I Had a Feeling, Somebody’s Watching Me

The caravan started its journey southward without any hassle. I don't really have any issue with the working condition except for the occasional gazes from the caravan members. This situation happened because the caravan head invited me to sit beside him at the front which signifies my status to the others. I politely declined him by saying he hired me as a guard and I would act as one until the caravan arrived at its destination. This small conversation quickly turned into a gossip which was being rapidly shared around the caravan. To remedy the situation a bit, I decided to lay low and walked alongside the fighter for the remainder of the journey today.

Unlike my expectation of a cultivation world, the day's journey was quite uneventful. I've read of cliché tropes such as bandit attacks and whatnot because it was a staple for the genre. Apparently, we live better than we write, better than we read. Bandit attacks were not all that common in this place. There were no food shortages, the people are battle-ready, and they were also quite cohesive. This was also the reason why the Azure Dragon continent was called the strongest continent. However, not all that common meant it still happened. That's why the guards were all tense when we passed by a forest since bandits usually attacked under the cover of the trees.

Nothing happened though. What happened instead was a member of the caravan got stuck in the mud and had his wagon's axle break. This accident cost us a lot of time. According to the fighter's words, we were supposed to be in a small village right now. It was our last stop for the day where we could restock on rations and whatnot. Because of the accident, we might have to find a clearing to camp in, which was rather dangerous if you consider the bandits and wildlife roaming here.

"Did things like these usually happened to you guys?" I asked the fighter who was walking next to me.

"Hardly. Sir Abdul only used the highest quality of wagons. They never failed us ever since I was employed here. I shall ask the others to be careful, sir Cho. I think the caravan was being targeted."

"Just because of that small episode of a wagon breaking?"

The fighter wryly smiled.

"A wagon breaking at an important time was enough clues for us guards."

I nodded my head. The fighter ran around the caravan, instructing every guard to be super careful in case an ambush happened. With heavy vigilance in the air, the caravan continued its journey. The sky was getting darker. Nighttime approached. The guards started lighting up their torches in order to guide the caravan through the dark night. The fighter had returned to his spot next to me after he instructed the guards. No one made any noise. No one bantered. The caravan's vigilance was at its highest.

We were trudging onward quietly when I hear rustling sounds inside a thicket. With my enhanced senses, I managed to get a glimpse of a human figure under the moonlight. The figure wore a cloak and carried a sword on its waist. It slowly approached the caravan.

"Halt! Who goes there!" The fighter unsheathed his sword.

A female voice came from under the hood, one that I find familiar.

"I'm here on the business of the Spirit Sword Sect, may I have the honour to talk to Mr Cho alone?"

Alone. At night. With a woman. It sounds very suspicious. But since she came to me as a messenger from the Spirit Sword Sect, I have to give her face. I don't even know what face meant. I just knew in my heart of hearts that if I turned her down, my ass will be the target for a beating. I might be able to defeat those entry-level cultivators after my body was modified, but I don't have enough strength to face the old coots. Because talking one on one with a hooded figure alone in the forest at night was pretty scary, I asked the system for help.

'System, do you have any hostility or danger-rating radar recipes?'

[There are lots. What for and what kind?]

'I need to know how safe it is to go into the forest with this woman. The radar needs to be simple, could be created discreetly, and gets the job done.'

[The radar that the Kerbalians from planet AA-145Ze4 used was small, robust, and could be created discreetly. You only need 100 Ferrite to create one. Search for Detection Item for Kerbalites or D.I.K. on the modification chamber. Please note that the radar could only scan how dangerous a situation is based on your physical capabilities. Don't expect it to read minds or something.]

I searched the D.I.K. on the modification chamber prompt that popped up in my vision and chose the first result. I directed the modification chamber on how to create the item. I requested the modification chamber to create the item in the form of a bracelet on my wrist. It must also be created discreetly under my right sleeve in order to not attract any attention. Part of the modification chamber that acted as armour turned to its liquid form. It travelled to my right elbow and started creating the D.I.K. bracelet for my wrist. The item was completed in no time and the liquid form modification chamber went back into its default place as my armour.

The D.I.K. was immediately connected to my nerves. It used electrical currents to give out information about any dangers within an organism's area of influence based on its database. And because this D.I.K.'s database was connected with the system's you could say that this was very accurate. The hooded figure in front of me proved to be quite dangerous based on her sword. It was a high-quality sword that only high-levelled cultivators used. She might even be an immortal.

"I have to ask the caravan head for permission first." I put on my game face.

"Thank you very much for your time, sir."

I haven't even asked the caravan head for permission and you already thanked me for my time. Are you a friggin diviner?

I went to the caravan head asking for permission to leave the caravan briefly. I asked him not to wait and that I will catch up with the caravan soon enough. He thought for a bit and decided to gift me a map of the region. Which I don't really need since I have the system, but it's a gesture of goodwill nonetheless. The caravan trudged onward. They left me with this hooded woman in the dark night.

"Now, what do you need me for?" I asked.

The hooded woman took off her cloak. It was the sword dancer from the inn. I should have fucking known. It was quite curious that she requested to talk to me in the name of the Spirit Sword Sect. The system never introduced her as someone from the sect. Well, the reason for that was because the system was giving me information about the sword dance technique itself, and not its creator. The sword dancer seemed to mull over my question for a while. Looks like it was something difficult to ask. She opened and closed her mouth a few times without saying anything before finally, she bowed deeply.

"This Cang An pleads for senior's forgiveness!"

…Pardun? Senior who? Am I the senior she was talking about? I looked around and see no one else but me and the sword dancer in front of me. The name Cang An refers to her, which means this senior was none other than me. Lady, please tell me how you reach such a conclusion. I might need whatever it is you're smoking right now because the wrinkles in my brain were getting smoother by the minute.

"What for? There was nothing to forgive."

She looked at me in horror and knelt on the ground.

"Senior may do whatever he wants with me, but please spare my sect from your wrath!"

Okay. Now I'm curious. What the fuck is happening?

"Please get up, lady. I'm just a humble cultivator with no fame to his name. What wrath are you talking about? Come and sit on the conveniently placed log here, and let us discuss what is happening."

She didn't move from her spot.

"I promise I won't be angry with you or the Spirit Sword Sect."

She finally sat next to me.

"Okay. First things first. Why did you think that I was angry?"

The sword dancer kept her silence for a while and I waited for her to say something which she finally did.

"This Cang An was enlightened by senior's teachings this morning. However, she became curious as to why he wore an outer disciple's uniform. That's why she went back to the sect's administration office to look for his identity."

"Okay… So, what was the problem?"

"She found out what the three outer disciples did to senior, and how they disturbed senior's cultivation. That's why she went back to town looking for senior in order to ask for forgiveness."

I think I know where this leads.

"And then?"

"And then she saw senior ravaging the lands near the town from afar. She immediately went back to the sect in order to ask for help from her father, the sect leader."

Fuck me. I nearly confronted a sect leader-level cultivator.

"When you came back to the spot, the land had been restored into something better?"

She nodded.

"When she came back with her father, the once barren land was now a sacred land of cultivation."

"And then you ran around town looking for me which leads you here."

She nodded again.

"Alright. I got the gist of it. Please let it be known to your father that I held the Spirit Sword Sect in high regard and I held no grudges over my time as an outer disciple there. I have finished my training there and I won't be back. You can say that the sacred land of cultivation was my gift for the sect."

She looked unconvinced.

"Can you do that for me?"

"Certainly senior! I will tell my father what you have said."

I wanted to say goodbye to her, but leaving behind a woman in the forest at night doesn't sit well with me. I know she was strong. But in the end, it was not a matter of strength, it was a matter of principle. Before I could voice out anything, she zoomed into the sky with her flying sword. Fuck my principle I guess.

With that matter finished, I carved my way through the forest in order to meet up with the caravan.