Upon exiting the Obsidian Moon Parlor - as it was known in this city - from a different exit he ca in through, though equally unpopulated, Wu Long was already alone.
He stopped, taking a breath, and feeling the cold temperature around him even as the morning passed and the sun stood high, he was reminded once more that the long sumr they spent here was coming to an end, transitioning into a short autumn, which would be followed by a long winter, seemingly coinciding with the lull that was about to descend onto the continent.
A chirping sound reached his ears, and a small bird with silvery wings landed onto a half- crumbled stone statue nearby, the light reflected off the feathers catching his eyes.
"A silver-winged sparrow... they're still here...", he smirked as very distant, vague mories flashed through his mind, "... though I should've guessed when I heard the city na", his smirk turned into a wry smile, speaking partly in jest, since it could already be considered a miracle he rembered this bird at all.
He shook his head and moved on. Fen Baihu walked next to him in illusory form that hid her tails and fox ears, carrying with her a mysterious feeling that she was here all along and obscuring the exact mont when she arrived. Even if soone witnessed Wu Long coming out of the Obsidian Moon Parlor alone, they wouldn't even have an urge to question when was it that soone joined him.
"That Obsidian Moon guy was weird...", she ntioned, causing Wu Long to raise his eyebrow.
"Weird how?", he asked in an intrigued tone.
"I can't explain it either... it's just... he gave off a weird feeling, I've never t humans whose presence felt so strange, it's like... his subconscious mind was eerily quiet, stale even, and yet his presence felt whole", Fen Baihu shook her head with a puzzled expression.
"Like a Soul Cultivator manipulating him?"
"No, in that case I wouldn't feel that his mind was fully present there", she once more shook her head.
"Hmm", he made a pondering expression for a bit, "What about the servant who led us in the beginning?"
"That one was normal", she shrugged her shoulders.
Wu Long knew that his Chaos Origin Eyes were powerful, but he also knew better than to place complete trust in one technique, even as great as it was. Besides, Fen Baihu's powers and perception were unique in their essence.
"Thanks for telling , I'll keep that in mind", he nodded with a smile after a brief pause to think.
"We're on the sa side", she spoke nonchalantly, understanding from his response that for now there wasn't anything they could do with this information other than to keep it in their heads in case it beca relevant later.
"That's right, we are", his smile beca wider for so reason, chuckling as they started encountering scarce passers by again, leaving the quiet part of these streets, he then looked around with interest, "Haha, if there are things I want to learn to do with your bloodline this trick's definitely one of them"
Even though they were passing through the seedy parts of the Silver Wing City, unlike before when he passed through them receiving glances of intimidation or at least cursory evaluating looks, no one seed to care about their presence. They weren't hidden, as people avoided bumping into them, but there was a sense that they existed in a corner of perception just outside of attention of everyone they passed.
"It doesn't work on soone specifically aware of the user or very alert, you know? It only works on those who're completely unaware of you, and to a degree indifferent to your presence to begin with", she smiled, visibly pleased.
"Yeah, but just the ability to walk with a gorgeous woman without being interrupted by any third guy who thinks they should talk smack is so refreshing", he chuckled, since there wasn't that many annoying things to him as having his ti with won interrupted.
"Hahaha, and here I thought you were thinking of the potential tactical use of this ability", she shook her head once more being reminded what took up the majority of his preferred ti expenditure. At the sa ti, the words "gorgeous woman" still rung in her ears.
As they went through the city, the turn of events at the Obsidian Moon Parlor that strayed from his plans ca to her mind once more.
"Do you intend to approach the Palace of Secrets now?", she asked, intrigued about his thoughts after sothing goes not as he expected.
"No", he shook his head, "Playing on the conflict of those two giants is a foregone choice now that the Obsidian Moon took this stance. So there's no rit in trying to ally ourselves with one of the sides, nor is there any leverage. Which ans we'll not oppose them either. If there's no rit in making enemies out of a powerful organization I'd prefer to not do so" "You'll abandon that part of your plan just like that?", she raised her eyebrows.
"It wasn't crucial to begin with", he shrugged his shoulders.
"If it's so insignificant that you can abandon it so easily, why consider it in the first place then?", she asked with growing confusion.
"Because it could give a small advantage in the future", he patiently explained, "every bit of leverage you collect along the way can help. Even if it's small, that tiny bit of difference can one day bridge the gap between an impossible task and a hard one"
"Haah~, I guess that's why you humans always outsmarted Spiritual Beasts, you're too scheming, you'll never catch a Spiritual Beast planning sothing that could be easily abandoned just because it can potentially give a bit of an advantage soday", she shook her head.
"Hahaha, I guess you're right. If you think about it, humans are the least naturally powerful of all the races in the Seven Boundless Worlds, so one of the things we always had to rely on was tricks and scheming", Wu Long shrugged his shoulders with amusent.
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