In the blink of an eye, Rhine and Aurora found themselves in the capital of the Far East Empire.
It was a bustling Eastern market with a constant flow of people. People were coming and going everywhere, and vendors were hawking their wares on the streets—a truly lively scene.
Aurora was also seeing such a lively market for the first time, looking around with equal curiosity.
"Pears for sale! Fresh and delicious pears!"
A Small Vendor came by pushing a cart of pears, passing right by Aurora and Rhine.
The Small Vendor saw the two children dressed in magnificent clothes with extraordinary features, looking like wealthy patrons. He leaned down and said with a beaming smile:
"You two don't look like locals; you must be guests from a foreign land. Would you like a fresh pear?"
"Sure." Rhine bought two pears and gave one to Aurora.
The two of them munched on the pears. The fruit was indeed incredibly sweet, fresh, and juicy, leaving a lingering aftertaste.
"So delicious!" Aurora praised, giving a thumbs up.
"I'm glad you like them!" the pear vendor said with a smile.
At that moment, a Taoist wearing a tattered Taoist hat and ragged robes happened to walk up to the cart. Seeing Rhine and Aurora eating happily, he also began to crave them.
The raggedly dressed Taoist felt his pockets, but they were empty; he had no money, not even a single copper coin.
Seeing this, the Taoist begged the vendor:
"Your pears look truly fine; they must be delicious. Could you... give me one?"
The vendor replied righteously:
"No. If I give pears away for free, how can I collect money from others? I'm just running a small business; don't come begging from me."
Despite what the vendor said, the Taoist remained persistent:
"I say, the price of your pears is too high. I really can't afford them, so can't you just let me have a bite?"
"You have several hundred pears in this cart. This humble Taoist is only asking for one; it won't be any loss to you."
"Just give me the smallest one, the very smallest! I definitely won't ask for more."
The pear vendor clearly had a stubborn temper. Seeing the Taoist pestering him relentlessly, he also grew angry:
"Go away! If you're not buying, don't block my business! So what if I don't give you one?"
The voices of the two were very loud, immediately attracting everyone on the street.
Rhine and Aurora, who had just finished their pears and were about to leave, were also drawn by the argument and turned their gaze toward the pear vendor and the Taoist.
Rhine looked at the pestering Taoist and the angry vendor, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face, as if he were recalling something.
Such a familiar scene... "Teacher..." Aurora felt slightly strange seeing Rhine suddenly stop in his tracks.
Wasn't Teacher going to find the founder of the Witch Society—Night Ruge? Why did he suddenly stop and show concern for this pear vendor?
Could it be that there was something special about this pear vendor or the poor begging Taoist?
With such confusion, Aurora turned her gaze back to the two arguing men.
By now, a circle of onlookers had gathered around the two.
Someone advised the vendor:
"I think you should just take the smallest pear and give it to that poor Taoist to get rid of him."
"Yeah. It's just one pear; it's better than having this Taoist pestering you here and affecting your business."
"I've heard that most of these wandering Taoists possess strange arts. If you don't give him a pear, he might perform some evil spell behind your back to take revenge!"
The pear vendor had originally been a bit hesitant about whether to give a pear to the Taoist to settle the matter, but hearing the advice of the bystanders, he instead became furious, his rebellious nature flaring up:
"This Taoist was the one pestering me first, so why should I appease him?
"In the future, if this Taoist pestered someone else, would they have to give in to him too?
"So what if I don't give him a pear? He can go beg from someone else; maybe some kind soul will help him out."
Seeing the vendor's firm attitude, the Taoist suddenly flicked his ragged robes and gave a cold laugh:
"Hehe, since you won't give it to me, that's fine.
"However, now that you've annoyed me, don't come crying with regret later!"
The vendor knew the Taoist was threatening him with revenge, which made him even more furious, and he was about to burst out in curses.
"Stop it, stop arguing!"
A crisp female voice rang out.
The onlookers turned their gazes toward the source of the voice, only to see a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes standing there, her appearance having distinct foreign features.
"It's just one pear, right? I'll buy one."
Aurora spent money to buy another pear from the vendor and gave it to the Taoist.
She didn't like this Taoist, but she didn't want to see the pear vendor being pestered constantly, so she simply performed an act of kindness.
"Little girl, this humble Taoist thanks you!"
The Taoist grinningly took the pear from Aurora's hand and began to eat it in large bites, praising it incessantly as he ate:
"Exquisite taste, exquisite taste. It truly is a good pear."
Before long, the pear was finished, leaving only a core.
"Alright, you've finished the pear, so you can leave now, right?" Aurora advised, then cautioned, "Don't harass others like this again. It's out of kindness if he gives you a pear, but he doesn't owe you anything if he doesn't."
Unexpectedly, the Taoist did not leave. Instead, with a smile on his face, he looked around at the crowd and pointed at the pear vendor, saying:
"Just now, I thank you all for speaking up for me. It's just a pity that miserly fellow didn't listen to your advice.
"I am a man of the cloth; I won't be like that miser and be stingy with good things.
"It so happens that I also have delicious pears here. I'll simply share them with everyone. Please, everyone, come and have a taste!"
The crowd was suddenly stunned, their expressions blank.
Wait, what?
If you had pears yourself, why didn't you eat your own?
Aurora also looked at the Taoist in great surprise, not knowing what he was up to.
Seeing the confusion of the onlookers, the Taoist grinningly held up the pear core left over from just now:
"Don't I need a seed for this?"
After saying that, the Taoist dug a small hole in the ground, placed the core he had just finished into it, covered it with soil, and then asked someone nearby for some hot water, which he poured into the hole.
Everyone gathered around the hole in curiosity, wanting to see what exactly would happen.
Only Rhine remained silent, seemingly already knowing what was to come.
In a short while, a sprout emerged from the soil and grew rapidly. Within seconds, it had grown into a large, lush tree.
The large tree instantly blossomed and bore fruit, with many large and fragrant pears hanging from the branches.
These pears were all plump and looked not a bit inferior to the pears the vendor had been selling earlier!
"Come, come, everyone eat, everyone eat. Please, don't be polite!"
The Taoist picked up an iron shovel and chopped for a while with a clanging sound, felling the pear tree.
The crowd swarmed forward, picking up the pears and tasting them in large bites, eating with great satisfaction.
"Good pears, fresh and juicy."
"Indeed, delicious and palatable."
Everyone praised them as they ate. The Taoist who planted the pears watched this scene with a face full of smiles, though it was unclear what he was so proud of.
"So that's how it is. He begged for a pear because he needed the core as a seed. As long as he has a seed, that Taoist can use a spell to rapidly grow a pear tree."
Aurora was thoughtful, then muttered:
"Why didn't he just say so? If he just wanted a seed, wouldn't it have been enough to ask a customer who finished a pear for a core!"
"No, it's not like that," Rhine said calmly.
"What do you mean, Teacher?" Aurora looked at Rhine in confusion.
"These pears are all stolen," Rhine said in a low voice.
Aurora's eyes narrowed as she suddenly understood something.
The pear vendor from before was also mixed in the crowd, craning his neck and staring wide-eyed at this wonderful magic, having forgotten even his own business.
He was swept along by the crowd and came forward, wanting to see what difference there was between the pears transformed by this magic and real pears.
To his surprise, the Taoist recognized him at a glance: "You, you are not allowed to eat my pears!"
"Fine. I won't eat them then." The vendor hadn't intended to take advantage of this anyway, and he gave an angry snort, "I have a whole cart of pears of my own anyway."
After saying that, the vendor left the crowd and walked toward the direction of his pear cart.
What he didn't notice was that the Taoist, looking at the vendor's back, had the corners of his mouth curl up slightly, revealing an imperceptible wicked smile.
"Alright, alright, everyone's pears are all distributed, right?"
Seeing that everyone had taken the pears from the tree, the Taoist also stuffed a dozen of the largest pears into a cloth bag and then hurriedly departed.
"Why is he leaving in such a hurry?" Seeing the Taoist's hurried departure, the crowd felt slightly confused but didn't pay it much mind.
"Aurora, let's follow that pear merchant from just now."
After Rhine finished speaking, he led Aurora around a corner and came face-to-face with the pear vendor.
"Where are my pears? Where are my pears? Where did they all go!"
The cart that had been full of pears just now was now completely empty!
And on the pear cart, a handle was conspicuously missing.
"My pears!"
The vendor began to wail.
"I was counting on selling these pears in the city to get some money to take back and honor my old mother!"
The vendor threw himself onto the empty pear cart, which was missing a handle, his face covered in tears.
At this time, among the onlookers, one person shouted:
"I saw it just now; the place where that Taoist left, the chopped-down pear tree turned into a cart handle."
The vendor suddenly realized:
"That Taoist used sorcery! All those pears on that pear tree just now were mine!"
He was exasperated and turned around to settle the score with the Taoist:
"Where did that Taoist go? I'm just a small businessman; losing all my pears at once, how am I supposed to live! He stole my pears, I must settle the score with him."
Many of the people in the market had also craved the vendor's pears but didn't want to pay for them. Having just eaten the pears given by the Taoist, they were feeling smug. Now seeing the vendor's current angry state, they were all laughing uncontrollably.
"I say, just accept your bad luck. That Taoist slipped away long ago."
"Didn't I say it before? Most of these wandering Taoists possess strange arts. You dared to provoke him, and look, now you've suffered revenge."
"Exactly, if you had listened to us earlier and given him a pear to settle the matter, it would have been over. Why be like now, where you've even lost your business capital."
"In this life, it's better to have one less thing to worry about. Wouldn't it have been better to let him take a small advantage back then? With your stubborn temper, you were bound to suffer a big loss sooner or later."
The onlookers all began to make sarcastic remarks, and many even found the vendor's appearance quite comical, mocking him.
Of course, there were also those who sympathized with the vendor's plight, feeling that he had suffered an undeserved calamity.
The vendor was both angry and sorrowful:
"On what grounds? Is there no law left?
"He possesses strange arts, yet he doesn't use them for the right path, but instead bullies an honest small businessman like me! I'm going to report this to the authorities, I'm going to report this!"
The crowd advised the vendor:
"This matter involves ghosts, gods, and strange arts; only specialists can handle it. Unless it's a major matter, why would the government bother? Just accept your bad luck!"
"Yeah. Just accept it. Don't provoke these capable and strange people in the future."
"What's the use even if you find that Taoist? He has such skills; do you think he'd be afraid of you?"
"Right, you only lost a cart of pears this time. If you go provoke him again, you might end up losing your life instead!"
The vendor's eyes were red from crying. Thinking about how he had worked hard to come to the city only to not earn a few coins and instead lose a whole cart of pears, and then thinking of his old mother at home, he was overcome with a mix of emotions, and sorrow welled up in his heart.
"If the government won't handle this, I will!"
Suddenly, from within the crowd, a slightly youthful but exceptionally firm voice rang out.
The vendor looked closely and saw that the one speaking was that silver-haired, magnificently dressed foreign child from before.
Rhine walked over and comforted the vendor:
"We ate your pears just now, and they were delicious, far exceeding the price we paid. Since we have received a favor, how can we not repay it?"
Rhine took hold of the vendor and said sternly:
"I will take you to find that Taoist who stole your pears and get you justice!"
The vendor wiped away a tear and forced a helpless smile, saying to Rhine:
"Thank you for your kindness, guest. Please don't try to comfort me. Everyone says that Taoist has already run far away, so how can we find him?"
The people nearby also began to jeer:
"That Taoist has some skills; do you still dare to offend him?"
"Exactly. I see that Taoist's skills are high; he must surely know some cursing spells too."
"Child, I see you have an extraordinary appearance and must be from a wealthy family, but you are after all a foreigner and unfamiliar with this place. Take my advice and don't get involved in this. Lest you lose your life and fortune."
Rhine just smiled, as if he hadn't heard the advice of the others, and pulled the pear vendor along:
"No need to worry. Magic—I also know a thing or two about it. I'll take you to find that Taoist right now."
The vendor was stunned: "That Taoist ran away long ago... Uh, child, do you know where he is?"
"I know," Rhine nodded and said again.
"Even if he ran to the ends of the earth, to me, it's no different from being right in front of me. This world, to me, is but a square inch of land."
The vendor was skeptical, but he still followed Rhine toward the street corner. Aurora followed behind them.
The onlookers also found it strange in their hearts and followed along one after another.
"I want to see if this child is just putting on an act or if he really has some skills."
"If he really can find that Taoist, there will be a good show to watch!"