“I thought you said this place was safe,” Yu Di said.

  “It is,” Ying Fusu said. “I have done this so many times with past clients. They never noticed before. Someone must have tripped the Qi lock on the door.”

  “This warehouse wouldn’t have a tent in front of it, would it?”

  “How did you know?”

  “When I was exploring the city to look for a place to live, I happened upon the industry section of the city. And…”

  “You touched the lock that has the warning to not touch it?”

  “I didn’t touch it. I was going to, but I think my proximity set it off. You bought some really cheap Qi locks.”

  Ying Fusu massaged his temples.

  Why did Yu Di felt like he was turned into a child? Was this how Yu Lin felt whenever he lectured her? Or was this a senior moment where the young generation are preparing to push the old off a cliff?

  The look on Ying Fusu’s face told Yu Di it was the latter.

  “It’s fine,” Ying Fusu said. “They can’t get in regardless. The lock was more for show than anything. But I’ll be irritated if they’re able to get in here and steal all my merchandise.”

  Yu Di looked around. The warehouse was big, but not that big.

  “What if I took all the merchandise with me?”

  “No Fusu,” Vimala said. “He just wants to steal it. Give it to the city. At least they can use it for the war effort.”

  A loud thump hit the side of the warehouse, causing the building to shake. A second thump caused the walls to glow purple.

  “Are you sure you set up wards that stop a demigod?” Yu Di asked. “By the looks of it, they came prepared for whatever you used to shield this place.”

  Yu Di walked up to the glowing wall. The purple had now turned red. Using his Qi, he sensed the artifact protecting the warehouse.

  Ying Fusu was right. The barrier he used could have stopped a Demigod, but only one strike. The barrier was not meant to be used on such a large warehouse either.

  “Your barrier is going to fail after two, maybe three more strikes,” Yu Di said. “Tell me now, or else you will lose a lot more than just a warehouse.”

  “Do it,” Ying Fusu said.

  Yu Di focused on the storage ring on his finger. He locked onto every pallet of items around the room, from the large jade statues, to the rare and expensive carpets hanging along the walls. He pushed his Qi into the ring and then pulled.

  Yu Di hadn’t done this in so long, but he was glad to see that every item appeared in his storage ring. The ones he missed, he waved his hand over them and they also disappeared into his storage ring.

  “I can’t believe your storage ring can do so much,” Ying Fusu said.

  “He’s a thief,” Vimala said. “It’s his trade.”

  Another loud thump hit the side of the building, this time causing pieces of the roof to fall down.

  “Now is a good time to leave,” Yu Di said.

  Ying Fusu snapped his fingers and the bodyguards gathered to him. Yu Di and Vimala followed suit and stood beside them all.

  A bodyguard threw a blue silk handkerchief into the air and pushed his Qi into it. It expanded wide enough to cover everyone. A blue shimmer of light engulfed them.

  Nothing.

  “What happened?” Ying Fusu asked.

  The bodyguard reached out to touch the blue light.

  “Sir, there are too many people. It can’t transport us all.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Yu Di said. “I have all the merchandise.”

  “We can’t sacrifice myself or Vim,” Ying Fusu said.

  “Sir, I will stay behind,” the other bodyguard said, stepping out of the ring of blue light. “It has been an honor serving you.”

  Yu Di rolled his eyes. He couldn’t let someone loyal like that die.

  “No, wait, let me see if I can boost the power.”

  Curse unlocked: .1% lifted.

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  A loud thump hit again. The red energy lining the walls disappeared. The barrier failed.

  Yu Di had to work fast. He reached into the blue light, sensing how the artifact worked. It was a simple teleportation artifact. You anchor two points in space and then you can move between them with the artifact. Except the distance they want to travel is too far.

  “Hang on to someone everyone. This is going to be a bumpy ride.” Yu Di modified the artifact so that its teleport location was much closer than the roadside inn. However, he needed to make it farther than where the high priests men waited outside. This was the tricky part. Since he had no anchor, he had to estimate it.

  Someone held onto his robe.

  The doors slammed open.

  Yu Di closed his eyes and pushed his own Qi into the artifact, activating his modifications.

  Soldiers dressed in white burst through the door, some pointing their crossbows at the group.

  Before they could fire, the blue light engulfed them again.

  A moment of dizziness hit Yu Di. This was not like the teleportation technique he knew or the artifacts he used in the past. He could end up anywhere within the city. Or worse, trapped in between dimensions. He did that one time.

  The blue light cleared and Yu Di was outside.

  The good news was that he was no where near the industry section of the city. No soldiers preparing to pound him into a pulp.

  The bad news, he was surrounded by the poorest people he’d ever seen. Adults in rags and children in worse hid in the shadows of dilapidated and crumbling buildings. All those eyes bearing down on him made him feel like prey that wandered somewhere he shouldn’t have.

  Yu Di needed to get out of here.

  “Yu Di, we need to help these people,” Vimala said.

  Wait, how did she end up with him? Yu Di looked down at saw Vimala still gripping the sleeve of his robe.

  “Why are you hanging onto me?” Yu Di asked.

  “I wasn’t going to let you steal Fusu’s goods. He needs it to keep his business running.”

  “But I…” Yu Di rolled his eyes. There was no reasoning with this woman. Despite living as a mortal for the last twenty years, she was still so naive. Having only met Ying Fusu, Yu Di knew the man didn’t care for any of these items and that he was hiding something.

  “Fine, let’s get out of here,” Yu Di said. He pulled out two umbrellas from his storage ring and passed one to Vimala. “This is my good. I’m only lending this to you. I expect it back.”

  Vimala opened the umbrella, a little too close to Yu Di, and smacked him in the face.

  “Watch it with that.” Yu Di opened his own umbrella.

  “Please, help us,” a woman called from the shadow.

  Vimala pulled on Yu Di’s sleeve. Her green eyes were so close, bearing down into Yu Di’s mind. They were so beautiful.

  Yu Di swallowed.

  “We can’t. If you don’t follow me right now, I’m going to leave you here.” Yu Di walked toward the center of the town.

  Every building he walked past was in worse shape than the previous building. Some of the buildings were missing entire sides as if a Qi blast hit them. There were hand print holes in some walls. If Yu Di didn’t know any better, a cultivator duel happened here. That was the only explanation he could think of.

  But what cultivator would do this in an area filled with mortals? Not only would their reputation suffer to the point of being shunned in all the major cities and labeled as demonic cultivators, they would be chased down by every cultivator.

  Yu Di peered into an intact building. He shouldn’t have done that. Two dirt mounds and a smaller one next to it. A forgotten shrine to the deceased, also ransacked.

  These people were desperate.

  There was another tug at his sleeve.

  “We can’t stay here, Vim—”

  “Uncle, you should help your friend,” a tiny voice said.

  Yu Di looked down and saw a tiny child shrinking away from him. He wasn’t sure if it was a boy or girl.

  Vimala was surrounded by a large group of the poor and desperate people. They inched closer and closer as she gave away her possessions. She even gave away Yu Di’s umbrella.

  Who does that? Who gives away other people’s possessions?

  Yu Di took out a large loaf of bread and passed it to the child.

  “Run along before someone sees you,” Yu Di said.

  Curse unlocked: .1% lifted.

  Yu Di felt bad that being a decent human being was unlocking his curse. Was he that terrible before he had his daughter?

  Yu Di rushed over to Vimala, pushing aside the people as gently as he can. Even without using Qi, these people were too emaciated and weak to resist. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away.

  If Vimala kept it up, she’d be down to her underwear at this point. Then there might be different kinds of predators.

  “Come foolish woman,” Yu Di said. “You can’t help everyone.”

  Vimala pulled back, but ultimately didn’t resist. Not that she had anything left to give anyway.

  “This is not right,” she said. “Abbot Lokenatha said he’d feed these people with all the riches he confiscated from the merchants.”

  “Powerful people say a lot of things,” Yu Di said. “Let’s hurry back before Master Ying thinks I took not only his treasures but his woman too.”

  Vimala yanked her hand back.

  “I am not his woman.”

  “Fine, whatever. Let’s go before the actual predators come.” Yu Di squinted up at the better looking houses. When one bird finds food, they all tended to flock to the source. Usually this included the bigger ones. They were the food.

  “You have to help these people,” Vimala said. She turned her head this way and that.

  Yu Di saw the same scene. Mostly women and children, clinging together, starving to death. He couldn’t do anything for them, no matter how much he wanted.

  “Yu Di, I think I see some of the high priests’ soldiers to the west,” Vimala said.

  “Yeah, but they’re not the ones I’m worried about.” Yu Di noticed a gang of men from the better houses coming toward them. They came from the east. There was no good choice between the two of them.

  “Where can we go?”

  “If only you didn’t come with me. I could have gotten out of this so easily.”

  “You told everyone to hold onto someone.”

  “I didn’t expect you to hold onto me.”

  Vimala pouted.

  “Whatever, let’s go into the sewers.” Yu Di veered off toward a tunnel and yanked Vimala with him. He couldn’t risk losing her. “I’d hold your nose. It smells really bad down there.”

  “I’ll lead. You won’t know where to go.” Vimala overtook Yu Di and led the way.

  “How?”

  “Where do you think I lived after being cursed?”

  Vimala led Yu Di through hard packed tunnels. Refuse flowed like a yellow and brown river toward the White Jade River. Every step was measured, never slipping once.

  Yu Di on the other hand would need new shoes and socks after this excursion. There were no dry walking areas. The earlier cooking sauce Vimala spilled on him was a distant memory. The smells of the sewer overtaking anything and everything. He didn’t dare open his mouth.

  “Everyone fan out,” a man’s voice called from behind. “Grab whatever they have and leave their bodies to rot down here.”

  A murmur followed.

  “Yes, do what you want with the woman before. Just get the valuables.”

  Yu Di exchanged glances with Vimala. He was surprised. Instead of fear, he found defiance in those green eyes. They burned with determination?

  Vimala grabbed Yu Di’s hands and ran deeper into the dark tunnels.