Yu Di had to explain everything to Bai Feng. Apparently she had no idea who the woman was or that Grand Elder Fu had a granddaughter.

  “What do you plan on doing with her?” Bai Feng asked.

  Yu Di crossed his arms, staring down at the unconscious woman. The pain overwhelmed her, eventually.

  “You’re not thinking of anything devious are you?” Bai Feng shifted the woman to a more comfortable position.

  “Devious? Yes. But not in the way you’re thinking.” Yu Di ruffled through Fu Homei’s clothes. She had nothing on her.

  “Maybe you should let me do that.”

  “No need. She has nothing anyway. But she did sign the Qi contract. We have a powerful pawn on our hands.”

  Yu Di rolled his eyes when he saw Bai Feng’s face.

  “You don’t have to look like that. I promise I won’t do anything to harm her or the sect. But she knows many things. And we can…”

  Bai Feng shook her head. Her eyes wide open.

  Yu Di sighed.

  “This is how everyone takes advantage of you, Senior Bai. You’re too nice.”

  “I believe in compassion for others. That’s how we build a better world.”

  Yu Di agreed on principle. There was nothing more that he wanted than for his daughter to live in a world like that. But given how little time he had left on this world, he wasn’t going to let something like compassion hold him back.

  “Then I’m going to simply order her to report that nothing is going on to the Grand Elder and she can leave our group,” Yu Di said.

  “That would be for the best,” Bai Feng said.

  “Why don’t you go and talk with the others. Make some friends. Eat some food. You’ve been so lonely for so long, now you have an entire faction to nurture.”

  Bai Feng shook her head and hovered over the unconscious woman.

  “I’ll go and enjoy myself then. I’m hungry anyway.”

  Yu Di left Bai Feng in search of food. It had been a while since he ate and he hadn’t seen his daughter. He wondered what mischief she was getting into with all these people around.

  To his surprise, Yu Lin sat next to a younger disciple. The girl looked to be at most in her teens. She was talking to his daughter and Yu Lin was enraptured with every word.

  “Hello. I didn’t see you earlier,” Yu Di told the girl.

  “Hello uncle. Your daughter is very cute,” the girl said.

  Yu Lin beamed when she said that. Yu Di said that to her all the time and she never looked like that. It’s true, daughters tended to weigh others’ opinions more than their fathers.

  “Well, you two enjoy yourself. I’m going to get some food.” Yu Di walked away. It was a tough day and he needed as much food as he could.

  Yu Di found a large wok of leftovers with steam still coming off the top. Someone was kind enough to keep it heated over the dying embers in the oven.

  He scooped two large spatulas full of stir fried vegetables and meat into a bowl. Next he grabbed a large bowl of noodles beside the wok. It took him a second, but he found a pair of clean chopsticks.

  Yu Di took a deep sniff of the food. Despite growing up a spoiled brat, Bai Feng's cooking was amazing. Another advantage of living longer. Learn new tricks.

  “What are you doing?” Cui Ying asked.

  Yu Di frowned. He was so close.

  “Head Servant Cui, I was about to sit down for dinner,” Yu Di said. “Would you like to join me?”

  The man in the tan tunic turned up his nose as if the mere idea of smelling the food was too much for him.

  “I don’t care for your trash food,” Cui Ying said. “It has no Qi infused ingredients. It doesn’t even have a sprig of spiritual leaf in it.”

  “I apologize to Head Servant Cui." Yu Di bowed his head, but he wasn’t going to let go of his food so easily. “Would you mind if I ate while you spoke with me? I haven’t eaten all day.”

  “No.”

  “Thank you.” Yu Di moved the chopsticks to the bowl of vegetables and meat.

  Cui Ying slapped the chopsticks from his hand.

  “I meant no, you may not eat.”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Yu Di squeezed his lips together. The fragrant meat would have to wait until he dealt with this man. He wasn’t sure why Cui Ying was so angry. Carefully, he put down the bowl of food on the table.

  “How can I help you, Head Servant Cui?” Yu Di asked.

  “You have been avoiding your job for a very long time,” Cui Ying said.

  “I apologize. Senior Bai has me running many errands for her. I wouldn’t presume to go against her words.”

  “Have you forgotten who gave you this job in the first place?”

  Yu Di forced a smile, despite wanting to cry.

  “It was Elder Li,” Cui Ying said. He said the Elder’s name like a curse. “He never liked Bai Feng for rejecting him all these years and now you’re working for her. Do you think he’s a fool or just a kind person?”

  Yu Di looked down at the floor. He didn’t want to give him any excuse to keep talking.

  “Now Elder Li is berating me for not properly controlling you servants. You’re all here enjoying a nice party.” Cui Ying glared at all the other servants in the other room, almost willing heavenly tribulation to shoot them all down from where he stood. “Sect Leader Gu’s words only made him angrier. He told me that since you love helping people as you have been doing over the last few weeks, you can take on some more responsibilities. Maybe it will help you understand your place.”

  Cui Ying took a deep breath.

  “Starting tomorrow, you are to report to the kitchens and help with all the cooking of the sect.”

  “And if I refuse?” Yu Di asked.

  “Refuse? Just because you’ve gained a few levels since you’ve joined, doesn’t mean you can stand up to Elder Li. He told me that he will personally oversee your work if he has to. Don’t think that Senior Bai can help you either. As far as I know, she isn’t an Elder yet.”

  Cui Ying turned and left.

  Yu Di wiped off his face. The only time his face got that wet was from the rain.

  He looked down at his food and his appetite was gone. This was why he didn’t join sects. He didn’t care for the people. All he wanted was peace.

  Yu Di chuckled.

  A demigod, cowed by some lapdog of a man who hasn’t even formed his core yet.

  All that won’t matter if he can get Bai Feng to break through to the next level. Also, he had a new idea of what to do with Fu Homei. In the end, Grand Elder beats Elder, right?

  Yu Di went back to Bai Feng. She was still caring for Fu Homei.

  “How is she?” he asked.

  “She’s awake, but still in a lot of pain,” Bai Feng said. “Is there anything you can do?”

  “Yes, but you’re not going to like it.” Yu Di bent down to Fu Homei’s face. “If you want the pain to stop, you’re going to have to do something for me.”

  Fu Homei gritted her teeth, squeezing her eyes tight.

  “I won’t help you. My grandfather will notice that I’m gone and then you will die.”

  “How about we do a simple exchange? Nothing I ask you to do will be against the sect or your grandfather. You’ll even be able to tell your grandfather everything you want. If you do that, the pain will go away.”

  Fu Homei opened her eyes.

  “Tell me your terms.”

  Yu Di smiled.

  “I need your grandfather to get Elder Li off our back, at least until after Senior Bai becomes an Elder. After that, I need you to rally the servants so that they are willing to work with us.”

  “So that you can force them to sign Qi contracts too?” Fu Homei spat out.

  Yu Di laughed.

  “I didn’t force anyone to sign anything. I’m not a bad guy. I was only ensuring that you people didn’t take advantage of Senior Bai and ran away after she helped you all.”

  “Senior Bai, please help me,” Fu Homei said. “He’s hurting me and he’s going to hurt others. If you don’t stop him now, he’ll endanger the sect.”

  Bai Feng looked away.

  “You see, even Senior Bai understands the greed and selfishness of people,” Yu Di said. “She’s been burned too many times. But with me and my daughter, she will have a group that cares for her.”

  “He’s lying.” Tears streamed down Fu Homei’s face. “If he can do that to us, he can do it to you. He won’t rest until he takes over the sect for his evil ways. Help me and I’m sure my grandfather can help you become an Elder.”

  “You see Senior Bai? All I asked was for her not to tell others our secrets and she has already defied that on the first day. We can’t—”

  “Help! Someone! Anyone! Help me!” Fu Homei yelled.

  Yu Di sighed. He pulled out an old, long sock from his spatial ring and shoved it into her mouth.

  “It’s not that I care that anyone can hear you. I’m just tired of the racket.” Yu Di sat on the mat and crossed his legs. He looked up at Bai Feng. “Look Senior Bai, you know why I can’t let her go so easily. You know my secrets. While I can trust you, I can’t trust her. So you either let me leave this sect with my daughter or… you let me handle her.”

  Fu Homei screamed into the sock, making a high pitched muffle sound. The tears mixed in and made it a soggy mess. She wrapped her arms around her body as her body trembled.

  Yu Di wasn’t sure whether her tears came from the act of looking pitiful or from the wave after wave of pain she must be feeling from trying to defy the Qi contract.

  Bai Feng took one look at Fu Homei before turning to leave.

  Fu Homei struggled to get up. She reached out for Bai Feng before collapsing back onto the mat.

  As soon as Bai Feng went outside to meet with the other servants, Yu Di pulled the woman to a corner of the home. He set up a large divider to block it off. He set a candle on a table. Next to it, he lit a stick of incense.

  “You poor child,” Yu Di said. “Used by your grandfather as a tool and abandoned by the nicest person in the sect.”

  Yu Di propped her up against the wall. The flame from the candle flickered, casting shadows on her body. He pulled the sock out of her mouth and Fu Homei coughed.

  The girl couldn’t sit up properly as the pain came in wave after wave. The Qi contract made sure to remind the offender in the most painful way.

  “Fu Homei, I’m going to be kinder to you than anyone ever has in the world,” Yu Di said. “I have done far worse to far too many people, but usually for far higher stakes. You’re the first child I’ve had the displeasure of disciplining. I’m going to make the pain stop, but you have until this stick of incense runs out before it comes crashing back, killing you.”

  Yu Di reached down and pressed his palm to her forehead. He pushed a bit of his Qi into her meridians to block out the pain. He wanted to cleanse the pain because he felt bad, but didn’t. Just the thought that this girl was someone’s daughter made him pause.

  What if this was his own daughter?

  Yu Di pushed more of his Qi to cleanse the build up. It didn’t matter if he got her to do what he wanted or not. He was not going to allow a child to die if he could help it.

  Curse unlocked: .1% lifted.

  Yu Di laughed. At this point, nothing his curse did would surprise him anymore.