After witnessing the duel between the two men and receiving Physician Bing’s wisdom, I close my Dragon’s Third Eye as we prepare to leave.

As we are standing up, a commotion begins in the crowd closer to the arena as everyone begins to murmur and point at one of the entrances. Walking slowly but seeming to flit along the ground like fairies are two women wearing long dresses, one in blue and one in red.

The woman in red is a pretty girl with long brown hair. It it secured neatly behind her head with a simple golden comb as she smiles and talks to the girl next to her.

The woman in blue is absolutely stunning with waist-length black hair decorated with several shiny jade ornaments carved into what I think are lotus flowers. She frequently giggles at whatever the girl in red is saying and I find myself curious about their conversation. The two of them don’t look much younger than I am so I let myself gaze at them for a few seconds.

Physician Bing notices and chuckles, “Be careful that your desires don’t get ahead of your ability. That girl is Qiang Yu, daughter of Marquis Qiang, along with her maid and personal bodyguard Hong Cuirou. Both of them have much higher cultivation attainments than you and neither lack in training materials, cultivation manuscripts, or experienced elders. As you are, you have no chance.”

I groan loudly, both at being caught and at his explanation. Judging by the way he didn’t include how broke I was or my family connections being zero, it seems as though my status as a cultivator is so far beneath their own that it simply doesn’t matter. If I knew about culture or poetry or something, then maybe I’d have a chance, but I know next to nothing right now.

My expression slowly goes from fascination to boredom as I watch the two girls. Realizing how popular the two of them are from the reactions of the crowd I find myself not wanting to bother. Plus, I don’t think I’d want to date a girl stronger than me anyways. Not that I don’t like strong women, but I’d like to at least be as strong as whatever girl I end up with in the future.

I’m surprised when the girl in red jumps up onto the stage and turns to face the crowd. She bows ever so slightly with her fists cupped in front of her and says, “Hong Cuirou asks fellow junior and senior cultivators for guidance. Is there anyone willing to trade pointers?”

The crowd goes silent at her words but I can hear Physician Bing chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, wanting to be clued into the joke.

“That cheeky brat just offended everyone here.” He smiles and sits back down while keeping his gaze on the girl.

“How so?”

“It is well known that Hong Cuirou is weaker than Qiang Yu. By asking for pointers from all of the junior and senior cultivators present, she was claiming that none of them have the qualifications to meet her mistress because they can’t even meet her on the arena.

What’s more, there are no cultivators here who are a match for her. Therefore, if none of them are capable of gathering their courage and be willing to look foolish, everyone in the city will hear how there are so many of city’s younger generation who aren’t willing to put their face on the line to win Qiang Yu’s favor. I’m curious whether or not this was a calculated move on their part or if that child is just being rambunctious.”

“Oh…” I nod my head, not really getting how her any of this mattered, but I guess they’d lose their man card or something if they didn’t nut up.

I sit back down next to Physician Bing so I can watch whatever nonsense is about to take place. Figuring that it’s a good chance to get used to using my new skill, I even open up the Dragon’s Third Eye so I can watch with a greater degree of clarity.

It is strangely comforting as the qi clouds come back into sight and I seriously consider leaving the Dragon’s Third Eye open all the time. The scenery is far more beautiful with the introduction of qi.

Physician Bing looks at me, shrugs his shoulders, and turns back to watch Hong Cuirou who is still standing on the arena alone. I turn my gaze to sift through the different colors of qi throughout the crowd and realize that some are more apparent than others. A vast majority of the people here have dull brown qi.

I’m curious why this is, but I decide to just relax and observe for a few minutes before asking any questions.

The number of people who have different types of qi can be counted on the fingers of both hands. There was the short guy with the cringe tiger move, the tall guy with the cringe tree move, a girl standing away from the crowd and doing her best to ignore the tension in the air, a well-dressed guy standing on the far side of the arena in the shadows watching everything going on with a smirk on his face, Qiang Yu, Hong Cuirou, and, I realize, Physician Bing.

Out of everyone, not including myself since I am apparently a vacuum cleaner that indiscriminately sucks up all colors of qi, only Physician Bing and Qiang Yu have more than one color. Physician Bing has red and green while Qiang Yu has brown and light blue.

I turn to Physician Bing and ask, “How come only you and Qiang Yu have two colors of qi?”

Physician Bing jerks toward with wide eyes and hisses, “Silence! If anyone heard you just now your life would be as good as over! There are old complications about that girl’s lineage and nothing good can come from letting other people know that you know!”

Blinking in surprise, I nod my head once and say, “I don’t understand, but okay.” Then I turn back to the crowd and watch everything more closely. If something like that could threaten my life, then I needed to watch more people here to see how they comport themselves.

Before too long, Hong Cuirou gets impatient and starts taunting the crowd. She shouts things like, “Aren’t there any men among you? Are you afraid of trading pointers with a weak little girl like me?” and “Poor Little Miss. To think that no men worthy of you exist in this city. Boohoo!” Honestly, it’s impressive how good she was at kicking the egos of these guys right in the balls. They were fuming!

It got even more interesting when the weird guy standing alone on the opposite end of the arena decided to leap up behind Hong Cuirou and say, “This Gang Feng would like to ask, do your words mean that anyone who can beat you is worthy of your mistress?”

“Is that actually a thing?” I immediately ask the physician.

He scoffs at my question and says, “No, of course not. The Marquis would never allow his daughter to be pawned off so cheaply. Now watch.”

Hong Cuirou glares at the newcomer and says, “It is not my place as my lady’s servant to say who is worthy of her. I merely stated that there are no men in this city worthy of her, and that much would be true regardless of whether you beat me!”

Beat her? Is that what she meant when she was requesting pointers? A straight up fight? I thought this would be… not friendly, but at least civil…ish.

I fix my gaze more closely on the two of them and listen in on the conversation. “Then what is your intent?” The guy, Gang Feng, asks. “Are you just here to insult all of the promising cultivators of our generation? Are the members of the Marquis’ household so bold that you can ignore the face of others and act indiscriminately?”

“You—!” Hong Cuirou shouts at Gang Feng but can’t seem to find a way out of the hole she’s dug for herself.

Physician Bing takes the chance to calmly tell me, “It appears as though this was a calculated move on the part of those two girls. Unfortunately for them, their calculations were either perceived by another party and their ploy fell apart.” He sighs deeply and says, “What a shame when children resort to politics to change their futures.”

“Why would this change their futures? Seems to me that the daughter of the Marquis would have it made, right?”

“If you only mean her training advantages and backing, then yes. But you forget— no, you lack the knowledge that she is more than just the daughter of a Marquis.”

More than the daughter of a Marquis? Does this girl have some sort of secret to her outside of the two colors of qi she has?

Physician Bing sees me struggling with my thoughts so he clarifies, “You don’t need to consider anything so grand as ‘that’. No, this is simple. She is the only daughter of Marquis Qiang as well as his only child. She is destined to become a political tool regardless of her own desires.”

“Oh, wonderful. That’s stupid.” I hiss, annoyed with the entire situation.

He chuckles at my behavior and says, “It is unfortunate for her considering her talent and potential, but there is little to be done about it. Even now, many factions throughout the city will be taking steps to sway her into a marriage. I imagine that the next two months will be far more… boisterous for the city.”

“Really?” Two months seems like an oddly specific timeline so I ask, “What’s in two months?”

“In two months that girl will be fifteen years old and eligible for marriage.” An uncomfortable feeling sets in my chest as I realize I was ogling a girl almost three years younger than me— even if it was just for a few seconds.

“She’s fourteen and people are still trying to get into her pants? What the fuck is wrong with the ‘factions’ in this city?” I shake my head in disgust and lean back in my seat before kicking my feet up onto the seat in front of me.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Physician Bing raises an eyebrow at me and asks, “Are people not the same where you are from?”

“No… well, yeah. But where I’m from it is basically illegal to get married until you are eighteen for guys and girls. Sex is a more complicated topic, but basically no one would think it’s not fucked up for a bunch of people to try and get with a fourteen-year-old. So if anyone actually did it, it would be a huge scandal.”

“Weren’t you looking at her just a moment ago?” He asks pointedly and I blush.

“I didn’t know she was fourteen.”

“You don’t look too much older than those two. What is your age?”

“I turned seventeen a few months ago. Finally got a Summer job and everything so I could afford a car and help pay some bills around the house. Guess that’s not happening now, huh?” Physician Bing nods at me once with an expression of sympathy on his face before we both turn our attention back to the arena just in time to hear Hong Cuirou shout.

“Gang Feng you stinky bag of air! You seem to like acting as though you are a common hero but why is it you keep talking about the benefits you can receive from exchanging pointers? You are a villain and a pig!” She points straight at his face with one hand on her hip and I have a hard time not laughing.

Everyone is taking this so seriously!

I’m pretty sure Physician Bing feels the same way as he is shaking his head at their antics.

Finally, Gang Feng speaks up with, “Do you think anyone would blame me? Everyone knows that the young lady is the most beautiful woman in the city! When I heard she was here I naturally dropped everything just for a chance to speak with her and possibly exchange pointers, yet when I arrived you were busy tearing down our peers! It is no wonder that my words are conflicted when my heart is busy praising the young lady while my mind is full of condemnation for your actions!”

Several people in the crowd speak up loudly in support for Gang Feng’s words and that triggers more people to mutter their approval. I let out a scoff at this and wait to see how the two girls will respond.

Hong Cuirou is about to speak when Qiang Yu interrupts her. A clear, bell-like voice fills the air, “You claim that you are doing this out of admiration for me and to uphold the honor of our peers, but is that true?”

Her light brown eyes meet Gang Feng’s darker brown ones and she continues, “You see, we have carried out this act of ours in three other arenas tonight. Each time, someone eventually walked onto the arena and told us we were wrong and that our city was full of the strong and brave. Xiao Rou would trade a few blows with them and I would thank them for proving us wrong. Yet here, it almost seems like the fearless warriors I’ve seen in the rest of the city are lacking. Why is that?”

For a moment, Gang Feng looks stumped and Physician Bing nods his head in approval at the young woman.

If her words are true, I’ll be pretty impressed. It would mean that the entire conversation up until now was just playing with that guy.

“In fact,” Qiang Yu continues, “it should be because of your interference that no one here was willing to stand up to contest Xiao Rou’s words. After all, you took the position of the people’s hero for yourself and then used it to try to benefit.”

The guy just looks bad at this point. His face looks like someone just punched him repeatedly in the gut as everyone except for the individuals who had spoken up in the crowd a moment ago turn their gazes on him in condemnation.

“This…” He clears his throat and smooths out his features before continuing, “This situation, I admit that I was wrong. I rushed here so quickly when I had heard the situation that I did not have enough time to stop and consider how your actions could instead be used to benefit the city. I beg the forgiveness of young lady Qiang as well as my peers for destroying this opportunity for them.”

He bows his head first at Qiang Yu and then at the crowd of people. The crowd seems to accept his words at face value until Qiang Yu lets out a little smile and asks, “Is that really the case?”

Gang Feng’s eyes narrow but he smiles brightly at her while proclaiming, “Of course! It is my own fault that I let my emotions get ahead of me, otherwise I never would have doubted the young lady Qiang’s actions.”

“Then I am relieved,” she replies, “it’s just…”

“It’s just?” He questions back.

Then, Qiang Yu turns toward Physician Bing and I and asks, “I wonder if I might ask the two gentleman cultivators to clarify a point for us?”

Everyone at the arena turns in our general direction, but for some reason their gazes are scattered around where Qiang Yu is looking rather than directly on us.

Physician Bing chuckles, smacks me on the top of my borrowed hat once, and I watch as the crowd lets out a light gasp as they start whispering behind their hands.

I glance at Physician Bing and he whispers back, “I was concealing our presence. That little brat must have a treasure to see through my trick.”

I nod my head in understanding and look back at the crowd and Qiang Yu. Before I say anything, Physician Bing announces, “I do not involve myself in the affairs between houses. Whether or not my apprentice chooses to do so is his own choice.”

Groaning inwardly, I have to try hard not to roll my eyes at the physician for throwing my under the bus. I don’t really want to get involved, but Physician Bing already phrased it in a way that I’d look like an ass if I ignored her.

I sigh and then ask, “What do you want to ask me to clarify?”

Qiang Yu smiles brightly and begins phrasing her question. “When I arrived, I noticed that there was a very keen gaze looking out at all of the attendees present. I wonder, was this gentleman cultivator the origin of that gaze?”

I raise my eyebrow at her and inwardly think that I have got to figure out how good someone needs to be able to feel someone’s gaze. If she actually did feel it when I looked at her, that’s badass and I want to do it too! It also means that I should be more careful when ogling people.

“If you actually felt me watching, then it was probably me.” At this, Qiang Yu smiles brighter.

“Then I would like to ask whether this gentleman cultivator happened to see young master Gang Feng arrive?” Gang Feng looks nervous now and a few people being to figure out exactly what Qiang Yu is clarifying.

“No,” I respond, “I didn’t see him arrive.”

Gang Feng relaxes at my words but, impossibly, Qiang Yu only smiles brighter. Almost like a cat who has the mouse by the tail.

“Then, I should just have one more question for this gentleman cultivator.”

I nod my head and say, “Go on.”

Everyone looks confused at this point because it seemed as though my last response was a good stopping point for the questions. Of course, considering that she seemed to have planned this out makes me expect her next question.

“Is the reason why this gentleman cultivator didn’t see young master Gang Feng arrive because young master Gang Feng was already here when I felt your gaze as I arrived?”

Now there isn’t a single person here who isn’t curious and glancing between me, Qiang Yu, and Gang Feng.

In lieu of responding, I nod my head at her.

Qiang Yu says, “Qiang Yu thanks this gentleman cultivator for being patient and answering so clearly!”

The next several minutes turn into Hong Cuirou rapidly insulting Gang Feng, never letting him have a word in edgewise until, finally, he leaves in frustration.

After he leaves, several people come up to apologize to Qiang Yu for misunderstanding her intentions and I’m bewildered that there are people who would feel bad for being screwed with like that.

Finally, when the crowd quiets down and people start using the arena for its actual purpose, Qiang Yu and Hong Cuirou approach Physician Bing and I. For some reason, both of them glare at me so I just look back at them impassively. I’ve seen fiercer looks on the rabbit my classroom had back when I was in elementary school. Plus, I don’t even know why they are mad so it doesn’t affect me at all.

Before they can speak, Physician Bing asks them, “Are you certain you can spend time talking to me instead of capitalizing on your success?”

The two girls share a look and Qiang Yu says, “I’ve already activated a high-grade communication talisman and told my father. He will handle the rest and ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Something like this? What the hell happened? Am I missing some part of the conversation?

“You played your cards well this time, girl. But you made one mistake.” Physician Bing slowly combs his beard with his hand as he watches the two of them.

Once again, the girls look at each other and Qiang Yu asks, “Mistake? If the Great Physician would correct me, it would be this Qiang Yu’s great fortune.”

I can see that they believe him, but Physician Bing shakes his head as he doesn’t intend to give anything away. “You must think through your own actions. It is already enough that I have pointed out that you made an error. The rest is up to you.”

Then he stands up and turns toward me before saying, “Lan Jin, we’re leaving.”

“Alright,” I respond and get up to follow after him.

We leave the two girls behind and, when they’re no longer in eyesight I ask, “What mistake did they make and what the hell actually happened? I feel like I missed something.”

We move into an alley and Physician Bing starts laughing, a deep, throaty thing and soon he plants his hand on the wall to keep his balance as he turns his back to me and lets loose.

I am bemused by the situation. For some reason, I’m the brunt of a joke. I just don’t know why.

After several long minutes, Physician Bing finally explains. “When you looked at those two girls, I assume you did nothing untoward?”

“Untoward? What do you mean?” This gets Physician Bing going again and it takes another short while for him to calm down.

When he turns back to me his eyes are slightly watery and he says, “The error that the little girl made is that she assumed you were trying to molest her with your spiritual awareness.”

“What?!” I shout. “Why the fuck would she think that?” I mean, I looked, but I didn’t even have any significant thoughts before Physician Bing ruined it for me.

Physician Bing raises his hand and explains, “This is my fault. I didn’t explain to you that it was improper to use your spiritual awareness directly on another person. Especially one of the opposite sex.

You see, and I realize you have no way of… it is unlike that you already know this considering your response,” he changes his statement, “but your spiritual awareness can also be used to see through the clothing of others. For any woman who can sense spiritual awareness, even casting it over them is considered a great taboo… That is, if you are caught.

Unfortunately for you, that little girl not only has an inkling of her own spiritual awareness, but she also has treasures to block the spiritual awareness of others and let her know when it has been used on her.”

“In other words,” I continue his train of thought, “I got caught red-handed for something that I didn’t actually do?”

“Precisely,” he laughs once more and I raise one of my hands to rub the bridge of my nose.

“If you knew all of this, why didn’t you tell her that I didn’t actually try to… spiritually strip her down?” I watch Physician Bing accusingly and she smiles.

“If you were a young girl and an old man told you that his apprentice didn’t actually stare at you lustfully, that it was all a misunderstanding, would you believe him?”

“I…” I consider that for a second and realize that I wouldn’t. Fuck.

Sighing, I ask, “What about the rest of it? What does she need to capitalize on?”

“Think for a second,” Physician Bing urges, “That girl went to three separate locations and did the same thing before, at a fourth location, someone was waiting for her. How do you think that happened?”

“Someone probably told him that she was going around to the different are— wait, that doesn’t make sense. If someone told him that, then he wouldn’t have screwed up so badly.”

“No, you are not wrong,” Physician Bing corrects. “You are just assuming that the person who told that boy was one of the people at the other arenas. Didn’t you notice that there was a barrier keeping the qi inside of the arena?”

“I did, but I didn’t really know what to make of it.”

“It is my guess that the same thing was done to all of the arenas she visited tonight. It would have prevented any standard communication talismans from operating while giving the illusion that they still worked. She likely chose four, or perhaps more, people from inside of the Qiang estate to see whether or not they had loyalties to outside influences. Then, she let it slip that she would do something at the arenas to make it more difficult for her to be married off.”

“And whichever arena had something weird happen, then the person she let it slip around is the one with loose lips,” I finish. “That girl is smart.”

There are parts of the conversation that I don’t quite get, such as what communication talismans are, but I can guess at the parts that I’ve missed and I’m too tired to care about the rest of it.

“Indeed. Now, let’s return. You need time to practice your cultivation and I want to try out that pill recipe.”