Shawn and Yu walked to the shopping district, but instead of entering the large mall-like structure on the surface, she led him to a stairway that stretched into a dark tunnel. The lights occasionally flickered as they walked down the cold tunnel, going deeper into the ground. People from all walks of all life rushed up and down the stairs, carrying large wooden crates.

He would have been worried that he was about to get mugged if the tunnel wasn’t so well-trafficked. Plus, his confidence was at an all-time high after beating up the Crimson Lotus Gang. He felt like he could punch a hole through a concrete wall. With [Qi Enhancement] he probably could. Aside from the top talents of Najian, there wasn’t much for him to fear anymore.

Which wasn’t as impressive as it sounded. All the truly talented and powerful people were living the high life behind the sect’s golden walls. Being the best of the worst wasn’t much of an accomplishment.

“Where are we going? When you said we were going shopping, this isn’t what I had imagined.” Shawn said. A man sprinted up the stairs with a large box, his wild movements made it shake erratically. Its top came unhinged, letting its contents burst into the air. Shawn's perception of time slowed as a barrage of giant carrots flew towards him. He tilted his head to the side, easily dodging the projectiles.

The man swore as the three foot long carrots began to roll down the long flight of stairs.

“Underneath the shopping district is a fresh food market. They have the best cheap ingredients here. Normally, I wouldn’t come here this late, but I ran out of fish.” They reached the end of the flight of stairs, revealing rows of vendors. Fresh animal products hung from hooks and wide arrays of vegetables filled straw baskets. People shouted passionately as they haggled for the best deals possible.

Shawn smiled as he took in the atmosphere. It was filled with life, which was rare for Najian. It reminded him a bit of the Scorpion’s Den. “I like it here, though it's a bit of a long commute just for some fish.”

Yu laughed. “It’s not that I’m in love with fish or anything like that. I run a food stand, so I need to restock before business tomorrow.”

“Oh, that makes a lot more sense. You didn’t strike me as a fishy type of person.” Shawn stopped himself from cringing as she didn’t laugh at his joke. Be normal. “So, how’s the food stand business going.” He innerly cheered, proud of himself for asking such a normal question.

“It’s alright, but it’s not what I came to Najian to do. It’s just a way to make money till the next sect entrance exam.” They pushed their way through the crowded market. Shawn’s stomach churned as they passed a merchant that openly displayed monkey brains. The sight was disturbing, they were too closely related to humans. Plus, he liked monkeys. They were cute. “I assume you’re here for the same reason.”

Shawn nodded. There wasn’t much keeping him in Najian other than a few friends in the Scorpion's Den. If he got the chance he would gladly join the sect. It would be stupid not to. From what he had heard it was practically a utopia within their tall walls. “I’m working at a tavern right now, but that's just a way to put food on the table till I get my chance to get into the sect. I wish the next entrance exam wasn’t so far away.”

Congratulations! Your skill, Deception has reached level 10.

Long gone were the days where he couldn’t sell a lie to save his life. [Deception's] increased level drastically improved his ability to lie. Though he wasn’t sure what part of what he said had been a lie.

[Deception] whispered into his mind, not dissimilar to how a fragment of consciousness would. His knowledge expanded and he came to a realization: the best lies are mixed with the truth. It was a rather simple truth that he should have realized earlier, but he was notoriously bad at lying without the skill's help. Etar’s shard of consciousness woke up and disagreed. No, the strongest lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

Shawn ran through a mantra of personal facts to ground himself. Etar fell silent and strangely the skill's influence also diminished.

“Me too, I wish it could come sooner. It feels like I’ll die of old age before the next sect entrance exam,” She paused. “Did you know the sky is clear within the sect? I’ve heard you can actually see the sun.”

Just a few months ago, he wouldn’t have been impressed by something as mundane as a clear sky, but now it was almost enough to make his jaw drop. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed it.

“Really? That sounds nice. Someone told me that they give out cultivation materials to their members for free. Is that true?”

“Ya, I’ve heard that they give all their members millions of Yi coins. All of them have flying cars. They even have…” she stopped talking as they reached a stall with rows of fish laid out on ice. She immediately entered negotiations with a fishmonger.

Shawn pinched his nose, the scent of raw fish wasn’t appetizing. The fish weren’t the only thing that smelled fishy to him, the rumors about the sect sounded too good to be true. Before he could think too deeply about the topic, Yu dropped a large box of fish into his arms.

He bounced it up and down with nearly no effort, despite the fact that the box weighed at least 50 pounds. Yu motioned for him to follow her. ”Let’s go, I don’t want the fish to go bad.” Shawn followed, feeling like a pack mule.

“Why do I have to carry the fish, it smells bad. Can’t you just use your threads to carry it?”

She scratched the back of her head, a faint blush crossing her face. “Sorry, I don’t want to stain my dress, if some fish juice gets on it, it’ll stink forever. Plus, I can’t maintain the threads for that long.”

Shawn grumbled but kept carrying the box. With his newly improved physique carrying a small box wasn’t that big of a deal. He wasn’t even breathing hard. People bumped into him as they pushed through the crowd, causing the box to wobble, but he managed to not spill anything.

They stopped in front of another small stall. Curled herbs hung from its bamboo frame, releasing an enticing aroma. A young boy, no older than 13 shuffled green leaves around the counter. He looked up and his eyes widened in shock.

“Yu, what are you doing here? You gotta leave before Laoban sees you,” the child said, the words slurring together as he rushed to get them out.

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be in and out before he notices. Give me the usual spices and I’ll be out of your hair.” Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn noticed a group of men pushing through the crowd headed towards them. His heart sped up as he prepared for conflict.

Yu continued negotiating with the boy, unaware of their approach. Shawn poured Qi into his eyes and activated [The Many Eyes of Infinite Reflection]. His vision split four times. Using his skill, he spotted two separate groups of people rushing towards them.

Congratulations! Your skill, The Many Eyes of Infinte Reflection has reached level 2.

His vision split once more, giving him an additional viewpoint. Surprisingly, the Qi cost remained the same. He could keep the skill up for a long time.

“We should go, people are heading towards us.” Yu nodded and came to a deal with the child.

He handed her a basket of herbs and spices. “Now leave before…” the words died in his throat as his face paled.

Under the pressure of men in black suits the crowd cleared. Out of the opening came an old man with a nasty scar running through his eye. The crowded market seemed to fall silent as the man opened his mouth. “Yu, I told you to never come back here.” The air became thick with killing intent. Shawn’s heart raced, he had never experienced anything like it before. “Stop wasting your talents on that silly food stand of yours and join us.”

Yu adjusted her straw hat, her muscles coiling in preparation for rapid movement. “Laoban, you know I’ll never rejoin that gang of yours you call a business. I refuse to hurt the innocent again.”

Shawn kept careful track of everyone’s movements with [The Many Eyes of Infinite Reflection], he was ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

A man in a suit stepped forward angered by Yu’s comment. Laoban held out his arm, stopping the man from approaching. “It’s in your blood, you took to the business like a natural even at a young age. Can you really say you didn’t enjoy it? Hurting others is the only thing you are good at.”

Dark chains of fabric formed behind her back, their tips sharp enough to pierce through the ground. “I’m different now. I’ve changed. I’m no longer a scared little girl you can manipulate.”

The man did not respond, instead, he summoned a ball of fire. He held it in his hand as it danced. Just as Laoban was about to launch his attack, an old woman slapped his hand, dispelling the flames.

“Setting someone on fire isn’t a good way to persuade them to rejoin the business dear,” the old woman said.

Laoban grumbled for a moment, a vein on his forehead bulging dramatically. “Fine, leave this place at once. Don’t come back till you are willing to rejoin the business.”

Yu and Shawn took that as their cue to leave and quickly left. The crowd of shocked onlookers parted before them, scared of earning their ire.

“Thanks for not leaving me back there. Laoban can be a real piece of work at times. He normally isn’t here, so I thought it would be safe to pop in for a couple minutes without getting caught,” she said as they climbed the stairs.

“Don’t worry about it, I just did what any good person would do.”

She laughed. “It’s rare to find good people in this city. It’s easy to get swept away by Najain and end up a criminal.” Shawn sent her a questioning look from behind the large box of fish he was carrying. “I left that life behind me, it’s something I regret.”

Shawn hummed deep in thought. Intellectually, he knew he was a part of a gang, but he didn’t feel like a bad person. He had done what he needed to do to survive. Nothing more, nothing less. Visions of the man he had killed during the raid on the Crimson Lotus flashed through his mind. He could practically see the man’s bright red blood leaking onto the floor.

He shook his head and reassured himself he wasn’t a bad person. He had only hurt those who had deserved it. The members of the Crimson Lotus were all terrible people, they knew what they were getting into when they willingly joined the gang.

I’m different from them. “I can respect that,” he said.

She smiled. “You gotta come to my food stand some time, I’ll give you some free stuff as a reward for carrying that for me.” They exited the dim tunnel and wove their way through the crowded streets of the shopping district.

“Definitely, I won’t say no to a free meal.” They made idle conversation as they walked back to the train station. Time flew as Shawn’s naturally awkward demeanor shed itself and he began enjoying her presence in earnest. She had a way of making him feel at ease, maybe it was a [Skill].

He smiled as the train pulled into the station, he was glad he met Yu. “Will you be alright?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m used to thugs bothering me.”

Shawn frowned as he put down the box of fish. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that, gangs like the Crimson Lotus are a stain on society. The world would be a better place without them,” he said, surprising himself with the intensity with which he said the words.

“It’s not just the Crimson Lotus, a day doesn’t go by without some idiot trying to harass me. Just the other day some fat ass from the Scorpion’s Den tried to rob my food stand. Can you believe that? Like what did he think he was going to steal; a fish skewer?”

Shawn’s mouth hung open as felt the bare skin on his neck where he usually wore his scorpion necklace. Someone must have been impersonating the Scorpion’s Den. They were criminals, but they weren’t bad people. They would never try to rob an innocent person.

A worm of doubt dug its way into his mind. He had never actually seen how the Scorpion’s Den made their money. They couldn’t be funding the whole organization with a simple tavern. Etar’s shard of consciousness protested, trying its hardest to remove the doubt.

Yu hugged Shawn, causing him to flinch. All rational thought left him. “Thanks for helping me out today. It means a lot.” She picked up the box of fish and hopped on the train. Shawn struggled to form words, too distracted by the memory of her warm body pressing against his. “Don’t forget to visit my food stand!”

He numbly waved goodbye. The train doors slammed shut and the vehicle left the station.

The neon lights of holographic advertisements flickered behind him. He sighed, his work wasn’t done for the day. He still had to investigate the building Heiki had been interested in. He would have time to look into whether what Yu had said was true later.

He didn’t want it to be true.