“What do you mean you’re joining us?” Yu Di asked. “Who’s going to protect Yu Lin if I…”

  Yu Di glanced at his daughter.

  “Little Lin, why don’t you find auntie Fu and ask her to teach you something.”

  Yu Lin shook her head and held onto Yu Di’s hand.

  “Come on, be a good girl. I need to talk with Elder Bai on how to win the festival. Since she’s joining now.” Yu Di glared at Bai Feng. He couldn’t help it.

  Bai Feng reached over and grabbed a bun. She passed it to Yu Lin.

  “Eat that and then come back for more. We’re going to have a short conversation. We’ll still be here.”

  Yu Lin took the bun and left the kitchen. She glanced back. She had a death grip on her favorite bun.

  “Why did you join the festival?” Yu Di asked again. “The whole point of making you an Elder and then gathering all these people was so that you could protect Yu Lin. I don’t have any longer to live even if I survive the festival. If you die, then she’ll be all alone.”

  Bai Feng lifted the wok off the flames and placed it on the cool stone beside the stove. She wiped her hands on a spare cloth. The smells of cooked vegetables and meat engulfed the two like a blanket.

  “When I became an Elder, it wasn’t just a promise to you and Yu Lin.” Bai Feng looked Yu Di in the eyes. “You made me stronger, but you also brought me the terrors from those that follow me. We might be cultivators, but we’re only humans who fear death.”

  “I know,” Yu Di said. “For the first time…”

  He sat down on a chair.

  “For the first time, I realized that I am not invincible,” Yu Di continued. “And it’s not the fear of death, but the fear for my daughter. Her mother has already abandoned her. Her grandfather won’t last much longer than me and—”

  “Your daughter will not be alone. She has all the other disciples.”

  “She won’t have anyone to protect her. She’s only four, despite how mature she seems. Maybe this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have stayed in the sect. I should… no, I can still run away from this death trap. I can be gone tomorrow.”

  “I’m sorry, but you know you can’t do that.”

  Yu Di wanted to slap himself. The moment he took Yu Lin’s place, the government official’s technique hit him instead. Even now, he can feel the foreign Qi inside him. He had never faced a sort of non-lethal technique before that intimately marked him.

  “I can pass it to someone else,” Yu Di said. “That’s how you got it.”

  "Except the only way to do that is if the original person dies.” Tears fell from Bai Feng’s eyes.

  “Wait, what happened?”

  “One of the chosen disciples had a panic attack and died. When Sect Leader Gu said he needed a volunteer, none of the Elders stepped up. Some of them began volunteering others. I couldn’t watch them devolve into bickering and hate so I volunteered myself.”

  Yu Di had a feeling that was the case. This woman was too kind-hearted for her own good.

  “Then that means my daughter is going to be alone if I die. First a curse, now this. Life is starting to really irritate me.”

  Bai Feng passed a bun to Yu Di.

  “Maybe we’ll win. Then everything will be fine, won’t it?”

  “Or maybe I’ll grow wings and flee this place with my daughter.”

  Bai Feng shrugged.

  Yu Di ate the bun, making sure to chew slowly. It was a roast pork bun and it tasted sweet. He realized he hadn’t eaten in a while and this was exactly what he needed.

  It helped him think.

  “We only have two weeks. Let’s organize the troops and see where we stand.” Yu Di took out his silver necklace over his gray tunic.

  “Are we training in the pocket dimension again?” Bai Feng asked. “I’m sure that would give a great boost for all the disciples.”

  Yu Di shook his head.

  “I’m going to train inside for the next two weeks. No one can find out about this item.”

  “You’re going to train?”

  “I’ve unlocked my curse up to 11%. I think it’s time to see how far up I can go with that. Maybe I can reach the Core Formation stage. Then we would have a better chance to succeed.”

  Bai Feng’s eyes widened.

  “Do you think 11% of your full power means you’ll be at Core Formation? That’s the highest stage we have in this sect.”

  “I hope so. I have something else for you to do.” Yu Di took out another Qi contract. “I need you to get as many of the participating disciples to sign this.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Bai Feng shook her head.

  “That’s a slave contract. I won’t have anyone in the sect turned into that.”

  “Read it.”

  Bai Feng looked it over.

  “This is only to ensure that they listen to my commands during the festival and will be null and void once the results are revealed by the government official.” Bai Feng handed it back to Yu Di. “That is very specific.”

  Yu Di smiled.

  “I’m not evil. I just want to stack the deck in our favor. We can’t have Elder Li or Sect Leader Gu make bad decisions. You want to win too, don’t you?”

  Bai Feng nodded.

  “I know what’s at stake. Not only our lives, but also the fate of our sect.”

  “Exactly. So get them to sign it and promise them anything they want for after the festival is over. I’m almost certain I can make it happen.”

  Bai Feng eyed the contract in Yu Di’s hand.

  “Fine, but only if you don’t force me to make them do anything.”

  “I would never dream of it, which is why I made sure that you were the one named in the contract.”

  Bai Feng pocketed it and returned to cooking.

  What Yu Di didn’t tell her was that the Qi contract had the small stipulation that anyone that signed would have to give their lives for Bai Feng if she was ever threatened. This also included Yu Di himself.

  He needed to protect his daughter, so he chose to go to the festival himself. Now he had to protect her godmother so that she could take care of her when he was gone.

  Being a father was so tiring. Maybe dying during this festival wouldn’t be so bad.

  Yu Di looked out the window at his daughter, running around and chasing the other disciples with a stick. Laughing to the point of crying.

  No, it would be terrible. He had to make it back.

  “Elder Bai, can you gather everyone in ten days? I wanted to go over strategy with them. Also, while I’m inside the pocket dimension, could you protect my daughter and the necklace?”

  “Of course.”

  Yu Di handed Bai Feng one of his most treasured possessions. He never thought he’d be doing it willingly, but he had to trust Bai Feng.

  “Yu Lin, come here,” Yu Di yelled out the window.

  Yu Lin whacked another older disciple with a stick a few times before dropping it and fleeing the scene. Her boisterous laughter trailed behind her as the other boy chased after her with the same stick. But the moment he saw Yu Di he stopped.

  “I apologize for my daughter’s unruly behavior,” Yu Di said.

  “It’s nothing senior Yu,” the boy said. “We were just playing. I’m going to go now.”

  Yu Lin stuck her tongue out at the boy.

  What was Yu Di going to do with this girl? He couldn’t teach her all the manners she would need in the remaining two weeks. He guessed he would just have to resign himself to having a wild girl for a daughter, especially since he most likely will die in the festival.

  “Little Lin, I want you to listen to me,” Yu Di said. He had to physically turn her around so she would stop mocking the boy walking away. He was smiling, so Yu Di doubted that there was a true blood feud between them. “I’m going to go away for a few days within the pocket dimension. Be a good girl and help Elder Bai, okay?”

  “No Baba, I want to come with you.” Yu Lin grabbed her father’s sleeve.

  Yu Di smiled, putting an emphasis on turning his face into an evil smile.

  “Are you sure? I’m going to send monsters after you in there and all other mean things.”

  Yu Lin shrank away for a second.

  “No, I want to come too. Don’t leave me.”

  Yu Di patted her on the head.

  “I’m not leaving you. I’m going to train. I need to get strong for the festival. If you’re in there, your cuteness will be too distracting.”

  Yu Lin’s tears came faster than any demigod level move Yu Di had ever seen. It was both magical and fearsome. And Yu Di had seen some crazy things in his travels.

  “Look little Lin, you will have to trust your Baba. I will come back for you. Just stay with Elder Bai for ten days. If you want, I’ll even show you how you can talk with me. How does that sound?”

  Yu Lin perked up from that.

  “You will teach me to talk with you in there? How? Will I sound like some grumpy old man?”

  Yu Di smiled. He cherished his daughter’s curiosity.

  “Elder Bai, let Yu Lin hold the chain. I’m going to give you two access to the chain so you can communicate with me.”

  Yu Di tapped the jade figure on the chain, making it glow orange. With a mental thought, he allowed the two other people holding onto the chain administrative access. So while he was in the pocket dimension, his life would literally be at their mercy.

  Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

  “Now you can talk with me whenever you touch the chain,” Yu Di said.

  Yu Lin took the chain from the two adults and twirled it in her hands.

  Yu Di smiled, holding back a grimace. That necklace was worth as much as some cities within the empire and his daughter twirled it like a toy.

  “Little Lin, give it back to Elder Bai.”

  Yu Lin frowned, but did as was asked.

  “Elder Bai, I’m going to enter the pocket dimension. I’ll come out in ten days. Please be sure to gather as many signatures as you can.”

  “I will. Be safe.”

  Yu Di pulled Yu Lin into a tight hug. He wasn’t going to go in there without that much at least.

  “Can you be a good girl for Elder Bai?”

  Yu Lin nodded, hugging him back as hard as she could with his arms wrapped around his neck. This was probably going to be the longest time he stayed away from her.

  Not counting the first three years of her life of course.

  Yu Di checked his inventory. He had enough food to last a month if needed inside his storage ring. Although he doubted he’d need much if he entered the Core Formation stage. His trident stood at the ready, but he didn’t need to practice his fighting skills. Not yet anyway.

  Yu Di reached out and touched the silver necklace.

  “Don’t worry little Lin. I’ll be back soon. I love you.”

  Yu Lin hugged him one more time.

  “I love you Baba.”

  Yu Di patted her on the head. He closed his eyes and focused on the silver chain.

  One moment the smells of Bai Feng’s cooking surrounded him, the next he smelled fresh grass and a cool, gentle summer breeze. The sun caressed him from head to toe and for the first time, he felt it without the shadow of the damned blue diamond floating in the sky.

  This was a world of his own making. It didn’t go far, but it had everything he ever wanted. Well almost. Yu Lin wasn’t here.

  He opened his eyes.

  A sea of murderous bunnies with red eyes, large fangs, and sharp claws stared at him. Standing behind them were animals out of the annals of myths and legends. Each one eying him and his weak body.

  To top it all off, a dragon flew in the sky, its serpentine body winding and coiling around itself. Its claws were easily the size of buildings.

  It made a loud roar and the animals charged at Yu Di.

  This was unexpected.