One of the things Im reminded of as I talk with this child is how those young girls reacted to Shi, from the Yellow Sashes offer to join their prostitution gang.
A decision that I thought was massively inappropriate at first, but it seems that the fact that there arent protections for children in this world, is common thing.
Any ti sothing does happen, it is still looked down upon. However, people will literally stand by and do nothing, even if they are strong enough to stop it. Or unless they would be negatively impacted by it. Like for their reputation.
This causes children, both boys and girls, to grow up in a more mature way. Needing to be watchful and distrustful of others. To be able to navigate and discern situations before they even co up. That doesnt even include the things they might have to do just to survive normally, without those issues.
Focusing back on the conversation, I give her a brief synopsis about who I am and what I do.
Basically, all I told her is Im an alchemist and I work with a group in the city to help heal people and take care of their group. That I ca to the city not long ago. Im looking to beco a cultivator to defend myself properly.
She accepted this explanation and hasnt asked any more questions, as she seed to have regained the slight bits of maturity I saw earlier.
She seed to get really impulsive when she gets stressed, as most 12-year-olds would. I dont know whether its because of training or just the world in general, but she seems highly mature for her age in terms of personality and emotions, for most things.
Being in the rchant field, as it seems she does normally, she seed to have learned a certain level of professionalism or the ability to fake it. It seems she was only brought into these etings at her age because of her ability.
She even hints towards her ability a bit more, stating that its sothing that lets her see a piece of the true face of soone. Im not sure whether its because she previously revealed a little bit of it earlier, or shes becoming able to trust a bit more.
Either way, its reaching the end of the day. The sun has already started to co down and weve run out of ti on the notepad treasure, even when conserving it at every step.
Based on my estimations, it will take us a day and a half for us to reach the sect.
The distances of this world are truly insane, as we are actually traveling at a faster pace than the normal average speed limit for highways in Arica.
Which is made stranger, because inside the carriage it seems like we are moving at a leisurely pace. Complete with the slight bumps and sounds from outside I had noticed earlier.
Right when I hear a growl from i Lins stomach, I discover food appearing on a tray near the door.
Exceptionally high-quality food, while still being a simple offering. All it seems to be is a piece of at, so bread, and so vegetables of an unknown type. Despite its plain appearance, its still the best-looking food Ive seen since Ive been here. My awareness tells that the further that you move towards the front, the better the food gets. The better that most things are.
Just like on an airplane.
To make sure this isnt a trap, I use my Scan the slightest bit, to see if its poisonous to either of us, which it isnt.
After which I dig into it, motioning to her its safe to eat.
When I feel I should use the restroom, I suddenly notice an opening within the carriage, leading into a far larger space that appears to be a small bathroom.
It appears to be on the level of quality of what the yellow sashes had as their bathrooms.
Sothing completely improbable for what were traveling in.
Such is the level of the treasure that we are riding in. Infinitely propagating, with qualities that go beyond the normal laws of physics.
This is how cultivation treasures should be. Sothing that makes you wonder how its possible.
With this, most of our travel needs are filled. All we need to do is sit and wait here until we reach the edges of the cultivation city. And then itll take another half day to move through the city. At the sa speed.
And this is quickest and closest route to the sect.
Cultivation worlds are crazy.
As we travel, I decide to use my scanning pulse on the entire carriage procession. Just to make sure I didnt miss anything with my awareness.
And surprise, surprise I found sothing.
After my discovery, I reach across my connection and prod three distinctive life forms that are on the top, inside, and on the bottom of the last carriage.
They seem to have been having a grand old ti before I reached out, tossing so kind of ball around, but freeze in place at my ntal poke. The ball drops and rolls within the carriage.
Ru Ning, the roach. Tai Ye, the spider. And Dana, the blob.
The tiny hero group.
On each of their necks is a band that says Property of: Jas.
Other carriages in the back also have other tad creatures and baggage but most that are much smaller than these three. Though, there is one carriage that has a large Chinese style, dragon-like creature, that takes up the interior of the carriage. Smaller than Tai Ye by just a tiny bit.
My thoughts naturally drift to the ambush on earlier.
Are they the reason that the assassins were able to find ?
No, I dont think so. They were nowhere near the area at that ti and they shouldnt be tied to a specific pickup zone. Which ans they claid the carriage after I had already jumped on with i Lin.
Which ans they were already registered as my creatures. I get a feeling Gong was involved with this.
I purposefully send a shiver down Gongs back. She ruffles after realizing why I did it. And has the audacity to giggle.
Sigh.
I guess its too late for them to go back at this point.
This might be why she made sure to teach about what to expect regarding having tad creatures when entering the sect. I thought she was talking about anything I tad later on
I should think about this positively. Considering their abilities, I should be okay to survive against a lot more things, in the case of a fight.
As soon as I got on this carriage, I was considered a prospective sect mber. Which also gives a lot of protections against manipulations or assassinations. Having them here only solidifies my standing.
With all of this in mind, I send a ssage to relax and that we will chat later. They seem to ekly return to the ball throwing.
Until Tai Ye tosses it hard and then it returns to the sa vigor as before.
Its easy to rember that they basically have young minds, despite their intelligence, when I see them like this. Ill have to take this seriously, working with them.
Ill have to make sure not to treat them like children, though because, thats not how they work.
Thatll be a bit tough at first.
But, I want them to be well adjusted. And that will take work.
I can feel a weird sense of pride in my heart towards them. Thinking about how much good theyve been doing.
Well, that Ive been told theyve been doing. Guess Ill find out soon enough.
The rest of the day goes like that. Relaxing in the carriage with i Lin, exchanging pleasantries with her and making surprisingly natural conversation deep into the night.
Mostly about food.
Apparently, I really like to talk about the different types of food in this world.
Strangely enough, as we talk, she seems to get closer.
Originally, to a normal speaking distance, rather than the frightened in the corner distance. Then, it transitioned to a friend talking about silly stuff distance, as she described this food that most likely is sothing similar to caral and I attempted to describe the consistency/taste of ice cream of my world.
They have the ingredients to make it, but just havent co up with that type of treat yet. The closest theyve co to it is fruit smoothies. Publicly, at least.
I found an interesting tidbit about the world. There used to be a cooking-based cultivation sect, but they were wiped out earlier on. They were the ones that ca up with the idea. The cultivation thods are out there, open for people to learn. However, there is a superstition that if you take it up, youll be wiped out like they were.
Unfortunately, there were so people who actually do things like that, so its not entirely baseless. Over ti, those people died out or stopped hunting them down, but the superstition stayed.
So, most people tend to avoid things related to the cooking field. Unless you are already strong, in which they horde their recipes to themselves and their closest allies.
Surprisingly, in this day and age, it is a ripe ti to innovate with baking and cooking.
Thats probably a job for soone else, though.
Probably.
With that in mind, I begin to fall asleep. My awareness still on and ready, even while sleeping.
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