CHAPTER 24: Under Watch
---
Han Zhen sighed and placed his cup down. Clack.
"They didn't need the pills," Han Zhen replied softly. Xuan Yi raised a brow. "What do you mean they didn't need it?" Han Zhen reached under his robe and tapped the center of his chest. "I used my array," he said. "I sealed the pill into each one of them when they were knocked out."
"Hmmm…" Xuan Yi made a weird sound, not sure if he approved or not. Han Zhen continued calmly, "When the time is right, I'll unseal it. The effect will undoubtedly be much stronger than eating the pill by hand."
Xuan Yi stared at him for a few seconds. His old eyes blinked slowly. "You sealed the pills into their bodies…" He rubbed his chin.
"It's needed," Han Zhen said. "They aren't stable. Some of them are scared. While some of them are confused. I need their bodies to adjust before I unseal it." Xuan slowly Yi nodded . Nod… nod…
Then he lifted his cup and swallowed a huge gulp of wine. Gulp… gulp…
He used his sleeves to wipe the corners of his mouth. "huuu…" He cleared his throat. Ahem. "Then we wait. The Shattered Star Competition will begin soon." Han Zhen nodded as well. "Yes. Everything starts there."
The tavern noise began to swell up again. Someone dropped a chair with a Thud. The sound of someone cursing from across the room could be heard.
Han Zhen leaned back in his chair and pulled down his straw hat a little more. "There are five of them," he said. " I've looked into their backgrounds as much as I could."
Xuan Yi tapped his cup on the table. Tok… tok.. while han Zhen raised his hand and counted with his fingers. "One… two… three… four… five." Then he lowered his hand.
"Two of them," Han Zhen continued, "are criminals. I'm very sure they will try to escape." He took another sip. "My judgment has never failed me."
Xuan Yi didn't disagree. He only looked at the table for a moment before speaking again. Then He clenched his cup. Han Zhen's voice dropped lower. "I have a reason to believe…"
His fingers tightened even more. Grip. "…one of them is from the Yin clan."
Han Zhen's lips slightly curved under the shadow of his chronicle straw hat. "Leave that one to me," he said. "If someone from the Yin family is involved, I will handle it."
Xuan Yi didn't respond to him immediately.
His eyes moved around the tavern, to see if anyone was watching. His wrinkled face twitched for a bit. Twitch.
Then he leaned closer. "Han Zhen, if it really is someone from that family, things could get messy." Han Zhen calmly waved his hand, as if he was brushing away a fly. "No need to worry."
Xuan Yi shook his head slightly. "You say that now…" Han Zhen lifted his cup again and drank. Gulp. Just then, the bar attendant walked toward their table. The man held a wooden tray and a politely warm smile was plastered on his face.
"Elders, here is your bill." He bent down and placed the paper in front of them. Han Zhen slowly reached for it. But just Before his fingers could even touched the paper. A soft sound was heard.
Clink.
Elder Xuan Yi had suddenly tossed a few several crystals onto the table. The sound drew a few stares. "That should cover everything," Xuan Yi said quietly. He raised a finger toward the attendant. he said "And bring me my change."
The attendant nodded fast. "Y-Yes, sir." He bent down to pick up the crystals. But then his eyes lifted. And he saw Xuan Yi's face. Seeing his face Up close.
The deep eye bags. With hollow looking cheeks like that of a dried husk. He had a stiff, and almost ghostly expression. His lips were pale as they pressed together like cold stone.
The attendant's face instantly went white from shock. "Ah!" he gasped. He lost his balance and fell straight on his butt. Plop!. Everyone at the nearby tables had all turned to look.
Xuan Yi slowly blinked, he looked confused by the reaction of the attendant. The attendant scrambled to his feet, shaking a little. Shiver…
"I-I'll get the change! Right away sir!" he said with a cracking voice.
He quickly grabbed the crystals and rushed toward the counter.
*****
The next day, Yin Zhe sat at a food stall. The air around smelled like broth and hot steam. People were chatting around him, and their voices were mixing together in a messy, noisy way.
Yin Zhe held a bowl of ramen and slurped loudly. Sluuurrp… slurp… Warm soup ran down his throat. He let out a small satisfied "sigh," like someone who hadn't eaten in hours. "Last night's cultivation training was really intense. That breathing technique is really something else. A gift and a curse"
He brought out a pouch of spirit crystals and paid with one spirit crystal and received some gold and silver coins as change. He held up the pouch of spirit crystal to the light, checking the faint glow inside it, And measuring the weight.
"Hmph…" he muttered to himself. And checked the amount left. "Huh?.. Almost 11% of it was now gone.
"Woah That fast?" he whispered to himself. "How expensive is this place… I just need to manage money more properly. Back at earths School we learned how to manage money properly. I just need to put it into practice" he already had so many bowls of ramen. Even the stall owner thought "he must be some kind of ramen freak"
Then his system screen flashed right in Before his eyes.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
[Watched Reactive Points +1]
[Watched Reactive Points +1]
[Watched Reactive Points + 1]
Yin Zhe froze mid-slurp.His eyes narrowed. As
He slowly turned his head to the left… then right.. The stall was filled with people eating and talking. Some slurped. While others chewed loudly. There was A kid banging his spoon on the table.
But no one was staring at him. Not a single person. "tch…" Yin Zhe sucked in a breath through his teeth. "is someone watching me?…" He lowered his gaze and his thoughts began racing.
"It must be that damn Elder Zhen. I think He must have had some kind of way to watch each one of us. The prisoners. There's no way the system would keep giving me 'Watched' points unless someone is keeping an eye on me. I've been receiving these points since morning"
His grip on the bowl tightened.
"what If the system didn't warn me," he thought, "I could die like a fat goose and not even know why or how I died… tch…" Yin Zhe felt His shoulders tensed up as he thought more.
"If I'm being watched, then the others are being watched too. I hope none of them panic or do something stupid. Oh they don't have a system so I don't think they'll notice that they're being watched. Or perhaps every genius has their own secret system"
Yin Zhe swallowed the rest of the broth in one go. Gulp… gulp… He placed the empty bowl down and wiped his mouth clean.