The powerful voice was not loud, but imbued with Qi. A wave of Qi separated the two sides.

  -Yu Di pushed his Qi back down as if he was swallowing something he was going to spit back out. The feeling was worse than the sticky hands of a four-year-old, except all over his body. He would need to spend hours meditating to be rid of that feeling later.

  Sect Leader Gu Zi flew down on a golden disc. He hovered above the group as the wind blew gently against his white ponytail.

  Yu Di suspected that the golden disc was a normal disc made of gold. There was something odd about the sect leader in how he shows off gaudy items, but none of value or substance. At least not for a cultivator.

  “We greet Sect Leader Gu Zi,” the Elders all said as they cupped their hands and bowed their hands.

  Yu Di followed suit along with Bai Feng as he cupped his hands and bowed his head.

  Only Yu Lin didn’t do so as she peeked out from behind her father’s pants. Yu Di only hoped she wouldn't pull it down.

  “What is going on here?” Gu Zi asked.

  “Reporting to the Sect Leader, this worthless servant dared to use your name to impede our business,” Elder Li said. He pointed at Yu Di as if there were any other servants in gray tunics around.

  “What were you going to do to him?”

  “I was going to teach him a lesson he would never forget.” Elder Li stood up straight, putting his hands behind his back. He jutted his chin out just slightly to show off his immaculate beard.

  Yu Di hated to admit it, but Elder Li looked more like a sect leader than Gu Zi, but that’s based on the painted scrolls they sell in the market. Actual sect leaders tended to be eccentric. They had to be in order to run a sect.

  Gu Zi drifted over to Yu Di. He glared down at him, his white eyelashes flowing gently from the wind.

  “Is this true?”

  Yu Di dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the ground. This was not the time to think about his pride.

  “Reporting to Sect Leader Gu Zi, I came to speak with Senior Bai about what we talked about. I apologize if—”

  “Enough.” Gu Zi landed on the ground, facing the Elders. “Yu Di speaks the truth. I asked him to speak with Bai Feng. However, there is something I don’t understand.”

  “Yes, Sect Leader?” Elder Li asked.

  A wave of Qi rolled off Gu Zi, forcing the Elders to kneel. Even though it was directed at them, Yu Di felt it push him further to the ground.

  Bai Feng put her hand on his shoulders to shield him from most of it.

  Wait. What about Yu Lin?

  Yu Di turned his head to see his daughter laughing as the Qi crashed into her. She danced with the waves of Qi pushing against her. For her to do that against someone as strong as Gu Zi meant she was about to break through into the next stage.

  "Stop, it tickles!" Yu Lin laughed with a high pitched tiny voice.

  Her dancing made Gu Zi pause. They all watched her until he pulled his Qi back.

  Yu Lin clung to Bai Feng’s pants this time.

  Gu Zi turned back to the kneeling Elders.

  “I heard you say you were going to kill them. Do we have so many disciples that we can be rid of such talent?”

  “No, Sect Leader,” the Elders all said in unison.

  “As Elders of my sect, you three should know better than anyone else that we do not bully the weak. Which is why you three are to ensure bullying doesn’t happen in this sect. If I hear even one complaint, I will make sure that you suffer a worse fate than them. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, Sect Leader,” they said.

  “Now scram.”

  The three Elders shuffled away as quickly as they could, while bowing the entire way.

  Gu Zi turned to Yu Di.

  “You can get up now.”

  “I dare not,” Yu Di said. “I did use your name as Elder Li said. I apologize again to Sect Leader Gu.”

  “If I have learned anything from my old age is that we don’t allow fellow sect members to suffer. So get up.”

  Yu Di got up and bowed again.

  “Thank you Sect Leader.”

  “Now tell me about this little girl you have here.”

  “I’m not little,” Yu Lin said. “I’m a big girl.”

  Gu Zi laughed.

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  “Yes, you are.”

  “Yu Lin, bow down and greet the Sect Leader,” Yu Di said.

  Yu Lin bowed.

  “Your daughter is unnaturally strong,” Gu Zi said. “How old is she?”

  “Four.” Fear gripped Yu Di’s chest. He didn’t like where this was going. The last thing he needed was for Gu Zi to take his daughter to be his personal disciple. He would never see her again. “Reporting to the Sect Leader, it was Senior Bai’s teaching that has raised my daughter to such heights. I dare not take any credit other than her birth.”

  “I’m sure her mother had more to do with that.” Gu Zi laughed. He ruffled Yu Lin’s hair. “This is good. Keep up the good work Bai Feng.”

  “I will.” Bai Feng bowed.

  “Sect Leader, she could help a lot more people if she was made into an Elder,” Yu Di said. “She could teach more people and raise our sect to new heights.”

  “Our sect?” Gu Zi narrowed his eyes.

  “Yes, of course.” Yu Di bowed his head. What did he say wrong? This old man was too unpredictable, even more so than the other sect leaders he’d seen.

  “Alas, I can’t help you. Except under heroic circumstances, I can’t promote anyone to become an Elder. It would be unfair to the other disciples. But I believe I have done you three a huge enough favor. I must attend to other duties.”

  Without waiting for a response, Gu Zi flew back up in the air on his gold disk.

  “Well, he was nice,” Yu Di said when he saw the sect leader fly over the fortress walls onto the other side.

  “No, that was weird,” Bai Feng said.

  “How so?”

  “No, let’s talk inside.” Bai Feng walked back into her home and closed the doors after Yu Di and his daughter walked in. She waved her hand in the air and pushed out a bit of her Qi.

  Yu Di had suspected Bai Feng set up wards around her home, but now he knew. Well, that and how it zapped head servant Cui Ying was a major clue. He wouldn’t have guessed that Bai Feng had that kind of skill to make these traps.

  “Sect Leader Gu Zi rarely comes out from his alcove, let alone talk with anyone,” Bai Feng said. She pulled out three buns from her storage ring before passing them out.

  Yu Lin grabbed it with her small hands and took a giant bite out of it. When did Yu Di raise such a shameless beggar that ate as if it would be stolen from her?

  “Say thank you,” Yu Di said.

  Yu Lin opened her mouth to reveal a bunch of lotus paste and bun. She mumbled something that was close enough.

  “In the many years I have been in this sect, I have only seen the sect leader come out twice,” Bai Feng said. “The first time he stopped a sect from taking over our fortress was when the previous Grand Elder failed to defend us. The second time was just now. My seniors before me said the appearance of the sect leader usually meant fear for all the disciples and Elders.”

  “Why?” Yu Lin asked. She spread her hands open toward Bai Feng, wiggling her little fingers to ask for more buns. “That grandpa looked scary, but he was nice to us.”

  Bai Feng took out another two buns.

  Yu Lin took one in each hand.

  “The rumor was that the sect leader has been trying to break through to the next realm for the last hundred years,” Bai Feng continued. “But no matter how hard he tried and no matter what methods he used, he just couldn’t do it. So, just like most men, when they can’t get a release, he throws a tantrum whenever he leaves his alcove.”

  “Baba, do you do that?” Yu Lin asked.

  Yu Di shoved half of the bun in his own mouth and chewed with very exaggerated motions. He smiled and pointed at his full mouth.

  “Sweetie, your father’s mouth is full,” Bai Feng said. “It’s not polite to talk like that.”

  “Oh.” Yu Lin took smaller bites this time.

  “Him coming out after all these years is not good news for anyone.”

  Yu Di swallowed hard, but couldn’t. He hadn’t realized how thick the lotus paste was and it got stuck in his throat. He coughed hard.

  Bai Feng handed him a bowl of water to which Yu Di drank the whole thing.

  Yu Di coughed a little more, but he could finally breathe. To think a demigod like him was almost taken out by a sugary sweet bun.

  “Maybe he’s developed a way to break through.” Yu Di took large gulps of water.

  “No, if he did he would have made a sect wide announcement,” Bai Feng said. “One reason we’re so weak as a sect is because the other sects think of us as easy targets. They’ve attacked us indiscriminately and caused us to lose many fellow disciples.”

  That made sense. It’s why they would recruit a four-year-old cultivator.

  “The Grand Elder has assigned Elders to guard specific areas of the fortress when we get attacked. It’s one of the bigger reasons I didn’t want to become an Elder or join a faction because I didn’t want to defend our fortress. It might mean I would have to kill. And I can’t.”

  Bai Feng stroked Yu Lin’s hair as she ate her buns. The little girl had gone back to larger bites, enjoying the gooey center of each one.

  Yu Di understood that sentiment. Creeping shame that felt like burning fire ran up his spine. Before he met his daughter, he had no hesitation to burn down a city of thousands to achieve his goal. But now, the world looked different.

  Everything hit differently.

  “I totally understand what you mean,” Yu Di said. “So the only way to prevent that is to get you much stronger so that you can control what happens to your defeated enemies. I hate to say this, but everything starts with power. Without it, we have nothing.”

  Bai Feng clenched her jaw.

  “Let’s get started then. What do we need to do?”

  “We need to figure out my curse,” Yu Di said.

  “You never told me about your curse.”

  “What’s a curse?” Yu Lin drank the tea straight from the pot. She tipped the spout right into her mouth and swallowed large gulps.

  Yu Di shook his head. One of these days, he’d have to teach her proper manners. Doing this with him was fine, but in front of strangers was totally inappropriate.

  “Little Lin, a curse is when someone used Qi to attack your Baba and forced me to be weak,” Yu Di said.

  “Why would they attack you? You’re a good guy.”

  Yu Di wanted to dive back into the bun, but stopped himself. Dying from choking was better than shame.

  “No, I wasn’t. I have done some very bad things in my desire to become stronger. I…”

  While Yu Di would have once claimed proudly that the only deaths he ever caused were of other cultivators, they were mere children to him. They weren’t much different from Yu Lin. And as far as he knew, he didn’t cause any direct deaths. But that one time he was ready to wipe out a city caused him shame.

  Staring at her little girl’s eyes, thinking about what if something like that happened to her? It would break him.

  Yu Di almost did that to a city of children. The thought alone made his stomach sour, feeling as if the food he ate would come back up. What’s worse was that it wasn’t in self defense. It was from his greed. Now he’s brought his own daughter into this world. What kind of father was he?

  Bai Feng laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “It’s okay. You can tell me later when Yu Lin is asleep,” she whispered.

  “Except she will find out one day what kind of monster her father is.” Yu Di took a sip of his tea.

  “But not today.” Bai Feng pushed another bun into Yu Di’s hand.

  Yu Di nodded and smiled at his daughter. Bai Feng was right. It didn’t have to be today.