By midday, Yin Qian was carrying her spoils of this morning’s hunt into town - three rabbits, a young elk and a pigeon.

Bai He Town is a small provincial post on Yu Lan Mountain, if not the only presence of human life on the mountain itself. As a provincial post, it only had two small guard post along the perimeter of its walls as the town had nothing much to guard for. In the middle of it lies its famed Traders Square. Passing merchants along the silk road often took a short rest at Bai He Town and traded some of their less valuable wares in the meantime. Although less valuable than those that would have been traded in the capital city, it allowed folks of the western plains to have a chance to come across lesser known herbs and goods without having to travel far and wide.

Yin Qian walked up confidently to Master Hou’s Ge Men Post, one of the main trading post on Traders Square. If anyone wanted to barter for the best price for their spoils, Master Hou would definitely be the place to visit. Inside this unassuming emporium, one could find a plethora of goods, from lesser known herbs to common day tools, there is hardly an item Master Hou do not have in stock. In fact, one of the few times Yin Qian visited, she even found items that she was surprised anyone would keep stock of - a ornamental brass hoe, a bamboo rake that one could hardly call useable and a bottle of dead crickets one might guess for medicinal purposes. “Master Hou! Good day to you,” she chirped brightly. “I’m sure you would be happy to see what I have for you today.” Yin Qian heaved as she finally let loose her hunted goods to lay spread on the counter. 

Master Hou was a man of tall stature. He could easily tower over any of the other townfolk. Always dressed prim and proper with a thick pair of glasses that sat firmly on his nose, one would mistake him for being an official rather than the provincial shop owner. “What do we have here?” Master Hou asked, his voice low with the assertiveness of a jaded old man. “It seems like someone has had a good hunt this morning.. This should help you this coming winter,” he commented. 

Yin Qian always found Master Hou likeable, a no-nonsense business man who knew where to keep his nose out of and yet bred a sense of familiarity with each one of his customers. With no clue where her parents were or whether she had any, Yin Qian couldn’t help but look up to Master Hou as a mentor of some sort, someone who has since looked out for her on more than one occasion as well. The last time, Yin Qian accidentally brushed across some Gu Wei plants while hunting and developed a nasty rash on her wrists. Master Hou gave her some herbs to crush and apply over the wounds without asking for anything in return. He even paid her extra for her hunt that morning, “You’ll need the extra cash to head to the medicinal post for more herbs to put on that wound. It’ll be bad it if it spreads,” he said. “I can’t have my best hunter out of action for days and worse, weeks.” Yin Qian know that Master Hou was just trying to comfort her for her amateur mistake with the Gu Wei plants. Thankfully for his help, otherwise Yin Qian would have been driven crazy and died from that relentless itch even if it would go away on its own a couple of weeks. 

“You should head over to the tea house later today Qian-er,” Master Hou instructed as he begun clearing his counter of dead prey while striking his abacus, keeping stock of his new shipment. “I heard a new traveler that arrived in town has come with some news that you might be interested in,” he let on as he handed over Yin Qian’s new family fortune of a measly hundred coins. Master Hou suddenly lowered his voice into a whisper as he leaned across the counter, “This traveler… he has a bracelet with a vial pendant similar to yours. Except, his glowed red..” 

Yin Qian eyes widened in curiosity. No one she’s met has ever seen a pendant similar to hers nor knew what is it it contains. Before Master Hou could continue, she grabbed her coins off the old weathered countertop and dashed onto the bustling streets in the direction of the tea house.