“What do you want?” Yu Han took a step back, his hand going to his dagger.

“Your timidity embarrasses our Riversong City,” Sima Yan said with disdain. “Why were you at the Elder’s residence for so long?”

“None of your business,” Yu Han replied. He unsheathed the dagger and tried to walk away.

“You dare disrespect the Young Master?” Pang Jiming said. He rolled up his sleeve and blocked Yu Han’s way. Ma San went behind him.

“You lived and breathed in my Riversong City,” Sima Yan said, hands behind his back. “Your family have paid tax and veneration to ours for generations. Yet now that you have some semblance of cultivation talent, you forget that obligation. If your ancestors knew, they would no doubt be rolling in their graves.”

He patted Yu Han’s shoulder, as if not afraid of the dagger at all. “Speak. What has Elder Scribe given you? Isn’t it your duty as a dweller of my city to pay heed?”

“Now that ain’t fair, is it?” a voice called out.

Sima Yan’s face darkened, turning towards the voice. But a shadow flew over, whooshing through the air.

“Young Master, watch ou—” Pang Jiming was horrified.

Sima Yan jumped back. “You dare?”

A large stone impacted the ground where he was standing. If it had landed on a normal person, it would probably break a bone.

“You! Do you know the consequences of your actions?” Sima Yan said to Li Yao.

“I’ll be rewarded,” the other boy said with a grin. He was accompanied by three other kids, including the one who almost drowned himself on the Drizzle. “The heavens are fair. I stopped a daylight robbery, so what consequences are there?”

“Robbery?” Sima Yan scoffed.

“What we do here is none of your business, street dog,” Ma San said. “Scram!”

“But it is!” Li Yao stood beside Yu Han. “The robber here stole my brother’s family diner after they paid taxes for generations. The moment his folks were murdered, rather than seeking justice for them, they stole him from his home.”

“Li Yao, you…” Yu Han muttered. Why do you care so much? Just because I gave you food once? Such actions were incomprehensible once.

But then again, Yu Han had risked his head just because a girl had given him medicine.

“Yours? Riversong City belongs to the Sima Clan,” Sima Yan said. “We broke the mountains, toiled the land, diverted the river so that peasants could settle there. Yet here you are, an ungrateful dog. But you forget that a dog does not bark at a tiger!”

“Look around, Sima Yan,” Li Yao said, opening his hands wide. By now, a crowd was gathering. “This is the Stormy Reef Sect. Not your backyard. If you want us to pay taxes, you gotta have the fist for it first!” He unsheathed his own dagger.

“A mere commoner dares?” Pang Jiming roared out.

“Young Master Sima, who is this ruffian?” Some more well-dressed recruits gathered around Sima Yan. They had changed into the indigo and white robes, but kept the ornamentation. Meanwhile, the riffraff from White Lotus Kingdom stood beside Li Yao.

“Commoners? We’re all cultivators here,” one boy, who Yu Han knew was a son of a farmer, shouted. He had refined talent just like Li Yao and Sima Yan. “You can bully us at home, but you think we’ll let you bully us here too?”

“Barking because you can. Did you forget your family still lives on my father’s land?” a well-dressed fatty shouted. “Do you have no fear?”

“Family?” a tall boy said. He was a refined talent too, and had been a beggar before selection. “I got none. So I can go and kill your mortal folks in their sleep when I get strong like Senior Duan.”

“You!”

Threats boomed, fists were held back. The commotion attracted the attention of people who manned this village.

“What’s going on here?” a middle-aged man shouted. “No infighting in the Sect, or you’ll be whipped!” He wore an armband that said “All Must Submit Beneath the Sky.” There were five others with him.

A pressure descended.

Do all cultivators have this pressure ability? It wasn’t as bad as with Dong Chou or Duan Xiaolong, and nowhere near the Shark Lady and Verdant Blade Elder’s level. But it forced everyone to shut their mouths.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You, fat one,” the man said. Yu Han thought he was being called, but the man pointed at the noble kid. “Are you crazy? Threatening a fellow Sect member’s family is punishable by a thousand floggings in the Outer Sect, if not crippling and imprisonment! Be glad you are still in the rookie village.”

“This one was merely angry, and misspoke—”

“Ten floggings. Submit yourself to the Law Enforcement Hall!” The middle-aged man snapped his fingers. “You, tall one. You too.”

“Wait, no!” The fatty paled. “Have mercy!”

“Ten’s nothing,” the former beggar said.

Two of the five law enforcers dragged the fatty away, and the former beggar went willingly.

“No one, and I mean no one, will threaten a fellow Sect member’s family. Too many generational grudges in one Sect will bring its downfall, and such acts will be seen as treason. Am I clear?”

A few affirmations rang out.

“Am I clear?”

“Yes, Senior Brother!”

“Now go back. You’ll only be here until the rest of the recruits arrive. Next time someone causes a commotion, don’t expect this senior to be so kind.” With that, the man walked away with the three remaining cultivators.

The noble and commoner faction glared at each other, and a few more insults were thrown.

Then each went their own way. Sima Yan’s cold grey eyes lingered on Yu Han and Li Yao for longer.

“You know nothing,” Sima Yan said. “But soon you will. There isn’t only the Outer Sect, but the Inner Sect, too.” With that, the noble scion left.

“Don’t mind them, tubs,” Li Yao said, throwing his arms around Yu Han’s shoulder. “They can’t stand us bottom feeders rising up. All their lives, they’d step on us. Thought it was their right. Now they can’t, and it pisses them off. Funny, isn’t it?”

“Thanks,” Yu Han said.

“Don’t mention it. I said it before, didn’t I? If anyone wants to get to you, they’ll have to go through this daddy.”

“Just because I gave you some leftover food? I don’t even remember it.”

Li Yao threw his hand behind his neck as he walked. “Doesn’t matter, tubs. I would have died that day.”

“Really?”

“I hadn’t eaten in three days. Had a fever—my little sister died from the same thing. I went to your place for ten days. And ten days, you and your folks fed me.”

“Was it during the Pale Breath Sickness a few years back?”

Li Yao nodded.

Pale Breath Sickness—it had caused an epidemic in Riversong City five years ago. Like influenza, it was accompanied by a fever. The sick person’s breath would stink too, hence the name. The best way to treat it was good nutrition and plenty of water.

Yu Han had caught it then too, but he was eating well and could walk around fine. His memory was a bit fuzzy, though.

I wonder if I can echo it in the dreamscape.

They stopped in front of the hut area where the commoners stayed. The nobles had chosen another part of the mountain village.

“That beggar kid, what’s his name?” Yu Han asked.

“He has no name. Goes by Little Bamboo, apparently made his home in an abandoned bamboo forest. We call him Xiao Zhuzi.”

Xiao Zhuzi, Little Bamboo.

“The kid who almost drowned?”

“Hu Feng. The farmer’s son is Li Weidong. A different Li.” Li Yao grinned. “Do you feel touched? Are you gonna cry?”

“Fuck off.” Yu Han kicked at him, but the other boy ran away.

“Stay put, tubs. You’ve a face that likes offending people.”

Yu Han grumbled under his breath.

“Li Yao.”

“What?”

“Thanks.” Yu Han bowed. No matter how minor the goodwill, he would nurture that connection.

“I said don’t mention it.” Li Yao scratched his cheeks. Was he feeling shy after Yu Han’s sudden sincerity? “I’ll go train my sword arm. Did you know the village has a training compound?”

“Of course it does.”

Li Yao ran off.

Let’s see what I get. And what I can do for you guys.

As for Sima Yan, Yu Han had no solution. The boy had it out for him. Not only did Yu Han, just by the virtue of existing, cause his father to lose a hand, he also manipulated Ma San’s brother into offending Qiao Jinhai, hence committing suicide by talking too much.

No apology would suffice. And after the Riversong City Lord had usurped his family diner with the Bloody Grass Gang, Yu Han didn’t feel like bowing.

The hut here was smaller than the one in the first village. There was a heated Chinese kang bed, and barely enough room to stand.

They somehow have indoor heating, but no plumbing. Yu Han laid down. How do I hide the stuff I’ll get? A pouch with a thousand Spirit Stones will be huge. And the halberd. Even the books.

He’d come here with just a dagger. He’d be leaving with far more.

Just like Sima Yan, others might be attracted towards the goodies he might have.

***

“Is Yu Han here?” a voice said. There was a pounding on the door.

Yu Han snapped awake.

“What? Who? Coming.” His mind was still fuzzy. He opened the door.

It was night already.

A man stood outside with a large woven bag. There was also a long pole wrapped in cloth.

“Yu Han? Elder Scribe sent the delivery,” the man said. “Well, then, this one shall leave. Cultivate well, Junior Brother.”

Some recruits were gathered near the door of their own huts, and a few others were around too. They gossiped among themselves.

“Thank you, Senior Brother!” Yu Han shouted out. “Please tell the respected Elder Scribe that this Yu Han will forever remember his guidance. I shall deliver the package to the outer Sect without fail, come bandit or monster!”

The Senior Brother turned. Then, with a confused nod, he left.

Fuck! I said be discreet, not yell it to the world! Yu Han took the things and went inside.

His bullshitting came automatically. It was plausible—why else would the Elder send him things?

He closed the door, then peeked out the window. People were still there, talking to each other.

The package was smaller than he expected. On top of the woven bag, there were neatly folded clothes.

Ah! These ones should fit. That Dong Chou, why did he send these? Was the guy being thoughtful? Yu Han doubted it.

“Next!”

There was a cloth parcel. Yu Han opened it. A stack of books was tied inside. The first one was a copy of Ox Tail 72 Sweeping Forms, bound in brown paper rather than green. Ten other old books of varying sizes were under it.

Yu Han left the cloth-covered stick for last.

Spirit Stones! Where are the Spirit Stones? A thousand should take up quite some space. He peered inside the woven bag.

There was no giant pouch.

Only a small wooden box.