Atop the huge Goliath was a wide space enough to house a few thousand people on board, barred from the open sky with waist-high railings carved into the silver-white metallic frame. Towards the back of the airship was a gate and square stairs leading down to the twelve layers of decks underfoot, where Zhang Cai followed Elder Li and Old Master Jin. They went four floors down to a spacious round hall and entered through a half-circular door, laid Shu Ligui on a bed carved with dozens of formations, then activated the force hidden within.

A transparent milky barrier sprang from the edges of the bed and covered Shu Ligui’s battered body. Zhang Cai sensed that the power within could shield her from any strike beyond Rocksmote, but perhaps not one exactly in Threshold, and would keep her nourished with its pure Qi. She could neither eat nor absorb any nutrients with her current state.

‘’Have a twenty four hour watch over her.’’ Elder Li ordered the few guards as they got out of the room. ‘’Take turns every four hours. Don’t you dare slack off! Report me everything, even if her eyelids twitch by a millimeter.’’

Without confirming, for she seemed sure that she did not have any need to have them report back their understanding within her position’s authority, they climbed back on the spacious deck.

A few breaths passed as Zhang Cai watched the elders talk in their minds, then Elder Li gave a short bow to Old Master Jin. The latter only sighed, no longer pulling on his beard, and looked at Zhang Cai.

He spoke in a deep, almost hoarse voice laden with exhaustion.‘’Be a good kid, will you?’’

‘’I will.’’ Zhang Cai made a deep bow in response. ‘’I wish you the best of health.’’

‘’The same, brat, the same...’’ He flew up to the air and flashed away, leaving neither sound nor shadow in his wake.

Zhang Cai rose only a few moments later to find neither Elder Li nor any other he saw around the guests. There was only him, as well as the few dozens of people manning the upper-sections of the Goliath. Soon, as he observed, these people went around the edges to touch the railings, then gathered at the center of the flat deck to pour their Qi into a formation.

A white light blinked around the airship, then went away. Then a roar escaped underneath the construct—with a huge wave of Qi came a shiver that sent most trembling, and the ship started sailing in the air. A pair of wings sprung out of two sides of the Goliath and flapped, then with its force they rose higher and higher.

Zhang Cai watched all this as he moved to stand near the edge looking down on the Blue Lotus Sect. He had both arms on the railing, knees bent, leaning forward. A huge wind whipped up that made even him feel the chill and shook his hair and black robes. The huge mountain with its fields and hills shrunk bit by bit, then was covered by a sparse gathering of clouds for a few moments. When they retreated, it was all gone.

Zhang Cai reeled a little at the height, for even if he climbed many mountains and saw many peaks he had never reached such a height where the terrain seemed like a bolt of green and brown rolling cloth.This constricting feeling and fear persisted well over half an hour, but sooner than that subsided, then went away. He remained watching the scenery until the Sun descended well into the earth and a silver crescent found its way above.

The faint moonlight wasn’t enough by itself to illuminate the earth alone. The airship also had no lights—the mood was desolate, dark. It sailed in and out of clouds alongside a howling wind. The chatter of a few guards fifty steps afar, juggling and bumping into each other with fairly vulgar speech sounded in his ears. Other than that, nothing. The latter also went away, when Zhang Cai heard their steps descend the stairs. Now only he and twelve sentries remained.

Zhang Cai made these observations through his subconscious senses without willing. He had these talents before and his constant travel only honed them further. But unlike what one would assume in that case, he had no thoughts in his mind. Nothing in particular occupied his mind. There was neither a coherent thought, nor a jumbled image. His mental voice didn’t exist.

Other than the barely reflected moon in his pupils, there existed nothing to be read on him regarding his circumstance. This non-conscious state lasted another hour, then ended with a deep sigh.

‘’Was it Blue Lotus Sect, or Elders’ decision?’’

He thought for a moment. At the distance kept by Elder Xiu and Jia, either of them could interfere before Shu Ligui had been hurt. Hell, even he could have done something with his realm. Elder Li herself only arrived a second later. Also, considering Old Master Jin’s cultivation, he too had the means to stop Zhao Yan’s unaware discharge of power.

But those considerations did not make much noise in him before he crushed them. ‘’None of it matters to me.’’

Blue Lotus Sect was the largest supplier of food and livestock related produce in the continent. Shu and Li families were border clans with generations of warshed and relatively less fertile land barely enough to feed themselves. They were martial clans in essence. Former had three Goliaths to their name, so it seemed evident that the latter wished to get closer to it through both marriage and favorable actions in the Northern Continent’s politics.

That barebones knowledge was enough for Zhang Cai to draw a conclusion. He was no genius, anyone with a few screws sharp and steady could figure out there was a scheme laying somewhere. But why was Shu Ligui the one to be marked? That bugged him the most.

Or perhaps there was no scheme, and it truly was a mistake, or simply not a decision by Blue Lotus Sect but a faction within. A sect by itself was similar to a nine-headed bird in its governance. The Sect Leader had no hand in the proceedings and rulings, at least on the surface, and was only there as a spiritual guide, guardian, and symbol. No non-demonic sect would allow someone to gather too much executive power in the hands of an individual.

So there was bound to be clashing interests, and clashing interests always appeared with the appearance of an external stimuli.

Zhang Cai’s thoughts ended there. He would, most likely, not see those people anytime soon. If he ever made his way back here it would only be for Old Master Jin.

He rose and stretched his arms and back, then turned to face the approaching guard whom he sensed a while ago.

‘’Oh!’’ He wore a thick-black plate armor with a helmet shaped like a Xian. The man smiled ‘’Good senses.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ replied Zhang Cai. ‘’What’s the matter brother?’’

‘’Ah, we have food prepared down below. Since you missed dinner, y’know?’’

‘’I missed it...really?’’

‘’You were in a daze and the Captain forbade us to disturb,’’ the guard pointed up and down, as if panicking. ‘’So I only came now with his orders. Do come down while it is hot. There is even the tail of a Threshold-level beast as a soup.’’

‘’I never saw soup made out of a tail. Thank you.’’ Zhang Cai smiled. ‘’Will you be leading the way?’’

Stolen novel; please report.

‘’Of course!’’ The man made a bow and gestured with his arms.

Zhang Cai followed behind him with slow steps and descended the stairs. There was a yellow prism embedded onto the ceiling every dozen meters, faintly lighting up a portion of the way as they walked. Those behind him quickly dimmed. They descended to another floor when the guard spoke again.

‘’Are you sir acquainted with Miss Shu?’’

‘’Do I not seem so?’’

‘’Ah, well I have never seen you back at the estate, sir.’’

‘’You are a servant of her family, brother?’’

‘’Indeed. I served twelve years there, then took up to guarding the Goliath to provide for my third son.’’

‘’Is your family too large, brother?’’

‘’Ah, no sir, no. Other than my second daughter, none of the others had a cultivation talent, so I provided for them easily by guarding gates and escorts. But the young third has a very good talent, so I need to be able to give him enough resources to grow properly.’’

‘’You are a good father, brother.’’

‘’I try to be, sir.’’

‘’That is more than what most do.’’ Zhang Cai added after a while.

‘’So...’’ the guard asked again. ‘’May I ask how you are acquainted?’’

‘’Who is asking?’’

‘’What do you mean, sir?’’

Zhang Cai stopped walking. The guard matched his exact step and turned to face him. He had a bright, if not a little confused smile honed to please the nobles.

‘’Look, brother. If you hadn’t sneaked up on me, I would find it really normal for you to ask, okay? But even then, a guard can’t be that much daring to question his liege’s family, or their friends.’’

‘’I’m terribly sorry if I’ve offended you, sir.’’

Zhang Cai let out a sigh. The bowing guard had the yellow light reflected by his skin, but the armor absorbed most of it. His expression was unreadable, as well as Zhang Cai’s frown.

‘’I’m telling you to get your act together.’’

It seemed to Zhang Cai that the events preceding his current place had already locked him encourse to a storm he had no want to be involved in. So he spoke with frustration in his voice.

‘’Her mother is a friend of my master. Is that enough for you?’’

Was that a lie? Even he didn’t know. They seemed acquainted enough.

‘’Please, tell your superior, whoever that is, that I have no business nor intention to involve myself in anything. Let. me. be.’’

The light on top of them snuffed out, then lit up again when the guard stood up. ‘’I’m terribly sorry again.’’

‘’Hah...no matter.’’ replied Zhang Cai. ‘’I’m more interested in family talk. I hope you didn’t lie about that?’’

‘’Heavens forbid, I wouldn’t joke about my family.’’

‘’So, when did you exactly apply to be on the Goliath...’’

They made small talk on the way, as if the talk before didn’t happen at all, and arrived at the sixth floor. It was a rectangular room stretching all the way, with tables and stools anchored to the ground. There were few guards dangling around, drinking tea or smoking tobacco through pipes, two Li family children whom he remembered as insomniacs, as well as Zhao Yan. The latter had a wet towel in his hands as he wiped the floors of the gigantic room by himself, a few times kicked around by the guards when he passed by them.

Zhang Cai paid him no mind, and settled on the table with the Li family children to eat and talk.

‘’No improvements, Li Yu, Li Ji?’’

‘’No, senior brother.’’ The boy around fourteen replied. ‘’I tried spinosae and lavender, directly ate them even.’’

‘’The tea helped me a little bit.’’ The girl around twelve added.

‘’Then try not to sleep today. I heard there was a training space here?’’

‘’Yes.’’ Li Yu and Li Ji nodded. Li Yu seemed to think of his intentions by himself. ‘’Do you mean to tire ourselves? We tried it before.’’

‘’Ah, I will tire you guys out. I’ll have you participate in my training routine, then we can spar a little until you are on the ground.’’

‘’Senior brother wants to kill us?’’ Li Ji shrunk back until she hid behind Li Yu.

‘’I am not a god like Gou Ri.’’ then Li Yu hid behind Li Ji.

Zhang Cai only smiled. He hadn’t only proposed it out of goodwill, but also because with the safety of the environment he could make the best of his time. The third move would need a bit of a good space to practice, and learning about his physique he wanted to test out a few things. He didn’t think the upper limit of his body was just Middle-Rocksmote level.

They talked some more, then Zhang Cai left their table. He approached the kitchen to put down the dishes and request tea from the lady manning the station.

‘’I’ll bring it to you.’’ She said, so Zhang Cai took a stool not far from the kitchen and laid his back to the wall. He saw the middle-aged guard that led him gone and let out a silent snort. Both hands behind his head, Zhang Cai let the weight rest on his arms and swept his gaze over the remaining guards.

They remained across the wide hall in groups of three and four, only few remained alone, and those that were alone just stared down their armored boots or up to the ceiling, a few times sipping on tea. Most noise came from the grouped ones, where they coughed from the strong tobacco or harassed Zhao Yan running in a rush to finish his job.

He watched the boy move, enduring jabs, kicks, and insults while gritting his teeth. His flowing blue hair was tied into a ponytail, which suffered a few pulls and made him glare. No one seemed afraid of him or his status.

‘’It must be Elder Li...or the Captain of the Ship.’’

Captain of the ship should be a very close vassal or a member of the Shu Noble Clan to man the Goliath of their family. This he observed, for the guard had openly revealed his affiliation. In either case, these folks were either retarded or had direct assurance and orders to make trouble for Zhao Yan.

For what purpose? Zhang Cai considered. The kitchen auntie approached him with a tray of snacks and tea.

‘’Ah, you didn’t need to, auntie.’’

‘’All is well, all is well.’’ She smiled and left him the tray. ‘’These are called biscuits. They have honey and jam in them. They are good.’’

Zhang Cai took a bite and found a sweet taste within the crunchy bits that almost eroded his teeth. ‘’Very delicious!’’

The lady beamed. ‘’Good! Enjoy them. If you need anything else, let me know.’’

‘’Thank you!’’

As she left, he took another bite, savoring the taste. Then he gazed at Zhao Yan again.

For what purpose did they bully him? Zhang Cai found it very...he had no other words except retarded in his mind. He saw these types of people plenty in Curlan, and Zhang Cai with his brothers was a frequent victim of these. Not just them, though. Most of the homeless and the beggars and any kind belonging to the streets suffered this kind of irrational bullying. Even when all they did was to try to survive, be it the local guards or the nobles retainers or the common folk, all would create trouble for them.

For what purpose? Zhao Yan’s situation was vastly different, but still there was no solid purpose. The one he wronged was Shu Ligui and only Shu Ligui had the right to judge him right or wrong. Any punishment or repayment would be done by her. What did a few mindless fools have at stake here? Her being their liege entitled them to such a role that they could wantonly kick and ridicule a scared young man? A scared man who knew not how to deal with his wrongs?

‘’Scared...’’

He indeed seemed afraid. Apart from all the schemes and developments, the sole clear fact to Zhang Cai was that Zhao Yan was terribly afraid. Not just of death, which he continuously presented in his duel, but also of his circumstance. The young man had no idea how to deal with this bullying, and if Zhang Cai trusted his intuition, nor with his mistake. This kind of hopelessness was familiar to him.

‘’Suffering, walking, trudging, falling, again walking, not knowing how to survive, nor having any idea how to move forward. Always in a darkness, surrounded by cold, with no one to support nor guide you to the right path. All too familiar.’’

A memory rose in him when he thought of his master, as well as their old conversation.