Yu Di pushed Vimala behind him. If these were mortals, then the worst they could do to him was ruin his new clothes. He mentally forged a shield around them. He liked his new clothes.

  “Sir, please be reasonable,” the priest said from behind. He walked out with his own crew of mortals, all holding weapons of varying sorts. None of them were the sharp, pointy kinds, but blunt nonetheless. “We only want your help to help the poor and the sick in this neighborhood. You don’t need all that wealth on you.”

  “I’m not so sure what you mean,” Yu Di said. “I thought this was a temple of the Goddess. Aren’t you supposed to protect everyone?”

  The priest stepped forward, unaware that two more steps toward Yu Di and he would be sent flying from his shield. “We protect the vulnerable, not foreign trash like you. The woman seems local, but I can tell she’s some worn out whore that you’re trying to dress up. No noble woman would have hands as callused as hers. So we could care less about you or where you are trying to sell her. We might want to try out your product and leave you a good tip. Just step away.”

  Yu Di felt the cold fury coming from behind him. She might not have the power of a Goddess, but the focused hatred was clear as day.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Yu Di said. “I’ll give you half of what I have on me and you let us both leave.”

  “May the Goddess forgive me.” The priest pressed his hands together and looked to the sky. “Kill him and bring the whore down into the dungeons.”

  Yu Di grinned. He couldn’t help it. It was finally time to show off the power of a second realm cultivator without getting cursed for it. This was self-defense, was it not? That was the only thing he learned that wouldn’t increase his curse.

  Only this time, he might accidentally self-defense these mortals to death. He’ll only use his fists and be as gentle with them as a babe. A really, fat, ugly, smelly baby.

  Yu Di left his shield on Vimala before rushing forward with his fists held up. He didn’t push any Qi into his punches, only for the recovery. Every punch connected with face, chest, or stomach. Sometimes all at once in a quick sequence.

  Yu Di remembered learning this fighting style from this very city. These mortals should be honored that he’s using a product of this city.

  His Qi allowed him to prevent his fists from hurting and gave him a burst of speed so that by the time the priest looked down, all the men in front of the temple were down. The men around him took a step back.

  The priest’s entire body froze like a marble relief for a moment. He looked from Yu Di to Vimala, realizing that she was closer. He tried to grab her shoulder. The forcefield activated, shoving the priest hard into his followers behind. They all fell like lined up mahjong tiles.

  “We should go before Kutan or his men realizes where we are,” Vimala said. She didn’t glance back at the fallen men as she took the lead.

  Yu Di glanced at the fallen, making sure none were dead. It wasn’t that he cared for their well being but wanted to see whether his control of his Qi and body was as good as he remembered. Only a few broken noses as far as he could see with his Demigod eyes. No broken ribs or chest or ruptured organs.

  Not bad.

  At the height of his powers, one sweep of his hands would have knocked them all down and kept them down. Yu Di guessed that he would settle for this as he felt that he had a lot more practice in the future in this city.

  Vimala led them away a few blocks until they reached a busier part of the city. The merchants had set up their stalls already and people streamed in to look at the slim pickings they still had.

  “How do they still have food and such to sell?” Yu Di asked. “You’ve been in a siege for over a year. I doubt the Shah has been kind enough to feed the city.”

  Vimala walked over to a vegetable stall and picked up a bruised melon of some kind. It looked like it would be the last picked for any dish but a careful glance made them realize that the other vegetables looked worse.

  “Ying Fusu did it,” Vimala said. She gently put down the melon as if she held the most precious thing in the world. “He’s been supplying the city through secret tunnels at first until the barrier went up. Then with his personal stores afterwards.”

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  “That doesn’t make sense,” Yu Di said. “He’s got more money than the Goddess. Why would he care about making money here?”

  “Because I asked him to.” Vimala walked deeper into the market.

  That brat was really in love with this woman. He was practically moving heaven and earth for her and she won’t give him any trust. If only she knew the type of world Ying Fusu grew up in. The one where secrecy and information held more power than any cultivation. Letting anyone know your true motives could get you killed.

  Yu Di shook those thoughts out of his head. Living in the Imperial Palace for a few years made him realize that he would never want to be a part of that world, even as the Emperor. Everyone suffered in the end.

  After a short walk through the market, Vimala relaxed her shoulders. She had been holding onto them since they ran from that priest and his men.

  “Are you ready to talk about what happened?” Yu Di asked.

  “No, but I doubt I’ll get a chance,” Vimala sat down in front of a roasted meat stall. She raised three fingers up toward the woman at the stall. “I knew that things were bad in the city, but I never thought that a priest of the Goddess would be so shameless as to work with bandits to rob people. They’re supposed to represent sanctuary.”

  The woman from the stall came over with three skewers of meat. She raised six fingers.

  Vimala took out six silver coins and paid the woman who happily took it and went back to her stall. She passed a skewer to Yu Di.

  Yu Di wasn’t hungry after eating his own Qi infused fruit, but the smell was something else. It had all those delicious western spices that no one cooked with in the Celestial Jade Empire. A little spicy, a little salty, a warm delicious flavor that complemented the charred meat so well.

  “What is this?”

  Vimala stopped chewing and smelled it. “I think either some type of poor lizard or more likely rat.”

  Yu Di looked at the skewers of meat. They were kind of tiny, but not so tiny that you could make meat cubes with them. Then again.

  “How big are rats in this city?” Yu Di blinked and both of Vimala’s skewers were already gone.

  “You don’t want to know.” Vimala stood up and kept walking through the stalls.

  After a brisk workout, they stopped at a defunct fountain. A broken statue of the Goddess Yu Di guessed based on how it looked. Its head and arms were missing.

  “I hate to rush you, but is there any reason why we’re not rushing into the secret entrance to get your powers back?” Yu Di asked. “I’m only asking because right now, I am the strongest and healthiest I will be. I have a feeling that as time goes on, this city is going to wear me down again and then I’ll be no use to you.”

  Vimala sat on the edge of the fountain, the one uncracked or unbroken section. “I don’t want to see him again.”

  Yu Di stopped himself from shaking the woman. “What do you mean? You’re not a moody teenager. You’re a grown adult. Or have I been mistaken this whole time?”

  “You don’t understand. Ying Fusu has saved me so many times. He’s done more for me and this city than you could ever imagine. He’s never asked anything in return.”

  “Except the secret of the Goddess.”

  “There’s that. Honestly, I feel as if I’m betraying my Goddess by even telling you. You seem like you’ve changed, but I can still tell you’re aching to get your hands on that power. I’m torn.”

  Yu Di sat down next to Vimala. This could be good practice for him for when Yu Lin becomes a surly teenager. If he ever gets a chance to see her again before he dies and even then, he didn’t have the years for that. He’d figure it out later.

  “Look, we can take all the time you need sitting right here,” Yu Di said. “My belly is full and I’m well rested. If I can find a small little hill with a tree, I could stay there until I die. Which will be rather soon, because of the curse. Let’s say you don’t care about my lifespan or using me to help you regain your powers, the people of this city will soon starve as even Ying Fusu’s storage can’t keep feeding these people. Then you won’t have to worry as either they will kill and eat each other, or the Shah’s army will finally breach the middle section of the city and kill everyone in here if they don’t convert. So yeah, you have plenty of time.”

  Yu Di breathed in deeply and then breathed out just as deep. He needed that. Yet knowing that he unburdened himself in such a way was definitely not the best way to approach such a fragile woman-child.

  “There’s something else I didn’t tell you.” Vimala frowned. She picked at the hem of her sleeves. “The Goddess’ powers has limits. If it’s unclaimed after a certain period, anyone can claim it. It’s to ensure the continuity of this city, regardless if it’s under the guidance of the Goddess herself or some other being.”

  It was Yu Di’s turn to wallow. Except it had to wait. He needed clarity first.

  “You’re telling me, that after a certain amount of time, if the Goddess’ powers are not used or claimed as you say, then anyone can have it?”

  Vimala nodded. “It’s not as simple as that, but essentially. There is the matter of the Guardians protecting it from falling into enemy hands.”

  “Why don’t the guardians take it?”

  “They are forbidden to do so. Any Guardian that attempts to take the power for themselves will explode and die.”

  “Then why does the Abbot need you then?”

  “I could unlock the seal on the Goddess power faster and transfer its power to anyone.”

  “Like what Faouzia did with Reis and his men. But what would stop you from taking it back?”

  “My death. As you’ve said, once I’ve taken the power, I will die afterwards. Then that power will stay with whomever I have given it to.”

  Yu Di wracked his brain around this. All he’d need to do is bring Vimala to the source, have her get the source, give him the power, and then kill her. Then he’d be a Demigod again. No, that wouldn’t be enough. He’d be able to understand how the Goddess’ powers work and finally transcend into Godhood.

  Yu Di shook those thoughts out of his head. “Why are you telling me this, knowing that I could steal the powers of the Goddess? Something I desperately want to do.”

  “It’s because you are the least terrible choice.”