Gotcha. We really need to invest in an offensive style, we have stealth and evasion covered. Basic fistplay isn't going to cut it, excuse the pun, from here on out. Definitely going for 2C, will hear arguments on 1, both paths seem viable to me.
A makes us better at interpersonal skills, haggling and pickpocketing, so we won't starve on the streets once we break off from this guy (as cool as he is, we have more important shit to do). The charisma and intelligence bonuses are pretty good too (8 INT, are you kidding me?)
B gives us even more herbalism skills that will help us with curing ourselves down the line, since
qi isn't an option, trapping that will allow us to live off the land, as opposed to the pockets of other people, which in turn will lead to less run-ins with the local law enforcement and less stints in jail (although finding a hardass criminal Master in Chinese prisons and learning from him could be pretty awesome as well). The perception and endurance bonuses will also make us a beastly straight-up fighter.
I figure we can use the Yuhe Finger technique to affect our own qi alignment when we have a greater mastery, allowing us to minimalise our weakness. If that's not the case, or there's no benefit for our own qi management, I'll flip to AA. I'm definitely not interested in the second B.
Sadly, no.
Your internal energy is crippled. Yuhe Finger won't have any real applications in the near future, I just thought it'd be nice to offer the choice. It would be very useful if you ever figure out a way to deal with that mess inside you, so it's a long term choice. But you might find better stuff along the way. It's up to you.
Since his next target should logically be YuHua Hall in the city, then the improved stats for A will stand in him good stead. As for money, I'm thinking since he has ahem, extensive experience acquiring unpaid monies subtly, he could still do the same when he needs to acquire money to go to Yu Hua Hall. It's a brothel, not a charity house. They want cold, hard cash. So that's one less worry. And I still get my Pressure Point and Herbalism stat from being forced to stay with the goaty duo, I'm happy with this choice.
We're fifteen and won't be able to put up a fight against those courtesans, if Sarkeesian's little demonstration is anything to go by, so I wouldn't worry about going there for quite a while.
and unfortunately, the one who begged me to save you was my idiot apprentice Cao’er over there.” He jerks his thumb at the girl, who shakes her head furiously and continues staring at the floor, as if it will open up and swallow her into a nice hiding spot if she looks at it long enough.
Aaand we found our psycho stalker. Great.
