The streets bustled with noise and motion. Street vendors advertised their food and wares. Buyers zoomed from one place to the other, bargaining with stall owners.

“Ai-yah, so expensive! I’ll give you two bronze coins for that…”

“Wow, this is some good quality. How much, eh?”

“White porcelain! White porcelain bottles!”

“Steamed buns! Fresh from the steamer!”

“Hey, sir, would you like one?”

Among the crowd was a finely dressed young man, his back poised like a striking cobra, his tall, slender form covered with a flowing jade-green robe. From his appearance, it could be said that he was just in his early twenties. His defined jawline and charismatic eyes attracted much attention from the female vendors and buyers around him.

“Oh, my heavens! Look at him!”

“So handsome!”

“Isn’t he that gong-zi from the house of the governor?”

“I can just imagine him in bed with me—”

The young man immediately responded to the last lady with a death glare, as if saying, You dare try to humiliate me?

The young lady was startled with fear. Never had she ever seen a pair of eyes so handsome yet so oppressing. Her eyes suddenly rolled upwards as she fell unconscious.

Oh right, they're humans. They aren’t used to such cruel eyes… Yuelong thought to himself.

He immediately knelt beside the lady, checking her pulse.

Hmm... Good. Nothing serious.

He pressed his thumb into the skin between her upper lip and nose. With just a few seconds doing that, the lady woke up.

“Are you alright?” asked Yuelong.

The lady cried out. She had never seen such handsome eyes, let alone been so near such a pair! She quickly stood up and dashed away into the crowd, disappearing from view.

Yuelong knelt there in confusion. What was that?

He suddenly realized that he had become the centre of attention. The street vendors and buyers were alarmed by the lady’s scream and crowded in a circle around him.

“I deeply apologize for the disturbance,” Yuelong bowed.

“I can’t believe it! A gong-zi like you, trying to seduce a lady in broad daylight? How disgraceful!” Someone shouted from the crowd.

“Yeah!” yelled some of them in unison.

“No, wait! Look at his clothes! They look like those of a cultivation sect!”

“Oh, my! You’re right!”

“Now that you mention it…”

“Do a trick for us!”

“Yeah!”

Yuelong was befuddled. Tricks…? Cultivation tricks??? He slowly exhaled to calm his mind against this sudden attack of sacrilege.

He bowed. “I am indeed from a cultivation sect.”

A good amount of Oooh’s and Ahhh’s came from the crowd.

“But cultivation is not about tricks. It’s about the cultivation of one’s heart and emotions. I cannot use it for performances.”

“Pfft!”

“What a bunch of excuses!”

“If you can’t do anything, then just say so…”

“Fake, I’m telling you, he’s a fake…”

The crowd gradually dispersed, and the market street resumed its usual business.

Yuelong was completely stupefied by what had just happened. I’m a fake..??? He shook his head in dismay. Ordinary humans and their beliefs.

Cultivation sects were well respected among the people of the ordinary realm, who especially liked when large groups of those cultivators passed by. But that rarely happened unless the sects had missions or business to attend to afar. So, the most common type of cultivators that humans would meet was the single traveller. These cultivators would often perform tricks and spells for travelling funds, or blessings and exorcisms for food.

It would be normal for Yuelong to get this type of reaction from the crowd.

Since he had already broken off from the Qianyang Sect, he decided he should blend in with the common people.

Yuelong looked around for a tailoring shop. His height helped him see over most of the stands and shops.

There!

Some time later, a young man in pale blue robes came out from the tailor’s. His hair was tied up in a high ponytail. He looked back and saw the shopkeeper examining the jade-green robes that he previously wore. Delight filled the shopkeeper’s face—it was rare for him to get his hands on a piece of clothing as amazing in fabric quality as this!

Yuelong swung his arms around himself, testing out the quality and comfort of his new clothing. Though these robes weren’t as comfortable and soft as his old ones, they would have to do.

He looked up at the noon sun and realized that he could still see Qianyang Summit beyond the edge of the town.

Still not far enough.

After leaping from rooftop to rooftop and flying from tree to tree for the whole morning, he had reached the last town that was still within Qianyang’s borders of protection. He didn’t want to use the flying spell, as that would attract too much attention, so he could only rely on his feet and his martial arts.

“Grrrr, grrrr…”

Yuelong pressed his hand to his stomach. He hadn’t eaten anything since the feast last night. Now that he thought about it, he had only drunk alcohol at the feast; nothing solid entered his stomach. No wonder he hadn’t gotten far enough.

There was now one problem: he didn’t bring his wallet.

Yuelong never picked up the habit of carrying his wallet with him, mostly because he’d spent his entire time on Qianyang Summit and hadn’t had any need for money. Whenever he and others visited the ordinary realm, it would be his father or his fellow shi-xiong-di who would take care of everything.

He looked down at his new blue robes. He had already traded his old robes for this one.

I guess I’ll just have to catch something in the wild…if I come across one.

He quickly made his way to the outskirts. Surrounded by the tranquillity of the forest, Yuelong closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing, on the sound of rustling leaves, the crunch of the forest floor, the occasional paw steps of animals.

“Shh, chh, shh…”

There!

Like a predator striking, Yuelong shot a sharp stick in the direction of the rustling. He couldn’t afford to use spiritual energy to catch game because animals were natural sensors of spiritual energy. Animals were born with much less complicated mindsets than humans, so they easily matched the energies of the universe, and hence, some animals even had the capability to surpass humans in terms of spiritual potential.

Missed…

Looks like I’m left only with doing favors in exchange for food…

Yuelong didn’t like the idea of exchanging exorcisms and blessings for food. As the son of the Qianyang Sect leader, he felt that it was something beneath him.

 

As the sun set, Yuelong found himself in a different town called Xian Nu Village¹仙女镇 "Fairy Village". The tall mountains of Qianyang sitting on the horizon were now just about the size of Yuelong’s thumb held up at arm’s length. The grand summit extended upwards, piercing through the orange clouds.

The serene sight of golden sunlight blooming from the mountain brought peace and comfort to his heart. It was a very different view from what he was used to. Different, but beautiful. Purple clouds floated against the deep blue eastern sky, creeping towards the gradually sinking sun going to rest for the second day.

He could settle here and watch the sunset every day.

“Look out!”

A horse wagon drove at full speed right past him.

Splash!

A wave of mud and dirt crashed into the tall young man, covering him from head to toe with the essence of the earth.

“Watch where you’re going, fella!” cried the driver as the cart moved further and further away.

Taking no offense from the driver thanks to his Qianyang training in emotion management, Yuelong continued on his path down to the town centre, hoping to find someone who needed his abilities.

The calligraphy in all the shops seemed to have been written neatly by a master of the art. The wooden buildings were all coated with shiny oil to ward off mold and unwanted vermin. Although the finishings were nothing compared to Yanren Hall, to commoners, they were of considerably moderate quality.

Yuelong found himself unconsciously following a group of people. They led him to the entrance of a courtyard house. In society, only those who had a certain amount of money—and possibly an official rank—could afford to live in one of these houses.

The stench of unwashed bodies broke through his thoughts. He looked around and realized that he had been following a group of beggars. He immediately covered his nose. In all his life and his travels through the realm, he had never before encountered such a sight.

“Here, no worries,” said a lovely voice. “There’s plenty to go around.”

The voice immediately caught his attention—not because it was a very sweet and lovely voice, but because the person sounded happy.

Who on earth would be cheerful around this stench!?

Standing there on the steps of the courtyard entrance was a young lady handing out steamed buns to the poor. She had rosy cheeks and a face the shape of a strawberry. Her hair, which was tied up into a beautiful bun, had a naturally brown shade to it. She was like the lotus that grew out from the mud, untainted by those around her.

Yuelong was surprised, again, not by her beauty, but by her kindness. This young lady who lived with no troubles was willing to sacrifice her time for these homeless people, and with no hope for compensation.

The Qianyang Sect taught its disciples the laws of karmic retribution, that one’s present suffering is caused by one’s wrongdoings from the previous life. So, they were taught to do nothing for these people since they were meant to suffer.

The lady caught Yuelong staring at her.

She came up to Yuelong and looked at him from head to toe. She pondered for a moment but then shrugged her shoulders. She handed Yuelong a steamed bun.

“…”

“You’re a beggar, right?” she asked in her cheery voice. “Oh, by the way, we also give out free congee in the mornings. You’re welcome to come, newbie!”

“???”

“I’ll see you around then!” The young lady turned and walked back to the crowd, continuing to offer steamed buns to the others.

I’m a beggar??? Newbie!?!?!?

“I’m not homeless!” Yuelong shouted.

The young lady turned to him with a questioning look. She covered her mouth and started laughing. “You are a funny newbie.”

“!?!?!?!?”

---

With the setting sun came the rising of shadows. Hidden behind a pillar, a hooded figure waited for the right moment.

Now.

Without a sound, the figure slipped past the screen that stood behind Fan Haoren’s throne in Yanren Hall. Just as the figure’s hand touched the secret door, a blue hue appeared over the door, zapping the figure in the process.

Damn! I was too careless.

The figure reached into their black robes and pulled out a dark green bottle. They splashed its contents onto the door and drew their fist to the front of their chest. With two fingers pointing upwards, they whispered a spell and the doors began to smoke and sizzle. Acting like acid, the contents of the mysterious bottle melted the blue hue away, leaving the doors unprotected.

The figure quickly slipped in behind the doors, and with a wave of their hands, a new barrier was set up from the inside. Apart from the emerald glow of the new barrier, the room was pitch black. With another wave of their hands, small blue fireballs flew out from their sleeves to the four corners of the room, giving off dim, cool light, bright enough to show the contents of the room.

There in the centre was a body resting on an altar. The body’s tattered red-and-black robes draped down from the altar like the petals of a wilted flower. His broken black hair crown, half shattered, still lay atop his head.

“Still haven’t rotted, eh?” the figure said to no one in particular. “We’ll see about that after I’m done with you.”

The figure jumped onto the altar and kneeled over the dead man. They pulled his clothes apart and exposed his bare white chest. The two large gashes on either side of the chest appeared dark under the blue light. The figure searched all over, putting their hands into places one normally wouldn’t touch.

“Where on earth did you put it, you fucking demon lord?” The figure slapped the dead man’s face. “Look at you now, dead without knowing anything!”

The head of the dead rolled to one side, as if he couldn’t face the humiliation he was experiencing.

“Damn it! Where did you put the letter?!”

The figure tore all the clothes off from the deceased, leaving him bare to the void. Under the dim blue light of the floating fires, the greyed skin of the dead man seemed to glow, nearly coming to life. Although his face had been mutilated to the point of no recognition, the holes left on his body were enough to explain who he was.

The one who fell from the cliff.

“Oh well… This will get rid of the letter anyways.”

The figure pulled out the dark green bottle once again. They dumped the contents onto the dead body and threw the clothes on top. They chanted a spell, and then both the corpse and the clothes began to smoke and sizzle, dissolving into nothing but a pile of dust.

“Goodbye, Lanyue.”

Morphing into a wisp of dark smoke, the figure slipped through the barriered door and vanished into the dark of the night.