As the man’s footsteps plod away, my mind is practically frozen.

I did nothing.

I could have stopped him.

The thought of how easily he crushed the head of the girl… the one I had talked to only moments earlier.

It’s not my fault.

But the almost lighthearted way he acknowledged me. The way I just watched him kill them.

I know that it would have been a horrible idea if I got involved. Both in regards to staying under the radar and not showing my powers.

But… is this really the right thing to do?

To ignore powerful people doing horrible things, just because I can’t fight them at that moment?

Is this what I will do every time? There will always be something.

Not only that… but I’m scared. I’m really scared.

I may have killed that one man with the bugs, but what about a cultivator? I’m not like Gong and I don’t have a body that can fight with a cultivator.

The combination of this thought and the reality of what I just saw causes me to double over, holding my mouth. I desperately try to hold in the bile that threatens to come up.

My hands on my knees, bent over, I can feel my fingers tighten upon my kneecaps.

… No. Fuck this. Fuck all of this.

I’m stronger than this.

I was raised to be better than this.

Holding in my stomach, tightening my lips, and straightening my back, I stand back up.

The thought of my parents emerges within my mind. Two hardworking and loving individuals. They sacrificed so much, just to raise me. To help me get into college. To start my life.

To become a man.

I know my parents wouldn’t have wanted me to do this. Hell, they’d call me a dumbass for all the stupid shit I’ve been doing.

They dissuaded me from becoming a firefighter, from serving in the military. Even though, they themselves had done those same things, when they were younger.

At the same time, they still instilled those values in me.

Sacrifice. Forgiveness. Helping others in need. Obviously to protect myself in the process, but to do it nonetheless in the face of danger.

Ultimately, they wouldn’t want me to do this. But they would understand why I need to.

I won’t. I won’t let myself stand by and watch as others are hurt. Especially, if I can actually do something about it.

Some people have to be stopped, in order to protect others.

I’ve already seen this now and experienced it. I need to buck up. And do this right.

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I find myself in front of the bodies of the family.

Blood still slowly pouring from their crushed heads. It appears the man didn’t fully pulp their brains. He just crushed their skulls until he hit the brain.

Which is already massively damaging, but because of the increased resilience of demi-humans bodies, they are still ‘alive’.

Brain dead, but alive.

My scan tells me there is still a chance.

It also tells me that the spies are positioned a distance away, peering into the hut from buildings away.

They don’t have cultivation. Since I’m using the intuitive scan, it seems as if the Qi flow is different.

I have a chance. I have to decide what I will reveal.

The spiders.

The ability to use them quickly and without needing to communicate. Could be interpreted as Gong watching the situation.

I’ll need to block their line of sight first. Where’s the giant spider?

Quickly sensing my thoughts and intent, the giant spider guard comes around and plops itself in front of the door. The spies shift worriedly, now unable to view my spot without moving.

I activate my blanket healing, but only to a level to keep the family alive.

This will affect Gong. I’m using the spider to help these people.

I should let her know what I’m doing.

If she doesn’t allow the spider to do so, I’ll figure something else out. Probably use insects, which will open its own can of worms.

I send a feeler to Gong.

Letting her know that I will be helping these people. That I would like to use the spiders as cover to get them healed and safely out of here.

There’s a bit of surprise and a tiny bit of incredulousness. I feel her probe and she seems to use the giant spiders’ senses to get an idea of what’s going on.

… and she isn’t happy. But it is clear that I haven’t done anything yet. Since they haven’t been fully healed.

I feel begrudging acceptance come through the connection. And a sense of warning.

She wants me to use alchemy as a cover.

For this, I can do that.

What I was going to do for the Yellow Sashes, before being shown that they couldn’t be trusted, I will do for this family.

First, I need to quickly get materials. Which means I need “hands.” Which means I need the spiders. I could use insects, but this will give us some plausibility.

Almost as if she anticipated me needing help, as soon as I contacted her, Gong immediately sent a large number of spiders into my direction underground.

The underground caverns barely stretch out to this area, but they begin filling it quickly. It’s honestly scary how fast they can move as a group.

I order them to dig up into this area, while creating the countermeasures that Gong usually makes for tunnels. Making it collapsible.

When it’s quiet, it’s frightening to hear the soft sounds of scratching and digging get louder and louder. The varied pitch of hisses from the different sized spiders, brings a shiver to my back.

They seem excited. Excited to be doing something for me. For Gong. To be part of something.

More and more, they are coming to have emotions. At the point it is right now, I’d say they have the emotional range of a puppy.

Nonetheless, I see a portion of the ground in the hut dip down, until it opens up with countless small and large spiders streaming out. The flow over the inside of the building covering it with web, as others disappearing into the street to grab ingredients.

Why did I have them do this? For two reasons, masking sound and transportation, in addition to grabbing ingredients.

Now it should be much more difficult to tell what’s going on in here.

Strangely enough, it appears that cultivators haven’t been notified yet, since I feel no tingling on my neck or indication via scan. Not that they aren’t heading there, though.

As soon as the spiders flowed out of the building, a few of the spies bolted away. In different directions. If I wasn’t in a rush to save these people, I would have followed them with my scan. So instead, the spiders are following them. And it appears they are having to take longer to lose them.

Without much time, the spiders bring the main ingredients for a version of the healing potion I was going to make for the Yellow Sashes.

They brought me the ever-prevalent Spirit Grass; underground rocks known as Angel Dust, which has no known use; dirt that has been ‘soaked’ in natural underground methane; as well as countless other minor ingredients.

While all of these items are common and could be mixed together to a very minor effect, it takes knowledge of qi mixtures and timings; obscure/useless materials; and a specific mixing method to make the concoction. Not only that, but this type can only be used for non-cultivators and this version can only be used on demi-humans.

In hindsight, there was no reason to make something this strong for them. Especially for an amputated finger.

Nonetheless, I immediately start crushing them together, in a bowl I found on the ground in the hut. Luckily there is some water in here too. This version of the potion would work better with heat to help mix it, but I will have to work without it for now.

I think I will call this the Little Phoenix concoction.

Pouring it on their heads, I simultaneously start healing them. Knitting their brains and skull back together using my healing aura. They will still have permanent indents on their skulls, though. That way it isn’t a perfect healing.

Just enough so that it gives some deniability. The same would happen with this concoction over a greater period.

Quickly, the healing job is done. The concoction does its job, soaking into the brain and healing their evident brain damage.

Just in case, I heal any issues that could pop up in those areas.

I then direct the spiders to take them down into the cave back to where Gong is. I also send a mental message to her regarding my plan. These people will go into the little safe area we are creating. To get them there, we will take them through the caves first.

Based on the pulse I send out, none of the spies have any idea what I’ve done.