As I can see the last vestiges of people scatter from our location, in fear of us being cultivators, I focus my eyes on the building before us.

Similar to the Xing family’s home, this place is run down and unremarkable. A place easily lost in the sea of streets that is the slums.

Sister Nuan takes the lead, politely knocking on the door.

Rap rap rap.

The sound reverberates through the silent area.

The act of knocking denotes a level of respect in this culture. Even more so than in my world.

Depending on how it is done, shows how deeply they respect the person.

After knocking the first time, she pauses, lowering her hands. Waiting patiently for the answer.

We stand here silently for 5 minutes.

Whoever she is having us meet with, she has great respect for.

… and a lot of patience.

After some time, the door slowly opens and I quickly see why it took so long.

An older gentleman stands inside the doorway, struggling to just hold it open. Blackened veins cross the entirety of his body, like some strange tattoo. Unlike tattoos, these pulse painfully.

Now, being more familiar with the body of cultivators, it’s easy to tell the issue.

His cultivation base has been broken. Most likely purposefully by someone. Or something.

What have these people gotten me into?

Without a doubt, this will be one of the people she will want me to heal. The question is… which one?

My thoughts are quickly answered by Sister Nuan’s next move, which is to bow to him. As I move to mirror her actions, I hear her voice softly ring out.

“Master Ming, thank you for seeing us and allowing us into your home.”

As soon as she bowed, I could sense his hand slowly raising.

“No need for such formalities, Little Song. I am far removed from that title, as you know.”

His eyes sparkle a bit with his next words.

“However, I wonder why you brought a few of us expired goods together today.”

Slightly moving to the side, I can see two other old men sitting at a table, chatting idly.

“But what am I doing? Please, come in.”

He moves further to the side and we both bow slightly to him again as we enter.

“So, I see you finally got a disciple, have you? Ah, where did the Little Song go that cried at my side after tripping on her own feet? I seem to have gotten old so quickly.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I feel more surprise, after all this tension, as Sister Nuan gives a mischievous, lighthearted smile.

“Haven’t you always been this old? I remember some of the other lady elders saying the wrinkl…”

“Cough cough cough. Ahem. So, let me introduce your disciple to the other elders here.”

Everyone, this is Elder Songs new disciple, Disciple Delinion.

A duo of tired old faces turned towards me. Both of them displaying a wealth of experiences, ranging from scars to burns.

These are people who have clearly gone through a variety of types or adversity.

Despite this, they show friendly faces towards me. Likely because of Senior Song, rather than any merit of my own.

“Oh, is this the young one I’ve been hearing about?”

“Hmm… Could the rumors possibly be true?”

One old man, balding with wisps of pitch-black hair struggling to exist on his head, speaks up, while the other mutters to himself.

The old man who let us in interjects, shaking his head at the other two men.

“Let’s not be rude, as he likely doesn’t know who we are. Though… few will at this point.

“I used to be Master Ming, but you can call me Senior Ming. As you might have guessed, I used to be an elder and a contract maker for the local sect… though, it has been some time since that’s been the case.

“But enough about me. I’ll let the others introduce themselves.”

He motions over to the man beside him, who, despite his advanced age, has a full head of cherry red hair. Most prominently, he has an enormous burn mark stretching horizontally across his face.

“Hello child, you may call me Senior Tian. I may not be much anymore, but if you need any advice on making your first talismans, I can assist.”

His voice is soft, gentle even, as he introduces himself. His voice changes to a teasing one as he looks at the man to his left.

“This stubborn fool here is Elder Li…”

“Hey! I’ll introduce myself, you soft-brained giant.”

The man with the wispy black hair looks over at me.

“I’m Elder Li, also known as the Speedy Tortoise…”

“No one calls you that, except you…”

“Huh?! Who’s the one that…”

It’s not long before their conversation devolves into slight bickering with each other.

Elder Ming has a hand over his face, clearly embarrassed by the two. Sister Nuan is shaking her head with a smile, as if this happened regularly in front of her in the past.

They definitely don’t have the personality of wizened elders that I’ve expected and mostly seen thus far.

I’m assuming I’m supposed to heal them. Will it really be smart to give these guy's power again?

… I’ll focus a bit more effort on the mental side, just in case.

Elder Ming’s voice rings out within the house.

“Li! Tian! What kind of image are you showing in front of our juniors? Especially when they came over here to assist us?”

Like two scolded children, they quickly straighten themselves out and stare intently at him, as if their bickering never happened.

Clearly, this group has been close for a long while.

But with the situation back under control, Elder Ming continues speaking.

“My apologies to you two for this.

“As you might have already guessed from my condition. My cultivation base was destroyed quite some time ago. Thanks to my good friends here, I’ve been able to live safely as a normal person for many years now. Though none of us could have known the ramifications of such actions.”

The aforementioned friends have sad smiles at his words.

Each of them speaks up.

“Unfortunately, as we moved to support each other, we were injured soon after in each of our sect’s expeditions. Our cultivation bases ruined, taking us all the way back to early foundation establishment levels.”

“… I still believe it was all planned by that damned Long family. The timing was jus…”

Elder Ming shakes his head at their words.

“You both know as well as I do, we can’t pursue the reasons for such things. Even at our peak, we wouldn’t have been able to handle the result of such things.”

Just as quickly, all of their eyes flash with an excited light at his next words, which are directed towards me.

“But from what I’ve heard from Little Song, you may be able to help all of us with our issues. Allowing us to reach much farther than before.”

Sister Nuan turns to me with an expectant look.

It’s my time to shine.

“I believe so, but I will need to examine each of you to make sure. Am I okay to begin working?”

“Yes, yes! Of course! Let us just clear some space here.”

Faster than I’ve seen them move yet, they move the table they were at previously and lay down floor coverings.

The two elderly men quickly look at Master Ming, wanting him to go first.

Laying down, he quickly calms himself down and slows his breathing.

Okay, let’s see how bad this really is.