Chapter 47: The First Gathering

The merchant caravan left for Green River City shortly after sunrise.

Lin Yuan watched it disappear along the eastern road.

His message went with it.

Blackstone was interested.

Now there was nothing to do but wait.

So Lin Yuan went back to work.

For the next several days, life continued normally.

Travelers came and went.

Blackstone Inn remained busy, though not completely full every night.

Qiao sold supplies.

Duan bought beast materials from hunters returning along the western road.

The notice board changed constantly.

The missing notice for Han Bo remained.

The eastbound caravan notice disappeared after finding enough people.

Someone posted a request to buy three bottles of wound medicine.

Another traveler offered to repair low-grade artifacts in exchange for spirit stones or materials.

Nobody asked Lin Yuan before putting either notice up.

He decided that was probably a good sign.

On the fourth morning, Lin Yuan was carrying a sack of flour into the tavern when Fang Yu called from across the road.

"Someone’s looking for you."

A woman stood beside the entrance of Blackstone Inn.

She appeared to be in her early forties and wore a dark green traveling robe. A narrow storage bag hung from her waist, while a bronze token rested against her belt.

Behind her stood two men and a single covered wagon.

Lin Yuan set the flour inside before walking over.

"You’re looking for me?"

The woman nodded.

"Lin Yuan?"

"Yes."

She removed the bronze token and held it where he could see.

A familiar symbol had been engraved into its surface.

The same one stamped on the notice from Green River City.

"Shen Lihua. Western Trade Association."

Lin Yuan glanced at the wagon.

"You came quickly."

"We’ve been looking at possible gathering points along the western route."

Her eyes moved around Blackstone.

"One of our merchants returned yesterday and suggested this place."

"So you came to inspect it."

"Exactly."

She looked toward Wandering Cloud Tavern.

"Show me."

Lin Yuan didn’t prepare a speech.

There wasn’t much point.

Blackstone was small enough to see most of it from the road.

He started with Wandering Cloud Tavern.

Shen Lihua stepped inside and stopped.

Her eyes sharpened.

"Middle Spirit Grade?"

"Recently."

She examined the room.

Nearly half the tables were occupied even though breakfast had already ended.

Two cultivators rested near the window.

Another traveler was drinking tea while copying information from a notice he had seen outside.

Shen Lihua took a slow breath.

"Qi Gathering."

Lin Yuan nodded.

She didn’t ask how he had done it.

Lin Yuan appreciated that.

They crossed to Blackstone Inn.

Fang Yu was checking two guests out.

"How many rooms?" Shen Lihua asked.

"Twelve."

"Occupancy?"

Before Lin Yuan answered, Fang Yu looked up from her record book.

"Nine last night. Twelve the night before."

Shen Lihua glanced at her.

"And tonight?"

"Seven reserved so far."

Shen Lihua nodded once.

That seemed to interest her more than anything Lin Yuan could have said.

Outside, they passed Qiao’s shop.

Qiao was selling dried provisions to three travelers.

Farther down the road, a hunter entered Duan He’s business carrying a wrapped bundle over one shoulder.

Shen Lihua stopped beside the wagon area.

"How many wagons?"

"Eight comfortably."

"And more?"

Lin Yuan pointed toward the open ground farther south.

"There’s space."

She followed his gesture.

The land was flat enough.

No buildings blocked it.

The road remained close.

They continued toward the notice board.

Several papers covered it now.

Road conditions.

Buying requests.

Caravan departures.

A request for an escort.

Han Bo’s missing notice.

Shen Lihua read each one.

"You organized this?"

"The first two notices."

"And the rest?"

"People started adding their own."

"Good."

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.

She noticed.

"A gathering only works if merchants have reasons to interact without someone arranging every conversation for them."

That made sense.

Shen Lihua stepped away from the board.

"You have lodging, food, supplies, water, and enough open ground."

She looked toward the businesses again.

"Better than I expected."

"Then what’s the problem?"

Her gaze shifted west.

"The road."

Lin Yuan had expected that.

"The main route is still passable."

"According to the patrol, yes."

Shen Lihua folded her arms.

"But merchants are nervous. Beast movement has been unusual, hunters are changing routes, and nobody knows whether conditions will worsen."

Lin Yuan looked west as well.

"That’s why you want the gathering."

"Partly."

She nodded.

"Small caravans don’t want to cross alone. A regular gathering gives them somewhere to find escorts, exchange information, and leave in larger groups."

That gave Blackstone another advantage.

Every caravan heading west from here would already be standing at the edge of the route they intended to cross.

"When would you test it?"

"Seven days from now."

That was sooner than Lin Yuan expected.

"How many?"

"Five caravans have already registered interest. More may join."

"Wagons?"

"Twelve to eighteen."

Lin Yuan looked toward the current wagon area.

Eight comfortable spaces.

That would need some work.

"What happens if the first gathering works?"

"We hold another ten days later."

"And after that?"

"If merchants keep coming, it becomes regular."

Lin Yuan considered it.

Seven days was enough.

"Do it."

Shen Lihua studied him.

"That quickly?"

"What am I supposed to wait for?"

"Some landowners would start by discussing fees."

"Are you offering one?"

"No."

"Then that discussion would be short."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"The Association organizes merchants. We don’t normally pay for gathering grounds unless the owner requires it."

"No ground fee for the first gathering."

"Why?"

Lin Yuan glanced toward the tavern.

"Your merchants will eat."

Then toward the inn.

"Some will need rooms."

Qiao’s shop.

"They’ll need supplies."

Finally, he looked toward the road.

"And they’ll trade."

Shen Lihua understood.

"You expect the gathering to bring enough business on its own."

"If merchants are already coming here to trade, I don’t need to charge them just for standing on the land."

Shen Lihua considered him for a moment, then held out her hand.

"Seven days."

Lin Yuan clasped it.

"Seven days."

Qiao learned about the gathering less than an hour later.

"Eighteen wagons?"

"Possibly."

Qiao looked toward the small wagon area.

"My baskets are going to die."

Duan He had come over after hearing the news.

He ignored Qiao and pointed south.

"Extend it that way."

Lin Yuan followed his gesture.

"Keep the ground near my shop open," Duan continued. "Hunters need somewhere to unload."

Qiao nodded.

"And don’t put merchants selling general supplies directly in front of my door."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"Afraid of competition?"

"Obviously."

At least he was honest.

They spent part of the afternoon marking additional space with timber stakes.

Lin Yuan didn’t divide the ground into precise plots.

Caravans varied too much in size.

Instead, the existing wagon area expanded south while a separate stretch closer to the road remained open for temporary trade.

Merchants could lay out cloth, tables, crates, or whatever else they brought.

Nothing permanent.

By sunset, the change was simple but obvious.

The road remained clear.

Wagons had somewhere to stop.

Duan’s unloading area remained open.

Qiao’s entrance remained unobstructed.

Seven days.

Blackstone would be ready.

The merchants began arriving early.

Three days before the gathering, two wagons appeared from the west.

They weren’t among the five caravans Shen Lihua had mentioned.

They had simply heard about the gathering from someone else.

The next day, four more arrived from the east.

One merchant rented two rooms at Blackstone Inn.

Another immediately went to Qiao looking for lamp oil.

Two cultivators walked into Duan’s shop carrying beast hides.

The notice board gained five new papers before evening.

Buying Ironback Boar Hide

Seeking Two Guards — Westbound

Selling Dried Moonleaf

Repairing Wagon Wheels

Looking for Chen Wei Caravan

The gathering was still two days away.

Blackstone Inn was already full.

Fang Yu approached Lin Yuan with her record book.

"All twelve rooms."

"Again?"

"Again. I’ve started keeping a waiting list."

Lin Yuan looked toward the inn.

"More rooms can wait until after the gathering."

"Good."

Fang Yu closed the record book.

"I’d like to survive the first twelve."

Lin Yuan smiled.

"Reasonable."

For now, anyone without a room could camp near their wagons.

Most caravan merchants were used to doing exactly that.

Blackstone at least offered water, food, and a safer place to rest than an empty stretch of road.

On the morning of the gathering, Blackstone woke before sunrise.

Wagon wheels rolled over the road while the sky was still grey.

One caravan arrived from Green River City.

Then another.

Two more came together.

Shen Lihua rode with the fifth.

By the time sunlight reached the rooftops, fourteen wagons occupied the expanded area.

More than thirty cultivators moved between them.

Bundles of cloth appeared.

Boxes of medicine.

Dried herbs.

Low-grade beast materials.

Tools.

Wine.

Travel supplies.

Small artifacts.

Nothing especially rare.

But Blackstone had never seen this much trade at once.

Lin Yuan stood outside Wandering Cloud Tavern.

Su Mei stopped beside him.

"We’re going to run out of tables."

"Probably."

"And food."

"Hopefully not."

Xiao Lan appeared in the doorway.

"Two groups are asking for breakfast."

Lin Yuan turned toward her.

"I’ll help."

The next several hours passed quickly.

Every table filled.

When one group left, another took its place.

Lin Yuan spent most of the morning between the kitchen and dining hall while Su Mei and Xiao Lan handled customers.

Outside, the gathering continued without him.

By midday, Qiao had moved several crates in front of his shop because too many people were entering at once.

A merchant bought most of his remaining lamp oil.

Another purchased rope, dried provisions, and two spare waterskins.

Duan’s business was even busier.

Three hunters sold hides to one caravan while Duan negotiated over a beast core with another merchant.

Farther down the road, four cultivators gathered around an escort notice.

Lin Yuan passed them while carrying an empty water container toward the courtyard.

"Three days west," one of them was saying.

"How many wagons?"

"Six."

"Payment?"

"Four stones each."

A few minutes later, the notice disappeared from the board.

Apparently they had reached an agreement.

Near the wagon area, two merchants spread cloth over the ground and began exchanging medicinal herbs for preserved food and spirit stones.

Another trader sold replacement wheel fittings.

Someone else offered cheap talismans.

Blackstone didn’t control any of it.

It didn’t need to.

People had come because they expected other people to be here.

That expectation was enough.

By afternoon, the gathering had spread across most of the marked area.

The road itself remained open.

Travelers passing through slowed to look.

Several stopped.

Some bought something.

Others simply entered the tavern after seeing the crowd.

Lin Yuan barely had time to notice.

"Owner!"

He turned.

A customer near the doorway lifted an empty teapot.

Lin Yuan took it.

"Coming."

The rush finally eased near sunset.

Not because the gathering had ended.

People were simply getting tired.

Some merchants packed away their goods.

Others remained in small groups discussing the western road.

Two caravans had agreed to travel together the following morning.

Another hired three cultivators as escorts.

Qiao sat outside his shop counting spirit stones.

Duan was still working.

Lin Yuan decided not to disturb either of them.

Shen Lihua found him beside the tavern.

She looked considerably less tidy than she had during her first visit.

Dust covered the bottom of her robe.

"How many meals did you serve?"

"I stopped counting."

"Good answer."

Lin Yuan looked toward the wagon area.

"How did it go?"

"Fourteen wagons."

"I can see that."

"Seven direct trades between caravans that I know about. Three escort arrangements. Two groups agreed to travel together."

She glanced toward Qiao’s shop.

"And your merchants here seem happy."

"They’ll complain tomorrow."

"Then they did well."

Lin Yuan couldn’t argue with that.

Shen Lihua watched two merchants finish tying crates onto a wagon.

"The Association will continue."

Lin Yuan turned toward her.

"Here?"

"Here."

"When?"

"Ten days."

"The next gathering?"

She nodded.

"We’ll send word along the route. If today is any indication, there’ll be more caravans next time."

Lin Yuan looked over the crowded stretch of Blackstone.

"Then I’ll need more stakes."

Shen Lihua laughed.

"Probably."

She left to speak with one of the caravan leaders.

Lin Yuan remained outside.

Only then did he turn his attention inward.

The Territory Core responded.

A familiar panel appeared.

Territory Core

Owner: Lin Yuan

Territory: Blackstone Wasteland

Core State: Awakened

Core Level: 3

Spiritual Environment: Faint

Territory Revenue: 648 / 2,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones

Lin Yuan stared at the number.

The last time he had checked, it had been 563.

Now it was 648.

And this had only been the first gathering.

Lin Yuan dismissed the panel.

Across the road, someone was already pinning a new notice to the board.

Next Western Gathering — Ten Days

A few months ago, Blackstone had been a place travelers crossed because the road happened to pass through it.

Now merchants were choosing a day to come back.

Lin Yuan looked over the wagons, shops, inn, and crowded tavern.

In ten days, there would be even more of them.

He smiled.

Blackstone would be ready.