Turnabout

"Woah..."

Ryker walked along with Long Meiling and the rest of her chosen escort, Wang Yuhan and Cheng Hui, as they entered the Li family estate, rubbernecking at the decadent furnishings and architecture.

It seemed like the Li family was a lot more well off than the Long family. Or, they just liked to show off, more.

"Keep your wits about you, Ryker," Meiling chided him, "There is most definitely some sort of scheme going on, what with this being three days before the exhibition."

"Yeah, no worries, Mini C's got the whole place on surveillance," Ryker answered, peering down a long, vaulted hallway lined with towering red pillars to their side. He'd definitely want to explore the place if they weren't being escorted by one of the Li family's servants.

"How does that work?" Yuhan, who was bringing up the rear of their group, asked.

[Mana has distinct reactions based on those it comes in to contact with,] Mini C explained.

[I can monitor where these reactions happen and determine things like what kind of creature the mana reacted to or their general strength. The maximum range is within 300 meters.]

"Hoh. That sounds like a useful ability," Captain Cheng commented from his place at the vanguard of the group.

The Li family servant who was guiding them just pretended not to hear anything, leading the way to the appointed dining hall in silence.

'Just what are these people talking about...?' she thought in confusion.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at Li Daoming's dining hall, the servant seating them at the table before leaving with a bow. The dining room, like the rest of the estate, was filled with ostentatious decoration and trim,

"So, what should we be looking out for, exactly?" Ryker asked, fidgeting around in his seat that was oddly uncomfortable for how luxurious it looked.

"Anything suspicious. They shouldn't try anything too obvious while we're in their own household, but keep your guard up, anyways," Meiling answered.

At that moment, the door to the dining room opened up, and a servant walked in to announce Li Daoming's arrival.

As soon as he walked in, however, he noticed Ryker seated at the table beside Long Meiling, causing him to freeze in place with a scowl.

"...What is *he* doing here?" he said, his frown as frigid as the north.

"He's part of my personal guard," Meiling said with a hint of smug satisfaction.

"Why, is there a problem?"

"...No."

Li Daoming tore his gaze away in a huff, walking to the head of the table and taking his seat.

"Hm."

Long Meiling found his lack of reaction suspicious, thinking to herself that he really did have a scheme planned for the evening.

The dinner banquet started without event, however, servants bringing in tray upon tray of delicious looking and smelling food, spreading them across the table. It was set up so that everyone had a plate of each dish within reach.

'Oh, they have lotus root stir-fry,' she thought to herself, mood brightening a little seeing the inclusion of her favorite dish.

This made her pause for a moment, though, shaking her head ruefully at having such a Ryker-like thought.

'Ugh, that idiot is rubbing off on me too much...'

Meanwhile, Ryker was busy piling up food on his plate when a voice in his head suddenly spoke up.

[There's an unknown substance on Miss Long's plate that's not present on any others,] Mini C discreetly warned Ryker with their mutual telepathy, [It would seem that they are targeting her, specifically.]

'Woah, so nobles really do come up with poisoning plots and stuff all the time...' Ryker thought with some surprise. Were those historical dramas he always watched actually really accurate when it came to the shady business of aristocracy?

[I'm not sure this one case is indicative of anything. Just try and let her know, inconspicuously,] Mini C suggested.

He thought about how to go about that for a minute, before shrugging his shoulders and reaching for her plate, which she was currently filling with lotus root stir-fry.

"Hey, that looks good! Switch with me!" Ryker said, switching Long Meiling's plate with his own.

"Wha-- hey!" she exclaimed, moving to take her plate back.

However, Ryker subtly motioned with his head towards Li Daoming at the head of the table, hinting with his eyes that something was amiss.

Meiling sat back up in her seat when she understood, eyes widening slightly in realization, before she put on an annoyed expression, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Hmph, fine. Honestly, you're such a fool, sometimes..." she mumbled, trying to keep the fact that they knew something was up out of her voice somewhat awkwardly. Ryker just grinned in return, piling more food onto the plate.

'Uh, so should we call 'em out on this, or something?' Ryker asked Mini C in his head while grabbing more food.

[No, if Meiling isn't making any moves, then we shouldn't, either. Just play around her lead, and act like nothing's wrong,] he advised.

[Based on preliminary scans, the unknown substance doesn't match any poisonous substances commonly known around here or back home, so you should be safe... probably. I don't think Li Daoming would be trying to kill her, at this point.]

Ryker simply shrugged and started eating at Mini C's noncommittal assurance, figuring something that targeted Long Meiling shouldn't affect him.

Long Meiling, on the other hand, was wondering what exactly they did with her dish. Although she didn't have any respect for Li Daoming, at all, he wouldn't directly try to harm her so obviously.

At most, she was expecting some harassment or a plot to keep her here using some excuse or another... not poison in her food.

The motivation wasn't there, now that she thought about it. His ire should be directed at Ryker, knowing his personality, so why would he go so far against her, tonight?

'It couldn't be... Did my sister have something to do with this?'

She knew her sister was very influential amongst the young nobility of Yuliang City. Whether it be from favors owed or secrets she could reveal, Jingfei had a way of getting what she wanted from most anybody.

"Hey, Ryker..."

Meiling leaned over to warn him in a low voice, but looked on in shock as she saw him eating his piled up food with gusto.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"Oh, I'm just playing along, for now," Ryker whispered back through a mouthful of food.

"Mm, delicious! Ah, don't worry, Mini C said it wasn't dangerous... probably."

Long Meiling gave him an unconvinced look, before shaking her head and starting on her own plate. If Mini C said so, she supposed...

At the head of the table, Li Daoming watched this exchange with frustration, hands clenching repeatedly as a vein popped on his forehead. Did they know, somehow? But how?!

Thinking about it some more, however, he slowly started to relax. That fool was still eating it, whether to pretend that they didn't realize or for some other reason, he didn't really care; he was just looking forward to seeing what happened.

It was unfortunate that whatever the mystery substance was, it wouldn't be strong enough to affect the buffoon, too much. Long Jingfei, as unpleasant as she was, wouldn't go so far against her own sister, no matter how much she disliked her.

Or would she...? She did mention it was made by a third-grade alchemist...

'Hmph, whatever. As long as that fool suffers a little, a tiny bit of my anger will be appeased.'

He continued eating, acting like he didn't see anything. So what if he didn't get Long Meiling like Jingfei had asked? He'd just tell her he did the best he could.

"So, how is the food, Meiling?" he asked with a serene expression on his face as he sipped some tea.

"So-so," she responded back, as chilly as usual.

Yuhan, Captain Cheng, and Ryker just looked on in apprehension at their exchange, though Ryker was still eating his food.

"...Did you decide who you would challenge during the Young Geniuses exhibition?" Li Daoming continued, still trying to make small talk.

"...My sister."

Li Daoming let out a low scoff, figuring she would take a brash action, such as that.

The Young Geniuses exhibition was split into multiple different events, meant to showcase any kind of talent from alchemy and formations to comprehension speed.

The most anticipated event by far, however, would have to be the duels.

Participants could challenge each other to duels to show off their combat prowess, usually against those considered to be stronger than they are.

it was rare to see someone attempt to cross realms and fight someone a major realm above them, however, and rarer still to see that person succeed.

"So is this what all of your secret training has been in preparation for?" he asked sardonically.

"Hmph, and how would you know if I've been training secretly or not?"

"I have my sources. But do you really think you can win against her? It would be one thing if she were only a first level Foundation Establishment cultivator, but she's at the fifth level, you know."

The two of them stared each other down coldly, neither of them giving an inch.

Eventually, however, Long Meiling broke eye contact and went back to eating her food, closing her eyes with a dignified air.

"I will win. You'll just have to wait and see."

"Hmph."

The rest of the meal went on in silence.