As the street was quiet again, save for the whispers of the onlookers.
"Aw, and it was just getting good," Seir grumbled. In a blur of motion, she was no longer in the window but standing right next to me. She was lightly poking me in the arm I had used to block the punch. "That was nice and solid."
Gremory appeared beside her. "A waste of time…"
I said to Gremory, "Well, you were the one who suggested this…" Immediately, I received a sharp glare from Gremory. Seir just chuckled.
I ignored them both and turned to the maiden leader. Who was staring at me with wide-open and confused eyes. The man she'd helped was leaning against a wall, while the other maidens were clustered around him, looking at us with a mixture of fear and awe.
"Well," I said, trying for a normal tone. "That's dealt with…Are you…and is he… alright?"
The maiden leader swallowed and said. "Senior…Yu Lei…you…you broke his hand."
"Well, he led with it…" I said flatly.
"Yet…you have no cultivation," she said, as if it were a statement of fact rather than a question. "I couldn't feel any Qi. But that… that wasn't the strength of a mortal."
"You are right!" Seir chirped with her arm slinging around my shoulders. "He's not a mortal! He's our…"
"Seir," I cut her off sharply, "Don't."
I looked at the maiden's group. They had just seen me, maybe a supposed mortal, yet snapped a cultivator's bone all while being backed by two terrifying god-like women.
I swirled my eyes to the man…who was looking at me with just as much terror as the disciples who had fled.
"Are you badly injured?" I asked him, keeping my voice level.
The man flinched but nodded. However, it was the maiden leader who found her voice.
"He will be fine, Senior."
Thank you." She paused as her gaze fixed on the arm I'd used.
Wait, if the Brilliant River Sect was trying to mess with him, does that mean he is a cultivator?
I knelt at his level. I asked him, "Do you seek a sect to join?"
The man looked up at me. "A… a sect, Senior?"
"Yes…surely, you came here to join the sect and cultivate your Qi…. However, you met a wrong group at a wrong time."
"No, Senior…I am just a farmer…who stumbled upon this place by accident. I have no knowledge of cultivation or sects."
I could see the confusion and fear in his eyes. I looked at Gremory behind me. Who was in a bad mood. "Gremory, may you heal him?" I said.
"Huh?" Germory's voice was flat with pure annoyance. "You want me to waste my power when I am in this mood?"
"Yeah…is there any problem?" I said with a flat tone.
Her eyes narrowed at my flat tone. Her voice was dangerously soft, "Yu Lei, you know that I am not some street healer that you could easily command to fix something broken. I am in a foul mood, this city's food is disgusting, and you want me to use my energy… on him?"
"Well, you know what, Gremory, why do you not use your gate to go back home and take some food from there?" I continued, "If you really hate this city food."
Gremory stared at me. The silence was so heavy. Sier, for once, was completely silent and looking between us. Finally, Gremory let out a laugh. The sound made the maiden leader flinch.
"If that's what you want…then…" She snapped a finger. The sound was sharp, like a dry branch breaking.
The man who had been trembling and grasping his bruised ribs suddenly gasped. Her bruise didn't just fade; it vanished as if it were a watercolour painting hit with a splash of clean water. He cautiously moved his arms and then his legs. He was completely healed.
I looked back to thank Gremory. However, as I turned, Gremory was gone. I asked Seir, "Where is she?"
"Ah!" Seir replied, as if it were like the most obvious thing in the world. "She took your advice!"
"My…advice?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah!" She smiled while pointing to the empty air where Gremory had been. "You told her to go home and get food if she hated the food here. So… she did! She just used her gate and poofed! Right back to the house, I bet… For me, I didn't think she'd actually listen. Wow… She must have been really mad… Or maybe she just really wanted those desserts the spirits make…"
I looked at the maiden leader and her group. It looked like their brains were about to melt. They had just witnessed a being of incomprehensible power, who could heal mortal wounds with a snap of her fingers.
"So… she's just…gone?" I said flatly.
"Yup!" Seir said, with her smile suddenly becoming bright and mischievous. She immediately paired her arm with mine. "Which means… she's not here… and I am…will deserve…you…a reward…"
"Seir," I hissed, "we're still in the middle of the street." I went to the man and asked, "How's your body?"
"I…I…" he stammered with his voice trembling. "It's gone! The pain…it's all gone! I'm…I'm…healed! Completely!" He looked at me and Seir. His terror was instantly replaced by an awe. He dropped to his knees and prostrated, his forehead hitting the cobblestones.
I looked down at the farmer. "Get up. Seriously. Stop bowing."
I took both his hands and pulled them so he could get up.
The maiden leader finally spoke out of her mind, which was shaky and thin. "Senior… Your companion… she… she left. Because… because she was in a bad mood… about the food?"
"She's… unique," I said. I turned back to the man, who had risen. "What are you going to do now? You're healed."
"I… I don't know, Senior!" he said with panic in his eyes. "I have nowhere to go! My home… got ransacked by them…I'm just a farmer!"
Her fate is like mine… I asked him, "How about you come with me?"
He stared at me as if I'd just spoken in a different language. "Come… with you, Senior?" he stammered. "But… I'm… I'm just a farmer! I'm not a cultivator."
"It's alright… I believe if you come into my home ground, you will have a chance to start anew," I assured him with a smile.
His eyes widened, and for a moment he just stared. "Senior… you… you mean that?"
"Of course… And what is your name?"
"Jin… Senior." He repeated his name. He looked like he was about to drop to his knees again.
"Alright, Jin." I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "No more bowing. You're with me now…" I looked at others. "Let's eat! After all of this…surely, we could all use a good meal." I went to the maiden group. "Do you guys want to join to eat? Or do you guys want to explore this city?"
The maidens exchanged glances before the leader spoke up, "We'd love to join you for a meal, Senior. Thank you for your kindness."
"So, do any of us know any good restaurants?" I asked, scanning the group for suggestions.
I saw one person raise their hand, but I hated it. It was Seir, "Me!"
"No… not you," I said.
Seir pouted. "Aww, why not? I know all the best places! I saw them all when I… you know… looked."
"That's exactly why not; as you look, a problem will come after that." I turned to the maidens. "Do you…do you know a place? Somewhere… quiet."
One of the maidens raised her hand, and I pointed at her. She spoke. "Ah… yes, Senior. There is a respectable restaurant; it's just two streets over. It's clean, the food is good, and it's… quiet."
"Perfect… then lead the way."
The walk to the restaurant was strange, like a silent parade. Seir just latched onto my arm and was humming a tuneless, cheerful-like song. Jin, our new 'farmer' or maybe disciple, walked a few paces behind us with his eyes darting around. I glanced at him; it felt like he was from a rough village. The group of maidens walked with us in their silence.
~
When we arrived, the owner, a big man who took one look at the maiden cultivator robes, bowed respectfully. Then he saw Seir, and his jaw went loose. He saw me, disbelief…
One of the maidens went to him, it seemed, to talk about the room. In a few seconds, she went back and told us there was a clean and spacious room upstairs. So we were led upstairs. The room was a clean, spacious, private room, furnished with a long low table and plush cushions set on the woven floor mats. We all sat, and immediately Seir slid next to me and claimed the spot beside me. I saw Jin standing nervously by the door, clenching his hands.
I called him. "Jin. Sit. You are not a servant. You eat with us."