Yu Di felt a commotion behind him.

  Ying Fusu was already on the move. He had gathered the empty bags of food. His bodyguards moved along with him like his shadow, making sure none of the children ever got too close.

  “Vim, I know you don’t trust me,” Ying Fusu said. “Know this: I plan on helping you. When you most need me, I’ll be there.”

  Except now, of course. Yu Di held his tongue to say anymore. He could see that the prince was already ready to leave them both as quickly as he could.

  “I know it won’t matter, but won’t you come with me?” Ying Fusu held out his hand to Vimala. “It would be much safer when my father’s army arrives.”

  Vimala shook her head.

  The prince looked so dejected like he was denied his favorite toy. He turned and hurried down the narrow alleyways with his bodyguards.

  Yu Di wasn’t expecting the brat to offer him anything, but it would have been a nice gesture. Then again, the pill he gave him was more than enough. A life-saving pill of that magnitude could have only come from the Emperor’s personal storage vault.

  “What do we do now?” Yu Di asked. “We could run straight to wherever they hide the Goddess’ power. I don’t think any of the high priest’s men could really stop me now.”

  Vimala ignored Yu Di. She looked at Ying Fusu until he was too far away.

  “Vimala?” Yu Di tapped her on the shoulder. “He’s gone. We have to focus on our next steps. I’m done playing the rat.”

  “Rat?” Vimala asked.

  “Everywhere we go, I’m hunted or beaten. I want to remind these people that I’m a Demigod, not a pest.”

  Vimala paused, staring into Yu Di’s eyes. “You are different.”

  “I’m an Immortal again.” Yu Di could feel the Qi cycling throughout his entire body at such a density that he hadn’t felt in so long. In this realm, he could easily pull in the turbid Qi and generate a maelstrom within his body that could tear down this neighborhood.

  Vimala took a step back.

  “Look, I’m still the same person who promised to help you,” Yu Di said. “Except now I have the means to do so. I’m going to make sure none of these children suffer anymore either. But first, we need to get off the streets and find a hiding place. Your prince had the right idea.”

  “He’s not my prince.” Vimala walked down the street.

  Yu Di followed, along with a bunch of the children. He didn’t know why, as he didn’t have any food to give them, but there was a sense of peace among them. All the other adults looked away whenever Yu Di gazed in their direction.

  The buildings became shabbier and shabbier. While most of them were built of bricks, all of them were boarded up on the first floor. Some of them had parts of the building missing. Grime and the occasional odd smell invaded Yu Di’s space.

  Not that it mattered. Yu Di’s body was reforged, but not his clothes. As soon as they reached a safer space, he would switch out his clothes. For now, he was content to walk behind Vimala almost like her guard.

  Soon they arrived at a squat building, modestly maintained. It looked like it was barely taller than the average person walking inside, but from up close Yu Di could tell it was an extensive building that reached far back. It stood out from all the other buildings in the neighborhood for not having its windows boarded up.

  Vimala walked in, followed by all the children rushing in after her.

  Yu Di walked in to find a whole mob of children surrounding Vimala.

  “These are my children,” Vimala said.

  “You’ve been very busy,” Yu Di said.

  Vimala shot a menacing glare at him.

  “I didn’t mean it obscenely,” Yu Di said. “They trust you. Do you think it is safe for us here?”

  Vimala shook her head. She pulled away from the children and walked to the back room.

  Yu Di followed. The back room had plenty of storage space, all sectioned off with signs. The closest one had a sign that read, “Perishables,” while another sign read “Non-Perishables.” That wasn’t very helpful. Except Yu Di noticed how empty both sections were except one or two crates of food and some tattered clothes.

  Vimala reached into the crate of tattered clothes and pulled out a long, flowing light blue dress. She dropped five coins into a small bucket next to the crate. After a moment, she took out all her coins and dropped the rest in.

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  “Grab what you need and change over there.” Vimala pointed at two small closets lined up against the wall.

  Yu Di took a glance to know that nothing in there would do for him. He dropped a few taels of silver in there though to help. He had no real need of the mortal money. Although there was an accessory that caught his eye.

  A small pink bow stood out among the tattered clothing. It reminded him of Yu Lin. He plucked it out of the bin.

  Once he entered his own changing closet, he took out his jade tablet.

  Current Power: Realm 2, Stage 1, Level 1 (Manipulation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 2 years, 6 months.

  Current Status: Cursed (19.7% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, Peak level (Demigod)

  Yu Di could feel the bounds of his curse now and how it pressed against him. His heightened senses after hitting the second realm had given him a better understanding of his curse now that he knew what to look for. The best part was he now also had access to higher-density Qi.

  Yu Di waved a hand over his storage ring and activated some of his artifacts. He had locked them for fear that some fool might have discovered his storage ring after his death and used it to cause mass chaos. Of course, it didn’t stop anyone from taking it off his corpse, but they would have needed the required level of cultivation to do so, rendering the items useless to them.

  Yu Di wanted to take out his trident. Not the one he lost in his pocket dimension or the others he had lost since unlocking his curse. This was his first real trident that he forged himself with the help of a water spirit in the deep eastern ocean. But he didn’t dare do so within such a short building. He’d collapse the whole thing on himself and Vimala would have another thing to blame him for .

  What he did though was take out a whole new set of clothes. Deep blue almost black draped over his body. It was his personal robe, which he also made with the help of another Qi artificer. Finally, no more mortal clothes. This robe not only kept itself clean, it also provided defense against Qi attacks up to the third realm. He also took out a new ring. This one was made of platinum.

  His first storage ring on his left thumb was made of unbreakable jade. It would require a Demigod to do so. This platinum ring was made in the deepest pit of an active volcano. This was one of Yu Di’s greatest treasures. It allowed Yu Di to cultivate twice as fast.

  Yu Di felt the rush of having the ring on him once again. What would have taken a normal Demigod centuries to gain, this ring allowed him to achieve in decades. He stroked it absentmindedly.

  If only he could activate the other items within his storage ring. Some of them he could once he gained a few more levels within the Qi manipulation stage. That was something Yu Di looked forward almost as much as gaining the levels themselves.

  As a final touch, he combed through his hair with a bone-made brush. He tied it up using the pink bow, as an homage to his daughter. Wherever Yu Lin was, her father hoped she was safe and happy. If not the latter, then at least the former.

  Yu Di exited the closet, feeling like a new man. It was a new feeling as he hadn’t felt like this even during his first time reaching the second realm. There was excitement then, but not a feeling of coming back to his power.

  Vimala came out of her closet, looking cleaner at least. The rags she chose to wear covered her up modestly. The only new thing was that she covered her face with a mask. Those piercing green eyes stared at Yu Di.

  That brought back so many memories. Yu Di shuddered at the thought of facing that Goddess down again over twenty years ago. Yet he knew that the Goddess back then would never have cursed him. She was too kindhearted even to her enemies.

  Then who was it that cursed him? Yu Di took a second and realized that it wasn’t just him, but Vimala as well.

  “You look lost in thought,” Vimala said. “It can’t be because of my mask.”

  “No, it’s something else entirely,” Yu Di said. “In a way, I am sad to see you covering your beautiful face like that, but it’s a simple way to avoid being caught by the high priest’s men.”

  Yu Di waved his hand over his own face and changed his features. He rounded his almond eyes and gave himself a short beard. The illusion would break upon closer inspection, but it was good enough for traveling.

  “I hope you have a safer place to stay than here,” Yu Di said. “They saw us go up these streets and into this building. They’ll be here any minute.”

  Vimala nodded. She took the lead again, this time going through the squat building until they reached the back. There were multiple doors, all locked except for the one in the middle.

  Once they reached outside again, the sun shone on their faces. It looked like it was setting soon, its rays coming right at them. They had stepped into a marketplace of sorts where the merchants were packing up their tents and goods. Only a few hagglers remained, still trying to get the best deal they could get with the end of day sales.

  A rotund man walked up to them, dressed in fine silks and wearing a large turban. “Young lady, it is dangerous to be traveling alone in these streets. Might I accompany you?”

  Yu Di slapped the man’s hand before it reached Vimala. “Sir, be careful or you’ll lose a hand.”

  The rotund man looked between the two before sauntering away. He kept his eyes on Vimala for a while before turning away.

  Yu Di appraised Vimala’s clothes again. “This won’t do. These rags are too revealing. They will think you’re a prostitute.”

  Vimala looked down at her clothes. It had a few holes, but she shrugged.

  “Let’s get you something over there before the shop closes.” Yu Di led the way to a tailor.

  “We’re closed,” the man inside said. He picked up the display items and hung them on a large rack.

  “Even for this?” Yu Di put down a small bar of silver onto the counter.

  The tailor looked at it and then scoffed. “The cost of clothes and essentials has gone up way higher than that my friend.”

  “You mistake me. That’s just a casual greeting gift. You know, from one friend to another.”

  The tailor turned around, his eyes shifting from the bar to Yu Di and then to Vimala. “How can I help you?” He pocketed the bar of silver.

  While Yu Di had little use for mortal wealth, that bar of silver could have bought a house back in his village. “I need clothes for my companion. She needs to be presentable.”

  “I can see that.” The tailor eyed Vimala up and down with a focus on her green eyes. “Where did you pick this one up? She’s a little old for the pleasure houses.”

  Vimala’s eyes narrowed.

  Yu Di laughed. “No, she’s not destined for that. She’s a dear friend of mine whom I recently reconnected with. It pained me to see her in her condition so I thought to fix her. You know, she’s not changed in over twenty years except some wrinkles and a surlier attitude.”

  The tailor laughed. “Women get that way. But good for you. I’m assuming you’re planning on claiming her as your wife?”

  Vimala kicked Yu Di in the knees. “You better stop talking for me or I will kill you.”

  The tailor’s face froze. He dropped to his knees and prostrated in front of Vimala.

  “Goddess!”