017 The Orthodox Unorthodoxy

  We left the venue, passing through the archway. The energy from the crowd still lingered in the air—cheers, ughter, and the occasional groan from sore losers who had bet their entire purse on the wrong tender.

  Gu Jie clutched the fishbowl to her chest like it was some kind of sacred artifact. Ren Jingyi swam zily inside, unfazed by the otion of the festival.

  "Master, where are you going?" Gu Jie asked, quiing her paatch mine. "Shouldn’t we pick up your winnings?"

  I sighed. "Apparently, I am not a very good gambler."

  She tilted her head. "Eh? You lost?"

  There was something amusing about her rea, like she had truly expected me to win that bet. Did she think I was some kind of all-knowing sage? That was a dangerous assumption, but it wasn’t my fault if she tio believe in it. As a padin, it would be shameful to lie, but it wouldn’t be as long as you weren’t caught.

  "I had a feeling Feng Yi would lose," I admitted. "Betting on the underdog feels like the right thing to do."

  Gu Jie narrowed her eyes in suspi. "Master… do you know you have a weird sense of humor?"

  I ignored her questioirely. "The Isotion Path Sect," I said instead. "What you tell me about them?"

  She hesitated before responding. "Huh? Well… they’re known as the Orthodox Unorthodoxy. Uher righteous sects, their methods are—unventional."

  "Unventional?"

  She nodded. "They mainly use unorthodox ons—s, wheel bdes, and other strange armaments. It’s said they’re a Sect of Demon Hunters, specializing in eliminating demonic beasts and demonic cultivators."

  "Demon Hunters, huh? That expins the s," I mused.

  "But that’s not all," she added. "Rumor has it that they developed a teique that allows them to transpose demonic arts into non-demonic teiques."

  That caught my attention. "Transposing demonic teiques?"

  "Yes. They purify and rework them into something usable fhteous cultivators. But it’s just a rumor."

  "Hmm… iing." I turned my gaze forward, lost in thought.

  "Master?"

  "Do they have sensory teiques? And if so, how good are they?"

  Gu Jie frowned. "hat I know of, Master. Why?"

  "I see…" I crossed my arms. "That Fan Shi mao see through a portion of my strength, you know?"

  Gu Jie blinked. "…What?"

  "Back during the weling ceremony," I expined, "she almost honed in on me among the masses of weaker cultivators and mortals." I g Gu Jie, watg her rea. "Isn’t that iing?"

  Her expression wavered for a moment before settling into something thoughtful. Then, she clutched the fishbowl a little tighter, as if Ren Jingyi could offer her some kind of diviion.

  "Master…" she said carefully. "Just who are you?"

  I smirked. "That’s a good question."

  The festival streets were packed with people rushiween stalls, hawkers shouting over each other, and the occasional street performer drawing in a crowd. The mix of sizzlis, freshly baked buns, and sweet roasted nuts filled the air, making my stomach growl irayal.

  "Master, would you like to stop for a meal?" Gu Jie asked, gng at me.

  "Yeah," I admitted. "Let’s find aery."

  It didn’t take long to find a pce. The building was modest—just a wooden structure with an open-air dining space covered by a tiled roof. Tables were set i rows, most of them occupied by cultivators aival-goers enjoying their meals. The st of spices and broth wafted through the air, and my stomach growled again in appreciation.

  We settled at a table he edge, giving us a det view of the bustling street. Gu Jie carefully pced Ren Jingyi’s fishbowl oable, seg it so it wouldn’t tip over. The little goldfish swam in zy circles, pletely unaware of the chaos around her.

  A waiter approached, ready to take our orders. Before anything else, I asked, "Do you have anything that a goldfish might like?"

  The waiter blinked, clearly caught off guard. "A goldfish, sir?"

  I gestured toward Ren Jingyi’s bowl. "Yeah, something for her."

  "Uh… we have lettuce?"

  I thought about it. That seemed safe enough. "That’ll do. And for us, I’ll have a bowl of beef noodle soup. Jie, what about you?"

  "I’ll have the same," she said.

  The waiter nodded before heading off to pce our order.

  As we waited, I leaned ba my chair. "So, when’s the match?"

  Gu Jie straightened. "It will be ter this afternoon."

  "And who’s in it?"

  "Young Master Lu Gao of the Road will be fighting against Young Mistress Bai Ai of the White ," she answered.

  I raised a brow. Lu Gao. That guy's pretty famous. How many times did I hear his name now?

  The Road was one of the Seven Grand s, and their influeretched far and wide.

  Lu Gao was supposed to be their young master—dangerously fident, an overwhelming presen battle, and someone who never sidered the possibility of losing.

  Bai Ai, oher hand, I knew nothing about.

  "This should be iing," I muttered.

  Gu Jie nodded in agreement. "It will be."

  "So, tell me about the White ," I said, leaning back as we waited for our food.

  Gu Jie folded her hands ly in her p, tilting her head slightly in thought. "They are a of exorcists," she finally said. "A rather traditional one. Word is, they don't have a good retionship with the Isotion Path Sect."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Why’s that?"

  "They particurly hate the idea of Orthodox Unorthodoxy," she expined. "The White believes in absolute purity—clear distins between good and evil, righteous and demonic. Meanwhile, the Isotion Path Sect… blurs those lihey have a history of repurposing demonic teiques into non-demonies, and that doesn’t sit well with exorcists who see anything tainted by demonifluence as ily corrupt."

  That tracked. The White sounded like the kind of people who'd salt the earth just to make sure no weeds grew.

  "And Bai Ai?" I asked.

  Gu Jie hesitated. "I have no idea… except she’s known as an ice-cold beauty."

  I snorted. "Cssic."

  Just then, the waiter arrived with our food. A steaming bowl of beef noodle soup ced in front of me, the rich aroma of the broth making my stomach grumble. A sed bowl went to Gu Jie, and finally, a few crisp leaves of lettuce were set in front of Ren Jingyi’s fishbowl.

  Gu Jie immediately reached over, carefully tearing off small bits of lettud dropping them into the water. Ren Jingyi nibbled at them with what I could only interpret as a satisfied wiggle. Gu Jie’s expression softened, watg the little goldfish eat.

  Meanwhile, I picked up my chopsticks, stirred my soup, and took a slow sip of the broth. The warmth spread through me, rid savory with just the right hint of spice. It was the kind of meal that reminded you how good food could be when it was made with care.

  For a while, we simply ate in peace, the sounds of the busy street blending into the background.

  It was a bad habit to talk while eating, but looking at Gu Jie, I just couldn’t help it. I frowned. She looked thihaerday. It wasn’t obvious, and to a normal person’s eyes, nothing seemed different. But thanks to my Perception stat, I caught the minute ges—the slight hollowness in her cheeks, the almost imperceptible sluggishness in her movements, the way she carried herself with a forced sense of normalcy.

  I put down my spoon. This isn’t normal.

  "How’s your cultivation doing?" I asked.

  "Terrible."

  Blunt. Ho. ing.

  I leaned bad narrowed my eyes. "There’s something you’re not telling me."

  Gu Jie stiffened before l her head. "Apologies, Master. It is not my iion to hide anything from you."

  "Yeah? Then expin this." I gestured at her, my voiing out sharper than I intended. "You look worse thaerday. How is that even possible?"

  Gu Jie hesitated for a moment before sighing, as if accepting something iable. "The cultivation teique I practice—Deyed Destiny of the Demonic Path—is worsening my health. It allows me tute my Sixth Sense Misfortune bloodline ability, thus avoiding greater misfortuhat would have already killed me."

  I didn’t like where this was going. "And the catch?"

  "The side-effect of Deyed Destiny is a deteriorating body. In exge for deying my fate, my health dees. The inal purpose of the teique was to misdirect misfortuo my foes by expending my qi, but..." She trailed off, fiightening around her chopsticks. "Since I fell to the First Realm, I o longer use it properly. Instead of spending qi, I pay with my life ford health."

  I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temple. "So what you're telling me is... even if I heal you, you’d eventually return to this miserable state?"

  "Yes."

  Damn.

  So that was it.

  That was why she tched onto me.

  And so desperately.

  Gu Jie wasn’t just followi of gratitude. She wasn’t just looking for prote. She was looking for a solution. She was waiting for me to notice.

  And that pissed me off.

  Not because she wanted help—but because she never asked. Instead, she pyed this waiting game, hoping I’d eventually figure it out. What if I hadn’t? What if I ig?

  I tapped my fingers against the table, trying to decide how I felt about this.

  The problem wasn’t just healing her. Healing was easy. It was the after that was the issue. If her cultivatiohod kept dragging her back to square ohen fixing her wasn’t as simple as a quick mend. I’d have to find a way to break her cycle, or at least give her an alternative.

  But how?

  I picked up my spoon again, staring at the broth as if it held the answers. I’ll have to think about this.

  For now, though…

  I sighed. "You really should have told me sooner, Jie."

  She flinched. "I—"

  I raised a hand, cutting her off. "We’ll figure something out. But first, eat. You look like you more than me."

  She blinked, looking at me with something I almost mistook for relief. Then, slowly, she picked up her chopsticks again.

  I sighed again. This woman is a handful.