Joshua could scarcely contain his disbelief - he had witnessed the assassin Bamboo Snake, that ruthless killer ranked 36th on the hit list with a nigh-infallible record, mark Jason for death.In his eyes, Jason was a dead man, at the very least vanished from this realm. Yet there he stood, in the flesh - as though beholding a specter, sending a chill down Joshua's spine. This defied all logic!"You...are you man or spirit?" Joshua cried out in shock.Jason replied evenly, "What do you think? If I said I wished to drag you to hell for a sojourn, would you believe me?"Those ominous words drained the color from Joshua's face as realization dawned - this fiend yet lived, leaving but one plausible explanation:Bamboo Snake had inexplicably spared his life! No other possibility remained."Hmph, so it seems you fortuitously clung to life," Joshua scoffed coldly. "No matter - it saves me the trouble of settling my brother's score with you."Amid their exchange, the others looked on bewilde
Those simple words seemed to release the tension crackling in the air, as the wizened figure - the legendary old Mr. Reed whose very name shook Central Area - exhaled deeply, yet his demeanor remained one of profound deference."I am Tony Reed, come to beg Mr. Gray's august pardon and indulgence, to spare my Reed family further severity."THUNDERSTRUCK!Those words detonated like a bolt of lightning obliterating Joshua's capacity for rational thought, leaving him gaping in stunned disbelief.What in damnation was transpiring here? Had his eyes not deceived him, the former Reed patriarch - a scion of one of Central Area's preeminent clans, the upper echelon's ruling elite surpassed only by the likes of the Turner dynasty - was beseeching Jason for clemency? Begging mercy for their entire illustrious family?This beggared belief, defying all reason - had he not recognized that wizened countenance, he would have deemed the man an imposter! Yet Jason remained unmoved, regarding the sup
"This black market holds no further purpose," Jason decreed coldly. "Return all prior ill-gotten gains, for if word reaches me of any future frauds, you and your execrable den shall be extinguished as one!" His words carried the full weight of the genuine masterwork's rightful custodian - though a mere collectible to him, its sanctity could never be profaned."Did you hear me?" The old patriarch's eyes bored into them punishingly."Y-yes, of course! I swear obedience - never again shall I transgress!" Foster bobbed his bulbous features feverishly.Joshua too was drenched in cold sweat, only collapsing in relief once Jason and the old patriarch had departed - that surreal spectacle seeming a waking dream.Yet one question gnawed... why had old Mr. Reed shown such deference to Jason, that seeming wastrel? Unless...he was acquainted with the Stewart patriarch himself? If the Stewarts had allied with Martial Saints through matrimony, their might dwarfed even the venerable Reeds. If old
How grievously mistaken she was. Over these three years, the household duties had fallen entirely upon Jason's shoulders while Mary Martinez reclined in idleness, venturing forth only to gamble before returning promptly for meals. Yet Mary Martinez was not without her virtues. For all her avarice and vanity, she harbored a mother's tender concern for her daughter's wellbeing.Her humble rural origins and mere marriage into lesser nobility perhaps accounted for her lofty overcompensating airs. "Enough prattling," she waved a peremptory hand. "With that rustic wench absent, fetch me some Miracle Cure ointment instead."Her reddened, inflamed countenance would require more than a day or two to subside unaided. Having been housebound, her card partners eagerly awaited her return. Jason's brow arched quizzically. The fabled Miracle Cure could remedy even this? Though skeptical, his mother-in-law had decreed it; best to investigate. Stepping outside, he dialed Roger Cox, seeking elucid
Roger Cox and his cohorts had enforced secrecy masterfully, elevating Jason to nigh-mythical status in the public consciousness. He could not but feel a twinge of self-conscious discomfiture at such unmerited veneration."So you style yourself Eldoria's First Divine Physician?" Jason addressed the aged mountebank, gesturing with the substandard ointments. "How can one of such lofty repute indulge in peddling these duplicitous concoctions and profiting from ill-gotten gains? Fear you not karmic retribution?" The surrounding patrons started in surprise. Duplicity? Surely not - this was the bosom companion of the vaunted Gray Divine Physician himself! And the miracle cure clearly proved efficacious."Bah, reckless slanders!" the elderly man scoffed. "I perceive you as some envious rival from a competing apothecary, dispatched to impugn and discredit me. What proof have you of these aspersions? Without evidence, I shall not suffer your vitriol meekly!""Aye, produce your evidence forthw
Best to ascertain potential risks. Though he trusted his master had solely imparted it to their intimate circle of disciples.Jason's reply was calmly nonchalant. "Is there not more impact in vanquishing you upon your proudest field of mastery?""Arrogance, arrogance!" The charlatan's face purpled with appalled fury, his frame quivering. "You truly court death, whelp! What madness convinces you that victory lies within your grasp? Some delusion implanted by the Gray Divine Physician himself?"The observing masses gaped in astonishment. This scene-wrecker had a daring streak bordering on insanity! It was akin to a novice challenging a master chef at his own cuisine, or a ploughman vying against an Olympic sprinter. Sheer folly - a path to inevitable humiliation! Paying no heed to the crowd, Jason strode purposefully toward the arrayed medicinals as if fully intending to compound the ointment himself. Joel Morgan regarded him with sardonic smirks, permitting the upstart first selectio
Joel Morgan's eyes blazed with gratified vindication, though he affected a dismissive wave. "A mere preliminary effect, nothing more. The healing powers of a true divine physician far transcend such trifling palliatives!" He leveled a contemptuous sneer at his antagonist. "Let this object lesson chasten you while you still may! Now it is too late for regrets!"Yet Jason shook his head solemnly. "I cautioned that your ointment was all glittering facade, did I not? Left unchecked, it would only exacerbate the condition." No sooner had he spoken than the patient's brow furrowed in a spasm of agony. "Such searing pain - worse than before!" he groaned through clenched jaws, clutching at the ivory-slathered leg.But on the darkly coated limb, the tide of inflammation was visibly, miraculously reversing at an astonishing rate! "Impossible...this cannot be!" Joel Morgan's complexion went chalky with shock and dismay. "My peerless ointment...rendered impotent? Nay, actively deleterious?"
With a weary sigh of surrender, he unburdened himself of long-concealed deceits and evasions. He and the Gray Divine Physician were not intimates - had never even met. Those ostensible miracle cures promising instantaneous panacea had been naught but overblown charlatanry to lure the gullible. As for the grandiose "First Divine Physician of Eldoria" honorific...it had been a bald-faced usurpation of his own master's illustrious title and renown, the better to insinuate authority where none legitimately existed. A thunderous silence greeted these abject revelations. Then, as full realization took hold, a susurrus of infuriated muttering swelled into a torrent of virulent outcries and recriminations. "Profiteering whoreson! That you should merely defraud us was sin enough - but to so blaspheme the sanctity of the Gray Divine Physician himself?" "Aye, that exalted healer is beloved throughout Emerald City for his innumerable kindnesses and selfless works. That you would so spit upo