawn after breakfast and only rest during lunch and at sunset.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:27, Wed 14 July 2021.

Xiao Kang looked at the stores and trade houses with no small amount of longing - he felt half-naked without a true weapon, even if he wasn't a slouch unarmed. But he couldn't hide from the reality of his money pouch - and if he wanted to keep doing things like 'eating' and 'sleeping under a roof' he had no chance to splurge on things as exotic and fancy as 'a weapon'. Or 'Warm winter clothes'. So the first thing he did was, understandably, to look for ways to fatten that starving purse.

The first stop was the request for workmen: good, honest, back-breaking work. There was something tempting about the simplicity of straight labor. And working for monks made it even more of a temptation - half a year of tranquil life spent repaying what Xiao Kang felt was a lifelong debt.

But no.

It was not the right time - or at least, he didn't feel it was. Deep down, he felt he didn't deserve such an 'easy' path. Spilled blood couldn't be cleaned with simple labor.
Probably not a proper thought for a true Buddhist, but he wasn't even sure he deserved that title in the first place. For the moment, focusing on simply being 'himself, but better' was a daily effort.

'Spilled blood can't be cleaned with simple labor' - hunting monsters, however, was not simple labor. Defeating the Swamp Hippo would definitely have felt good, but.. he had no idea how dangerous the beast ACTUALLY was and if fighting it would have been simly a fancy and guilt-free path to suicide.

Bandits on the other hand were a known quantity - but even then scouting for info wasn't exactly his strong suit. In the end he decided to postpone the final decision: instead planning to put his medical talent to work first he went to seek the five survivors of the hippo attack: if they were wounded he could help while gathering more informations - both from their full story, and from the wounds themselves. Then he'd decide how to proceed.

...to be completely honest, he didn't mind starting to build a reputation as wandering medic.