The morning sun had just begun to burn away the mist as we made our way along the road that led to Myriad Paths City.

  According to Wei Lin, in a few hours, we should reach our destination, but something felt off.

  I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly.

  Maybe it was the memory of ash scattering in the wind, or maybe it was something more immediate.

  Whatever it was, I couldn’t shake the feeling.

  So, I began to scan the treeline more frequently for threats.

  The journey so far had been suspiciously peaceful.

  And as a believer in Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong will go wrong – it put me on edge.

  There hadn’t been any of the thousands of things that could one-shot us in a cultivation world.

  No bandits attempted to rob us, no spirit beasts tried to prey on us, we didn’t even encounter a single crazed hermit that demanded we acknowledge his enlightenment.

  “Is everything okay?” Lin Mei’s voice pulled me away from my thoughts.

  She had somehow noticed my unease, probably because I kept tensing at every odd shadow.

  “It’s just…,” I hesitated, not wanting to sound paranoid. “The journey has gone a little too well, don’t you think?”

  “And now you’ve gone and done it!” Wei Lin groaned. “Come on man, you never say things like that out loud?”

  “Why not?” I asked confused. I had simply answered a question.

  “It’s like inviting the heavens to prove you wrong!”

  Oh, yeah. I knew what he was referring to.

  Back on Earth, we had the same superstition, we just called it jinxing.

  If you don’t want to screw yourself, then don't say things are going too well, don't ask what could go wrong.

  Even though I was in a different world, that concept still applied.

  Except here, the heavens actually intervened in mortal affairs and karmic backlash was real.

  Maybe it wasn't just superstition.

  Maybe it was common sense.

  “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to,” I apologised, kicking myself for making such a rookie mistake.

  “Now we’re probably going to be ambushed by spirit beasts,” Wei Lin continued dramatically. “Or maybe some rogue cultivator will demand we hand over all our treasures. Or—”

  “A wandering immortal will descend from the heavens and challenge us to a poetry competition,” Lin Mei cut in with an eye roll.

  “Hey, don’t even joke about that sort of stuff,” Wei Lin shuddered. “My father said he once met a drunk immortal who insisted everyone communicate in five-character verses for a whole day!”

  “You’re making that up…” Lin Mei accused before turning to me with a ‘do you actually believe this look’.

  I shrugged. I knew better than to underestimate what was possible in this world.

  “I wish I was! But apparently, the entire city had too...” Wei Lin trailed off and for good reason.

  As we rounded a bend in the road, we came before what could only be described as a living mountain.

  The creature was easily fifteen feet tall.

  Its body seemed to be made entirely of craggy stone, and while its broad features seemed to be vaguely humanoid, it was like how a child might carve a face into a boulder – all rough angles and approximations.

  We immediately dropped into defensive stances, eying the big fella for any aggressive moves.

  But the stone giant just stood there, its massive arms extended with the palms up, as if it was…waiting for something.

  “Wei Lin,” I said slowly, keeping my attention fixed on the mountain. “You didn’t mention anything about paying an entrance fee to a rock.”

  “It’s because we don’t,” he replied, frowning. “It’s the first I’ve seen anything like this.”

  "Give us one hundred spirit stones if you want to pass!" a high-pitched voice announced from above.

  Just as we looked up, a small figure dropped down from a nearby tree to land on the stone giant’s shoulder. It was a boy wearing a simple brown robe that looked like it had seen better days. The kid couldn’t have been older than eleven or twelve; he had wild black hair and that kind of shit-eating grin that made you want to check if your money pouch was still there.

  “Isn’t that right, Rocky?” the boy asked, patting the stone creature's head.

  The giant rumbled in what sounded like agreement.

  “We’re not paying anything, you little brat,” Wei Lin pointed at the boy. “This is a public road.”

  “Oh yeah? How about ninety spirit stones?” the boy countered immediately. “That’s a bargain. Rocky here usually charges way more, don’t you, buddy?”

  The stone giant nodded, but I couldn’t tell if it actually understood or was just copying the boy's movements.

  “Not happening!”

  “Fifty spirit stones?"

  “Nope.”

  “Thirty?”

  “Never!”

  “Come on, that's practically giving it away!”

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

  Before the two could go on, Lin Mei stepped forward looking concerned.

  “Where are your parents? It’s not safe for a little boy to be out here alone."

  That was definitely the wrong move.

  The boy's grin vanished instantly.

  "I'm not a child! And I'm not alone; I have Rocky! And don't look at me like that, you... you old lady!"

  Lin Mei's kind smile froze in place and her eye twitched.

  I could practically feel the temperature drop.

  But instead of getting involved, I turned my attention to the more serious problem.

  "Azure, what can you tell me about the big guy?"

  “The ‘big guy’ is known as a Stone Guardian,” he replied. “It’s a type of elemental spirit beast that forms in mineral rich areas.”

  “Elemental spirit beast? Are they powerful?”

  “They can grow quite powerful by absorbing precious stones and metals. This one, however, is only at the fifth stage of Qi Condensation. Given their natural growth rate, it must be quite young or severely undernourished."

  "Only the fifth stage?" I frowned. That was still well above any of our cultivation levels. "And the boy?"

  “There seems to be a soul bond between them,” Azure confirmed. “Pretty strong from what I can sense. Lucky boy, he must have encountered the guardian when it first formed.”

  Lucky for him, unlucky for us.

  The negotiation had deteriorated pretty quickly.

  The boy had dropped all pretense of bargaining and was now just shouting increasingly creative insults, with a particular focus on Lin Mei's "advanced age”.

  "Last chance, old lady!" the boy screamed, making me wish I was deaf. "Pay up or you’ll regret it!”

  No one replied.

  Which only made the kid turn red in anger.

  “Go on, Rocky, show them what you can do!"

  With that, the boy jumped back into the trees, leaving us alone with the giant.

  Rocky looked at his massive right hand before clenching it into a fist and throwing it towards us.

  Immediately, we scattered in different directions.

  The blow struck the ground where we had been standing, leaving behind a crater that was nearly six feet wide.

  I looked over at Wei Lin and Lin Mei and nodded.

  The time for talk was over.

  It was time to fight.

  Drawing on my qi, I mentally reached out to the natural energy in the ground.

  A thick vine erupted from the ground behind Rocky, wrapping around the stone giant’s limbs like a python.

  Sweat immediately began to run down my face.

  This wasn’t anything like practice.

  The creature’s strength was monstrous.

  Every small movement it made threatened to snap my control.

  At best, I would only be able to maintain the technique for a few seconds.

  But a few seconds was enough for the others to act.

  "Flowing River Strike!" Lin Mei whispered.

  A concentrated blast of water qi struck Rocky in the chest.

  The stone giant staggered backwards.

  My vines snapped under the strain, but they'd served their purpose.

  "Wind Blade Art: Crescent Moon Slash!" Wei Lin followed up immediately, aiming at the limbs.

  The elemental beast roared as deep gouges appeared in its rocky flesh, sending it crashing to the ground.

  The battle was over just as quickly as it had begun.

  On paper, we shouldn't have been able to defeat a fifth-stage creature so easily.

  After all, the gap in pure qi levels was simply too large.

  But it was obvious that the Stone Guardian had never been properly trained.

  Rocky’s movements were simple and predictable.

  It was like a child swinging adult fists – raw power but no real technique behind it.

  As Wei Lin stepped forward, qi gathering around his arm for the finishing blow, a small figure dropped between us and the fallen guardian.

  "Stop it!" the boy screamed, tears and snot running down his face. "Don't hurt Rocky anymore! He's my only friend!"

  Behind him, I noticed small pebbles from the stone giant’s eyes as the elemental beast began to make a low rumbling sound.

  Wait a minute, was it actually crying?

  "We just beat up a kid's pet rock, didn't we?" I let out a long sigh.

  "Guardian Spirit Beast," Azure corrected.

  “Okay, enough,” Wei Lin lowered his hand, dispersing the gathered qi. “Everyone calm down. No one else is getting hurt.” He turned to the boy. “What’s your name, kid?”

  “Liu Chen,” the boy sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “And I’m not a kid!”

  "Alright, Liu Chen who is definitely not a kid," Wei Lin said patiently. "Want to tell us why you and Rocky are out here charging tolls?"

  "We need the spirit stones," Liu Chen mumbled. "Rocky's hungry. He's supposed to eat precious stones to grow stronger, but..." He looked down, shoulders slumping. "I can't afford any good ones. And regular rocks don't help him get stronger anymore."

  “Where are you from?” Lin Mei's expression softened. "There must be someone looking for you."

  "Nowhere!" the boy said quickly. Too quickly. "It's just me and Rocky. We take care of each other. We don’t need anyone else.”

  I shared a look with the others.

  There was definitely more to this story.

  "Listen," I said, an idea forming. "What if we could help Rocky get stronger without charging tolls?"

  "How?" Liu Chen looked up suspiciously.

  "Well," I glanced at Wei Lin, who nodded slightly, realising where I was going with this. "We’re heading to Myriad Paths City. I bet they have all sorts of stones that would be perfect for a growing Stone Guardian."

  "Really?" Liu Chen's eyes lit up, then narrowed. "But... they wouldn't just let Rocky eat their precious stones."

  "Maybe not," Wei Lin cut in, "but I know some people who might be willing to make arrangements. Legitimate ones," he added quickly. "So, you don’t need to rob people anymore."

  "Erm…I don't know," the boy looked uncertain. "The last time we went near a city, the guards..."

  "Don’t worry, you'll be with us," Lin Mei assured him. "And Rocky can wait in the forest nearby. We'll bring samples out to him so we can find out what he likes the most.”

  The kid was clearly torn about what to do, he kept looking between us and his stone friend.

  Rocky made a gentle rumbling sound and carefully patted Liu Chen's head with one massive finger.

  "Fine," Liu Chen finally said. "But if you try anything funny..." He attempted to look threatening, which was somewhat undermined by him having to wipe his nose again, and the fact that we had already beaten up his guardian.

  "There’ll be no funny business," I promised. "Just some civilized discussion about proper mineral nutrition for a growing Stone Guardian."

  The boy nodded before running his small hands over Rocky’s damaged limbs.

  To our surprise, loose pebbles and gravel began to float up from the ground and merge with the stone giant, filling in the deep gouges left from Wei Lin’s wind blade. It was like watching a puzzle reassemble itself, each piece finding its proper place with soft grinding sounds.

  “Come on, Rocky,” the boy patted his best friend’s chest, “you can do it!”

  Encouraged by Liu Chen’s words, Rocky’s body rumbled, suddenly accelerating the process. And from the crater his fall had created, massive chunks of stone spun through the air before locking into place. Even the dust from the battle swirled upwards to fill in the smallest gaps.

  Before we knew it, Rocky was once again standing at his full height. The giant flexed his restored arms experimentally, allowing the pebbles to settle into place with a click.

  “That’s pretty impressive,” I stared at the reformed giant.

  “Rocky’s the best!” Liu Chen beamed. “He only needs a little bit of time to pull himself back together again.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the proud tone in the boy’s voice.

  “This is all because you said the journey was going too well,” Wei Lin grumbled as we resumed walking.

  “At least it wasn’t that crazy hermit that you were on about before,” I teased.

  “Don’t even start,” he warned. “We still have two hours until we reach the city, there’s still time for him to pop up.”

  Ahead of us, Liu Chen was talking to Rocky about all the different kinds of stones they would get to try. The stone giant was nodding along enthusiastically while occasionally making rumbling sounds as though he was trying to speak.

  Lin Mei fell into step beside me.

  “You know, Ke Yin, we just adopted a child and his pet mountain…”

  “I wouldn’t say that; it could be way worse,” I shrugged. “He seems pretty well-behaved, right?”

  We all turned to look at Liu Chen.

  “Hey kid,” Wei Lin called out. “Just a quick question about your big friend’s destructive tendencies.”

  “Destructive?” Liu Chen repeated, testing the word. “Rocky doesn’t destroy. He’s very gentle!”

  We all shared a relieved look, but it didn’t last long when the boy continued.

  “Well... except for that one time with the merchant caravan, but they started it! And maybe the incident with the bridge, but that was already pretty rickety anyway. Oh, and there was that small landslide, but that wasn't his fault since he was just trying to scratch his back against the mountain..."

  He didn’t stop there.

  He continued listing incident after incident where it ‘technically’ wasn’t Rocky’s fault.

  And they didn’t get better; each incident was worse than the one before it.

  But that didn’t annoy me, this was exactly the kind of trouble I didn’t mind running into.

  Even though this was a cultivation world, not every challenge needed to be a life-or-death situation, and sometimes the best solution wasn't about who could hit harder.

  Still, I had learned my lesson.

  That was the last time I commented on how smoothly a journey was going.

  Some temptations just weren’t worth the risk.

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