Laying on his side with his eyes tightly clenched, Lan Jin doesn’t know which part of his body to favor first. His leg hurts from getting kicked by the girl in the pink dress, his right shoulder hurts because the blister under his hoodie strap had popped and still hasn’t healed, his back hurts because that’s what collided with the stone bleachers after catching the girl wearing a green dress, and his face hurts because that’s the part of his body he used to catch the girl in the first place. To add insult to injury, not only did the pears in his ‘backpack’ get crushed against his back due to the pressure of the stone bleachers, but he also didn’t even know if he actually helped the girl because she practically rolled right off his face and into the row of bleachers behind him. At best, he got injured absorbing some of the force of her collision.
Opening his eyes, Lan Jin looks around and realizes everyone is staring in his direction in shock. He doesn’t blame them, this entire situation is completely absurd. But even still, he wishes they would look elsewhere as he’s pretty sure the liquid dripping from his nose right now is blood. Placing his hand against his face and lifting it in front of his eyes, he is able to confirm the existence of a red stream on his face that wasn’t there earlier and, wincing as he does it, uses his thumb and index finger of his right hand to pinch his nose so the bleeding can stop.
Then, turning around to look into the bleachers behind him, he sees that the girl in pink is already at Qiang Yu’s side and is patting her gently to check for any injuries. Qiang Yu, though moving and awake, is a little worse for wear and is holding the back of her head with one hand with a grimace on her face. Though, thankfully, despite having clearly collided with the stone bleacher, she seemed to not be bleeding. She’d probably have one hell of a bruise later, though.
Letting out a small sigh of relief, Lan Jin shakes his head and wonders what he should do next. Everyone watching him makes him a little uncomfortable, but other than checking on the Martial Testing Pavilion, which is presumably still closed, Lan Jin didn’t have anything else to do other than wait in the Martial Field.
However, before he can figure anything out, people begin shouting at him, the nearest of which is the girl in pink.
“You stupid pig head! Why didn’t you stop Sister Yu from hitting the bleacher? Don’t you know that every strand of hair on her head is worth a thousand gold coins?”
Turning back to glare at her, Lan Jin snaps.
“Didn’t you see me try to stop her from hitting the bleachers? If I hadn’t got kicked in the leg by a donkey earlier, I wouldn’t have tripped when I tried to help her!”
His voice sounds a little strange due to the current state of his nose, but it doesn’t stop the insult from reaching the girl in pink.
“You! Who are you calling a donkey?” She shouts at him while glaring at him furiously, her brown eyes locked onto his blue eyes.
Still holding her head, Qiang Yu begins pleading with the girl in pink, “Big Sister Lulu, stop yelling! The sound is hurting my head.”
To her credit, Lulu immediately closes her mouth. Though, from the look on her face, she wants to do nothing but continue shouting at Lan Jin.
Lan Jin also chooses to stop talking, but it’s mostly because he has little to say and no one to say it to. With Qiang Yu being taken care of, even if it is by Lulu, he really sees no point in trying to shove his two cents in as she’s probably doing as good of a job as he would do. And not having spoken to anybody else here other than the few people who grilled him on why he was at the Martial Field, he chooses to stay silent as he starts moving away from Qiang Yu and Lulu.
However, it seems as though other people are not happy with his plan as multiple people begin approaching the three of them, including the young master of the Feng Clan.
His face dark and clouded by barely-controlled rage, the young master of the Feng Clan glares at Lan Jin and then turns to look at Qiang Yu. His rage transitions to concern too quickly for it to be genuine, and it makes Lan Jin uncomfortable to be around him. “Young Miss Yu, is everything alright? Do you need me to feed you some medicine? Even compared to your family, the things my Feng Clan can receive are top of the line.”
Sniffing once, Qiang Yu simply says, “You’ve already done more than enough!”
Then, turning her head to face Lan Jin, she says in an overly-polite, cute voice, “I thank you for trying to prevent my injury. However, I would still like to ask you what your purpose is for being in Qiang City.”
Off to the side, the young master of the Feng Clan is clearly furious at having been brushed off.
“I think it is very suspect that, the moment this stranger appears, Young Miss Yu is plagued by misfortune. You there, speak! Inform me of your purpose in the Southern Border City or I will not hesitate to have you pulled in by the City Guard for questioning!”
Narrowing his eyes, Lan Jin looks between the young master of the Feng Clan and Qiang Yu and wonders about the weird social dynamics he had seen so far. From the moment he approached the city, it was sometimes called Southern Border City and other times called Qiang City. Up until he heard the conversation between the young master of the Feng Clan and Qiang Yu, he had no clue why. However, having heard their very loud conversation, Lan Jin had a feeling that there were politics behind it and he had no clue what kinds of politics those were.
Knowing that the Feng Clan was somehow related to the royal family of the Southern Earth Spine Kingdom, he also assumes that the Qiang family shouldn’t be related to the royal family because the young master of the Feng Clan wanted to marry Qiang Yu— unless incest was a thing here in which case he could be entirely wrong. But even with that being the case, he figures that the city sometimes being called Qiang City means that Qiang Yu’s family might be important also.
In the end, he asks Qiang Yu, “I’m not really good with all of this nobility stuff and your laws are still… well, I know there are laws, so can I pick your brain real quick?” Without waiting for her to respond, he continues, “You call this place Qiang City, right? And not the Southern Border City? And your name is also Qiang Yu, right? Then since your name is the same as the city’s, does that mean you’re more important than him? So, do I answer you first or is he more important than you?”
“Pfft!” Lulu snorts, her hands flying up to cover her face as both Qiang Yu and the young master of the Feng Clan look at him aghast.
When neither of them responds immediately, Lan Jin realizes he asked them a somewhat tricky question. Looking between the two, the young master of the Feng Clan is visibly agitated whereas Qiang Yu is more thoughtful. In the end, she answers first.
“As for the affairs of the city and what you should call it, there is a correct answer and an incorrect answer. Officially, the city is called the Southern Border City because it is a military city bordering territory that does not belong to the Southern Earth Spine Kingdom or the Shi Empire. However, all cities within the Shi Empire with a population greater than twenty-five million people are named after the family ruling them. Therefore, by the laws of the Shi Empire, this city is named ‘Qiang City’ as my father is the City Lord. As for the affairs of our relative ranks, within Qiang City, no one has a higher position than my father who holds both the position of City Lord and the title ‘Southern Border General’. Furthermore, my family is a Marquis family whereas the Feng Clan’s highest noble title is that of a Count. However, neither he nor I hold an official position within the city, so you are not obligated to respond to either of us.”
Nodding his head, Lan Jin says, “Gotcha… But what happens if I don’t respond?”
Tilting her head slightly, Qiang Yu says, “With the lack of testimony to prove innocence, many people will take your silence to be guilt.”
Lan Jin stares at her quietly and feels a little irritated because he’s pretty sure he just learned that due process isn’t actually a thing here.
Sighing, he figures he might as well answer Qiang Yu’s questions first. For one reason, he had already met her dad and that man terrified him. And for the second reason, he just didn’t want to talk to the young master of the Feng Clan.
“Well, alright then. Uh… I’m here because I’m waiting for the Martial Testing Pavilion to open up.”
When he says this, Qiang Yu’s eyes widen in realization and she looks at Lulu who, after hesitating for a second, nods at her. Shaking her head slightly, she opens her mouth to speak. However, before she can get a word out, the young master of the Feng Clan begins speaking down to Lan Jin.
“What kind of game are you playing? The Martial Testing Pavilion is always open. If you need to go there, then go! What is the point of waiting here?”
However, despite his temper, the young master of the Feng Clan realizes something is up when several people in the crowd show strange looks on their faces.
Looking around, he asks, “Is it actually closed?”
One of the several people who had questioned Lan Jin earlier, a young man with dark brown hair wearing a similarly colored robe, speaks up.
“Young Master Feng, I checked in on this matter earlier and found that the Martial Testing Pavilion closed a few hours ago due to an emergency that drew the Pavilion Master’s attention.”
The young master of the Feng Clan seems surprised, but he still doesn’t let Lan Jin off as he turns to glare at him.
Thankfully, Lan Jin is spared from being grilled by him because Qiang Yu chooses to ask him something instead.
“I understand the circumstances that prevented you from being tested, but what I don’t understand is why you chose to wait here. Is there an urgent reason pressing you to be tested today? Common sense would dictate that you shouldn’t spend your time waiting in uncertainty when you could be doing anything else.”
“Cause your dad told me to get tested first.” Lan Jin answers bluntly.
Qiang Yu blinks and narrows her eyes as she scrutinizes Lan Jin.
“My father? My father told you to get tested? And today? How do you know my father? What is your name?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Lan Jin says, “Unless this city has two City Lords, then yes. Your dad told me to get tested. And yes, he very clearly told me that he wanted me to get tested before I do anything else. But I don’t know him. I only met him today. And my name… just call me Lan Jin.”
After a moment of silence, Qiang Yu says, “I’ve never heard of you.”
Flippantly, Lan Jin says, “That makes two of us.”
Her eyes narrow further and she asks, “Can you describe the man who you think is the City Lord?”
“Sure,” Lan Jin says. “Big guy, little over seven foot tall, curly dark-brown hair, looks like he teaches bears how to wrestle, has armor with a mountain engraved into it, and he smokes a pipe. Is that your dad?”
Qiang Yu’s lips pinch together at Lan Jin’s description and she nods her head once. “That should be my father.”
Lan Jin thinks her voice sounds a bit rough, but he doesn’t get why that’s the case. He figures maybe she doesn’t like it when her dad is out doing military stuff or something, or maybe there’s more family drama to it than he can understand, so he ignores it.
“So, am I good now? Can I just, I don’t know, continue waiting for the Martial Testing Pavilion to open?”
Qiang Yu goes silent but, next to her, Lulu says, “Something about your story doesn’t make sense! You said to me earlier that you had no money. You even claimed that you would be buying a house later with money that you don’t have yet. And now, Sister Yu was hurt and you happened to get wrapped up in the middle of it! Are you plotting something?”
Looking at her, Lan Jin decides to stay quiet. He doesn’t have an actual reason for it, he just doesn’t like Lulu so he doesn’t want to answer her question.
Seeing him ignore her, Lulu bristles. “You! Hurry up and answer my question.”
With a sneer on his face, he says, “I’m sorry, I don’t speak donkey. Can you get someone to translate for you?”
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“You!” Lulu’s face turns red and she shouts at Lan Jin. “You actually dare to call me a donkey?”
Next to her, Qiang Yu winces and Lulu immediately turns her head and apologizes whereas Lan Jin can see people giving him strange expressions.
Ignoring everyone’s astonished looks, Lan Jin says, “If you don’t want to be called a donkey, then don’t kick or shout like one!”
Lulu glowers at him but does nothing else even as her face turns red.
Qiang Yu, on the other hand, urges Lan Jin to answer Lulu’s question. “I feel like you two have gotten off on the wrong foot, but Lulu is asking an important question. If you don’t have money, how did you arrive in the Inner City? And where is it that you plan on getting enough money to buy a house? Do you have some sort of arrangement with someone in the city?”
“Nah, nothing like that. Well, actually, maybe,” Lan Jin says while tilting his head back and forth, thinking about whether his deal with the three men could be considered an arrangement with someone in the city.
Then he explains how he got to the city and how he and the men who had brought him here had been suspected of smuggling before they managed to explain the situation to the City Lord. He even says that they had paid for him to enter the Inner City and they were now off selling a few natural treasures and how he had put in a little bit of effort and was hoping to buy a house in the outer regions of the city with the money they make. Though, as he explains it to Qiang Yu, he makes sure to leave out the men’s names and how many natural treasures they had found because he didn’t want his unfortunate encounter to affect them.
“That’s what you meant when you said you were going to buy a house with money you didn’t have yet? If you were selling natural treasures, then why didn’t you just say so? Why did you have to act so mysterious?” Lulu asks him irritably.
“Mysterious?” Lan Jin scoffs at her. “I have had next to no sleep in forty-eight hours, I’ve walked dozens of miles across uneven terrain and through a literal forest in the dark, and the first thing that happened when I got to this city was I got waylaid by an army for a bogus reason. Then I got smacked in the head by her dad for not answering his questions fast enough,” he points at Qiang Yu, “and then kicked in the foot and then in the leg by a donkey girl because she randomly starts grilling me while I’m waiting for some emergency to pass so I can register like I was told to.”
Now glaring at her, Lan Jin asks, “Which part of that makes you think that I want to spend time answering the exact same questions half a dozen people asked me before you showed up? If you had asked me some questions with even a little bit of decency, like literally everyone else, then I would have at least answered you sincerely. But no, you didn’t do that, you kicked me in the foot after I answered your questions about hostels. So, surprise surprise, I’m not interested in talking to you and I was trying to get you to go away.”
Lulu continues glaring at Lan Jin as her face turns red, but, after hearing his story, the strange looks coming his way are less astonished and more impressed. Granted, no one speaks up to support him, but they at least aren’t looking at him like he’s some kind of special for talking to Lulu like he had been.
Even Qiang Yu has a slight frown on her face after hearing his story— she even winces when she heard her dad had smacked him upside the head— and when Lulu makes to speak again, Qiang Yu even places one hand on her forearm and stops her.
Off to the side, the young master of the Feng Clan speaks, “From the sounds of things, the City Lord must think you’re something incredible. It’s a shame that you have no social etiquette, but that can only be expected by someone who…” Sneering at Lan Jin, he shakes his head and stops himself from saying whatever he had been about to say as he briefly looks in Qiang Yu’s direction. “Well, suffice it to say, I sure hope you have some qualifications, because you’ve already proven that there’s very little reason to keep you around. But, with your third-level Qi Gathering cultivation base, I doubt that.”
His impromptu speech draws a few snickers from the crowd, but Lan Jin ignores them and wonders if he should consider trying to buy a gun or something for self-defense. However, when he remembers that even the army he had seen hadn’t had guns, he thinks that maybe guns hadn’t been invented around here or, possibly, they just weren’t very effective against people who could fly in the air and play with the elements like it was nothing.
“Maybe I can learn something from the Omega Browser?” He wonders to himself and then considers something far simpler. “What about the fire? It didn’t go out when I used it to burn the vicious beast. It even got stronger for it. What would happen if I used it on a human?”
Curious about the results of using the Auspicious Tri-Colored Flame on something still alive, Lan Jin narrows his eyes at the young master of the Feng Clan. He thinks he’s clearly being threatened right now, even if he doesn’t understand why. He just assumes that, after what little he’d seen of the young master of the Feng Clan, this guy was just unhinged somehow. Unfortunately, other than a few things his dad taught him about self-defense, he could do very little if someone were to attack him. Especially someone who could send a girl flying through the air with a sword strike.
“I should probably figure out what the Auspicious Tri-Colored Flame would do to a person before trying to use it as a last resort. It would be the dumbest thing in the world if I bring it out to save my life and it is just as harmless to other people as it is to me.”
Turning to Qiang Yu, he notices that her eyebrows are furrowed and she looks irritated, but given that Lan Jin feels irritated just having to listen to the young master of the Feng Clan, he doesn’t question it.
“So, can I go now or do you still have questions?” He asks her.
Narrowing her eyes further, Qiang Yu looks hesitant to answer the question.
“Can you go?” The young master of the Feng Clan scoffs. “The City Lord himself thinks you are important enough to have your test be a priority! Naturally, you can leave after you’ve been tested.”
“Yeah, no shit!” Lan Jin thinks to himself. However, aloud, he says, “I already know that. I’m asking if I can go wait.”
“No need, no need! We should immediately head to the Martial Testing Pavilion and have you tested.” Sneering, the young master of the Feng Clan then says, “If the City Lord wants something to be a priority, then, naturally, it should be a priority. Why he would want a third-level Qi Gathering cultivator to be tested with such haste, I have no idea. But, as the highest-ranking person in the Southern Border City, naturally, his opinion bears a lot of weight.”
“Are you qualified to speak on my father’s intentions?” Qiang Yu asks him frostily. “All we know is that my father wants him to be tested before he does anything else. That merely means it is a priority for him, not for the city! Do you think it appropriate to abuse the ambiguity in my father’s order to satisfy your curiosity?”
The young master of the Feng Clan adopts an aggrieved expression and holds up his hands. “Young Miss Yu, I fully understand where you are coming from. However, what you said earlier is true: it runs contrary to common sense for a person to waste their time doing nothing. All I want to do is avoid this person wasting time because your father gave an order he could not reasonably complete. Naturally, the best way to do that is to help him get tested more quickly.”
“Yeah, uh… I’m not actually in that big of a rush.” Lan Jin interjects, not liking being the topic of whatever weird political pissing contest these two were having. “Even after I get tested, I still have to wait here, so it makes no difference to me if I spend more time waiting before or after getting tested because I’ll be doing it regardless.”
Letting out a sigh, Lan Jin can’t help but wonder if the three men surnamed Hu are actually going to return. He’d like to think that they are a decent sort of people, but he has no clue if he had actually just gotten ripped off by them and left here to fend for himself.
Lan Jin’s interjection causes a stir among the group of people surrounding him, but in the end, it doesn’t do much to change the course of the conversation. If anything, his comment seems to irritate both Qiang Yu and the young master of the Feng Clan; though, they are irritated for different reasons.
“Is this even your place to speak? Those without status do not choose what they do, they follow orders. Since you were ordered to do something, you WILL stop at nothing to accomplish it!” Glaring at him, the young master of the Feng Clan’s tone is heated and full of malice after having his opinion undermined by Lan Jin.
Qiang Yu, though more pleasant in the way she presses the issue, ultimately defends the idea of Lan Jin quickly being tested. “As you are someone who cannot yet be considered a part of Qiang City, I cannot agree with his view that you must so responsively follow orders. However, I do believe it would be better for you to resolve this matter quickly. There is no doubt in my mind that my father did not intend for you to waste as much time as you have, but, as you might have noticed, there are some voices in the city who might use this opportunity to attack my father’s image— and that is something I cannot allow.”
Shaking his head, Lan Jin asks Qiang Yu, “But how exactly should I go about doing that when the Martial Testing Pavilion is closed? Are there other places in the city where I can be tested?”
Qiang Yu adopts a thoughtful glance as she considers Lan Jin’s words. Then, nodding her head, she says, “There are, but, that shouldn’t be necessary. The Martial Testing Pavilion is intended to be open at all hours of the day— that much is true. If there is an emergency, then it should be the responsibility of the Pavilion Master to report the emergency and wait to be relieved— he does not have the authority to independently close the Martial Testing Pavilion. Therefore, since I have not heard of any reason for the Martial Testing Pavilion to be closed, it simply is not closed.”
Lan Jin blinks slowly at her argument. Technically, it sounds like it makes plenty of sense. But, in actuality, if the person running the place isn’t there, then he doesn’t know how he is supposed to enter, let alone how he is supposed to be tested.
Deciding it isn’t worth the effort to explain this to the girl, he just goes along with her version of the story.
“Fine. Then, should I go over there now?”
Qiang Yu nods her head once. “Yes, it shouldn’t be too hard to resolve everything once we are there.”
Not bothering to wait around any longer, Lan Jin stands up and descends from the bleacher to begin walking toward the Martial Testing Pavilion.
Behind him, the young master of the Feng Clan shouts at him. “Who said you are free to go?”
Without stopping, Lan Jin says, “It’s my responsibility to follow orders. She told me to go to the Martial Testing Pavilion, so I’m going.”
He can feel the glare coming from the young master of the Feng Clan as he walks, and before he can take another couple of steps, he is shouted at again. But this time, it is by a random person in the crowd.
“Even if you are ordered to do something, it is clear that others will be going with you! As the person with the lowest standing here, you should walk in the back.”
Rolling his eyes in irritation and wondering whether he should just go out and live in the wild, Lan Jin calls out, “Okay, then walk faster.” Then, he continues walking. And just as he suggested to everyone else, he chooses to walk faster.
He hears multiple grumbles coming from behind him as he does so, and even a few curses, but he’s quickly losing his ability to care after so many random things happening over the course of the day and having had to put up with so many different people.
However, despite having sped up, the people behind Lan Jin quickly overtake him and, from the looks of things, nearly everyone present is curious about his test.
Lan Jin shakes his head slowly, not quite getting what is so interesting about him taking a test. But, as he watches Qiang Yu, Lulu, and the young master of the Feng Clan appear several feet in front of him while making it seem as though they aren’t putting in any effort, he realizes this really is going to be some kind of major spectator sport. He just doesn’t know why.
Pausing for a moment, Lan Jin decides to use a bit of energy to contact Moxian so he can figure out what he might be tested on and whether there might be something dangerous about it. Thankfully, he never used up all of his little star’s energy yesterday and he still had quite a few strands of purple mist, so, if nothing else, he could at least send a few messages.
“Master, a bunch of people want me to take a cultivation test. Is there anything I should know before I do it?”
Surprisingly, it doesn’t take Moxian long at all to contact him.
“Cultivation tests are fun! Sometimes I like to play with new disciples by comparing my talent to theirs. The faces that they make are always so interesting!”
Lan Jin blinks slowly as he continues walking and feels that Moxian really isn’t reliable at all. She hadn’t even bothered telling him what the purple mist was and instead ghosted him for hours but she could immediately respond to him with a dumb answer when he asked about cultivation tests.
“She is so ridiculous,” he grumbles under his breath. Though he does consider sending her another message to figure out what the cultivation tests involved, but he decides he doesn’t want to waste the effort or the energy since she clearly seems to treat the tests as a game.
A couple of minutes later, he arrives at the entrance of the Martial Testing Pavilion. It isn’t anything grand— just a pathway leading to a pair of tall, red, wooden doors with the heads of large bronze diamonds embedded into them at even intervals. And though they bar his way, the security they provide is partially symbolic as the fifteen-foot red wall they are a part of has no roof and anyone could theoretically scale it.
In front of the doors, two guards wearing the bronze armor of the City Guard are sweating profusely while trying to ward off both Qiang Yu and the young master of the Feng Clan.
“Y-young Lady, Young S-sir, it’s not that we don’t want to make way, it’s that we were ordered to close the gates until the Pavilion Master returns! Please don’t make things difficult for us.”
Lan Jin watches the guard begging the two of them, but all he can do is feel a little bad as he’s pretty sure they aren’t going to stop until they’ve finished whatever pissing contest he’d gotten himself wrapped up in. The only question Lan Jin has is whether it will be Qiang Yu or the young master of the Feng Clan who encourages them to open the gate.
Lan Jin feels thankful when Qiang Yu is the one who speaks first.
“The Pavilion Master has no right to determine when the Martial Testing Pavilion is open or closed. To my knowledge, he did not inform anyone about his emergency and he never requested anyone to relieve him. Therefore, the Martial Testing Pavilion is open. What you are doing now is violating the rules of the city and preventing access to it. Is this something you wish to be held responsible for?”
The two guards look at each other and grit their teeth, but they clearly don’t want to be involved in whatever is going on right now so they choose to bow toward Qiang Yu and quickly open the doors.
Then, the crowd makes its own way into the open expanse of the Martial Testing Pavilion.
Though the interior of the Martial Testing Pavilion covers several acres, it still feels a little cramped as there are numerous rows of equipment arranged neatly within the area. Most of the equipment seems mundane, things like weights and the like, but there are also things like logs that look like they are designed to roll when someone is on them, posts that still have cut marks from different blades, and even large drums that Lan Jin has no clue what they are intended to be used for.
However, the group seems to be ignoring all of these things as they head toward an area of the pavilion covered by a wooden structure with curved stone tiles covering the top of it. Despite being covered, it has open walls. Consequently, Lan Jin can clearly see that there are three items within the covered area.
The first is a stone basin with several smaller basins attached to it on top of a pedestal and, alongside it, there is a small dagger polished to a mirror-like finish. The second, and most interesting in Lan Jin’s opinion, is a non-descript stone person kneeling on the ground with its palms held out. Finally, the third object is a simple bronze mirror not too different in appearance from the bronze mirror attached to the stone monument in the Omega Browser’s Space.
Walking into the covered area, Lan Jin waits at the fringes of the group as he has no clue what he is supposed to do.
“Well?” He is addressed by the young master of the Feng Clan. “What are you waiting for?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Lan Jin says, “I have no clue how to use any of this stuff.”
Everyone looks at him with expressions ranging from stunned to open ridicule.
“You’ve never even checked your qualifications?” The young master of the Feng Clan scoffs. “Why does the City Lord even want you tested?”
“Beats me,” Lan Jin yawns. “I don’t even know what this stuff tests.”