DC 67

After a meaty breakfast with Pye Lee, Feng Jiao said his goodbyes and left the Mess Hall by himself. As excited as he felt he should have been after eating such a hearty meal, Feng Jiao couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed. Logically, he knew that allowing himself to be misgendered in order to reap benefits was a good thing, every stone that was easily paved on his path to immortality was a stone less than he had to worry about. It still rubbed him wrong though.

Putting it out of his mind, he looked around at the various disciples hustling and bustling around. Although a large number of them wore the mono-colored robes that designated a nominal disciple, Feng Jiao also saw a large number of outer secret disciples walking around as he made his way toward where his friends were living. With the shift formations down, the sect suddenly seemed much livelier. 

Something else he noticed was that almost every Outer Sect Disciple he saw had a pin on their lapel. The pins were authorized by the sect to display their alliance membership. As one of the larger and more influential alliances, he saw plenty of Radiant Garden pins. He also saw swords, sabers, spears, dogs, birds, and other shapes that he just wouldn't recognize without first being given a hint. With so many different alliances, Feng Jiao wondered how it was that Tan Sai never managed to join one. Did she plan on making her own or something? 

“Move aside, idiot.” Although it made Feng Jiao’s eye twitch, the insult wasn’t directed towards him. A group of female nominal disciples in monotoned spring-green robes had knocked over a male nominal disciple and were berating him. Although their rambunctious behavior attracted more than one gaze, most looked away when they saw it happening. Not only was the bullied party a nominal disciple, but they were a male in a female dominated sect. 

Rolling his eyes, Feng Jiao decided he would step in. Random people being bullied didn't affect him in the slightest, but with so many people ganging up on one person, he found it more than slightly distasteful. It especially annoyed him when he thought about how easily that could have been him had Bai Fu not convinced him to play along as a girl. He knew full well he wouldn’t be able to change the mindset of the sect and that men would get bullied so long as they didn’t have backing or talent, but it was just one of those things he needed to intervene in. It was fine if he didn’t see it, but he did and therefore he needed to fix it.

Walking up behind them, Feng Jiao cleared his throat and loudly berated them.

“Knock it off, you stupid little girls. Didn’t anyone ever teach you any manners?” 

The lead disciple whirled, ready to snarl down whoever spoke up. Judging by the voice, she could tell that they were no older than her and should also be a nominal disciple. 

“Who the fu- uhk- uk uk. Senior Disciple Sister, I didn’t see you there. Forgive us for crowding your path, we were just cleaning up the trash along the trail. Please excuse our mistake.” Like an alpha wolf being presented to a dragon, the girl changed her tone and attitude extremely quickly. While talking, she gave a swift kick to the man still on the ground, obviously blaming him for her misfortune. 

“Oof. Sorry, Senior Disciple. I’ll crawl out of your way.” Even the boy on the ground seemed to be intimidated by Feng Jiao’s Outer Sect robes as he attempted to crawl away. Seeing that the boy was too fearful to even stand and walk away, the leader of the pack of girls sneered and aimed another kick at his butt. 

Feng Jiao was obviously tired of seeing the abuse and caught her leg before it could make contact with the boy. After grabbing her leg, he lifted it up to take her off balance before pushing it away, causing the girl to take a tumble. Even as she fell, her three companions elected not to catch her or even help her stand back up. Almost simultaneously, the three girls turned and walked away briskly, leaving their toppled leader to scramble up and pay her respects before chasing after them.

“Here, get up. You look like a caterpillar crawling around like that.” The downed and dirtied boy stared at Feng Jiao’s hand a few seconds longer than necessary before gulping and accepting his help to stand up. The two stood there silently for a little while longer. Feng Jiao was waiting for a thank you or acknowledgement for his assistance and the boy was busy staring at his hand and wondering how he got so lucky that a cute girl decided to help him.

[Maybe she thinks I am attractive? No, thats stupid. Even my mother told me that I am painfully average looking. Is she looking for money? Nominals don’t even have a salary that would be crazy! She’s obviously stronger than me as well, so there is no way she's looking for backing. Maybe she just wants a servant to do dirty work. This could be my chance! Lots of nominals manage to get special circumstances to work as servants. No, wait. She's only an Outer Sect Disciple and she doesn’t even have an alliance. Ugh! Either way, a cute girl not only saved me from a beating but even let me touch her hand.]

Eventually, Feng Jiao got tired of waiting for the flustered and disheveled looking boy to stop staring at his hand. Although Feng Jiao wasn’t exactly super good at understanding social boundaries and the like, he was mostly able to guess what the boy was thinking. Feng Jiao just sighed and stepped aside to walk around the boy. Even then, it took a few moments for the boy to rush after Feng Jiao.

“Senior, Senior. Sorry for my rude behavior. My name is Wuwei De, and I thank you for your intervention. Although I am not very powerful and very plain, if there is anything you need from me, please let me know and I’ll strive to do my best to satisfy you..” The boy slightly at his waist to show his appreciation. Feng Jiao physically winced when he heard the boy’s name but, luckily, the boy didn’t see as his head was bowed.

Finally getting the response he wanted, Feng Jiao took a moment to observe the boy. He appeared to be seventeen or eighteen and was wearing the generic pine green robes that all male nominal disciples received. His hair was brown, messy, and appeared to have been that way for a long time, a bit like a rat’s nest with all its twists and knots. There were even a few twigs and pieces of leaves in it, although that easily could have happened while he was getting kicked around on the ground. 

Of course, Feng Jiao couldn’t see what the boy’s cultivation was but it was safe to assume he was still within the stages of Mortal Awakening due to him not being an outer sect disciple. Without a specific talent or skill, it was nearly impossible to get a reading on another cultivator’s realm without inspecting their cultivation physically. At least, that was the case until they established their foundation, afterwhich cultivators would start to project an aura that could be read much easier. 

“Perfect. As it so happens, I am looking to visit some friends of mine who arrived at the sect last week. They are all currently nominal disciples and they should have been the only group who showed up last week. Do you know where I could find them by any chance?” Although Feng Jiao had a general direction in mind as to where to find his friends, when presented with an easier route, such as a guide, he leaped at the opportunity. 

“Oh! You must be talking about Feng Lou’s group. That’s not a problem, I know where to find them. It’s just… Oh nevermind, you are their friend so you must know their situation. Otherwise if they haven’t told you, it really isn’t my place.” After a trace of hesitation, Weiwu De spoke up.

“Situation? What exactly do you mean? As far as it not being my place, my name is Feng Jiao. Feng Lou is one of my close family members, so I’d appreciate it if you caught me up while we walk.” Just the look on the boy’s face after hearing that Feng Jiao was looking for the new arrivals, followed by him knowing their name, made Feng Jiao nervous. 

It’s not that they couldn’t have made friends in the week they were there, but Feng Jiao doubted that Feng Lou would knowingly associate with a pushover considering his personality or that Feng Jiao would be lucky enough to grab the one nominal disciple who knew him by name on the first try. The only answer is that he was either already very famous amongst the nominals, or infamous.  

“Oh! I didn’t realize that Feng Lou had a family member who was already an outer sect disciple at such a young age. If he’d just mentioned that, they probably.. Well nevermind, it probably isn’t too late to fix it now. So, Senior Disciple Feng, it is a bit like this…” 

Weiwu De did his best to fill Feng Jiao in on the situation as they made the trek over to where his companions were staying. The more he heard and the more he saw his surroundings slowly shift, the more annoyed he got.