One of the things I’m reminded of as I talk with this child is how those young girls reacted to Shi, from the Yellow Sashes’ offer to join their prostitution gang.

A decision that I thought was massively inappropriate at first, but it seems that the fact that there aren’t protections for children in this world, is common thing.

Any time something does happen, it is still looked down upon. However, people will literally stand by and do nothing, even if they are strong enough to stop it. Or unless they would be negatively impacted by it. Like for their reputation.

This causes children, both boys and girls, to grow up in a more mature way. Needing to be watchful and distrustful of others. To be able to navigate and discern situations before they even come up. That doesn’t even include the things they might have to do just to survive normally, without those issues.

Focusing back on the conversation, I give her a brief synopsis about who I am and what I do.

Basically, all I told her is I’m an alchemist and I work with a group in the city to help heal people and take care of their group. That I came to the city not long ago. I’m looking to become a cultivator to defend myself properly.

She accepted this explanation and hasn’t asked any more questions, as she seemed to have regained the slight bits of maturity I saw earlier.

She seemed to get really impulsive when she gets stressed, as most 12-year-olds would. I don’t know whether it’s because of training or just the world in general, but she seems highly mature for her age in terms of personality and emotions, for most things.

Being in the merchant field, as it seems she does normally, she seemed to have learned a certain level of professionalism or the ability to fake it. It seems she was only brought into these meetings at her age because of her ability.

She even hints towards her ability a bit more, stating that it’s something that lets her see a piece of the true face of someone. I’m not sure whether it’s because she previously revealed a little bit of it earlier, or she’s becoming able to trust me a bit more.

Either way, it’s reaching the end of the day. The sun has already started to come down and we’ve run out of time on the notepad treasure, even when conserving it at every step.

Based on my estimations, it will take us a day and a half for us to reach the sect.

The distances of this world are truly insane, as we are actually traveling at a faster pace than the normal average speed limit for highways in America.

Which is made stranger, because inside the carriage it seems like we are moving at a leisurely pace. Complete with the slight bumps and sounds from outside I had noticed earlier.

Right when I hear a growl from Mei Lin’s stomach, I discover food appearing on a tray near the door.

Exceptionally high-quality food, while still being a simple offering. All it seems to be is a piece of meat, some bread, and some vegetables of an unknown type. Despite its plain appearance, it’s still the best-looking food I’ve seen since I’ve been here. My awareness tells me that the further that you move towards the front, the better the food gets. The better that most things are.

Just like on an airplane.

To make sure this isn’t a trap, I use my Scan the slightest bit, to see if it’s poisonous to either of us, which it isn’t.

After which I dig into it, motioning to her it’s safe to eat.

When I feel I should use the restroom, I suddenly notice an opening within the carriage, leading into a far larger space that appears to be a small bathroom.

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It appears to be on the level of quality of what the yellow sashes had as their bathrooms.

Something completely improbable for what we’re traveling in.

Such is the level of the treasure that we are riding in. Infinitely propagating, with qualities that go beyond the normal laws of physics.

This is how cultivation treasures should be. Something that makes you wonder how it’s possible.

With this, most of our travel needs are filled. All we need to do is sit and wait here until we reach the edges of the cultivation city. And then it’ll take another half day to move through the city. At the same speed.

And this is quickest and closest route to the sect.

Cultivation worlds are crazy.

As we travel, I decide to use my scanning pulse on the entire carriage procession. Just to make sure I didn’t miss anything with my awareness.

And surprise, surprise… I found something.

After my discovery, I reach across my connection and prod three distinctive life forms that are on the top, inside, and on the bottom of the last carriage.

They seem to have been having a grand old time before I reached out, tossing some kind of ball around, but freeze in place at my mental poke. The ball drops and rolls within the carriage.

Ru Ning, the roach. Tai Ye, the spider. And Dana, the blob.

The tiny hero group.

On each of their ‘necks’ is a band that says ‘Property of: James.’

Other carriages in the back also have other tamed creatures and baggage… but most that are much smaller than these three. Though, there is one carriage that has a large Chinese style, dragon-like creature, that takes up the interior of the carriage. Smaller than Tai Ye by just a tiny bit.

My thoughts naturally drift to the ambush on me earlier.

Are they the reason that the assassins were able to find me?

… No, I don’t think so. They were nowhere near the area at that time and they shouldn’t be tied to a specific pickup zone. Which means they claimed the carriage after I had already jumped on with Mei Lin.

… Which means they were already registered as my creatures. I get a feeling Gong was involved with this.

I purposefully send a shiver down Gong’s back. She ruffles after realizing why I did it. And has the audacity to giggle.

Sigh.

I guess it’s too late for them to go back at this point.

This might be why she made sure to teach me about what to expect regarding having tamed creatures when entering the sect. I thought she was talking about anything I tamed later on…

I should think about this positively. Considering their abilities, I should be okay to survive against a lot more things, in the case of a fight.

As soon as I got on this carriage, I was considered a prospective sect member. Which also gives me a lot of protections against manipulations or assassinations. Having them here only solidifies my standing.

With all of this in mind, I send a message to relax and that we will chat later. They seem to meekly return to the ball throwing.

Until Tai Ye tosses it hard and then it returns to the same vigor as before.

It’s easy to remember that they basically have young minds, despite their intelligence, when I see them like this. I’ll have to take this seriously, working with them.

I’ll have to make sure not to treat them like children, though… because, that’s not how they work.

That’ll be a bit tough at first.

But, I want them to be well adjusted. And that will take work.

I can feel a weird sense of pride in my heart towards them. Thinking about how much good they’ve been doing.

Well, that I’ve been told they’ve been doing. Guess I’ll find out soon enough.

The rest of the day goes like that. Relaxing in the carriage with Mei Lin, exchanging pleasantries with her and making surprisingly natural conversation deep into the night.

Mostly about food.

Apparently, I really like to talk about the different types of food in this world.

Strangely enough, as we talk, she seems to get closer.

Originally, to a normal speaking distance, rather than the ‘frightened in the corner’ distance. Then, it transitioned to a friend talking about silly stuff distance, as she described this food that most likely is something similar to caramel and I attempted to describe the consistency/taste of ice cream of my world.

They have the ingredients to make it, but just haven’t come up with that type of treat yet. The closest they’ve come to it is fruit smoothies. Publicly, at least.

I found an interesting tidbit about the world. There used to be a cooking-based cultivation sect, but they were wiped out earlier on. They were the ones that came up with the idea. The cultivation methods are out there, open for people to learn. However, there is a superstition that if you take it up, you’ll be wiped out like they were.

Unfortunately, there were some people who actually do things like that, so it’s not entirely baseless. Over time, those people died out or stopped hunting them down, but the superstition stayed.

So, most people tend to avoid things related to the cooking field. Unless you are already strong, in which they horde their recipes to themselves and their closest allies.

Surprisingly, in this day and age, it is a ripe time to innovate with baking and cooking.

That’s probably a job for someone else, though.

Probably.

With that in mind, I begin to fall asleep. My awareness still on and ready, even while sleeping.