My name is Peng. A name which was bestowed upon me by Elder De.
It was great honor to receive a nickname. A lot of legendary masters receive one after they obtain certain achievements, such as slaying a group of black dragons by themselves; eradicating the last thousand members of a certain race; or lasting for more than 10 minutes during a friendly spar with the wife of our sect master, Long Xiu. I mean, lasting alive - if they became an unknown abstract painting it doesn’t count.
In comparison, I received my nickname for an excellent service to young master. A service which I, if I may admit, enjoy thoroughly. Such as today, when we received a rather impactful task. Impactful for the city we are in, I mean.
Elder De called us closer, and, while tilting his head to the side slightly, imparted to us the necessary instructions.
It all summarizes as following:
1. His first and core disciple, Ning Bi, will go for a walk in the city
2. We must protect her, without being seen by anyone
3. And buy or acquire by other ways absolutely anything she is interested in
4. Deal with anything that could cause her a serious injury by using a full force
My heart was moved, since it was obvious at first glance that Elder De made the last point for us. Just so we can be sure that we can run wild, let our bloodthirst…- no, I mean care greatly about his first disciple.
Other than my colleague Treebeard at the Immortal realm, there were also 11 more colleagues at the Nascent Soul stage. A fitting force to make things right, if I may say.
When it comes to protecting people, we are used to employ the ‘six directions model’. It means that one of us is directly below the target, another one above, and the rest in the four main directions.
It does not have to be said that this city has a very complicated sewer system. A lot of structures have cellars in various places, a lot of activities of dark cults take place in there, and it’s not easy in general to find your way in such a jungle.
So Treebeard was assigned to manage that level - since his cultivation realm is high enough, he can just raze his way through anything, and in fact walk straight without a care for any crossroads or structures.
The other 5 experts, including me, are in charge of the logistics regarding all this.
Setting up our group formations in the first 20 seconds, we patiently waited for Ning Bi, the cute disciple, to make her first move.
And it wasn’t long before she did. Taking a look to her right, she became engrossed with the architecture of a small house. Coming closer, she did place her hand on the wall even, and then did look at the two nice columns before the main entrance, her head going in up and down motions.
Not hesitating to follow Elder De’s instructions, I proceeded with the preparations.
“Logistics group A, after she leaves, tore down the whole wall and store it. But first take out - and store separately - the first brick she touched. When you finish, take the two columns as well. Since they are too big, we will create an external storage place outside of the city. One of you will go south and take them there. He will subsequently guard anything we will place in there as well.”
Exactly 5.09 seconds after she left, it was done. We are really efficient.
So at first, it was easy - Ning Bi was really interested in the architecture it seems, and so we took various doors, walls, columns, and, in two cases where we were unable to make sure, the whole house.
Of course, we ran into certain issues with the locals, but it goes without saying that we are experienced in these kind of situations.
There is a saying we abide by - ‘When you say one thing, the clever person understands three’.
And people, including the citizens of this city, let me tell you, are in fact clever enough. Never underestimate the goodness in the hearts of others. When you beat them up, they understand a multitude of things at once. So you just need to ‘say’ one thing. It’s really profound way of socializing with other people.
We even overcame the challenge of not being seen - with a preemptive strike to the stomach, the person in question often bends down, which leaves you both enough time to finish what you intend to tell them as well as secure the things Ning Bi is insterested in. No big deal.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
But, as I told you, it was only easy at first.
The issue is… Ning Bi… started sniffing in the air.
Now, when your work is to please your master, or any other person, you may think it’s hard… but trust me, it is in fact very easy as long as you know what they want.
The hardest times come when you can’t be sure about that.
Immediately employing our expert with the Winter Wolf bloodline, we made him do a sniff of epic proportions, in order to find out all the things Elder De’s disciple may be interested in.
“I smell… five cellars with wines to the south; two cellars with strange creatures to the north; one room of vegetables to the east; three virgin maidens praying in a cellar to the west… and above the ground; two carts with meat across the street in there; one rare treasure in the form of incense stick guarded by 30 Nascent Soul experts to the left; seventy-two beasts in cages to the right; then a lady with an excellent perfume further to the right… a well as 50 trainees sweating profusely on the training ground in that direction… #$%#^&(&)*()*(.”
Not only the trainees, but I also started sweating profusely as the list just went on and on, without stopping, for full 2 minutes. There is only 13 of us. Moreover, we need to guard Ning Bi. All the while not being seen.
I am fortunate that I already went bald during the last five years of doing my job, since otherwise my hair may have fallen down from the stress now.
Except the virgin maidens and trainees, we need to secure absolutely everything mentioned. In record time!
After dividing the work in 19.074 seconds, I set out to do my part.
Taking out a knife, I went into a tea shop. You may not realize it yourself, but a knife is an absolute necessity for a thug lif-... I mean, when you care greatly about other people. The reason is, when you use or display your cultivation, other people may sense it. But the touch of a cold, merciless steel, will be felt only by the person you want. Always.
So, going into the shop through a window, I arrived just in time to hear Ning Bi spelling out her request to the shopkeeper.
“Um, mister, I really like the tea here.”
“Heh, but of course! We have a comprehensive assortment of teas. A tea for breakfast, a tea for the afternoon, or… if young lady feels that way, also a tea for saving someone’s life, a tea for killing someone, a tea for a date, a tea for expressing gratitude....”
“Oh, I like the idea about gratitude!”
“Goog choice! I knew right away that you are a noble person. Although the prices vary, we provide in fact the best value for the money due to our excellent logistics department, long tradition of business, and so on.”
“Oh… it’s quite expensive!”
That’s right. Which is also the reason I am here. It is expensive. Normally, we could buy the tea after Ning Bi leaves, but there is one thing you must take note of when serving others - customer experience!
There is no way poor Ning Bi would feel good about not having enough money.
Crouching under the table, I pressed the knife against the stomach of the shopkeeper. And for the best effect, I also coated the blade in my technique of purple light, so the guy can be sure about my cultivation stage.
It took him one look downward and one nod of my head before he got the idea of doing a special discount just for today!
“Oh, lady… in fact… today there was a special event, I forgot. The price is reduced… by 50… no, 80… ah, I see, 9- 98%.”
“Really? That doesn’t make sense. Sounds more like you have ulterior motives…?”
“Definitely not! Absolutely not! You see, sometimes the goods are priced higher not because of the demand, but because of their rarity. And this particular kind of tea was found to be in excess in the country nearby. So actually we no longer have the monopoly on that, and the price is not accurate. I just forgot to change the price”
“You said… there is a special event…? This does not sound like one?”
“My bad, my bad… hehehe… I just was nervous to admit that I made a mistake. It’s a weakness in my character, I have often issues with that.”
“Ah! Great! Five bags please!”
Once the purchase was completed, I did not stop my course of action. The usual type of servants would base their action on their ‘feelings’, such as feeling that Ning Bi previously sniffed the tea, but I knew better than that.
Never assume what your master, or the person you care for, really thinks!
That’s why I set out to the temple nearby. It was only fortunate that based on our intelligence, it was a dark cult, because fighing 30 Nascent Soul experts, when you are yourself at that stage, can be quite bloody.
It was only the mercy of previous instructions given to us by Long Xiu, that I was able to come up with a solution to the ‘don’t be seen’ issue. That is, as Her esteemed self said, I just need to care about the end result!
Taking one deep breath before I went in, I coated my arm in purple light and sliced to pieces the first, average guard at the door. Unfortunately, this dark temple is too tightly guarded for infiltration to be possible.
Rolling to my right, I tightly walked near the wall before assasinating the first Nascent Soul expert I met.
And it was also my last… pure assasination. The reason being, these experts share constantly their energy signatures. They know when one of them goes... puff.
And so I started madly fighting my way through. Let me give you an advice for when you find yourself in similar situations - never depend on items. You must have your own strength in you. Since in the end, against multiple enemies, you always run out of them.
At first, my stored talismans reached zero, then my trusted knife bended, and - while I got a really nasty wound to my right arm - I also lost my protective mini-formations.
When two of them caught me from behind, I put energy into my teeth and sank them into the neck of the third one. When even my cherished sword broke, I started utilizing the weapons of my enemies. Fortunately every enemy I encountered delivered one weapon to me as well.
And when that was not enough, and I, bearing the injuries, could not move as fast anymore, I would use my belt, or my torn sleeve, or even one of their dark tomes when we were in their library. In my opinion, every skilled fighter has to be quite the creative man as well.
I am more than a servant. I am a truly loyal man, and loyalty is unstoppable.
---
Ning Bi had a blast. Such a great day!
She saw so many things - the traditional architecture of the city, acclaimed for centuries; or the various food unique to the place, among other things. And she even bought a tea for her fellow disciples!
Moreover, it was a really smooth walk. She was nervous at first, being in such a big city alone, but everybody was so nice to her!
Even Peng seemed to have a change of mind.
When she arrived to the sect, he bowed and welcomed her. In his patient accent, he told her: “I hope young lady had a great time!”
But the change of mind was not signified by those words. Rather, it was the strange clothing style Mr. Peng had today! His whole person was in toga, with no parts of the body being visible - except the head. Perhaps today is some sort of martial public holiday.
THE END