Chapter 64: A Different Gathering

Jiang Heng left Blackstone the morning after the survey team departed east.

Lin Yuan found him outside Wandering Cloud Tavern with his narrow sword at his waist and a small travel bag over one shoulder.

"Leaving?"

Jiang Heng glanced at him.

"You sound surprised."

"You’ve been sitting under my awning long enough that I was considering charging rent."

"Then I’m leaving at the right time."

Lin Yuan handed him a wrapped breakfast.

Jiang Heng accepted it.

"The western road is still unsafe for wagons."

"I’m going east."

"That explains the confidence."

Jiang Heng looked toward the notice board.

Surveyor He’s report remained pinned beneath the western route warning.

"Someone stronger will eventually take an interest in what’s north of Red Cliff."

Lin Yuan leaned against the doorway.

"Because of the buried stone?"

"Because the ground is moving, the local spiritual Qi is disturbed, and a trade route is becoming unusable."

He adjusted the strap over his shoulder.

"The stone just makes people more curious."

"Curiosity seems dangerous."

"It often is."

Jiang Heng started toward the eastern road.

Lin Yuan called after him.

"Try not to come back with another broken caravan."

Jiang Heng looked over his shoulder.

"No promises."

Then he continued east.

Lin Yuan watched him pass the edge of Central Blackstone before returning inside.

There was no need for a dramatic farewell. If Jiang Heng returned someday, Lin Yuan would deal with it then.

For now, he had breakfast to prepare.

Two days later, the next scheduled gathering began.

It was the third gathering Blackstone had hosted, and from the beginning it felt different from the first two.

Normally, merchants arrived from both directions.

This time, most of the wagons came from the east.

From the west came cultivators on foot, small groups carrying storage bags, and a few travelers leading lightly packed spirit beasts.

The heavier wagons already stranded in Blackstone had not gone anywhere.

Many of their owners simply joined the gathering.

By midmorning, the Travelers’ Market was crowded.

Merchants opened crates beside wagons that had been parked there for days.

Travelers spread cloth across the marked trading spaces and displayed goods light enough to carry west by hand.

One cultivator sold medicine.

Another displayed beast cores and claws.

A merchant who had originally planned to continue west opened two boxes of dried herbs beside his wagon instead.

Blackstone had lost much of its usual western wagon traffic.

The gathering continued anyway.

Lin Yuan stood outside the tavern watching people move through the market.

Shen Lihua approached from the eastern road with two Association workers.

She looked first at the parked wagons, then at the route station and notice board before finally turning to Lin Yuan.

"You’ve been busy."

"I’d rather the road wasn’t collapsing."

"Understandable."

Wu Jian came over from the route station and handed her a copy of Surveyor He’s report.

Shen Lihua read it as they walked.

Her expression became more serious near the end.

"Stronger disturbance to the north."

"That’s what the survey confirmed," Wu Jian said. "Nothing more."

"And the road?"

"Still unsafe for loaded wagons."

Shen Lihua folded the report.

"The eastern office already received a copy."

Lin Yuan looked toward her.

"Any decision?"

"They’ll send the findings farther up the Association."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning people with more authority than me get to argue about it."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Efficient."

Shen Lihua gave him a brief smile.

"In the meantime, we keep merchants informed and stop them from breaking wagons."

She looked over the gathering again.

"This isn’t what I expected."

"Neither was the road."

"No."

Her gaze moved across the merchants trading beside stranded wagons.

"But they’re adapting."

Wandering Cloud Tavern filled before noon.

Su Mei handled the dining hall while Xiao Lan carried drinks between tables.

Lin Yuan stayed in the kitchen.

The customers were different from the second gathering.

There were fewer large caravan groups and more cultivators traveling in pairs.

Merchants discussed what could still be carried west without wagons, while far too many people asked when the road might reopen.

Lin Yuan gave all of them the same answer.

He didn’t know.

Eventually, Xiao Lan came into the kitchen carrying an empty tray.

"Table six asked whether the road will reopen tomorrow."

"No."

"You know that?"

"No. But nobody else knows either."

She laughed.

"I’ll tell them to ask Wu Jian."

"Good."

She turned to leave, then stopped.

"Table eight wants another pot of tea."

"That I can answer."

He handed her one.

Outside, Qiao’s shop was doing unusually well again.

Travel supplies were disappearing from his shelves.

Duan He had also benefited as hunters sold heavier beast materials they no longer wanted to carry farther west.

Gao Rui’s storage shed stayed busy with merchants moving goods out of wagons that might remain parked for several more days.

The damaged western route had not stopped trade.

It had changed what people bought, sold, and carried.

Lin Yuan finally escaped the kitchen in the early afternoon.

The number of wagons outside was impossible to ignore.

Wu Jian had kept the main road clear, but the open ground beyond the Travelers’ Market was filling quickly.

Some wagons had been parked there since before the survey team arrived.

Others had reached Blackstone from the east and stopped after learning they couldn’t continue west.

Ironhoof Beasts stood tethered beside them.

Temporary cloth covers had appeared between several wagons to provide shade.

Someone had even set a cooking pot over a small fire.

Lin Yuan stared at it.

The area was beginning to look less like temporary parking and more like a small neighborhood.

Gao Rui appeared beside him.

"I warned you."

"You said too many wagons would become a problem."

"And?"

Lin Yuan looked across the crowded ground.

"You were unfortunately correct."

"I usually am."

"That’s not true."

Gao Rui ignored him.

Nearby, one merchant was arguing with another over enough space to turn his wagon.

Neither seemed particularly angry yet.

Give them another day, Lin Yuan thought.

"This area isn’t organized for long stays," Gao Rui said.

"I noticed."

"The market handles trading."

He pointed farther out.

"But wagons need somewhere separate."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"Are you volunteering land?"

"No."

"Then your advice is less useful."

Gao Rui laughed and returned to his storage shed.

Lin Yuan remained where he was.

A wagon yard would solve most of the problem.

It didn’t need to be complicated—clear ground with enough room between wagons, tethering posts for spirit beasts, and access to water.

Maybe another trough.

Nothing Blackstone couldn’t build normally.

The real question was where to put it.

Central Blackstone was no longer empty. The tavern and inn already occupied large sections of the settlement, while Qiao, Duan, and Gao Rui had their own plots around the market.

The Travelers’ Market itself needed open space.

If wagons were allowed to spread wherever they happened to fit, the problem would only get worse as Blackstone grew.

Lin Yuan rubbed his forehead.

He had wanted a tavern.

Somehow that had become road planning.

The gathering continued through the afternoon.

Trading remained steady despite the western route problem.

Lin Yuan passed the notice board and found several new sheets pinned beneath the Association warnings.

SEEKING PORTERS FOR WESTBOUND FOOT TRAVEL

TWO CULTIVATORS NEEDED

Another read:

WAGON STORAGE NEEDED FOR FIVE DAYS

And another:

BUYING STORAGE BAGS — ANY CONDITION

Lin Yuan paused at that one.

A storage bag merchant would probably have made a fortune today.

Qiao came up beside him.

"I’m thinking of selling storage bags."

"Do you have any?"

"No."

"Excellent business plan."

"I’ll find some."

"Of course you will."

Qiao read the wagon-storage notice.

"You need a caravan yard."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"You’re the second person to tell me that."

"Who’s first?"

"Gao Rui."

Qiao frowned.

"I don’t like agreeing with him."

"You can change your mind."

"No. He’s right."

Lin Yuan sighed.

That was becoming annoying.

Near sunset, the gathering began to quiet.

Some temporary stalls packed away their goods.

Others planned to remain open the next morning.

Westbound cultivators gathered around the route station to compare reports before deciding whether to continue on foot.

Shen Lihua remained near the market, speaking with several merchants.

Lin Yuan finally returned to the tavern.

Dinner was already starting.

He worked until the sky outside had gone dark.

Only much later, after the last bowls had been washed and the dining hall had emptied, did Lin Yuan sit alone near the counter.

His shoulders ached.

The third gathering had been busy despite the damaged western route.

Lin Yuan reached for the Territory Core.

A familiar translucent panel appeared.

He expected the usual information.

Instead, a new notification waited at the bottom.

Territory Activity Recognized

Lin Yuan straightened slightly.

Another line appeared.

Sustained Caravan Presence Detected

Then another.

New Territory Development Available

Lin Yuan stared at the final words.

The panel changed.

Caravan Rest Yard

Purpose: Organized Wagon and Spirit Beast Rest Area

Suitable for extended caravan stops, wagon parking, and beast tethering

Development Requirements Available

Lin Yuan read it once.

Then again.

Outside, an Ironhoof Beast made a low sound somewhere among the parked wagons.

Lin Yuan looked through the dark window toward the crowded ground beyond the market.

Loaded wagons could no longer continue west through the damaged section near Red Cliff.

So Blackstone had found something new to build around them.