Azure Harbor City's morning bells had not yet rung, but the small shop on Stone Street was already open.
The bronze bell above the door chimed softly as a man stepped inside. He wore a dark-blue coat and worn-out shoes—one glance was enough to tell he didn't have much money.
"Shopkeeper," he said while wiping his boots on the threshold, "do you have Green Snake Grass today?"
Behind the counter, the young shopkeeper lifted his head and offered a polite smile. "Of course we do, sir. You've come to the right place."
The man laughed loudly. "Hard to believe your shop opened only two years ago—your medicine quality beats half the Harbor City's older stores."
The young man chuckled softly. "We try to survive, and as you know, surviving requires quality."
His eyes drifted briefly over the dirt on the man's boots and the faint bite marks on his wrist.
"You're hunting in the Inner Marshlands again?"
The hunter looked at him with surprise. "Eh? How did you—?"
The shopkeeper tapped his finger lightly on the counter.
"Green Snake Grass isn't cheap. You wouldn't buy it regularly unless you were dealing with Marsh Serpents."
The man rubbed his head. "That's… exactly right."
Without saying more, the shopkeeper reached up and took something long and wrapped from the shelf. A faint, almost amused smile touched his lips as he set it on the counter and pulled the cloth away.
A slender spear lay underneath, with an iron-grey shaft, a sharpened silver tip, and a narrow groove running along the blade's edge.
"This is our shop's newly crafted Serpent-Hunting Spear."
"A… spear?"
"It's light," the youth explained, lifting it with one hand. "Fast, and perfect for shallow-water coils. Let me show you."
He stepped outside, and the hunter followed without hesitation.
After a brief demonstration, the hunter's eyes lit up.
"How many do you have?!"
"Five."
"I'll take all of them!"
The exchange was straightforward, and both sides were satisfied.
When the hunter finally left with five spears strapped across his back, the shop door swung shut again.
Only then did the young man lean lightly on the counter as the breeze from the Western Coast drifted through the open window.
This young man was Lin Yuan.
Nine years had passed since that day in Pearlroot Temple.
After the incident, the High Priest visited him personally and told him to keep the Bronze Heat Pendant. He said it was an apology for what had happened, though he never explained more than that.
From then on, Lin Yuan could finally step outside and live like any other child.
But peace, as always, did not last.
When he was eleven, everything changed. Lin Xingyao, Su Tianya, and Su Tianya's brother—who had become his closest companions—were chosen by the Jade Stream Sect and taken away as Outer Disciples.
And Lin Xingyao… for some reason her letters stopped without explanation. Even the promise about her family being moved to Azure Harbor City never happened.
By sixteen, the quiet mountain life no longer felt tolerable. Lin Yuan wanted to roam the world, and like most youths here who relied on themselves by the age of fifteen, he felt ready.
After a long discussion, he finally convinced Liu Yulan and Lin Zheng that it was time for him to step into the world on his own.
He didn't have many options. He needed a place not too far from home—close enough to return if anything went wrong, but large enough to offer opportunity.
Azure Harbor City became the obvious choice.
It was the nearest major harbor city—busy enough for opportunity but not as ruthless as the larger ports. And as the family of a Jade Stream Sect disciple, they managed to secure a shop at a reasonable price.
And that was how Twin Shores Shop came to be. It started as a small place selling herbs and medicine made by Liu Yulan or simple weapons crafted by Lin Zheng, but as time passed, his dependence on them faded as well.
Lin Yuan had been running the shop for two years now.
"Life's a funny old thing, isn't it? Seriously, who'd have guessed that someone like me, who used to be a dentist and an archaeologist, would end up running a shop? You never really know where life's going to take you, right?"
He paused, thinking about the profits he made today, and chuckled. "Hmm… for better or worse, it's definitely more profitable."
He straightened and brushed a bit of dust from the counter, then opened the ledger and recorded the sale.
The shop had been doing well lately. It was hunting season, and many hunters were coming from all around to the harbor city.
Lin Yuan had learned to keep his shelves ready long before the season began.
He tied the final bundle of Green Snake Grass and set it aside—then turned toward the counter.
A new customer.
It was a man, well-dressed and unnervingly tidy—clean coat, spotless boots, and a thin metal badge fastened at his waist. Just from his attire, it was clear he was neither a hunter nor a villager.
The man stepped inside. His eyes moved across the shelves in a strange way, as if he were searching for something.
Lin Yuan placed the bundle down and smiled at him.
"Good morning, sir. What can I help you with?"
The man regarded him for a moment and nodded politely.
"I've heard this shop is reliable. Good tools, effective medicine, and fair prices."
Lin Yuan waited; by now he knew that people who began with compliments usually wanted something else.
The man looked over the jars, the wrapped tools, and finally the remaining spears resting in their stand.
"You sell more than herbs, I see," he observed.
"We supply whatever the Tide-Line needs," Lin Yuan replied calmly. "As long as it is within reason."
The man let out a quiet nod, as if confirming something to himself.
"Your name is Lin Yuan, yes?"
"That's correct."
"I am here on behalf of the Harbor Authority. We are conducting a review of independent businesses in this district. There have been adjustments to the regulations surrounding medicinal sales… and several irregularities have been reported."