"Do...do you know magic?"
Before I could even think about it, I just blurted it out.
"...Do I know magic?"
A drop of sweat dripped down from my chin, soaking onto the pavement.
"Do I KNOW MAGIC?"
"...yeah..."
"AIN'T YOU THE ONE WHO CALLED ME A WITCH?"
"But-I, I didn't know you were actually a-"
I trailed off.
Seeing as how she was glaring at me, I decided not to finish my sentence.
"I...I just didn't know you were that powerful! A-and, Li-Liang users are...different from what a witch is!"
Avoiding her eyes, I looked back into that alleyway, looking for any injured people, but unexpectedly, everyone looked...fine?
"W-what, what's happening? I, I swear I just heard you beating them-"
"Oh, just get yer ass up, boy, I ain't do nothing, just a stern warning, that do enough justice."
But-but I swear I heard it, the sounds of bones cracking.
Looking down, I saw multiple pieces of what seemed to be animal bones...
"W-what's that?"
"My damn ingredients, that's what. Scumbags didn't know it's worth, snatched my bag, and damaged my goods."
"I heard...the sounds of bones breaking, something was thrown against the concrete..."
Shut up! What the hell am I saying?!
I felt like my mind was doing the opposite of my body.
"Just scaring em boys, goods were damaged anyway, just showed them what could've happened."
"..."
So...it wasn't a person. It was just a bunch of animal bones in a bag.
"Ahhah."
I let out a sigh of relief as my entire lower body slumped to the ground.
Guanhuai, finally seeing my relaxed face, seemed to go back to her normal bickering self.
"I needa take care of some stuff here, boy, so run along now."
"Um, right."
Using my knee for support, I pushed my arm up against it and somehow managed to stand properly, not without staggering a bit, of course.
"I'll head back to the house now...um, right, I still need the keys."
I jumped back a little as a sparkling light was thrown at my face, presumably, the keys to her house.
"Ack, you...you could've just handed them to me normally, I mean, look at the state I'm in!"
"Ye seem to be fine to me."
Ugh, there's no use arguing with her right now.
I turned around and tried to walk back to the house as normally as possible, but my ankle was still throbbing, and my mind had wandered back to, seemingly, another big question.
Since when could Grandma Guanhuai use Li-Liang?
And why wasn't this ever shown in the game? How come she was just an unimportant NPC?
Because the truth was that she was much more than that.
So why hide her?
Grandma Guanhuai's loud scolding of the thieves was quickly drowned out, as my mind swirled deeper and deeper.
Am I...unlocking new things? Things that weren't unlockable or seeable before.
After all, there's a difference between real-life choices and game choices.
Maybe...the choices I had made up until this point have caused this revelation.
Before I knew it, I had reached Grandma Guanhuai's front door.
But I hadn't finished organizing my thoughts yet.
I absentmindedly put the old, silver key into the loosely attached doorknob.
Of course, the key fits perfectly.
Opening the door, the smell of dusty wood and mold filled my nostrils.
...Great. I sure missed this smell.
I hastily picked up the shelf and sign outside and dragged them indoors.
"Agh..."
Shit, why am I constantly getting hurt?
It was no longer just my ankle that hurt, but now every part of my body...with the cause definitely being me, full sending it across the pavement just not so long ago.
"Tch, I should've snagged a healing potion for myself."
Just as I thought that, a small square bottle, containing what seemed to be maroon liquid, was shoved right in front of my eyes.
"Ya better not steal from my customers, ya damn jitter-bug."
"Huh? When did you get here?"
"Just drink the damn potion!"
I wanted to retort something back, but thinking about how my body was doing, I decided to just quietly take the drink.
Popping open the bottle cork, the smell of multiple different herbs escaped from the bottle as I tipped it into my mouth.
Surprisingly, the concoction wasn't as bitter as I thought it would be, maybe even a little sweet, and it ran smoothly down my throat.
The bottle was completely emptied in only three gulps.
...?
Why the hell isn't my body healing?
I still felt sore all over, and my ankle felt like it had actually...worsened!
"Uh, hey, Granny-I mean, Grandma Guanhuai, why isn't my body healing?"
"Are ya stupid? My potions ain't wonder workers, ya need to give it some time. I gave ya a smaller dose anyway, yer body can't handle too much right now."
"What, why!?"
"I already gave ya too much last night! And if I gave ye too much, yer weak ass body might reject it!"
Reject? Why would I reject a healing potion?
"Wait, what do you mean by reject?"
She raised her eyebrows, seemingly confused as to what I was asking.
"Ain't ya from the Wen's? This is common info even we folk know...the lower yer Li-Liang and health is, the less yer supposed to drink."
...Again. This wasn't in the game. Another piece of information that contradicted my own knowledge.
I thought that health, no, any kind of potions could be used abundantly; it was just that the effects were reduced based on their rank...
Was it because Gao Zhai already had a strong body and a higher Li-Liang? So the player was able to drink as many potions as they wanted, with no drawbacks?
"...Are ya playin with me right now?"
"Huh, uh, no, I-I just forgot, I guess. Everything's been so...hectic."
I could feel her concerned eyes pierce through me, as she inspected my expression and body.
"So...how long do you think it'll take to heal-"
"Two hours minimum. You also smell like shit. Go take a shower."
"W-what the hell did you just say to me? And where am I even supposed to shower?"
All thoughts about potions were retracted, as my self-esteem was ruined by an old, lousy Granny.
Silently, she walked over to a cabinet. Opening it, dust particles were seen everywhere, and she took out a light pink towel with little bunnies and red hearts plastered on every surface.
"What is that?"
"Yer towel, that's what. Now turn around, behind ya are yer new clothes. I also got some soap for ya at the shops today."
She rummaged through her black bag and took out a small, packaged white bar of soap.
"And where am I going to even shower? Cause I sure don't see one in this room."
"There's one outside, ya damn blabber mouth, so be patient and get yer stuff first."
"Hmf."
I grudgingly opened the tiny closet that was behind me.
The hinges creaked as I opened the door, yet they never fell off.
How is anything in this house still holding on?
Inside were multiple pairs of plain white T-shirts and black shorts, with an odd range of different sizes.
"Hey, why do you have so many plain clothes in different sizes? You don't look like the type to wear these."
"Just wear them, ya brat. Asking so many questions, just do what I say!"
"Okay, okay, geez...I was just wondering..."
"What did ya say!?"
"Nothing..."
I looked through the closet, finally finding some clothes and pants that looked to be my size.
"C'mon boy, I don't got all day!"
"I'm coming, just wait a second."
I swiftly picked up my clothes and soap...along with my...um, towel, and headed out with Grandma Guanhuai.
"Hm? Are we not heading on the main road?"
Following Grandma Guanhuai, we seemed to be getting farther away from the slums and more into the wild, as buildings started to lessen, and the roads we walked on turned into green grass.
"Here it is, boy!"
"...I mean, it is a good view, lush green grass, and a pretty river."
We had stopped right at a beautiful riverbank...but with no shower in sight.
"Sooo...where's the...wait. Don't tell me-"
It seemed that my small brain had finally started connecting the dots.
Grandma Guanhuai opened the black bag she was carrying, just to reveal her own pair of sandals, a purple towel, and another white bar of soap.
"If ya need to take a shit, go into those bushes in the back. I got toilet paper in the bag, get it yourself."
And she then started to strip in front of me!
"No-no-no-no, w-what the hell?!"
I immediately cranked my head around, dropping my stuff, and tightly covered my eyes with my hands, even though they were both already closed shut.
"A-are you crazy?! I'm not taking a shower nor shit out in the open like this! And put your clothes back on!"
"ITZ CANNONBALL!"
Suddenly, I heard the pitter-patter of someone's feet and the splash of someone hitting the water.
I hesitantly turned around and loosened my hand just to see a little.
Grandma Guanhuai was already in the water, and she looked quite relaxed, scrubbing her hair with her soap...
Hgnn...at least she's fully submerged...
"Ya know you gotta come in here at some point, right?!"
"I-I'll just wait for you to finish first."
"This generation...if yer worried about me seein ya, then go further down the damn river! Just don't get lost, godammit!"
"..."
I grabbed my stuff that had fallen to the ground and walked along the river.
"...I'm...so done."
I looked back over to where Grandma Guanhuai was, who had now become the size of an ant.
Okay...this is far enough.
Putting my stuff down, I begrudgingly took my clothes off, but not before I took my phone out of my pockets.
Ugh, it's literally nighttime, this water is going to be cold...
I quickly braced myself for the cold water, but instead of that, what I got was...actually warm water?
"...Um...what?"
I...I don't understand? How is this possible?
I had a feeling that this was probably Grandma Guanhuai's doing.
Whatever...I'll just ask her later. I should wash up first.
Not only was the water warm, but it was also clean and refreshing.
Letting my body soak like this...at this rate, I might actually fall asleep.
I grabbed my soap and cleaned myself up.
It was my first proper wash in a while. Both in this and my last life.
And it felt...pretty good.
After washing my old clothes too, I dried myself with that...towel, and put on my fresh, new clothes.
"Are ya done yet?"
"AggGGHH! W-what the hell! How long have you been standing there for!?"
"What are ya even so worried about? I didn't see anything anyway."
"..."
"So are ya done or not!?"
"Yes, I'm...I'm done, okay."
"Then hurry up!"
I hurriedly picked everything up and followed Grandma Guanhuai back to her house.
The night was quiet, with the only sounds being Grandma Guanhuai's and my footsteps."
"So...is this the place we're going to be showering at?"
"Well, what do ya think?"
"...I'll just take that as a yes."
.....
Our short conversation ended with just silence.
I guess both of us were tired out from our day.
Another chilly breeze hit us, and goosebumps started to appear, but it didn't bother my mind as much as my body.