Alex soon found himself playing the dutiful boyfriend, patiently waiting while Hao Chan and Yinzi allowed themselves to be swept up in the flattering words, admiring gazes, and enthusiastic urgings of half a dozen high end shopkeepers. Because even if she had hardly ever visited the city proper, somehow Yinzi still had an eye for tracking down the most elite and exclusive looking shops and luxuriously appointed pagodas with no shop-sign at all, trusting in reputation and word of mouth to bring all the customers they could desire. And no matter how aloof were the gazes of merchants and seamstresses alike, a combination of Yinzi’s cheerful patter and unmistakable killing aura when it seemed that she would be denied entrance was all it took to win them the undivided attention of merchants eager to make a killing serving cultivators, no matter their looks. And the cold gazes Alex received, upon entering the store just behind them, quickly turned to the warm smiles of long lost friends when he flashed not just the silver that could have brought sturdy workhorses, well-made spears, and months’ worth of room and board, but actual gold that could have so easily brought him swords from master smiths, warhorses trained for battle, or even suits of custom fitted steel armor.

Yet somehow the fine dresses of finely brushed cotton and luxurious silk ended up costing him more. Far more than even a full suit of fine steel plate. Yet the visions of beauty before him, Hao Chan and Yinzi dolled up by fawning artists as tailors laid the finishing touches on dresses that showed off the beauties before him to stellar effect, had his heart pounding so hard even the beaming shopkeepers were chuckling, quoting outrageous prices that were quickly cut in half with one look at Alex’s brilliant blue eyes radiating a Silver’s intensity that at least a few mortals with talents could sense… but no lower would they go in their prices.

Yet Alex found himself quite happy to pull out not just gold but actual platinum and count it a win, burning the memory of Hao Chan and Yinzi’s mischievous smiles as they held each other’s hands and stared right back at him with a hunger so blatant that even the mistress of the final store they had visited dared to whisper about the exclusive lodgings fit for any lord or ascended cultivator that could be found just up the street.

Alex knew he was in trouble when he felt just the tiniest strain, desperate not to think about the implications too deeply when he turned to the shopkeeper who blanched and paled with whatever she saw in his gaze. “Can you make us identical dresses in burgundy and seafoam?”

The woman hurriedly nodded. “Of course, honored cultivator. We can have it all ready in a week… later today!” She breathlessly assured when a second platinum coin appeared like mana from the heavens. “And would his lordship care for anything...”

Hao Chan flashed a bemused smile. “Sadly, any attempt to clothe our future husband in any attire save what he’s wearing right now would probably be in vain.”

Yinzi giggled. “Father would probably arrange for an epic battle that would tear up half the city and shred any pretender’s attire, if our even Alex dared! If it’s been good enough for him for a thousand years, it’s certainly good enough for him to go seeing the sights with the women of his dreams, after all.”

Hao Chan had the grace to wince when the seamstress and her assistants blanched and trembled.

Yinzi’s knowing chuckle, however, was the farthest thing from an innocent girl’s bubbly naivete. “It’s almost like the mortals before us understand, sister-wife. Unlike all the fools for cultivators who dared to cross Alex in Stepfather’s academy.”

Alex felt an uncomfortable flush come over his cheeks when the assistant who clearly had Ruidian blood flowing through her veins fell to her knees and kowtowed before Alex. The seamstress’s eyes widened. She forbore to chastise her employee, for all that her gaze grew more speculative, her posture more deferential.

“To be fair, I think I look good in my changshan shirt,” Alex said. “The bone buttons are classy, and the color goes well with my eyes.”

“Is there anything further that we can do for you, honored ones?” the shopkeeper carefully asked.

Alex nodded, grinning at his companions. “Actually yes. I would love to capture a portrait of the most beautiful girls I’ll ever lay my eyes upon. I don’t suppose there’s an artist you could recommend?”

The shopkeeper opened her mouth, about to speak, before glaring down at her kowtowing assistant whispering her own urgent counsel.

“Svetlana Hua, Ancient One. You can find her in the Ruidian Quarter.”

She wilted under her employer’s gaze… who immediately flashed a reassuring smile when she saw how intently Alex was gazing at the mixed heritage girl kowtowing still.

“Speak up, child,” the shopkeeper urged in a motherly voice. “The Ruidian Quarter is a large place.”

The young woman flinched, despite the reassuring tone. “Forgive me, mistress, my lord. It’s three blocks northeast, then seven blocks...”

The exasperated owner cleared her throat. “What dear Sarah means to means to say is that she would be happy to escort you there directly! Isn’t that right, Sarah?”

The girl immediately nodded. “Yes, of course, my lady.”

A bemused Alex soon found himself darting through foot traffic at quite the pace as their excited guide led the way. At least until their guide blanched with horror at the massive puddle in the center of the boulevard, slowing down the foot traffic considerably, earning furious cursing from uppity administrators in their rickshaws, and more than a few ladies sighing and lifting up their dresses, forced to muddy their footware.

The assistant seamstress gazed back at them in mortification. “I should have known this part of the block would still be flooded! Please forgive this foolish mixed-blood her unforgivable lack of foresight.”

Hao Chan smiled and shook her head. “It’s quite alright, Sarah. There’s more than one way to cross a pond, after all.”

The girl immediately nodded. “Of course, my lady, I will have several of the porters assist those men over there with their wooden planks...” Sarah’s eyes widened with disbelief the equal of the pair of burly porters carrying wooden logs for the comfort of several castigating Yidushian men in finest silk who were now staring at them in slackjawed awe as Hao Chan and Yinzi sprinted across the water as if it were glass, a grinning Alex now carrying an absolutely speechless Sarah right behind, the poor girl trembling in Alex’s gentle grip before he carefully put her down.

“And not a drop of splattered mud to ruin your own pretty clothes. Now if you would be so kind as to continue to show us the way, Sarah?” Alex kept his focus squarely on the trembling girl, doing his best to ignore the wide-eyed looks and whispered murmurs behind him.

“Those three walked right over the water!”

“You’re seeing things. They walked right through, same as all the fools who care nothing for their attire.”

“But look at their clothes, they’re spotless.”

“Cultivators. They have to be!”

“Impossible. Only one of them is a Trueblood. The others are subhuman. They should never have been allowed to leave their ghetto!”

“The girls are beauties, though. If they offered to play my flute, I wouldn’t say no.”

“Blasphemy!”

Alex snapped his fingers, drawing Sarah’s attention away from the snide comments from the crowd behind them. “We’re in your care, Sarah. If we get there in good time, there’s a few sticky buns in it for you. And silver besides,” he whispered the last softly, lest anyone with less than honorable intentions overhear.

“Of course, honored cultivator. Right this way,” the girl enthused, the flush in her pale cheeks at the gossip of others immediately quenched for the sake of things that mattered far more.

Getting fed and getting paid.

Soon they found themselves along boulevards that weren’t quite so grand, but that put a smile to Alex’s face. Both for the increasing mix of outfits, uniforms, and skin tones to be seen, and for the more relaxed and carefree manner of at least some of the residents.

And perhaps it was nice to catch the occasional flash of a green-eyed redhead or two who cheerfully smiled right back his way. Even if most looked like beautiful mixes of multiple cultures, much like the girl leading them ever deeper into the city, who herself moved with a newfound spring to her step. It was nice to see a quarter of the city not quite so self-important and stuck up as the one they had left behind, replacing stark pristine beauty with a healthy dose of character and verve.

And if a few of the cobblestones weren’t quite so pristinely flat, nor the dividing row of trees quite so perfect as they were along the grandest boulevards they had left behind, Alex far preferred the the lively atmosphere of the block they had entered to any they had strolled along before.

The air now rang with the cheerful notes of a dizi, or bamboo flute, along with the more solemn but still playful air of the erhu, or two-stringed fiddle played by a pair of enthusiastic young street musicians who’s robes were threadbare but music inspired as Alex and his companions found themselves in a grand open air market that was almost a fair.

He couldn’t help grinning wide, an unseen weight lifting off his shoulders as he gazed upon multiple stands selling fresh fruit and vegetables and countless fried treats and skewers of meat that were the heart of good street fare, savoring the spectacle of countless cheerful merchants animatedlyu selling their wares in tiny little stalls and sometimes on mats and tightly woven rugs as well. It was a sight that brought true joy to Alex’s eyes, his heart going out in fond remembrance to that younger version of himself that had been an aspiring apothecary who had never successfully cultivated a day in his life. Back when he had put aside any fairytale-like dream of fantasy cultivation and had simply been happy to have a knack for sensing the potency of the herbs and cuttings his master would stock and the tinctures and pills he helped create. A boy who had just been grateful to have found a path forward that didn’t lead to starvation or despair, chest burning with the hopes of one day becoming a master apothecary of his own, even if Alchemy itself would be forever beyond his reach.

He sighed, giving a nostalgic shake of his head, filled with bittersweet longing for far more innocent halcyon days, when he had first learned mapsign and the lay of this tiny corner of an incredibly vast city, heart filled only with a desire to please his master, learn what he could, and yes, maybe win a certain kitsune girl’s heart.

“Alex, is anything wrong?” Hao Chan’s warm amber gaze met his own.

He forced a smile, blinking back the mist in his eyes. “I remember this block, you know. I used to stop here for a break after a hard day’s running about the city, delivering packages, working for a gruff master who became a beloved friend. He and his daughter taught me everything I know about alchemy.”

“That’s wonderful!” she declared with an excited squeeze of his hand. “Perhaps we can meet them and catch up? I’m sure they will be proud of just how far you’ve grown!”

Alex flashed a bemused smile. “I’m sure they would. Only thing is, their alchemy shop was burned down by an old family nemesis eager to claim my former master’s wife for himself.”

Hao Chan’s eyes flashed. “Monstrous! Are they alright? Have you avenged them?”

Yinzi bounced back into the conversation, her pert little nose, very much the norm for a young Han beauty, despite her striking ears and tail, was twitching adorably. “Do I detect a tale of intrigue and revenge? Oh, look, Sarah’s pointing us to one of the open air stalls!”

Alex laughed, about to fill them in on a tale whose ending they already partially knew, when he abruptly caught sight of a tableau so hauntingly familiar it froze him where he stood.

“Alex?” Hao Chan’s suddenly anxious voice washed over him.

He forced himself to breathe. To ignore the sudden tightness in his chest. The chills racing down his spine as his mine rapidly went over multiple encounters today with faces and personalities so eerily reminiscent of scenes of his life before blossoming as a cultivator.

Because this was Yidushi. A city of warped destiny and haunted fate, where what were twelve years passing for some had apparently been only a couple seasons for others, as Alex spotted cold, disdainful features belonging to the same arrogant saturnine-featured youth who had caused him such terror and pain what now felt like a lifetime ago.

What perhaps really had been a lifetime ago.

Yet even now, Alex was free. He could deny the familiar currents of fate swirling around him in odd eddies and flows.

He was in complete control of his life. And was it so odd that a certain arrogant ‘young master’ would haunt the very quarter of the city Alex had first encountered him in, enjoying the early afternoon where so many took a midday meal? It was Alex who was barging into an old haunt this person had probably walked the streets of for years, after all. Even being led to this very open air market for the work of a master artist was no great surprise. Alex had first found it saving up for charcoal sticks for himself, filled with an eager desire to capture that magnificent blend of grand pagodas, hexagonal edifices, and soaring buildings of polished stone that made up so much of Golden Realms architecture, blending so many architectural elements reminiscent of ancient China, the Angkor period of the Khmer reign, and the capital buildings of multiple Indonesian empires of a millennia ago. All of it striking such a cord of wonder within him, inspiring him to brush up on skills his mother had first taught him as a child and he had let slip by the wayside… until it was too late to learn them at all.

Of course, that particular day had ended with him being maimed, scalped, and nearly killed, all thanks to the owner of the voice even now berating a terrified looking Ruidian.

Lai Wei. In the flesh.

Still with the same arrogant voice, cruelly handsome features, and perpetual sneer. Still with a coterie of smirking lackeys, now surrounding a terrified-looking young woman with crimson hair, bright green eyes, freckles, and not a trace of Yidushian blood in her features.

Somehow Alex wasn’t surprised to find she had somehow gotten on his old nemesis's bad side, though it pained him beyond belief to see his fellow thugs begin to ransack the girl’s obvious stall, Alex catching just a flash of a portrait that was a true masterwork before it, and a dozen others were claimed by a coldly laughing thug Alex even now recognized as Hao Hai, the infernal merchant Hao Zei’s heir.

“Oh, what a beautiful portrait of a girl and her kitten. I’m sure it will fetch a pretty feather when we sell it and all your other paintings, you Ruidian bitch!” Hao Hai sneered, now waving around an artifact that sent chills of outrage demanding Alex ACT, however much he hated being pulled by fate’s currents.

Catching sight of a slave collar being twirled in the beefy boys surprisingly dextrous fingers. And how cruel was Hao Hai’s smirk, beholding the terror in the girl’s gaze.

“No, you bastards have no right to do this!” The frightened girl screamed as a smirking Lai Wei loomed over her.

“You mean I have every right to do this! Administrator Ruizhi and his council have passed edicts outlawing any commoner daring to insult their betters in any medium. Which means you’re retroactively guilty of a most serious offense, you wanton little harlot!” Lai Wei’s face twisted in an ugly snarl. “And that means you now owe a fine of a thousand silver talons that you’re to pay to me, personally! And if you can’t pay up… and I know you can’t, then it’s the collar for you! Now where the hell is that painting you dared to make of me? I want it now!”

Lai Wei clenched his fist, shaking it in the girl’s face while Hao Hai shared a mocking chuckle echoed by their thuggish lackeys, when the girl broke down in terrified sobs.

Hao Chan and Yinzi exchanged knowing looks, before frowning Alex’s way. Shocking him with sudden shame when he saw the frightened youth looking back at him from the reflection in their gazes.

He shuddered and snapped back to himself as both girls gave him too-knowing looks.

“Alex?”

But he could waste no time for words, as two thugs roughly grabbed the now screaming girl’s arms, Lai Wei waving a document radiating an infernal taint Alex was horrified to see while threatening off the outraged looks of a handful of irate looking citizens, paling before Lai Wei’s caustic threats.

Yet what truly sickened Alex just as much as the infernally tainted contract was Hao Hai’s sadistic smirk as he reached down to snap the cold iron collar about the screaming woman’s neck.

And there was no way in hell Alex was going to let that happen.

“If you think you have reason to scream now, bitch, just wait till your in the pens!” Snarled Hao Hai with a vicious grin as he loomed over the crumpled girl, yanking her up by her topknot while twirling the ring of steel and pain.

Quickness check successful. You have disarmed your foe!

Before the bloated strength cultivator with a build so very much like his father’s was sent stumbling back, looking stupidly down at his now empty hands and their brutally twisted thumbs. He got off one desperate cry, more shock than pain, before his eyes widened with horror when he felt an unbreakable grip clench his hair and jerk him straight up. Right before the snap of an enchanted collar could be heard echoing oddly through the entire market of open-mouthed gawkers now gazing right at a winking Alex as the iron collar snapped right about Hai’s now furiously screeching neck.

He then let go, allowing the spite-filled cultivator to stumble on his ass, stepping back with a smirk as Hao Hai struggled with growing panic to free himself of his own collar.

“Hey Hao Hai, how’s it going? All those broken bones heal yet?”

Alex flashed a shit-eating grin that grew all the wider when Lai Wei’s head snapped around to stare his way in absolute astonishment.

“Lai Wei, old buddy! How long’s it been? Wow, it’s been some time since we last exchanged pointers. Have your meridians healed yet? And how’s your old jackass of an uncle doing. Still dead?”

Lai Wei’s face grew blotched and mottled with a killing fury. “You… it’s you!”

Alex winked. “Well, I guess it is. How about that?”

“You should be dead! After what you did… daring to insult me, daring to touch my person, daring to infuse your poison into my flesh … we hired the best. There was nowhere you could hide! You should be dead!” Wild, desperate eyes glared into the crowd. “There is a fifty spirit pearl bounty on this bastard’s head! Go, lowlifes! Tell all your JiangHu contacts! Killing him is legal and authorized in the boundaries of Yidushi! My grandfather himself signed the edict! Should this Ruidian fall, in addition to this reward, I will give whoever brought the news to his executioner a double handful of gold!”

The trio of thugs who had been accompanying the pair glared hungrily Alex’s way, all three of them drawing their dao.

Alex spent only a second meeting the gazes of the crowd of stunned onlookers, and though a few scurried off, most were staring at the tableau like spectators watching a play, and Alex didn’t blame them a bit. If anything, their eyes melted with sympathy when two strikingly beautiful maidens gently brought the clearly terrified artist to her feet before whisking her away, and it was just a coldly smiling Alex against no less than four dao men, Lai Wei’s eyes flashing with bitter hate as he unsheathed his own blade, not even looking a panicked Hao Hai’s way as the boy’s eyes bulged with dismay, thumbs jutting out at painful angles and clearly horrified to find himself collard by the same vile magics he had been so willing to snap about the necks of another.

“You’re going to pay for what you did, Ruidian bastard! Pay and pay until the air is ripe with your screams, and even then I won’t forgive you. I will never forgive you!” Lai Wei’s eyes glittered with bitter fury. “You can never be forgiven, you fucking bastard! You destroyed my gift, my ability to manipulate flame!”

Alex didn’t even bother drawing his own swords, though his arms took on a liquid metal sheen. “Is that a fact?”

“It is! It is indeed a fact! No use trying to deny it now, worm! You’ve already been tried and found guilty!”

Alex shook his head in growing contempt as the four swordsman tried to circle him. “And yet I sense a Bronze’s strength in your limbs, Lai Wei. Almost as impressive as the cowardice infecting your heart is disappointing.”

Lai Wei chuckled coldly. “You might have destroyed my gift for flame, but there are other paths to greatness for the bold and the daring. Paths that I now dare to embrace. Just the first step to getting my revenge on all those who have wronged me!”

“Like the terrified artist you and your thugs were about to collar?”

“Just like her!” Lai Wei hissed. “A filthy Ruidian, just like you! Mark my words, bastard! By the time I’m done, not one member of your kind will dare to set foot in Yidushi, or any other sacred city. Because none of you will be left!”

Alex smirked. “A purge, then.”

“Your damn right there will be a purge!” Lai Wei roared, before charging forward, his blade slicing through the air with vicious sweeping crosscuts showcasing a skill surprising to see in a vindictive spite-filled coward who by rights should be a talentless hack.

Yet he was the farthest thing from it.

And it did him no good at all when a single lightning fast snap-kick sent his blade windmilling through the air.

Lai Wei cried out and stumbled back, eyes bulging at the sight of his own shattered forearm, visibly bent at the point of impact with Alex’s foot, fragments of ivory white bone protruding out of ruptured flesh, the cobblestones now wet with his blood.

Lai Wei enemy collapsed to his knees when the pain of a bone-shattering strike registered past the shock of a blow he hadn’t even seen. Alex then casually caught the still windmilling blade, squinting for just a heartbeat when the entire weapon turned ebony black… then seemed to disappear completely.

Alex then turned to the other three basic cultivator thugs, now looking his way with dismay.

“You sure you boys want to do this?”

The largest turned to the other two. “The way he moved… a Bronze speed cultivator. We have no chance!”

The middle thug flashed a panicked smile. “I suspect our kung fu brother here is far beyond our master’s Bronze.” He cleared his throat, immediately bowing low before Alex. “I fear we are unworthy of trading pointers with you, honored cultivator. With your permission, we will retreat to our quarters and think long and hard upon all our failings for the rest of the day… I mean week.”

Alex smirked, giving a bemused nod. “Sure. You three go do that. And while your at it… you might want to ask yourselves how long you’re likely to last under your present employer, before he throws you away like everyone else in his sad, pathetic excuse for a life.”

“Yes, lord cultivator!” All three whispered as one, kowtowing thrice before him before racing off at a speed that would do any basic cultivator proud.

Then Alex frowned, realizing what was bothering him on top of the sheer dichotomy of the moment.

In a city where varying styles of weapons and armaments was the norm, the uniforms, lamellar armor, even the placement of both truncheons and dao at the basic cultivator’s belts had been identical to those Lady Feng Yu had employed.

“You will pay for what you’ve done, Ruidian filth!” a wild-eyed Lai Wei screamed even as he stumbled back, his face locked in a rictus of pain.

Alex flashed him a pitying smile. “You say that, yet you’re the one cradling a broken wrist.”

His bested foe trembled, eyes flashing with bitter impotent fury. “You’ll be dead before the day is done, mark my words!” Lai declared, before running away as fast as he could bear, cradling his shattered arm, leaving an increasingly panicked Hao Hai shaking like a leaf on the ground, terrified hands clawing at the collar on his neck.