Pit Traps.

I never knew how grateful I was that I had a scanning ability until I saw one surprise Gong had set for me in the tunnels.

Along the path to the farms, Gong had set up a pit trap. She seemed to have already notified Ai and Lin earlier about them, but obviously not me.

Since she likely knew that I would send spiders, she filled them with tiny worm creatures. What is pretty bad about these worms is that they're like leeches. More specifically, if leeches not only latched onto you but also crawled under your skin slowly.

Now that I consider it more, they are more like bot flies.

Nonetheless, before I even got close to the hole, I could sense them there, wriggling. Squirming.

Of course, there are other traps that were there, but the only one that really caught my attention was the giant pit of tiny, wriggling bugs. The one that my scan was warning me was somewhat dangerous.

I immediately turned and walked in the other direction.

I don't think the bugs itself is the problem, but how it reminds me of what I've done to my enemies. And the fact that their sole method of attack is to do that, where other insects live and in other ways.

… Who am I kidding? Most bugs survive by chewing through other creatures. I just don't want to think about it.

I pause in the middle of the tunnel. I can practically hear the sigh of Gong at my inner weakness.

I need to go back. I have to learn how to navigate these things types of things.

If I don't do it now, I won't be prepared for later. When it actually matters.

I turn back around and head back towards the traps.

And so, I went back and went through all the traps, including the worm trap. Using my scan, I trained myself on the best ways to avoid them. Using the scan to understand what to look for and to find signs of them, even without using the scan. Of course, I failed one of the spiked spring traps, because of rushing and cried when it slammed into my foot. But Gong and I were able to get it quickly removed and healed.

She seemed simultaneously worried and stern with her actions.

After that was done, surprisingly, the rest of the day was pretty simple. I didn't go out, and all I did was just check over the crops and relax.

I truly tried to take the day to not get involved with too many things and mentally recover from all the stressful things that's been happening lately.

It was quite nice.

The entire week ends up turning out this way, with nothing really occurring. Ai, Lin, and I would sit down occasionally, just chatting. Ai seems to be getting better emotionally, making some progress. Actually sleeping (somewhat).

Though, occasionally, she wakes up for large periods of time. My progress with my awareness actually went up, as I had suspected. Being near Ai at night really kept me at the right level of awareness to get sleep, but still react if necessary.

Gong continues to train me and keep me updated on the workings of the city. Supposedly, Vermilion stripes have lost a tiny bit of land to the Yellow Sashes, but have otherwise been pretty quiet.

There was a bit of a land grab war between the groups, where it seems that the blue bands have effectively taken control of the situation.

Being more connected to the common people, they've leveraged that to have normal people increasing their information network.

The yellow sashes keep the Vermilion stripes in line so they aren't able to retaliate against this blue band uprising. Now, if you wear a red stripe, you have to be cautious in those areas.

The one area that hasn't been touched during all of this has been Gong's area. Over the course of this week, we have seemingly received some demi humans, but still not too many humans. In actuality, a lot of poor demi humans and humans have actually come to the area attempting to live here.

It is actually Gong that is turning them away, as she's been doing serious vetting on who can come in into the village that she's now made.

As I've recently found out, even though Gong has control over a large portion of area, that doesn't mean that she actually controls it, per se. The area around the tiny village she has complete control over. Near the outskirts of the web walls that she's created, not so much. She allows demi humans who had been declined to join the village to live out there, of which there apparently is a significant number.

But, other than that political stuff, though, it really is peaceful.

It's pretty clear there is only one person to blame for all the crazy stuff that was happening since I've been on this planet.

Me.

There were certainly a lot of things that were necessary to do, but the way I approached them, and how I communicated, could have been much better.

Sigh.

Moving on from that, the three of us have started to have much deeper conversations on what going into the sect will look like. What we can probably expect on the test. As well as the different aspects of etiquette expected to be shown between cultivators. Things such as calling people Master or Elder, or Senior Brothers and Sisters were all explained to me and Lin. Gong didn't really need to hear it, since she'd operate outside the system, but listened to it regardless.

Over the course of these explanations and talks, it gradually started becoming more and more real for me.

I'm in a cultivation world, and I'm about to join a sect.

I definitely knew this was all real before. But there's certainly a distinct feeling between fighting for your life and learning that you might be joining an organization that you've only read about in fantasy cultivation novels. One that is simultaneously ruthless, but also a way to advance and become stronger than I could have ever imagined.

It's certainly a strange feeling.

Of course, Ai let us know that her knowledge of this isn't completely accurate, since she's simply going off of things she's read. She promised to continue to search out more information on what we might need to look at, so we can review it before we get there.

Overall, we're making good time. Since according to the adjusted schedule, we are about 2 weeks out from the sect pick up date.

There is one disturbing thing that happened during this week, that caught my attention. And Gong's.

She let me know she was now exploring more areas underground, in case Demi humans had to move underground with us for safety reasons.

She's been noticing signs of the iridescent worms.

While she hasn't found any of their nests yet, she's pretty sure that we will come across them soon and she's actively searching with the spiders.

When I spoke with her a bit more about her concerns, I let her know that regarding the mental side, I can heal the initial damage done to the brain in the mental conditions. However, there is a core piece after their 'human side' comes back, that I may not be able to solve without long-term care.

Even though I say this, I feel that there is further I can go with this ability. That there is a deeper aspect that I can get access to, if I only keep progressing. If keep using the ability and learning more about it.

I might even be able to take care of issues like this for people, without them needing to go through long-term care. Even without that, though, I do feel confident that I might be able to bring them back to a conscious human like status. I checked using my scan, to be sure. The actual issue, at my current level, will be getting rid of their learned responses. Which is why long-term care will be needed. And the thought of that scares me.

I am not looking forward to that.

It goes unspoken between Gong and I, but we don't talk about what we will do with the women that we might save, when we actually find these worms. They will have seen my abilities. Where do they go now?

Even until the end of the week, I mull over these things in my mind.

So, when Gong comes sprinting towards my room, even though I'm anxious, I am somewhat mentally prepared for her words.

"James, I need you to heal my friend! She's been hurt during a confrontation with cultivators."

Ah, that's not exactly what I was thinking of…