I jolted awake and saw the tall, blank ceiling above me. To my surprise, my entire body ached and throbbed—it felt like I’d been thrown and beaten in my sleep, but everything around me looked the same.

My eyes were dry and blurry, so I instinctively moved my hand to rub them.

Wait, why couldn’t I move my body?

I looked down, but quickly let out a sigh of relief. Amelia and Ailun were practically lying on top of me. Their small bodies were wrapped around my abdomen, arms, and legs, completely cutting off any of my blood circulation.

With a mixture of surprise and exasperation, I stared at both of them before giving up, shutting my eyes and trying to go back to sleep. After trying to fall asleep and failing, I huffed in annoyance and opened my eyes once more, deciding to work through what the best plan would be.

We would be leaving Wei’s childhood home in Anyang today in search for a safer or more reliable temple. It was quite a large group to be traveling with, but given Yue’s illusion power, we should be camouflaged for the most of it.

Despite being the writer, I was surprised to see how much trouble Wei and Meihua had with the black -masked officers. It would be bad to encounter them again.

Theoretically, if we stayed here long enough, he would slowly return his memories naturally without having to be forced into the traumatic events. Although he would still panic and desperately cling onto this fictional reality, it would be less violent and something I could work with.

I turned my head to the side and saw Yue sleeping a few feet away from me. She was completely sprawled over Yang, spread out like a starfish, while he curled up against a lone pillow.

A small and amused sound left my mouth. Ha, I wondered how Yang would react when he woke up. He seemed to be better around Yue now, but after that embarrassment of a room, he’d never escape the teasing.

“You even have bad sleeping habits,” I murmured under my breath toward Yue. To my surprise Yang lifted his head up and looked over at me.

My face quickly flushed out of embarrassment. Yang was completely awake and hadn’t reacted to Yue at all. Soon after, his head hit the pillow once more, but his eyes remained open.

“How long have you been awake?” I mouthed.

“I woke up just now,” he mouthed back. “I feel like I’ve been thrown across an ocean during a storm. My whole body hurts.”

I snorted. Well, at least I wasn’t the only one to have a bad night of sleep. As selfish as it was, I was glad to share the burden.

My hands gently rubbed both of the kids’ heads as I scrolled through the system features. But I quickly pulled my hands back once I remembered Karma’s words. Just by being near them, my bad karma would attach onto them.

Before I could move away, my eyes caught a notification and my eyebrow arched at the notifications Socrates left behind.

When did he start sounding so whiny?

… And who was in the room?

“Socrates?” I called softly, not wanting to draw any suspicion toward myself.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia Li there’s—

Yellow sparks erupted from the message and quickly forced it to vanish before I could finish reading it.

“Karma, you bitch,” I grumbled, sighing loudly and sitting up. “I’d rather deal with more Observers than you.”

I made sure not to disturb either of the children as I stood up and inspected the room.

It looked completely identical to last night—only now, it was fully lit from the sun bursting in through the windows and creating beautiful light refractions through the glass objects and glistening metals.

“Yang, did you feel anything yesterday?” I asked curiously, keeping my tone rather flat and calm.

“Like last night?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t think so. Why? Is something off?”

There was still no reason for me to tell them about Karma, and I had no plans to.

That was a battle for me to handle on my own.

“No, no. Everything is fine. One of the Observers said something strange to me, but maybe I just misunderstood it.”

“Ah, do you want me to ask one of my Observers?” He asked politely, offering a small smile from the pillow that he rested his face on. He would’ve been up and moving had it not been for Yue completely lying on top of him and preventing hi8m from moving.

He had Observers too?!

“Wait, how many do you have?”

“Umm… I think maybe ten or fifteen consistent ones? But they mostly comment on what I’m doing instead of what’s going on around me.”

Ten or fifteen??

Socrates needed to step it up.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

In a grumbling tone, I replied, “Yeah, yeah, sure. Ask them about it, I guess.”

Yang nodded before he wiggled an arm out from beneath Yue and small blue screens popped up around him. But before he could finish sifting through them, yellow sparks burst out, and they promptly vanished.

One of the sparks landed on Yue’s face and she jolted, slamming her hand down behind her back right against Yang’s face. Surprised by the strange sensation, she let out a shout and quickly got up, crushing poor Yang.

“You pervert!” She exclaimed, kicking him straight in the ribs.

“H-huh?! Wait—!”

As Yang tried to defend himself from Yue’s onslaught, the two of them caused a complete ruckus. Both kids began to stir at my side, and Amelia’s head snuggled up further into the slot between my arm and abdomen.

Everyone in the room slowly woke up due to the sudden and very loud banging; Meihua lifted her arms into the air and stretched, looking like she woke up perfectly ready for the day. Even her hair was still tied up into a sleek bun.

Amelia and Ailun’s eyes were both open now as they blearily looked around them. But, they still didn’t move. And I couldn’t bring myself to move them.

Wei hopped onto his feet and yawned before reaching for his sword.

“Everyone,” he began, “We’ll take you out of here and into a much more secure temple. All of you can stay there until you get in contact with people who can help you out.

Meihua and I will be heading to confront Daji and defend the borders against the Zhou.”

I shot a surprised stare straight at Meihua. Hadn’t we worked this out yesterday?

“Your Highness, I don’t think you understa—”

“Don’t speak out against His Highness!” Bai barked in a loud voice.

“Huh?! Since when did you even get in here?”

Gang scoffed and looked at me with a stare of supremacy. “Do you doubt our abilities to serve His Highness?”

Okay.

I officially didn’t like either of them.

“... Meihua, I told you yesterday. Both you and His Highness need to leave immediately.”

She bowed her head deeply, a sign of respect despite her status far exceeding mine. “Peijin, while I greatly appreciate your concern, Wei and I still need to protect this land and our people. Don’t worry, Bai and Gang will accompany you all as you head out.”

“That’s not my concern,” I replied quickly, “You two need to be safe first. That’s my priority.”

In response to my comment, Meihua’s face lit up with amusement. “You’ll be helping us a lot just by protecting Ailun. I think you’re very capable, Peijin.”

I raised my hand up before me. “Woah, woah, woah. No flattery. I’m not a full time babysitter. My only kid is Amelia.”

Amelia’s face lit up out of pride, two hands moving to cover her gaping mouth, before she quickly froze and comforted Ailun’s complicated expression.

Amelia: Peijin…

God damnit.

Before I could screw up further, a battered Yang gestured toward me to stop speaking. “We’ll go with you then. You need Peijin.”

“No,” Meihua replied firmly, shaking her head. “It’s far too dangerous for all of you.”

I quickly interjected, replying, “What happened to me being capable? We can help. Especially Yang.”

Bai crossed his arms. “All you would all do is hinder His Highness.”

Wei cleared his throat with his sleeve and gave a sharp look at Bai, quickly shutting him up.

“Your Highness,” Gang interrupted, “You should let them come.”

I nodded with enthusiasm.

“They’ll recognize how weak they are and quickly leave without pestering you.”

…

I shoved my way forward and stood just before Wei, my hand clasped against my chest. “Your Highness, I’m the only one here that knows your fate! You have to take me along. Yang, Yue, and Amelia are necessary, too. We can help you and protect your family.”

“Then,” Meihua continued softly, “Sign a contract with me. You’ll be allowed to come, but as soon as I determine the threat to be serious, you and your party members will be sent to a rural area instead.”

My brow quirked at her suggestion.

Observer ‘Socrates’: Jia L—

He was cut off again.

Meihua was a ghost hired for this arc. Sure, cool, whatever. But then… how would this “contract” with her work? I wasn’t actually striking a deal with the real divinity. Meihua was just some low-ranking, but convincing, ghost actor.

Editor’s Pen activated!

Excluding powerful disciples, only allow gods to offer contract signings during arcs. Do not permit servants, regular ghosts, and regular demons from discussing contract propositions during this arc.

Edit granted!

“Meihua, can you elaborate on the contract?”

She nodded with a warm smile. “Of course. Which part? If you’re worried about the parameters regarding what I deem dangerous, assure that I’ll evaluate with utmost fairness.”

…

My blood ran cold. She shouldn’t have been able to say that.

“Bai, let me open up a contract with you.”

He quickly opened a screen full of idiotic terms. “Go ahead. Sign your name at the bottom.”

I looked around for a sign of those familiar yellow sparks, a sign of karmic restraints, but none were present.

“Useless fucking skill,” I angrily grumbled before throwing the unsigned contract at Bai.

“I won’t sign a contract with you, Meihua.” I firmly declared, “But I have an obligation to protect me party, too. If it’s dangerous, I won’t let them die just to save you and Wei.”

Wei’s eyes stared at me, and his thick brown eyebrows were furrowed together, causing small wrinkles on his forehead. He rubbed his temple for a moment, wincing, before he gently placed a hand on Meihua’s back.

“Meihua, let them come.”

She turned over, looking a bit surprised. “Did you sense something?”

Wei’s luck had always been incredible, and Meihua trusted his intuition blindly.

“I… yes, I think so. I’m not sure what I’m feeling right now.”

The arc was already beginning to draw Wei back into reality. I needed to handle Daji quickly.

With a small nod, Meihua cut into her skin, drawing a thin line of bright red blood. She quickly drew a seal on the ground before facing all of us.

“This will take us directly to the frontlines with the Zhou dynasty. Once the conflict there is handled, we’ll address Anyang. Our obligation is first to our people.”

Except this time, I could pick up the hint of a lie in her voice.

She unsheathed her pink sword and flicked it all throughout the palace, gathering everyone, before the seal exploded with a burst of light.