I turn back to Shi, feeling a little more confident… but also a little ashamed.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do here. If you could help make sure things don’t get too crazy, that would be a massive help.”

“I can do that.” She nods with confidence.

While I’m not sure of her status, Shi can’t be something simple, that’s for sure. I’ll be relying on her keeping them from dragging me away.

Stepping closer to the water tanks, I observe the situation. The women passing out cups and performing the logistics, seemingly are ignoring me and the giant spider.

My scan reveals that this is not fully true, as one woman slips away to dart down a nearby alleyway, glancing back in my direction.

Well, I better get started soon, before whoever they are reporting to gets moving.

I search out where the injured women are, finding them near the bathrooms.

It appears that there is a lot of women laid out and treated near there, using different poultices and bandages. Strangely though, this seems to be more the result of a concerted effort, than anything else.

I can overhear some whispered talk, “Those red striped bastards, they are always rough when they come in. This time they’ve come too far.”

Another woman nods, adding, “I wish we weren’t shifted over here today… this isn’t good.

“They think that just because they are a bit strong, they can do anything. Truly they are people who do not know the immensity of heaven and earth. You’ll see sister, Wu Qing will extract a price from them. She always does.”

One story is told this way, but I can also hear another side. Only with my intuitive awareness, was I able to hear the whispers of the older logistics women and their thoughts.

“They really went too far this time… they must either be desperate or confident.”

There’s a pause.

“Do you think they know about Wu Qing?”

“Shush, you old fool. Aren’t you done farting? There’s no way they would know about something like that. It’s likely just because of that young upstart gang.” The older woman looks around quickly and then at the spider and I, before glancing down.

“Now be quiet, especially around outside parties. You’re lucky that no one heard you, let alone outsiders or we’d already been punished by the higher ups.”

Hmm… I don’t get the ‘farting’ comment. Must be another figure of speech. However, it looks like there are some deeper machinations going on…

On the surface, at least, there has been some carryover effects from the battle with the Vermillion Stripes, though.

I wonder whether they are lashing out at the Yellow Sashes because of their support of our group. It’s seems quite stupid to do so. At their own spot.

Unless, the group has something on their leader, that allows them to not police their members. It sounds like this wasn’t a one-time thing, but Wu Qing is able to get compensation for whatever is done.

I’m glad I took the inner roads, to avoid them. If I met them on the streets, who knows what could have happened.

After thinking a bit, I come back to seeing Shi looking at me in curiosity. Oh, right.

“Shi, I’m thinking about trying to help them out a bit. Would you be able to smooth things over, so I can get the ingredients and space I need to help them?”

With a quick nod, she immediately heads to an inconspicuous woman, standing in the corner near one of the bathrooms. It is a subtle reminder that anyone, anywhere could be somebody important.

As Shi talks to her, I can see the woman’s eyes squint at me, before nodding.

I’m not exactly sure exactly who this is or what Shi said, but I’ll be keeping up my guard, nonetheless.

After a moment or two, the woman comes over to me, gesturing to follow. Quickly walking us to one of the bathrooms, she heads inside after motioning for us to wait.

She emerges after some time with three other women, who leave soon after, holding various clothes and items. One of the women leaving has bright bluish hair, which from my scan, I can tell is completely natural.

Now that I think of it, there really were a very large variety of hair colors and styles among the women I was rushing past earlier. Not all of them seemed like normal hair colors on earth, but now that I think of it, they might have been natural.

As I enter, I can feel something change… like the slightest shiver.

What is revealed to us, is a whitish room with green accents, reminiscent of the blooming of spring.

With a bunch of toilets along the side of the wall.

In the open. Beside each other.

Ah. That’s what it is. I feel like a weirdo, entering a woman’s restroom. Though, my intuitive scan is giving me the indication that I should be careful.

I feel like there are eyes on me. That could just be nervousness or a spiritual sense. I’ll…

As I pass by one of the toilets, I can see a little nozzle pointing out of it.

Is… that a bidet?

I’ve never used one, so that will take some getting used to. Admittedly, I was expecting squat toilets, instead of the European dual flush system. It seems these have covers on them as well, to contain any particles. Well, at least this society has progressed in this area.

The fact that there are no separators, does bother me a little.

…

What was I thinking of earlier?

In the center of the room is a table, while on the left of the room are numerous showers. It seems there are showers both in and out of this restroom area.

The table is surprisingly large, long, and sturdy. I’m not sure what they would use it for, normally.

Shi answers my thoughts, “Normally we use this for brief meetings or to help women who haven’t taken the pills and have gone through with pregnancy. If there’s been an attack, we also are to use these areas as planning areas.”

Planning area? In a bathroom? Well. I suppose this could work. It looks like they keep these continuously clean. Maybe there is some story behind this… but I don’t see it.

Not only that, but there are drains everywhere here.

Gong had said, having water is essential and worthy of invading the caves for.

There seems to be so much here. And the other places, that weren’t a slum, that I’ve visited seemed to be okay with water.

Maybe I just don’t have enough information to judge this and the cave water on. There must have been a reason for Gong to say that. Not only that, but that area seemed special. Particularly, with those fish swimming around and the seemingly endless depths.

“Uh… Will this be a good enough place to heal them from?”

“Oh! Right. Yes, this will definitely work what for what I need to do.”

With a nod, the woman backs up. She then looks over to the door, where another woman is waiting. The woman in the doorway heads out briefly and returns with another woman, who appears to be a blonde-haired, young looking lady. She seems to be cradling one of her hands, which is covered in bloody bandages.

Could it be a hand injury of some sort? What do they expect me to do? I’m not a surgery guy…

As they get closer, I notice the injured woman’s head is down and her face contorted with pain. The woman beside her seems to be looking sharply at her, as if she was in the wrong.

Quickly, she brings the woman over to the table, sitting her on top of it. I look at the surrounding people, but no one speaks.

Do I want to know?

Shit.

I’m already in this. I’ll just take a look at the situation and make a decision from there.

As with other people I’ve directly helped, I walk up to the woman.

“In the vein of expediency, do you mind if I do whatever is necessary to help you with your conditions, to the best of my ability?”

The woman looks up at me, still with a pained and strangely frustrated, face. She nods.

“Alright, let me take a look at your hand.” She shakily removes her other hand and starts to unwrap the bandages. I slow her down and begin assisting with the removal. However, I stop for a moment.

Ah shoot! I should wash my hands!

Looking “Excuse me, could I have a way to continuously wash my hands with clean water?”

With a strange look, the woman who led us in here motions to a surprisingly hidden faucet in the corner. Quickly, I head over and wash my hands there as thoroughly as I can.

With my hands clean, I head back to the table.