Chapter 45: A Reason to Stay

The improvement to Wandering Cloud Tavern did not remain unnoticed for long.

By the third morning, Lin Yuan had already heard several explanations for it.

A merchant claimed he had installed a new gathering formation.

A hunter insisted the well had somehow affected the entire building.

Someone else told Qiao that Wandering Cloud Tavern had probably been hiding its real quality from the beginning.

Lin Yuan heard that last one while carrying a basket of vegetables through the front door.

He decided not to ask how that made sense.

Inside, breakfast was nearly over.

Su Mei collected empty bowls while Xiao Lan wiped down a table near the window.

Two cultivators remained in the corner, speaking quietly.

Neither had ordered anything for several minutes.

Lin Yuan looked at them.

Then at the empty bowls.

Then back at them.

One noticed.

"We’ll order more tea."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Problem solved.

The stronger Qi and comfortable atmosphere had made the tavern a better place to rest.

That was good for business.

Outside, however, more customers meant more wagons.

And wagons needed space.

Lin Yuan discovered the problem a few minutes later.

One wagon stood beside the road.

Another had stopped behind it.

A third had somehow ended up sideways between Qiao’s shop and the tavern courtyard.

Two men were arguing beside it.

"I was here first."

"You left."

"I moved the wagon."

"That’s leaving."

"I moved ten steps!"

Lin Yuan stopped beside them.

Both men turned.

The merchant pointed toward the wagon.

"Owner Lin, tell him."

"Tell him what?"

"That this space was ours."

Lin Yuan looked at the ground.

There was dirt.

Nothing else.

"No."

The merchant blinked.

"No?"

"It’s not marked."

The wagon driver smiled.

Lin Yuan pointed toward Qiao’s shop.

"You’re blocking his entrance."

The smile disappeared.

"Move it."

The merchant looked pleased until Lin Yuan pointed at his cart.

"And you can’t leave that there either."

"Where am I supposed to put it?"

Lin Yuan looked around.

That was a better question.

Qiao’s two hitching posts already had several mounts tied to them.

Duan He’s unloading area was occupied.

The inn entrance needed to remain clear.

Blackstone had plenty of open land.

The problem was that everyone chose whichever piece of it looked convenient.

Lin Yuan looked toward an open stretch south of the tavern.

"Give me a moment."

The merchant frowned.

"Where are you going?"

"To find some timber."

Qiao had timber.

Duan He had spare rope.

That was enough.

Lin Yuan marked out part of the open ground south of the tavern, where wagons could stop without blocking the road or nearby businesses.

The ground was already firm enough for ordinary carts.

It didn’t need anything complicated.

By early afternoon, several rough posts marked the edges of the area, with additional posts for tying mounts.

Xiao Lan stood beside a wooden board with a brush in her hand.

Across it, she had written one word.

WAGONS

Lin Yuan stared at it.

"That’s it?"

"What else should it say?"

He considered the question.

"Nothing."

The first two wagons moved in.

A caravan arriving from the east saw them and followed without asking.

Within minutes, the road in front of Qiao’s shop was clear again.

The Territory Core gave no response.

Lin Yuan hadn’t expected one.

Sometimes a problem only needed a few pieces of timber.

By late afternoon, several wagons occupied the new area.

That was when a thin man in dusty robes entered Wandering Cloud Tavern carrying a rolled blanket beneath one arm.

He looked tired enough that Lin Yuan assumed he wanted food.

Instead, the man approached the counter.

"Room?"

"Across the road."

"Full."

Lin Yuan glanced toward Blackstone Inn.

Already?

"How many nights?"

"Don’t know."

"Helpful."

The man placed three low-grade spirit stones on the counter.

"I’ve been sleeping beside my wagon for four nights."

"Why?"

"Waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"My younger brother."

Lin Yuan waited.

The man sighed.

"He went to Green River City to sell medicinal herbs. We were supposed to meet farther west."

"Supposed to?"

"I’m not going farther west now."

Lin Yuan understood.

With the situation beyond Blackstone still uncertain, the man’s original meeting point was no longer attractive.

"Your brother knows you’re here?"

"If he comes through Blackstone, he’ll find me."

Lin Yuan looked through the window.

Travelers moved between the tavern, Qiao’s shop, and the inn.

A pair of hunters were checking supplies outside.

Several wagons stood in the new stopping area.

The man hadn’t come here because he particularly wanted Lin Yuan’s food or rooms.

He had chosen Blackstone as a meeting point.

That was new.

Lin Yuan pushed two of the spirit stones back.

"No room tonight."

The man looked disappointed.

"But I can feed you."

The traveler glanced toward the inn once more.

Then took back the two stones.

"Fine."

Lin Yuan picked up the remaining stone.

"What do you want?"

"Anything hot."

"That I can do."

Fang Yu came over near sunset.

"Full."

Lin Yuan was carrying a pot toward one of the tables.

"I heard."

"All twelve."

"That’s good."

"It is until someone asks me for a thirteenth."

Lin Yuan placed the pot down.

"Someone already did."

Fang Yu looked toward the thin man eating alone near the wall.

"Him?"

"Waiting for his brother."

"How long?"

"He doesn’t know."

Fang Yu sat at an empty table.

"That’s becoming common."

Lin Yuan looked at her.

"What is?"

"Waiting."

She nodded toward the window.

"Two hunters extended their stay yesterday because they wanted another group before leaving. One merchant is waiting for someone he’s supposed to trade with."

Lin Yuan hadn’t known that.

Fang Yu handled the inn well enough that most of its daily details never reached him.

"Travelers used to stop because they needed food or sleep," she said.

Lin Yuan looked outside.

"And now?"

"Some of them are coming here to wait for someone."

Fang Yu poured herself tea.

"Apparently Blackstone is becoming a meeting place."

That was different.

A roadside tavern existed because people happened to pass it.

But if travelers started choosing Blackstone as a place to meet, wait, and trade, then the road was no longer the only reason they came.

Fang Yu picked up the teapot.

"You’re thinking again."

"Apparently."

"About more rooms?"

Lin Yuan glanced at the full inn.

"No."

"Not yet."

Fang Yu nodded.

"Good."

"You sounded relieved."

"I just finished opening the first one."

"Fair."

The thin traveler finished eating after sunset.

Fang Yu came over before he left.

"If someone checks out tomorrow, I’ll hold the first available room until midday."

The man nodded.

"Thank you."

"After midday, I give it to someone else."

"Understood."

He picked up his rolled blanket.

Lin Yuan looked toward the wagon area.

"You’re sleeping outside again?"

The man shrugged.

"One more night won’t kill me."

"Try not to prove yourself wrong."

The traveler laughed and headed outside.

He wasn’t the only person still awake.

Qiao’s shop remained open later than usual.

Two cultivators stood near Duan He’s doorway discussing the price of a hide.

Several travelers sat outside the inn rather than disappearing into their rooms.

Nobody had organized any of it.

It had simply begun happening.

Later, Lin Yuan stepped outside to close the tavern.

The new wagon area looked rough.

The posts didn’t match.

The sign consisted of one word.

It worked anyway.

Wagons were no longer scattered along the busiest part of the road.

Mounts stood tied nearby.

Across from the tavern, Blackstone Inn glowed behind its windows.

Qiao finally closed his shop.

Farther down, Duan He’s building had gone dark.

Beyond them, the road stretched east and west into the night.

When Lin Yuan first opened Wandering Cloud Tavern, travelers stopped because it happened to stand beside their route.

They ate.

They slept.

Then they continued.

Now a man was waiting here for his brother.

Hunters were waiting for other hunters.

Merchants were arranging meetings.

Blackstone was still small.

But it was slowly becoming a place people meant to reach.