His comfortable life lasts for both longer than he expects without issue, and takes so short a time to have issues.
It starts with the gossip.
He hears about how Dyar is busy with cultivation, trying to gain strength to both improve his work and provide more security for his family and the village. He hears about how the reason Len was sent by Shek was actually that Shek was merely talking and Len went out anyways, and Lenoiak plans to stick around longer. He hears about the recent increase of the cost to enter the city, which usually is only a few powders to pass through the gates, and now is a stone per person.
Too high, obviously, but the reasons are beyond him. Most places want to increase foot traffic and incoming spending, so it's likely a security issue.
Then Lyan finds out that the markets are starting to have to raise prices nearby. While the village is mostly self-sufficient, plenty of the people buy elsewhere for more uncommon items, or visit other places often enough to not care where they buy. Now, they have to start caring, and the cheapest prices are said to be buying in bulk at the city.
So that is how Lyan ends up being handed a bag full of money by Alecs. Alecs is the village's chief, if the man can even be called that. He just handles the collective stuff, the person in charge of handling things that involve everyone, like the gardens or, in this case, collecting money to contribute towards buying shared necessities in bulk.
Everyone contributes an equal amount, and whatever Lyan can get for that total is going to be split up amongst everyone afterwards.
He brings his pouches along, makes sure his hair is freshly and tightly plaited down his back, and grabs a basket to put the bag of money into. That way, it looks like he's got a basket to carry something to sell or for buying, not the money to buy things.
The trek to the city is a bit long, longer than the trip to the market, but still well within his limits.
Market runs happen every two weeks, take about an hour to walk both ways leisurely and some time within the market, and is within sight of the village, shared by the neighboring village that had decided to spread in the opposite direction long ago. The market even sits outside both, and is surrounded on all sides by community gardens, with clear paths and walls separating the two villages' areas to prevent disputes.
He's been three times since the first, often accompanied. He, according to the other villagers, "finally caved" and only did one trip, not two. They attribute the change to Len, who is usually the company, and Lyan doesn't have the heart to keep clarifying that he merely feels his own matronly urges to feed Len until the other cannot blow away in a storm.
Len didn't appreciate being told to stay behind this time, but Lyan has gotten a lot better at arguing since the man moved in. There are mixed feelings from the villagers about that. Lyan is of the belief it's a good thing, given he's very much someone who knows how to take care of himself and merely has too many people concerned about him and not enough causes for concern.
His thoughts of his new life and what the village gossip has been recently occupies him all the way to the city. He's spent two hours walking, and it makes him glad he left early for the trip. He'll make it home before dark with a bit of luck and skill.
The guards don't blink as he passes ten powders over, clearly not on high alert. Whatever the reason for raising prices, it isn't that stressful on the lower ranks.
Within the city, he finds it to be very loud.
People shout to get passersby to pay attention so they'll pay up. Stalls are hung with bright colors and large pieces of cloth or paper, swaying around and drawing the eyes. Or they would if they weren't everywhere.
Lyan ignores most of them. Dyar, during his contract work, has heard all about the city, despite not going there himself. Other workers staked their reputations on the fact that the market stalls that don't try to draw attention are the ones that are worth their salt.
It takes a while of wandering the crowds, weaving in and out of various bustling lines and bunches of people, to finally find the area he's looking for.
Here, there are far less people, clearly the regular customers. It's not empty, not even close. Instead, it's merely those who know better, who either come often enough to the city or live within it.
He quickly makes his way to the one selling salt, smiling at the relief in noise and the heat of bodies.
"Hello, sir, how are you?" he greets, sending his gaze over the various bricks and bags and ceramic containers.
"Oh, well, very good, stranger. Are you new to the city? Most don't come this far in." The merchant peers at Lyan, eyes not suspicious but certainly curious.
"Well, Mister Dyar's peers insisted further in would be better. We're looking to buy in bulk for the village, y'see, so I've been sent to pick up the necessities. They increased the prices at the city, and it's been increasing prices around the outside, too. We've got most of what we need, just not all."
Lyan does some math in his head based on the tags.
Every week, he makes ten stones with his talent to release his chest's tension. That means he currently has ninety of them to use, with the initial ten he had after the initial experiments. He still has roughly twenty-five stones worth of powders, and he's not keen on using the jades but potentially could if he plays it as the village's savings.
With about fifty stones worth from the village, he can arguably use only twenty of them and say he got a deal, right? Dyar's never been to the city, and none of the others knew you had to go deeper to get to the stable prices and reasonable qualities per quantity.
Salt bricks, needing at least twenty, at a stone each, is about twenty stones. He doesn't see a bulk price, so he takes out twenty stones from his special pouch, carefully taking time to pull them out and count them for the merchant.
"That's twenty stones, sir, if you'll please provide me the salt."
Lyan puts his basket down, slipping his pouch in as he does, because that will make things much easier as he goes. Then, just as carefully as he counted, he takes the salt handed to him.
He stops at twenty, sees movement, and realizes more is coming.
"The tag says-"
"Young miss, if your village is desperate enough to send you to the city, I will give you the same prices I give my regular customers. Ah, no," the man cuts Lyan off when he starts to deny the favor. "Use the extra money you might have to save for a knife. There's a man on the other side of this square; he sells impressive looking blades that are mostly for mortals. Wearing one of those will keep you safe travelling through the entrance's crowds."
Lyan blinks.
Oh, he really looks like that, huh?
Everyone he meets, they look and see someone vulnerable. They're clearly trying to help or hurt, and he always manages to convince those who want to hurt that he doesn't intend to stop them. It seems to be everyone, not just everyone who is a villager or everyone who might want to take advantage or feel obligated to prevent those folks.
Len's going to laugh at him when he finds out.
"Okay, I'll listen to you, sir. I'll be a regular, I hope, at least in the months coming. We can't afford daily or weekly, sure, but I'll be loyal if you're that concerned about my safety already." He tries to add humor to his voice, though the surprise definitely hinders him.
"Eh, don't listen to this worrier, always trying to give advice." A man wearing almost the exact outfit Lyan wears, only shades of blue and completely clean and new, comes over, tossing a few stones on the table. "Here, take the bricks and move one. If ya feel someone watchin', it's this here fool."
Lyan blinks again.
And then he laughs outright.
"I see that Mister Dyar's folks were right! You lot truly are the stable sorts. Even those buying are steady!" He takes the last of the bricks, slipping them into his basket, which is now half-full. Previously, he'd had it at his side, but with such weight, he slides it onto his back. "Well, goodbye, good sirs!"
He walks over to the next stall he needs. Paper, metal, sugar, and some lime for the latest construction needs. The sugar merchant has set up near the salt one, obviously due to both being common cooking needs.
The sugar is also in bricks, though wrapped in paper to prevent crumbling. This time, just in case, Lyan doesn't say a word and instead finds the prices to get thirty bricks. It costs about the same.
And, with only a look at the other merchant, he's suddenly received a basket.
He sighs at it.
"Do I look like a wet cat? I thought it was only my own village," he mutters, accepting without a fight. He doesn't have enough room for the other items he's getting if he doesn't have it, and the metal bars seem to be in a shop. He can get the other items, put them in the new basket, then put it all in his pouch when he heads to get the metal.
The merchants laugh as he walks away, and he waves and smiles, sticking his tongue out briefly to show he's not actually too peeved. They laugh harder, and he hurries to the other side of the square.
Paper. He needs paper, then he'll ask if they know where to acquire some lime for building. If anyone tries to give him extra for it all, he can just pay them for the information to make up for it. He'll pay back the other two merchants another day, maybe some honey he can then claim isn't worth much because he has his own hive.
He's glad Len isn't here; the man might find it all confusing. Lyan finds it simple enough, because he's trying to never take more than others in any deal. It's just that, in the village, they trade help for peace of mind, which is a bit different, and he can show his gratitude by having good relations with them outside favors and gifts and all that.
There's a difference between visiting a neighbor when you always bring a gift and visiting when you only bring words.
The paper merchant doesn't greet him, but he doesn't greet, either, so it's friendly enough. Instead, Lyan looks over the various types of paper, ranging in colors and thickness and length.
They have basic papers for messages and wrapping most items. Oil paper, however, is currently in low supply, even with most folks reusing what they can. Not to mention that Dyar's home is not the only one being worked on, and a few of the villagers need oil paper as is.
Technically, he was only meant to get oil paper if there was any money left, but he has more than enough, surely. He can splurge a jade for his neighbors to have better quality of life.
The bundles of oil paper are roughly ten stones each, and he'd need about five. That would use up all that he has, and he might need to spend those…
No, he doesn't need to spend the village money! He forgot completely!
He quickly puts the last of his stones on the table, quickly taking the exact amount he's paid for and hurrying away. The merchant laughs at him, which means that this square really is just the same people every day, all able to tell from afar.
Or maybe he found the right square. There's meant to be several, this just seems to be for folks inside the city to get basic necessities, not anything else. Surely such a place is meant to be as crowded, as fluctuating, as distant between people.
People probably stock up the same way the villagers do, the same way Lyan does.
He asks for directions to where he can buy ingots, and is directed further into the city, apparently just a few turns away. He goes until he finds a quiet alley, slipping in.
There, he pretends to rummage about in his baskets, looking to any outside eye as merely organizing his things better before continuing to shop.
In reality, he has his pouch in one of the baskets. He easily gets it to pull in the bricks of salt and sugar, and the other basket merely has paper. Best not to be too empty-handed in the city.
He pulls out one of his jades in the safety of the basket, too. It's red, yellow, and blue, much smoother than the stones are. Carefully, he closes his fist around it, squeezing tightly and trying to focus the strength in his arm all into the motion.
It splits apart, and the condensed power splits open.
Qi. Spirit powders, stones, and jades are all condensed forms. Many cultivators can easily break apart the pieces, absorb them - there was even a meal in the game that had been 'stone soup', and it was just to increase cultivation. He only made it for the completionist achievement.
Spirit jades are five hundred stones, so he now has five hundred stones in his basket. He can take what must be his own build-up of qi, condense it through himself and turn it into the form people know so well.
He probably should learn more about dantians to see if he can figure out what the actual issue in his chest is. Regardless, he now has more than enough stones to finish his shopping.