Yu Di took a deep breath to rein in his own Qi. Every time he got upset, he'd lose his control and lose another month of his life. It was so stupid. He was too old to continue making these mistakes.

  "It is my duty to figure out who should be punished, not you," Gu Zi told Elder Li. He turned to face the two victims. "Girls, tell me if what Yu Di said is true. Did someone with four moles in the shape of a star molest you?"

  One girl looked away without an answer.

  The other glanced at Elder Li before shouting, "No, it was him. I remember it was him. It couldn't be anyone else!"

  Gu Zi tilted the head of the girl looking away.

  "Answer me."

  The girl shut her eyes and nodded. Tears rolled down her face.

  Gu Zi's upper lips twitched, making the mole dance.

  "This is unforgivable." Gu Zi took out a small piece of jade. He pinched it until it glowed orange.

  A man flew over on top of a glowing cane. He wore an emerald tunic with protective artifacts carved into it. He looked as old as Gu Zi.

  Yu Di knew right away that this was going to be a disaster for him. He could sense that this man was only one step below Gu Zi's cultivation. There was only one person in the entire sect that matched that description: Fu An, Fu Homei's grandfather.

  The girl probably didn't tell her grandfather everything, but Yu Di was sure that with enough context clues and other hints, he would get enough. Not only that, he did pressure his granddaughter to join Bai Feng's faction. Knowing her devotion to him, he doubted that she would truly join them with or without a Qi contract or the best cultivation manual Yu Di had.

  All the other disciples and servants got to their knees and bowed deep with hands cupped. Yu Di followed suit.

  "We greet Grand Elder Fu," they said in unison as soon as Fu An landed on the ground.

  "What kind of sect are you running brother Fu?" Gu Zi asked. "We have girls being molested and servants beaten. I have better things to do than settle these squabbles. You said you'd run the sect and I have given you—"

  "I apologize Sect Leader Gu." Fu An cupped his hands and bowed his head. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have trusted certain people to help me administer this sect."

  Fu An glanced at Elder Li. It was a brief look, but it was enough to feel the disgust there. It was nothing when compared to the look he gave to Yu Di right after.

  Yu Di felt his skin crawl. It was the same look he got when he wiped out a little boy's entire clan. He wasn't the one holding the knife in that tragic incident, the boy was. All Yu Di needed was the boy's blood to create an elixir. It wasn't his fault that the boy's patriarch put a killing curse that drove the boy crazy and murdered everyone around him.

  "Take care of this," Gu Zi spat out. "If that little girl or any other girl comes to bother me, I will make sure to handle this how I see fit."

  "Of course, Sect Leader Gu." Fu An bowed his head again.

  Gu Zi flew away on his gold disk.

  Elder Li got up.

  "Grand Elder Fu, I—"

  "Silence." Fu An said it so quietly that it was almost inaudible. "You have disgraced this sect and you have put me in an impossible situation."

  "But it's all his fault." Elder Li pointed at Yu Di. "Sect Leader Gu is not here now. We can finish this here and now."

  Yu Lin's head popped out from behind Yu Di's leg.

  "You better not do anything to Baba or I'll go to uncle Gu again."

  Fu An frowned.

  "I have ignored your actions for far too long. You won't bother Yu Di about this any longer. Furthermore, you and I no longer have any connections. Use my name again, or mention me in any way, and I will cut off your tongue. I am so disappointed in you."

  Nothing Fu An said affected Elder Li until that last sentence. He dropped to the ground to his knees.

  "As for you." Fu An pointed at Yu Di with his glowing cane. "I haven't forgotten what you've done to my granddaughter."

  Yu Di bowed his head.

  Before Yu Di could say anything, Fu An flew away on his cane.

  "What now Elder Li?" one disciple asked.

  "Nothing. We leave and deal with him later. I don't want my tongue to be cut off." Elder Li spat on the floor beside Yu Di and walked away. The female servants followed along with all the disciples that attacked Yu Di.

  Yu Di got up and walked to a nearby rock before sitting down. His daughter followed.

  “Baba, are you okay?” Yu Lin asked.

  “Not right now, but I will be.” Yu Di closed his eyes for a moment and circulated Qi throughout his body. He wasn’t well versed in the healing arts, but he knew his own body well enough to make it go back to normal at least. “Thank you little Lin for saving me.”

  “An auntie told Auntie Bai you were in trouble. She told me to find uncle Gu to help you against those bad guys. Why do they hate you?”

  Yu Di smiled painfully. His jaw and face hurt even though he tried protecting it with his arms.

  “It’s because there are people in this world that have more power than others and think they can do whatever they want.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “That’s not fair,” Yu Lin said. “I’m going to get stronger and beat them up.”

  Yu Di lifted Yu Lin onto his lap.

  “No little Lin, that’s now how we resolve the problems of the world. No matter how strong you get, there will be someone stronger.”

  “Then how?”

  Yu Di grinned. He wanted to tell her about all of his exploits where he stole, he murdered, he pillaged, and did whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. But that wouldn’t be good parenting, would it?

  There was one thing he could tell her though and hopefully it wouldn’t send her down the same path as his.

  “What you can do is outsmart your enemies,” Yu Di said. “Think about what they want, like really want. Then find a way to either get it yourself or stop them from getting it. That way, they will come crawling to you for it. Do you understand little Lin?”

  Yu Lin scrunched up her face and nodded.

  Oh well, that was the best Yu Di could do for his daughter. Hopefully he’ll have a few more years of life to teach her more.

  “Now, go back to auntie Bai and stay there with her,” Yu Di said. “Baba will be fine. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Yu Lin nodded, jumped off his lap, and sprinted away as fast as a firecracker. Whatever Bai Feng was teaching her was definitely working. In a few short months his daughter has improved in leaps and bounds.

  Yu Di dragged himself to the kitchens. He couldn’t antagonize Cui Ying anymore. A little injury like this shouldn’t have stopped him.

  When he got there, the head servant was already waiting for him. His arms were crossed with a glare that looked like death.

  “Good morning, head servant Cui.” Yu Di cupped his hands and bowed his head.

  “Where have you been?” Cui Ying asked. “Do you know how much trouble you are in with Elder Li?”

  “I have an idea. I just met him and he gave me all these bruises.” Yu Di lifted his sleeves, revealing all his defensive wounds.

  “What happened?”

  Yu Di rubbed his arms, then his legs, trying to get the soreness out of them.

  “He accused me of molesting two girls yesterday near the servants’ quarters. He then beat me up for defending myself. If Sect Leader Gu didn’t intervene, I’d probably be dead right now.”

  “Let me see.” Cui Ying lifted one of Yu Di’s arms. “This is pretty bad. Have you used your Qi to soothe these injuries?”

  “I’ve tried, but these injuries were done by cultivators stronger than me. You know how it is.”

  Cui Ying looked away.

  “Here, use this.” He reached inside his chest pocket and pulled out a jade egg. When he put it against Yu Di’s bruises, it heated up. “It should help lessen the bruises if you keep rubbing it.”

  Yu Di took the jade egg and rolled it along his bruises. This was a Qi artifact. How did someone as weak as Cui Ying have one and kept it?

  “Thank you head servant Cui.”

  “Don’t look at me like that. Every servant thinks I’m a demon. They don’t understand that I merely serve the actual demons.”

  Yu Di chuckled. Actual demons would have devoured this entire sect in one gulp. They wouldn’t even be an appetizer for them.

  Cui Ying chuckled as well.

  “You’re too injured today. You should go back and rest. Come back tomorrow. I’ll go tell the kitchen boss.”

  Yu Di cupped his hands and bowed his head low.

  “Thank you head servant Cui. I hope to repay the favor one day.”

  “Hmph. Just do your job and that would be enough.”

  Yu Di nodded and got up. He handed the jade egg back to Cui Ying.

  Cui Ying lifted his hand to stop Yu Di.

  “No, you keep it for now. Give it back tomorrow.”

  “Thank you again.”

  Yu Di shambled all the way back to Bai Feng’s home. When he was within the protection of the wards, he straightened his back and made a brisk walk back into the house.

  Bai Feng and Yu Lin both sat on large mats, meditating and cycling their Qi.

  “You two, I’m going to send you into the pocket dimension again,” Yu Di said.

  Bai Feng opened her eyes.

  “You look terrible. Are you sure you don’t want me to heal you first?”

  Yu Di grinned.

  “This? This is nothing. This weak body did help me get off work though. Cui Ying took pity on me.”

  Yu Lin said nothing. She came over and kissed him on the cheeks and other bruised areas. His cute little daughter’s kisses made the pain go away.

  “I love you too little Lin,” Yu Di said. “But we don’t have time today. We need to get you two inside and use as much time as possible before tomorrow. Elder Li is getting desperate.”

  Bai Feng nodded.

  Yu Di unhooked his silver chain.

  Bai Feng and Yu Lin touched the chain and disappeared inside the pocket dimension.

  “Today you’re only going to focus on cultivation. I don’t have the energy to train you in fighting techniques.” Yu Di closed his eyes and began cycling his Qi to power the pocket dimension. Earlier he had used his slow travel back to the house to cycle Qi into the silver chain, but activating it took a heavy toll on the reserves.

  Yu Di focused as hard as he could, but he wasn’t sure why it was so hard to do it this time around.

  He took out his jade tablet and gasped.

  Current Power: Realm 1, Stage 1, Level 4 (Qi condensation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 14 years, 1 months.

  Current Status: Cursed (2.9% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, Peak level

  Yu Di expected to lose a bit of his lifespan when he used his forbidden technique, but it seemed like his curse grew worse. Somehow it dipped from 5.3% to 2.9% lifted.

  How? What happened?

  Yu Di focused on his earlier fight while cycling his Qi. At the very least, he didn’t lose his levels of cultivation so far, but only at four this was going to be a long day.

  He couldn’t have been cursed because he defended himself. It didn’t activate before. Too bad his jade tablet couldn’t tell him exactly when the curse activated. All it could tell him was his status.

  Wait.

  Could it be when he activated his forbidden technique?

  Yu Di had a sour feeling in his stomach. He didn’t use his full power on that technique. He still lost lifespan because of its extreme cost. What if using that technique itself went against whatever had cursed him?

  Yu Di cleared his head.

  This was what he knew so far:

  The curse seemed to lift whenever he did something that Yu Lin told him to do.

  It also lifted when he did something that he suspected Yu Lin would tell him to do.

  It didn’t get worse when he defended himself. This would require further testing as he lost a chunk of his gains after fighting those disciples.

  His curse activated when he used his forbidden technique. It also activated whenever he used his powers in general.

  What kind of stupid curse was this? Was it one that listened to the naivety of a child? What if he had to use his curse in an evil way, but for the greater good?

  Admittedly, using his forbidden technique to get himself out of trouble would hardly count as the greater good, but would Yu Di risk it again? Just that one use almost dropped him by half, he lost the use of his eye, and months of his lifespan.

  Yu Di knew that the answer probably lied with the goddess he fought. There must have been something within that city that cursed him like this. If that was true, then he was doomed.

  He’s too weak to go back.

  In his current state, the goddess of the city could blow him away with a single breath. He would be literal dust in the wind.

  Yu Di calmed his mind. There was no point in thinking about that. All he could hope for here was to improve Bai Feng and his daughter so that they could live a peaceful life.

  His was already forfeit years ago.

  Yu Di gritted his teeth.

  Now if only his heart would accept that.