Hui Ming and I jumped over the fence to avoid the campers in front of my estate. I handed her the map Chen Wei had given me. “You should walk in front of me. You see, I’ve never been to the city before.” I scratched the back of my neck. “To be honest, I need a guide.”

“Oh, you mean me?” I smiled guiltily and she puffed out her chest. “My pleasure, follow me.”

She dashed ahead and I followed. A loud wind rushed past my ears. The buildings became denser as we left the suburban areas. In fifteen minutes, we entered one of the many urban parts of the city. Crowded streets and tall buildings became common.

She hopped onto a metal platform. It sat the top of a stone building. I looked around, almost every building I could see had one such platform. Other cultivators were jumping from platform to platform, traversing across the rooftops. They were tailored for cultivator transportation. Normal people walked on the streets below, but cultivators traveled by rooftop.

They didn’t want us to ruin their roofs, so they put up these platforms. Some were decorated with trinkets and jade, others were just a metal plate slapped on the roofs. “Where are we?”

“We are very close to the Emerald Fire Sect. This part of the city is  influenced by the sect. Their peacekeepers are very tight in this area,” she said, “Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s go somewhere to eat, and then go to the alchemy headquarters later. I want to get my grandmaster status.”

She led me to a collection of four building shaped like different animals: a dragon, a phoenix, a turtle, and a tiger. The four grandiose buildings were thirty stories tall. Each emitted a distinct aura as if they were alive. A gazebo was set on the heads of their heads, making for a total of four gazebos. Three were empty, but a couple was sitting at the gazebo on the dragon’s head, talking and eating.

“This is one of the best restaurants in the city,” she said.

I could tell.

Hui Ming didn’t know, but the head chef and owner of that restaurant had bought a fifth cycle pill from me. He had left holding back tears and saying I had saved his son’s life. I could probably get a free meal.

But the fanciest restaurant I had ever gone to in my old world wasn’t much better than Mcdonalds. I ate subsidized school lunches and homemade pasta. Jumping from school lunch to eating in this restaurant was too much. Baby steps.

“Can we go somewhere more normal?” I said.

“Normal?”

“Yeah, normal. Somewhere normal people eat,” I said.

“Such as?” she asked.

I walked to the edge of the metal platform and pointed the bustling streets below us. “A restaurant any of them can go to.”

“Are you sure?” she said. I nodded.

But she had different plans. She led us to other less fancy, but still far too extravagant diners. She was trying to lead me to another when we passed an open air food court. It was like a flea market, but with only food vendors. I pointed to it, “That’s it! Just what I’ve been looking for.”

She stared at the mass of people. “R-really?” She stuttered. “They’re just commoners, they aren't cultivators.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s the point.” I hopped down to the streets.

“R-right.” She followed.

We did look a little out of place though. I was wearing normal robes with no decorations, but even that stood out from the faded and sometimes ripped robes of the commoners. Hui Ming wore a short black dress with white frills to match. A wooden masquerade mask covered the top half of her face.

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

But Hui Ming was twitching uncomfortably. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“These people think I’m your master…” she said.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. We hadn’t entered the food court yet and people were already staring. The master servant positions were reversed. I, the decently dressed fellow, was following behind an elegant young lady. Anybody with common sense would think I was the servant.

“It doesn’t matter. Let them think what they want to think.” I came here for food, not face.

“Ok…” she said.

We wandered the food court for ten minutes before buying some mystery meat and settling down. They called it “Waterpaper Hell Sixhorn Bison Meat”. I had no idea what that was, so “mystery meat” it is.

We sat down at one of the many picnic tables held together by sheets of metal. It was long enough for eight people to sit on. Six people were already on the table. I went to sit at one end of it and motioned for Hui Ming to sit with me.

Instead, Hui Ming started to shoo away the other six people already at the table. I held her back and told the others they were fine where they were.

Despite my reassurances, they shifted in their seats when we sat down. “Restrain yourself, we’re here for food, not trouble.”

I took a bite of mystery meat. It was thick and covered with spices. I didn't know if I was tasting the spices or the meat, but it pretty good. “What do you think?” I asked.

“About what?” she said.

“The food,” I said.

“Bland. Not juicy enough, not spicy enough,” she said.

I lowered my head. “Oh.”

“I didn’t mea-”

I cut her off, “Yeah, ok. I’m curious, what were you doing during those five days I was creating Jing?”

“I was guarding the house and shop,” she said.

“That’s it? I’m sure you did something else,” I asked.

She rubbed her temples. “Oh! And I also followed your directions and kept eating those pills you gave me. I got to the sixth stage!”

“Well then! Congratulations! I’ll try to find some more good pills. What do you think of Jing? Don’t be shy about insulting her.” I’d only talked with her for a small while, but Hui Ming had spent an entire day with her.

She put on a distasteful expression. “She’s lazy and she loves to fool around. Please give me the authority to whip her into shape. It’ll be beneficial for all of us.”

“I’m going to let her do what she wants for now. I think she’s being lazy right now because she has nothing to do. I’ll give her a couple assignments later,” I said. “But the real problem is I don’t know how loyal she really is. Don’t underestimate her. She might not look like much, but you don’t stand a chance in a fight against her. We’ve only known her for a day. There’s a chance she’s more volatile than I thought, so watch her for me, ok?”

Actually, I knew how exactly loyal she was. That was the only part I had concentrated on when creating her. But I wanted Hui Ming to watch her for other abnormalities. I was worried about her.

“Yes master,” she glanced around at the crowd of people eating and chattering. “Telling me now might not be the best time, but what do you plan to do in the future? I’ll do everything I can to help. I might not be as powerful as Jing, but I can still help!”

I shuffled my feet and spoke softly. “What specifically do you think you’ll need power for?”

“To help.”

“Help me do what?”

“Anything you plan to do.”

I shook my head. “What do you think I plan to do?”

She paused to think. “I don’t know, I’m your servant. I shouldn’t say.”

“Then as your master, I say you should say.” I leaned forward.

She shifted in her seat. “I’m not certain, but I can help conquer the Emerald Fire Sect, or destabilize the local alchemy vendors. I can conquer the local territory for you, and chase away the Emerald Fire Peacekeepers. I can-”

“No!” I moaned. “That’s the exact opposite of what I want!”

Her voice went up by an octave, “Eh?”

“I’m just a normal guy!” I tapped her on the forehead. She flinched. “I don’t know what you think, but I have no aspirations to take over the Emerald Sect.”

“Then what do you plan to do?” she asked.

“Right now? I want to get to know you and Jing,” I rubbed the tip of my nose absentmindedly. “But in the long term-”

A loud clatter interrupted me. Hui Ming and I turned to see the source of the sound.

A middle aged man had punched somebody into the floor. A younger man followed behind him, both of them wore crimson robes. They looked sort of similar. The middle aged man must be his father. In front of both of them was a blue robed young man bent over on the ground, clutching his bleeding cheek.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” I whispered to Hui Ming.

“Crimson Fire Sect members have been given orders to bully Blue Fire Sect members outside their territory,” she said. “It’s one of the tactics they use to weaken the Blue Fire Sect.”

The middle aged man stepped on his head. “Prostrate before me and call me your grandfather. Maybe then I’ll let you go.”

“No! I refuse!”

“You won’t call your own grandpa ‘grandfather’? You unfilial bastard, I’ll teach you a lesson!” He kept stepping his head.

I took a sip of water. “He’s not really his grandfather right? They’re from different sects.”

“Of course not. It’s a sign of submission to call somebody grandfather,” said Hui Ming.

What a weird culture, where you call each other grandfather as a sign of submission, but I can live with it. Culture is culture. I can respect that.

“Yeah! Call me daddy!”, the younger man yelled at the bleeding Blue Fire Sect member.