013 Sed Day

  The sed day of the festival was livelier than the first.

  More people flooded the streets, and the tour venue was even more packed. A massive archway marked the entrance, and two liretched out in front of it, separating attendees intanized queues.

  Gu Jie stood just ahead of me, arms crossed, gng around as she made casual observations of the surroundings. Instead of the unlucky robe she wore st night, she now wore a bck robe with red serpent embroidery. Despite the excitement in the air, she remained posed, only occasionally tilting her head at iing sights.

  Then, just a step ahead of us, a otion broke out.

  A man tried to cut into the line, slipping in with the grace of a drunken ox. He didn’t even do it discreetly, just walked up and tried to push himself between two other attehe people around him immediately noticed, and within moments, someone grabbed him by the colr.

  “You dare cut in line?”

  The offender scoffed, his posture haughty. “Do you nnize me? I am Zhao Feng of the—”

  He didn’t get to finish.

  A loud thud echoed as his body smmed against the dirt.

  A burly man, likely a tour enforcer, had struck him so fast the people around us barely caught the movement. Despite being a Martial-Tempering Realm cultivator, the guy didn’t stand a ce.

  The enforcer dusted off his hands aured to a couple of guards. “Drag him out.”

  Zhao Feng, groaning and clutg his ribs, romptly hauled away. No oted an eye.

  I exhaled through my nose. Yellon City really didn’t tolerate nonsense.

  But what the hell is the Zhao people’s problem?

  When it was finally our turn, Gu Jie stepped forward and handed over our tickets to the attendant. She straightened her posture and spoke smoothly. “We’re here to watch today’s event.”

  The attendant, a middle-aged man with sharp eyes, g the tickets and then at us. He waved a nearby guard over.

  “The rules,” the guard began, his gaze sweeping over us, though he lingered on Gu Jie a bit lohan necessary. “No stepping onto the tour grounds. No harassing the mortals. Do not speak to the huests from the major sects uhey address you first.”

  The way he emphasized that st part made it clear that they really didn’t want random nobodies b the sect elites. He then looked Gu Jie up and down, his expression unreadable.

  I frowned slightly. That was a little too much scrutiny for someone just here to watch a tour.

  Gu Jie simply nodded. “Uood.”

  The guard grunted and finally let us pass.

  As we walked inside, Gu Jie took on a more rexed stand gestured ahead. “The City Governor’s estate should be just ahead. The tour grounds are held in his personal arena, so security is tighter the closer we get.”

  “Anything I should know about him?” I asked.

  She hummed in thought before responding, “The City Governor, Lord Ren, has ruled Yellon City for over four decades. He’s ninally from here, though. He ointed by the empire to oversee the region, and while he’s strict, most people respect him. Under his rule, Yellon has flourished.”

  I aking in the sprawling structures ahead.

  The city itself was a mix of a elegand modern prosperity.

  Sturdy buildings with curved rooftops stretched across the ndscape, blending seamlessly with the natural rivers and waterfalls that cut through the area. The tour arena was led just behind the governor’s estate, its t walls visible even from a distance.

  Gu Jie tinued, slipping into a tuide role. “Yellon City was once just a minor settlement, but over the years, it’s bee a major trade hub. Thanks to the Lu ’s roads, erce thrives here. The tour is one of the biggest annual events, drawing warriors, merts, and spectators from all over the ti.”

  I listened as we walked, letting her words paint a clearer picture of the pce.

  Despite all the trouble I’d already entered, I had to admit—this world had its charm.

  I’d never been to a. I’d only seen the try in pictures. But magical a? Now that was insane.

  The scale of the event was staggering. The sheer number of people attending was a testament to how big of a deal this was. This world cked moderhods of eai, so for the on folk, something like this must have been one of the rare grand spectacles they could experience. And judging by the extravagant decorations and structures, they must have spent a fortune on this festival.

  Gu Jie and I followed the crowd into the arena, where servants guided us toward the bleachers. To my surprise, they didn’t pale in parison to the modern stadiums bae. The arena itself was a regur elevated ptform, its stone surface refined and solid. The bleachers, meanwhile, formed a semi-circle around it, as if embrag the battlefield.

  At the far back of the manor, aravagant viewing box loomed above the arena. That was where the City Governor and the rest of the VIPs were gathered, overlooking everything. From here, I could already see richly dressed figures sitting in luxurious seats, their expressions unreadable from this distance.

  Gu Jie, standing beside me, casually remarked, “The bleachers are made using processed Earth Qi.”

  I hummed. “What does that mean?”

  “The earth here has been reinforced through a special teique. Unlike ordinary stru, Earth Qi allows structures to be more durable aant to damage. A normal stage might crack after just a few fights, but this one will st the eour without a single chip.”

  That expined why the architecture in this world looked so pristie the apparent odern struethods.

  Sihe matches hadn’t started yet, I decided to ask Gu Jie something that had been nagging at me.

  “So, about that bloodline ability…” I leaoward her. “Sixth Seeful Enter. What do you know about it?”

  Gu Jie flinched, her face stiffening.

  Ah, right. She had been out st night ging clothes, pletely unaware that a Young Master Kang had nearly bought her like some sort of collectible item.

  She exhaled sharply. “That name is wrong.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “The real name of the ability… is Sixth Sense Misfortune.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  Gu Jie sighed, rubbiemples. “The name urposefully obscured. ‘Fateful Enter’ makes it sound like a blessing. A gift. But iy, it’s more like a curse.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Gu Jie. “Expin.”

  She hesitated, gng around as if worried someone might overhear. Finally, she sighed and leaned in.

  “Some people are born with peculiar abilities,” she began. “Some bloodline abilities enharength, rant supernatural talents… but mine? Sixth Sense Misfortune allows me to instinctively perceive misfortune before it happens.”

  I frowned. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

  She shook her head. “That’s because you don’t uand the cost.”

  I gestured for her to tinue.

  Gu Jie took a deep breath. “The ability works by accumuting a debt of misfortune. If I avoid an immi or impending disaster, then I will—without fail—enter a different kind of misfortune iure.”

  I blinked. “Wait… so you’re tellihat dodging one disaster just means yuaranteeing another?”

  Gu Jie nodded solemnly.

  “That’s stupid,” I muttered.

  She smiled wryly. “Tell me about it.”

  I thought back to the i with the disted robes. “…Is that why you ended up with the Zhao’s clothes? The certain Young Master who was said to have been killed sometime ago?”

  Gu Jie groaned and buried her fa her hands. “Yes. That was one of them.”

  I chuckled. It was an iing ability, but it also made me think. Would it be wise to keep her around as my errand girl? If she kept accumuting misfortuhen by extension, wouldn’t I also be at risk?

  Before I could voice my thoughts, Gu Jie noticed my expression and panicked.

  “I-I’m still useful, though!” she blurted out. “I mean, sometimes—rarely—but sometimes my accumuted misforturansforms into luck! It’s uable, but when it happens, it be really beneficial!”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  She nodded furiously. “Yes! There have been moments where I found lost treasures, overheard important versations, or ended up in the right pce at the right time—pletely by act!”

  “Huh.” That was… oddly pelling.

  Maybe keeping her around would be iing after all.

  I’d make myself a terrible Padin if I just turned her away.

  Sure, having a follower with literal misfortuached to them sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, but Gu Jie wasn’t pletely useless. Besides, what kind of noble, righteous warrior of the light would I be if I abandoned someone just because of bad luck?

  Not that I articurly noble hteous… but still.

  Just as she was starting to fidget under my silence, a food vendor passed by. I waved the man down and turo Gu Jie. “Go get us some meat buns.”

  Gu Jie perked up like a puppy given a task. “Right away!” She practically bouoward the vendor aurned moments ter—carrying aire basket of them.

  I stared. “Why so happy? You just bought that with my money.”

  She coughed and looked away. “It’s an iment in my tinued employment.”

  I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue.

  While we ate, the arena grew livelier. A group of attendants roamed the bleachers, carrying ballots and calling out to the crowd.

  “Pce your bets! Predict the Fi of the Elimination Round!”

  “The betting fun closes at the start of the Round! Finalize yers now!”

  The crowd buzzed with excitement as people scribbled names onto slips of paper and handed over their gold and spirit stones. Apparently, gambling wasn’t just a thing bae—it was alive and well in Yellon City.

  Before I could eain the idea of pg a bet myself, a shadow loomed over the arena.

  A figure desded from the sky on a flying sword.

  It was her than Enforcer Liang Na.

  The moment her feet touched the ground, she sed the bleachers with sharp eyes and decred, “The Elimination Round for the Yellon Champion’s Stro Eight shall now begin!”

  Her voice carried effortlessly across the stadium, and the audieed into cheers.

  She turo face the VIP box, which stood high above the arena. Hands csped behind her back, she gave a formal bow. “To our esteemed guests, I hope you enjoy the spectacle.”

  With that, she pulled a horn from her waist and blew into it. A deep, reverberating sound echoed throughout the arena, sileng the audien an instant.

  Then, from the far end of the arena, the gates swung open.

  Hundreds of cultivators emerged, marg in disciplined rows.

  They stepped onto the battleground in ceremonial fashion, each exuding an aura of fidene even arrogaheir robes bore different insignias, likely representing their sects, s, or personal crests.

  As they marched, Liang Na spoke again, her voice taking on a grand, theatrical quality.

  “Behold! The fi warriors from across the Riverfall ti! The 221 cultivators before you are the elite among their peers, all vying for the coveted title of Yellon Champion!”

  She gestured dramatically toward the partits. “Each of them is a master in their ht. They have trained for years—some even decades—to staoday! A… o will emerge from the Elimination Round.”

  The audience roared in approval, and I found myself leaning forward, intrigued.

  Gu Jie nudged me. “Excited?”

  I took a bite of my meat bun and chewed thoughtfully. “Maybe. Let’s see if these guys are any good.”