As we get closer, I can sense several hidden people around. The one closest to us appears to be a simple shrub. Somehow, they’ve hidden themselves perfectly… though I cannot tell how. Unconsciously, my eyes flicker to shrub and I can feel them look back.

Shit, shit, shit.

Quickly, my eyes shoot straight ahead of me. However, I can’t help but glance at two others nearby to see if they are about to move. Seeing that they don’t, I try to act relaxed. As my eyes focus again on the older woman, I can see Gong bowing to her, with Ai and Lin following suit. I just manage to mimic them in time to match their bows.

Almost subconsciously, I can just barely see the outline of the bow for myself, using my shadow scan. It looks like my daily scanning practice hasn’t been going to waste.

Gong speaks first, “Aunti—” I can practically feel a wave of heated irritation come from the woman, even with my head bowed.

I can practically hear Gong gulp.

“I-I mean, Big Sister Crane.” The heat goes away, as if it was never there. Note to self, get the terms of address correct for older people.

The older woman responds with a strangely elegant and silky voice, “Oh, Gong. It is quite nice to have you by. You should visit me more.” She gives a slightly exaggerated sigh. “Come on, come on. Stand up straight for your sister.”

She motions to have us all stand up. As I rise, I get a better look at her. She appears to be a traditional Chinese woman, perhaps in her late 30s. Which in this world must mean sh… I better not finish that, even in my own head.

As I jump out of my thoughts, I can see her smiling softly at me. A shiver goes down my spine.

Yep. Good choice.

She smiles even wider and looks at Gong. Somehow, I sense her smile softening as she looks at her.

“You are looking good. Healthier. You must have been eating more! I’ve been telling you, if you eat more, you’ll feel and look better. I mean look at me, I eat as much as I want and I still have this dynamite body.”

Gong looks like she wants to say something, but knows it isn’t the best idea.

‘Big Sister Crane,’ for her part, smiles at her own comments, before a slyness comes over her.

“Don’t tell me, this new youthfulness from you, is because you’ve captured this young man’s heart and want to get married?”

Both Gong and I freeze, our minds stopping in their tracks. Gong’s face is completely red, and she begins to stammer.

Miss Crane seems pleasantly surprised and teasing, “Ohoho, I wasn’t actually expecting for that to be the case---”

“Nononono, h-h-he’s jus’ a f-‘tch’-wiend is all.”

With a huge, entertained smile, Miss Crane continues “Ohhh, so is that the case, hmm? Well, I will leave it alone for now.”

Both Gong and I relax before she continues with, “Though if you want the wedding, we could do it tomorr-”

“N-no, that’s fine. Not ye… I mean, won’t need it.”

For my part, I’m a little in shock.

I never thought such a scene would happen to me. It is honestly a little unreal, to have a giant spider woman twisting around with a red, embarrassed face.

For me.

While the spider portion isn’t so much my kink, Gong as a whole is pretty amazing.

Honestly though, it feels great and the thought definitely isn’t unpleasant.

I can see Big Sister Crane, genuinely smiling at me. I look away in embarrassment.

Though, I still need to sort out my own feeli- wait, can she read minds?

When I look back at Mis--- Big Sis Crane, she seems to be looking up at the sky… not at any of us.

Suspicious.

A silence comes over the group. While I can’t exactly hear it, I feel like one of the bush guys gives a cough. It feels like a shiver in the air, if anything. My eyes twitch in his direction.

Almost as if that was a signal, the woman sighs.

“It really is good to see you again, Gong. I really do hope you will decide to come by more often. Having you nearby is nice…” She stops to glance at Gong directly. They seem to share an infinitesimal moment of intimacy, their eyes warm and relaxed.

After that pause, she continues.

“While I was hoping for a social visit, it seems that may not be the case, this time.

“But.

“Since you are here, I suppose that means you have something serious to tell me,” she says, as her demeanor slightly changes. It feels more businesslike now.

At this change in atmosphere, Gong also seems to switch to business mode. “Yes. First of all, these are my friends. They can’t share their identities at this time, because of certain reasons. Though, I would trust them with my life.” She says this in complete seriousness. The way she said it is a bit weird though, as if this is a statement of sorts.

However, something seems to be conveyed to Miss Crane as she gives a nod. “That’s good to know. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” She continues looking at Gong, “You remember what I had said before though, right?” Gong nods. “Okay. Good. You have something else to say, so hurry.”

"Well, there was something I wanted you to know, before anyone else finds out.”

Miss Crane’s eyes squint, before she responds with, “Well, you know how I love free information. What do you have?”

“I’ve made an extensive amount of progress on my project. I think I can start it soon.” The woman appears to instantly suck in a breath of cold air.

Soon after, she seems to get serious. “You can control them?” “Yeah, I’m just about there.”

Miss Crane nods to herself a few times, appearing to come out of business mode, slightly.

“In that case, I’ll see if I can update your positioning. This is good, very good. They were just beginning to get antsy.”

She follows up with, “Still be careful though. You know what happens out here.”

Gong quickly nods and appears serious. “Yes. Thank you for the advice, Big Sister Crane. As always, I am hon-”

“Stop that, there is no need for that between us. Even during business and especially now.”

She waves her hand, and an attendant runs in from the store.

How did she notify them? They were nowhere near her…

With a glance back at us, she speaks “You should hurry and finish your errands. With this change, there will a lot to do. For both of us.”

Gong bows to her, as we also stand and bow to her.

Something just happened and I believe I got some context… but there is a lot I am missing here.

As we head out, I can no longer see the men using my scan, hidden along the area. The things they were hiding in are still there. I’m not sure if it’s a failing of the scan or if they bypassed it. Maybe they left so quickly, that I couldn’t even register it. I’ll need to do more testing.

Something tells me to not bring this up to anyone, though.

Before we actually head back out to the street, though, Big Sis Crane stops us with some measured, quiet words.

“Oh, and Gong? You should remember to limp a little more and to replace your wraps from now on. Otherwise, people may suspect something.”

She can tell she was healed from just that?!

Gong just mutely nods her head in affirmation, almost as if she assumed she would already know.

Definitely need to be cautious around her.

I can practically hear the giggle from her direction, behind us.