After Sia finished cooking, she handed everyone a bowl of delicious-smelling soup. It had been a lot of hard work for her, but she did it with a smile.

As part of the group, I also received my own metallic bowl of food. I stared at it for a good minute while the others ate theirs.

"Is something wrong?" Liu Bo asked.

"No, I'm just waiting for it to cool down," I responded.

With one plate in hand, I used the other to scratch the back of Speedy's head as he lay on my lap.

I had prepared a couple of countermeasures against poison and such. However, if there was any paralysis poison in the soup that would stop me from moving immediately, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

As soon as Speedy's feet touched the ground, he walked out of my lap and rolled onto his back. When I pushed him upright, he still rolled onto his back, and we played this little game.

Turning toward my cousins, I asked, "What are the chances that this food is poisoned?"

They already had mouthfuls of soup, so just my suggestion alone made them all stop and stare at me. Thankfully, I had cast a weak silencing array around us so none of the cultivators with good hearing could overhear our conversation.

Liu Qian looked at me and then at the soup. She wasn't the one who answered; instead, the strict-looking guy, Liu Heng, said, "Lady Sia has been cooking for Lady Song and her guests for a while and manages the kitchen duties in her abode. The chances of her doing something like poisoning her now are zero."

He was right. If Sia had been cooking for Song Song regularly, she would have already taken her shot by now.

Despite knowing that, I only acted like I was eating the soup, and when no one was looking, I slipped some to Speedy. The little guy had a slow metabolism, and I was here in case anything happened, with antidotes prepared. Also, animals in this world were generally more resistant to poisons that would harm humans.

However, the little guy only ate as I spoon-fed him and then walked around briefly before snuggling beside me.

I no longer had any real reason to believe the food was poisoned. It probably wasn't, to begin with. However, someone had to be cautious in the group, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

For now, Sia was off the suspicion list. If she wanted to do something to Song Song, she would have done it long ago. Instead of concentrating on her, I should get to know the others in the group. Sia was not the only suspect here.

As everyone ate their food, I tried to listen to their conversation while sneakily keeping my pinky on Speedy's neck. There was no change in pulse.

I didn't enjoy possibly feeding the little guy poisons. Still, since he had a slow metabolism, if any poisons acted only when a human was asleep, the little guy would have already shown signs. But there was nothing.

Despite all the precautions, I had assumed things needlessly.

Standing up, I addressed my cousins, "Please look after Speedy, and don't let him wander too far away."

I would hate to have to kill some vindictive little bastard if they decided to harm Speedy just for fun. Song Song needed all the meat shields she could have, even the dumb ones.

After walking a dozen steps from the camp, I took a spirit stone from my pocket and muttered something under my breath. A pulsing light shot out from the stone, forming a translucent misty barrier around the camp.

It was an alarm array that would make loud noises if anything trespassed into our camp.

Typical alarm arrays only worked on larger beasts and did not send out alarms for any bugs that passed through. But since I was looking out for any possible assassin this time, I also set up a weak defensive array so no flies or mosquitoes could pass through. The barrier was not strong, but if it was broken, it would trigger an alarm too.

As an Array Conjurer, the more I learned about arrays, the more I understood just how versatile the art of Array Conjuring was. At the same time, I knew of all the possible weaknesses, and there was no perfect array.

For example, even this sequence of arrays I had put up had no defense against poisonous gas attacks. But if I put up a barrier that stopped air from coming in from the outside, then it would just lock us in, and someone from the group could release an odorless gas, killing us all while we slept.

Covering one weakness often created another...

The spirit stone in my hand dimmed until all that was left was a dull color, and after that, the stone turned into dust.

After dusting off my hand, I approached Song Song, who was standing away from the group and still staring at everyone like a hawk. Despite seeming so concentrated, her gaze immediately shot toward me when I got close.

"Do you need me to set up an array around you when you sleep?" I offered.

Though I didn't say it outright, my offering implied that she needed an array in case someone from her team decided to attack her in her sleep.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Song Song shook her head, "No need. I can handle small things like an assassination plot on my own if the perpetrator has the guts to attack me directly."

I nodded and decided to trust her since she was not the kind of prideful person who would put herself in danger just to not seem weak.

"Goodnight, then," I bowed slightly, mainly to show others I respected Song Song's authority. In reality, neither of us cared about such formalities.

While others might refuse to get their own arrays, I was not so picky. As I set up my rolling bed, I used a new spirit stone to cast a solid defensive array around me.

Though it offered comfort and peace of mind, this method of making arrays was expensive. If I kept using Level 2 Arrays like this, I would soon run out of spirit stones.

As I lay down, letting my mind wander, sleep came quickly. In the distance, I heard Song Song setting up the first watch guards, but that had nothing to do with me. I was the barrier guy and had already done my job. Also, I doubted these people would trust that an outer disciple would be able to protect them or work well in watch duty.

Despite how arrogant they might come off with claims like that, I didn't blame them. In their eyes, Body Tempering Cultivators couldn't even see Qi.

How could someone like that even keep watch?

Slowly, I drifted to sleep.

.....

The next thing I felt was standing up and being in a vague, average-looking coffee shop.

Huh? What was happening?

It didn't take long to realize I was just lucid dreaming.

For one, I was in my last world, in a small coffee shop. I was not a customer but a waiter.

People moved around, and one of them even bumped into me, "Excuse me, sir-"

Whatever the guy was about to say, I pushed his face away and walked out of the coffee shop. He said something I should have listened to.

While some might have gotten absorbed in a whole other life and returned, I had nothing waiting for me here.

As soon as I stepped away from the coffee shop, I was somehow at the front door of my apartment. Apartment number thirty-eight... same as always. It was almost nostalgic in a way.

I pushed the door open and walked into an overpriced cottage. There was barely any room for anything. As a single male, everything was minimalistic, and it looked like almost no one lived there—except for some pictures on the wall of two young boys and their parents smiling behind them.

That was me and my brother.

My previous life was average, though even an average life had its own tragedies. It was much later in life that I realized that I would end up seeing everyone who raised me die.

If someone lived an average life, they would see their grandparents, uncles, and even parents die before them. In some cases, even older siblings would die before them.

But eventually, time would heal all wounds, and there was no other choice but to continue living.

There was no excitement in my life; the only interesting thing about me might be that I liked reading things. Even then, that was boring to most people.

I walked over and opened the fridge, but nothing was in it.

"What a shitty dream; I wanted to at least taste some frozen pizza or something," I grumbled.

I was born in an age too late to explore the earth and too early to explore space.

I was not born during the Great War—at least, there was no war anywhere near where I lived—and it didn't affect me in any way. Nor was I born during the Great Depression.

My war was a spiritual war to find meaning in my life.

I never really found it...

With those thoughts in mind, I felt sleep escaping me as I awoke.

.....

The morning sunlight stung my eyes as the sun rose. Unlike summer or spring, when the forest was bustling with insectoid sounds, the only thing I heard were the footsteps of the patrolling guards.

Opening my eyes, the first thing that greeted me was Ye An's cold face staring down at me, just outside of my barrier's border.

Holy shit! Fuck!

I was startled and almost jumped up and got ready for a fight. But Ye An was doing nothing other than staring at me like a creep.

"What're you doing?" I groaned and stood up while dispelling the barrier around my bed.

"Do you sense anything strange about me?" Ye An asked out of nowhere, answering my question with one of her own.

"What? No?" I answered, confused and still a bit groggy.

Also, what was up with the weird questions? She sounded like an alien had replaced the real Ye An, and she asked if I sensed anything strange. I might have been worried about their well-being if it was anyone else.

But this was Ye An; aliens taking over her body could not make her worse.

"Good," she nodded. "The crazy bitch shouldn't be able to notice either."

"What is this about?" I asked while rolling up my bed and putting everything in place. I also made sure that Speedy hadn't gotten lost and put the sleeping little guy in my box-like backpack.

"Would you tell Song Song if I told you what is happening?" She inquired.

"Absolutely, yes," I answered without missing a beat. There was no use lying about that; even Ye An knew I would tell her.

"Well, then I won't tell you," she stated nonchalantly.

Whatever had happened was probably related to her cultivation. There was no other sensible reason she would ask me if I sensed anything weird. Ye An might have recovered some of her cultivation and likely attempted to hide it from Song Song.

I had no idea how she had recovered her broken foundation, but it probably had something to do with her monstrous spiritual roots.

Also, did she have no one else to ask that, or did she trust my senses that much? There was no way; after months in the Sect, Ye An had made no friends she could remotely trust other than the guy she tried to kill at one point and who was the unofficial second-in-command of her worst enemy.

Despite how wild it sounded, it wasn't so strange when one really thought about it. After all, Ye An might seem milder now that she had somewhat lost her cultivation. But she was even worse than Song Song when it came to socializing.

Did I have some personality traits that made it easier for women with antisocial traits to approach? I mean, it was just Song Song and Ye An, but that was two too many.

Also, Ye An here was trusting my Qi senses too much. Song Song was at a whole other level, even amongst Qi Gathering Cultivators, when it came to that. But it wasn't like I would warn Ye An about that; she might have to find out the hard way.

After that, Ye An wandered into the distance, and I watched her as she walked away.

But I had no time to let my mind wander for long as Sia had already cooked breakfast for everyone on the team. Just like she had done yesterday for dinner, she was pretty hard working.

The breakfast was some kind of sandwich, and as I looked at the meal, I couldn't help but think about my dream. All the food I had eaten in this world was alright, but it was bland.

Then again, I only ate in the dining hall, and except for that one time, I hadn't been to any fancy restaurants.

I missed some good old pizza...

This time today, I waited for everyone to begin eating, and after they were okay, I ate some myself.

"These are pretty good, though it would have been better if they were a bit spicy," I mumbled.

While eating the sandwiches, I kept an eye on everything around the camp, and it seemed like my cousins were talking with Song Song about something. But just as I was staring at them, Song Song suddenly disappeared.

Which was strange since she was moving at a speed I couldn't even sense. I could somewhat sense her Qi when she moved during the entrance exam.

Had she gotten stronger?

My cousins seemed confused at first and then turned toward me.

I first noticed the soft smell of lavender; next, she whispered from behind. "Something is coming.”

As if on cue, the sound of some trees crashing in the distance rang out.