Maybe they were harmless. Maybe I could forget about them and never run into them again, but maybe not.

This is why I hate unknowns. Unknowns disrupt stability. My plans had been simple. Now I need to deal with this “king”.

So much to do, so little time. I need to speed up my plans.

I looked at my map and continued on to a house marked by a pentagon. I perched myself on a tree outside their property. The mansion was large but not as large as I expected from a pentagon student. Weeds and overgrown bushes tangled their yard. This was more like something I would expect of a cross. I peered into the house through the windows and discovered a female silhouette. All I was missing for the classic pervert’s beginner kit was binoculars.

I’m spying. This is manly men’s work, James Bond stuff. Don’t question it.

Nobody came out, so I sat in the tree and waited. I didn’t wait when the other students weren’t already in their gardens, but this was a pentagon rank.

Besides, I needed to think about the conversation I heard in that square’s house. They mentioned being afraid of their king tripping. It was a weird thing to worry about, to say the least. Was this king a toddler? Was he just clumsy? Or maybe I was overinterpreting. It probably didn’t mean anything.

The door to the balcony opened, and a young lady wearing blue robes walked out. “Huh,” I whispered. It was Xing Chen Wei, the Blue Fire Sect Head. The girl who brought me to the city.

She carried out a small tea set. She put the tea set on the balcony table. Her movements had a certain grace to them. She sat and poured herself a cup of tea. Her blue eyes, matching in color with her robes, stared into the trees in front of her property. She couldn’t see me.

She drank another two cups in silence. I stifled a yawn and my mind started to wander. I was thinking about if pig milk was a thing when I heard a small sniffle. I perked up and focused on her. A tear crept down her cheek. She muttered a name that I didn’t know.

She muttered a stream of names. The tears came faster after every name. My name, “Grandmaster Jin,” was part of that list. She was sobbing and making choked hiccups when she finally stopped.

This is it.

Powerful, not a bad person, and in need of help.

She went back into the house. I decided to go as well, I’d seen everything I’d come to see.

I went back home and found Hui Ming. I put my hands on her shoulders and guided her to the sofa. I got on the sofa and pat the spot next to me. She sat. “Do you remember Chen Wei?” I asked.

“Naturally. I wouldn’t be with you if the Crimson Fire Sect elder didn’t try to assassinate her.” She beamed and her dimples popped out. Her expression was rather inappropriate, in my opinion, considering what happened back then.

“I saw her while I was spying around. She was crying about something while saying the names of a bunch of famous people. I was in there too.”

“Spying around?”

“I’ll call it scouting. I’m making a list of people we’re going to help, and she’s on the list. They’re students I’ll be raising. Like disciples, but not really. Anyway, tell her I’m here next time you see her. Tell her not to make a fuss, too. ”

“Yes master,” she said.

“Moving on. Have you heard about any kings in the Endless Flame School?”

“No. Why?” she asked, and I told her about what I saw at the square class’s mansion.

“I’ll observe the square class student and tell you if he does anything suspicious. Do you think they’ll be a threat?”

“There’s no telling at the moment. I don’t think we’ll end up fighting,” I said, trying to be optimistic. “They’ll do their own thing and we’ll do ours. We’ll crush them if it comes to it, but try to avoid conflict with them. I kinda want to stay at this school, after all. ”

“I’m at the eighth stage now. I’ll be at your side next time you fight,” she said. “I’ll be useful this time.”

“‘This time’? Didn’t I say we’ll be avoiding a fight?” She looked like she wanted to say something, but I continued, “But you’re right, we need to be prepared. I want to get as much done here as possible before anything bad happens. I have a project for you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m glad you’re so enthusiastic. I’m opening Jin’s Medicine House again.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my underground garden. It was cooler than above. The air was fresh and had that forest smell I liked.

I sprinkled some seeds on the floor. They sprouted into five glorious stalks of augmented cannabis. She poked it. “Is this raw incense?”

“N- yes, let’s go with that. This is the best incense you’ll find in this city. Well, spirit incense is better, but not by much. How much do you think these will sell for?”

“I don’t know until I test it. Between fifty thousand and five million?”

I used five hundred mana and a treefather sprouted next to me. It looked like a regular tree, except for the dozens of holes poked into it’s thicker branches. The holes were made to be filled with soil and a seed. I put seeds in all of them and they became fully grown stalks of incense.

I gave her a wooden box. “Sell the pills in this box and the incense on the tree. We’ll buy one of the buildings in the alchemy district once we have enough money. We need to do this as fast as we can. We’ll open shop as soon as possible.”

"I'll start right now."