"I know," Michael and Iris said at the exact same time.
"Why do you keep saying what I say?" they continued.
"Stop, stop, stop." Iris finally managed to defuse the confusing situation. "Yes, he is a cultivator, but he won't be a threat to us."
"You are right, but I'm worried about the children. He is someone who deliberately acts like an elderly man without any strength while probably being the single most powerful person in the area. What shocks me even more is that I couldn't even detect him the first time I scanned the outskirts for cultivators. He objectively helps people survive, but there is definitely something strange about him," Michael expressed his thoughts.
"Maybe," he continued, "you can set up some sort of protection for the kids. Something that can alert me if someone is trying to harm them. It also needs to be something that would buy me enough time to arrive at their destination and help them before they get hurt. With or without this old man, this place isn't safe for them. I should be ready to save them at all times."
"Well, I guess I could create some sort of talisman to keep them safe. All you would need to do is swallow some paper or a piece of wood and gag it back out once I'm done with my inscription. Are you ready to do this for them?" Iris asked teasingly.
"What are you talking about? Don't you have a physical body that you can use outside? I still remember the time you hit me on the head. And the way that felt, I'm sure it came from a physical body. Why don't you just come out anyway?" Michael questioned.
"You are right. I can manifest myself into a physical body that was created at the beginning of my life. I just don't like to be outside and let other people see me. And that won't change just because you need some talismans."
"What? Why do you care about other people looking at you?" Michael asked in confusion but suddenly had a weird thought in mind. "Is it? Because? You are ugly??! Hahahaha, you always laugh about my appearance, and yet now you are not even brave enough to show yourself? Considering how old you are, you are probably full of wrinkles. Don't worry, I won't judge your appearance. Just come out and let me see you," Michael laughed and said. Iris had always made fun of him. Now it was finally his turn.
Suddenly Michael felt a force approaching from above, but he did not try to dodge it. As the impact of a fist landed on his head, he fell down to the ground, lying flat on his stomach. "What are you saying? Just because I don't want to show myself to you doesn't mean that I'm ugly and don't talk about my age. You are even older than me," Iris rebuked.
"Then prove it," Michael continued to try to get her to show herself. In reality, he didn't really care how Iris looked; he just really didn't want to swallow and gag up a piece of paper or even a piece of wood. His only chance to escape from his unfortunate fate was for Iris to get out and create the talisman by herself.
Furthermore, he wanted to encourage Iris to not stay inside of his body forever. She, just like him, had to wait the entire time of the trial. The only difference between them was that Michael actually had something to do, while Iris could only watch and occasionally read some rules to him. She was just as lonely as him, so Michael hoped that she would be able to enjoy this world as much as he did without being caged inside his body because of her own fears.
"I will go hunting now. Nobody but me will be able to see you. Just make two protection talismans, and you can go inside again."
After saying that, Michael let Iris think for a bit while already going ahead to hunt. He went to the forest and killed a few beasts. He was planning on bringing the biggest beast back to the kids while selling the others. With the need to earn some money before going to the inner city, selling the beasts was his best option for now. His alchemy income would only begin after exploring what alchemy looked like in this city and buying some herbs.
"Iris, can you come out?" He asked once he was done hunting but still standing within the confines of the dense forest. It was now or never for Michael. Either Iris would come out or he had to swallow wood.
After some silence, Iris just sighed. "Ok, I will do it. Just don't treat me any differently from before after you see me. Can you promise me that?" she asked.
Michael was relieved. "Yes, of course, I would never judge you. We are tied together now; we have to hold up together in this life. You are the person that knows me best, and I would like to know you better as well. There is no need to be afraid that I would view you any differently," he said enthusiastically.
"Ok, then I will do it," she repeated.
Suddenly something akin to a cloud came out of Michael's head and started to materialize in front of him. As the white cloud started to take shape, Michael could not take his eyes off of the phenomenon that was happening right in front of his face. The white cloud turned into a silhouette, and the silhouette was then filled with colors. Slowly, from a cloud to a godly shape to a heavenly beauty.
Now the physical body of Iris was formed in front of him. She looked like a goddess descended from heaven with her flawless skin and perfect proportions. She had clear blue eyes akin to an endless ocean outside the boundaries of reality, with long red hair flowing down her shoulders, resembling a fire that would burn bright forever. A long white dress that covered most of her body added a special, almost innocent, charm to her appearance.
Michael was stunned. Of course, he never thought Iris would look ugly. After all, she was a cultivator with more than enough time to cultivate, so she would probably be able to keep her desired shape. But what he didn't and couldn't expect was for her to be someone whom he imagined would be a goddess. He stared at her in a daze but suddenly remembered her words. So that's what she meant. She doesn't want me to change the way I act because of how beautiful she looks.
As Michael tried to get his composure back, Iris was somewhat anxiously awaiting his reaction. She had never shown herself to anyone before in her entire life and knew that men could act differently after seeing a beautiful woman. From being shy or overly nice to being flirty and annoying. Iris didn't want Michael to become like some of the people Michael had described within the trial.
In these endless years of just watching Michael do mostly stupid stuff, she, of course, also had listened to all of his stories and topics he talked about with himself. Given the timespan, he eventually talked about everything he experienced and thought about in his entire life on Earth. Multiple times... Therefore Iris had a pretty good grasp of what his world looked like and could predict how people would react to her appearance.
She didn't want their now jokingly and somewhat antagonizing relationship to change just because he was somehow lovestruck and changed the way he talked to her. She just hoped things would stay the same, for now.
"So what do you think?" Iris asked in a somewhat nervous yet also teasing tone. It was still funny that Michael thought she would look ugly after all.
As Iris's words reached him, Michael finally got out of his daze. "You look beautiful, Iris," he said, and after a short pause, continued speaking. "Seems like you were afraid even though you don't look ugly at all. Just like the student who would say they messed up the test while acing it in the end. How do you even look so good while I struggle to get recognized as a civilized person?" he asked somewhat annoyed. Michael was getting mistaken for the poorest person in existence while Iris looked like a goddess. How was that even fair?
At his response, Iris felt mostly relieved. "You are right. Seems like I was worried for no reason," she said with a smile and went to a nearby tree. She broke off two pieces of wood and swiftly carved an inscription onto them. Then she threw them to Michael.
"Here you go. One for each of them. Once they get hit by something that would injure them, the talisman will be activated and protect them for thirty minutes. If one of the talismans activates, I will be able to pinpoint the location. Then you will have 30 minutes to save them," she explained while floating around happily.
"Thank you," Michael said. "This will be enough to save them if something goes wrong. Now how about you stay outside more often? You were trapped your whole life. Being free seems to be what you enjoy most, judging by how you move around," he continued.
"No need. I can come out when we are alone, but I don't want to get ogled at by random people in the streets. I'm fine with you seeing me, but that's about it. Also, I still want to control the formation as soon as possible, so I need to stay inside anyway," she argued.
"You don't need to work so hard for our plan. We can do all of that later. We have more than enough time to do whatever we want first," Michael tried to convince her once more.
"Yes, and what I want to do now is fulfill my plan. Hahahaha, just thinking about it makes me laugh," she giggled while turning into a white cloud once more before floating inside Michael's head.
"Ok, your great plan has priority, but never be afraid to show yourself. You really don't need to."
With the hunt and the talismans done, Michael headed back to the children. After selling the extra beasts Michael hunted, he arrived in front of the home of Kaishi and Tianfu.
He didn't know if Tianfu and Kaishi had made up their minds about letting him stay, so he just gently knocked on the door instead of barging right in.
Soon the door opened, and a slightly exhausted yet happy Tianfu ran at him. "AHHH! Michael I'm so glad you came back after what boss Lan said to you. I thought you might leave us and would never return. Especially brother was heartbroken" Tianfu wept into Michael's arms.
It had only been a day since Michael joined them, but he still felt like a dependable older brother or even father figure to Kaishi and Tianfu. Something Tianfu could never quite feel with her boss, who always tried to become her most trusted person.
Michael just smiled at her reaction and reached down to pat her head. "No need to cry. I would never leave you without saying goodbye. For now, I will remain here if you let me stay. See this? I even brought us some meat again," he comforted her. "Come on, let's prepare dinner together and talk about what happened today afterward. By the way, where is your brother?"
"Oh," Tianfu exclaimed. "He went to look for you to apologize and get you back. He really enjoyed your company and didn't want you to leave as well. Hopefully he will return soon," she answered.
"It's fine," Michael said once again in a soft tone while still patting her head. "You can start by preparing the meat while I bring him back. Don't worry, it won't take long."
"But Michael, how will you find him?"
"Like I said, don't worry about it," he said once again and left the house.
As Tianfu finally calmed down, she looked at the big animal Michael left behind and muttered. "He caught something two days in a row, while most people return with nothing, getting injured or sometimes even killed by the beasts."
Shortly after starting to prepare the meat for today's feast, Michael arrived together with Kaishi, who was smiling from ear to ear. "I told you, sister, he would never leave us like that," he exclaimed proudly.
After his arrival, Michael and Kaishi joined Tianfu in preparing another abundant feast. After finishing the dishes, all of them found themselves completely satisfied. The children due to Michael's heavenly side dishes and the sheer amount of food, and Michael due to the taste of meat.
"Michael I always knew that boss Lan didn't like for me to interact with other people. After all, he even wanted to separate me from my brother, but I never expected him to be this unreasonable. I know he wanted to protect me, but to accuse you of using us for your own benefit without even trying to gauge your character or look at your skills was just not fair," Tianfu said with still some anger in her voice. She just wanted to help, yet Michael got threatened by her boss, making his situation worse than before.
"Yes, it was quite weird, but at least I can somewhat understand that it is indeed not good to trust strangers. Has anything like that happened before, or has Lan Rudong done anything weird since you know him?" Michael asked.
"Well, I heard from sister Shi that she once brought over a friend who also had a conflict with boss Lan. Later, she discovered that her friend really wanted to use and sell her as a slave. She got saved by boss Lan, and since then, she has lived in his restaurant. Maybe he still remembers the past and doesn't want anything similar to happen to me. Otherwise, there is nothing weird I can think of. He helps a lot of people and, once a week, goes to the inner city to see his wife's grave. That's it," she answered.
"What do you think about him, Kaishi?" Michael asked next.
"I don't like him. He wanted to split us apart. First me and my sister, and now us and you. He always tried to control my sister's life, and when I look at him, ... I don't know. I just always get an unwell feeling. He helps people, so he is probably a good guy, but I still don't like him."
"But Michael," Tianfu said. "Please try to forgive him. I don't want you to hate him, just as I don't want him to hate you. You don't need to interact with him, but please don't hold any resentment. Although he sometimes tries to control me, he still gave us a place to live and enough money to survive, as well as the freedom to live like I want."
"I won't hold any resentment. He just wanted to save a person he cherishes and got emotional." Michael took out the talismans Iris made before. "Come here, both of you. This is a gift to both of you. Each take one and always carry it with you. Even when you sleep," Michael instructed.
"Wow, it looks so magical," Tianfu said with bright, shining eyes. "Thank you so much, Michael," they said in unison.
"No problem. Just remember to keep it close," he emphasized.
"Of course we will," they replied.
After cleaning up the table, it was soon time to go to bed. Within a small room with lots of poorly fixed cracks in the wooden walls, Kaishi and Tianfu were lying on multiple layers of blankets while quietly chatting in the night.
"Kaishi, I think Michael is hiding something from us," Tianfu started.
"What? Do you think he is evil like Lan Rudong said?" Kaishi lashed out.
"Let me finish, brother," Tianfu interrupted. "Don't you think something is not right about him? He went to the forest twice and caught an animal each time. He did it without sustaining a single injury. He said he just got lucky and that the beast was already injured, yet the beast he brought back yesterday was SPLIT IN HALF! Even the beast he hunted today had his head taken off. Either he or someone else killed those animals. It can't be just luck."
"Also," Tianfu continued, "have you noticed how clean Michael is? I like cleanliness the most, but Michael never even had a speck of dust on his body. It's like his body repels anything unwanted. I need to head to the lake and wash myself twice a day to keep myself clean. Has Michael even washed himself once? The last thing that doesn't make any sense is that after I told him you were looking for him, he found and brought you back without any trouble. I know you already looked at every spot Michael would be in, and you were looking somewhere he hasn't been before. How did he find you?"
"I... I don't know," Kaishi answered. Yesterday he just accepted the luck of Michael finding a dead but fresh beast, and today he didn't have any time to think about the weird things Michael could and would do. The washing part was no issue, since they didn't know if Michael had washed himself after hunting or in the night, but everything else Tianfu said seemed reasonable. He thought back to the language lesson and how easily Michael understood everything. Did he really not know the language, or was he deliberately acting like he didn't know? Their first meeting and deal even happened due to Michael's lack of reading. Was it all an act to get close to them? He could not read Michael's intentions.
"Kaishi, Kaishi!" Tianfu tried to get Kaishi out of his own thoughts. "I didn't say that Michael is a bad guy and wants to harm us. After all, he only helped us so far. The last two days were the most secure days in my entire life. It's just like I said. He definitely has some secrets he doesn't share with us."
"Yes," Kaishi answered and pondered for a bit before continuing speaking. "Sister, as you know, I can usually tell people from good and evil, and my instincts still tell me that we can trust him. Let's just observe and trust him for now. We can ask him about his secrets later. He made our lives so much better already, so I don't think we need to start distrusting him now."
"I agree. He didn't need to be so good to us even after boss Lan rejected him. I still trust him, but we should keep an eye on what he does," Tianfu finished their discussion.
While Kaishi and Tianfu already suspected Michael's abilities, Michael just thought about the suspicious Lan Rudong but wasn't worried thanks to the help of Iris's talismans. Instead, after today, he now had a face etched deep within his mind. A face that he wouldn't forget.