Yinlan City, part 10

Gu Zimou originally wanted to play coy but was afraid of being beaten if he stalled too long.

“I was on early patrol today in Yinlan City’s East Market Street. As you know, the weather has been getting colder and colder lately, so cold people can barely walk. If you could get a bowl of small wontons at Madam Qian’s place, that would be delightful.”

“Alright, don’t look at me like that. I know it’s wrong to sneak off work to buy wontons, but is a person still a person if they don’t slack off while working?” Gu Zimou said righteously, “Besides, if I hadn’t snuck away during work, I wouldn’t have spotted a new mark on the doorpost of the wonton shop.”

He was a Talisman School disciple, always carrying paper and brush.

He immediately pulled out a talisman paper, dipped his talisman brush in ink, and drew the mark: a circle formed by waves, with a leaf in the center.

Array School disciple Bai Ying was speechless for a moment. “You called everyone out just for this?”

This was even worse than helping an old lady collect clothes; at least she would give them grass-leaf dumplings to eat.

Hua Ling guessed casually, “Maybe some kid scribbled it. It might have been there for a long time, and you’re just seeing it now.”

“No, no.” Gu Zimou shook his head. “Am I that unreliable of a person?”

Everyone’s heart sank. The students from the other five schools simultaneously thought to themselves: ‘Yes, you are.’

Gu Zimou argued, “Firstly, this mark is definitely new. When I went there before, this post was completely blank.”

“Perhaps you just didn’t notice it,” Pill School’s Jiang Shuyi said indifferently. “Who stares at a post every day?”

Gu Zimou said, “I do. I look every day.”

Jiang Xiaocao keenly noted, “So you eat wontons there every day.”

Gu Zimou said sternly, “I am not, I have not, don’t talk nonsense.”

Hua Ling suspected, “Okay, even if it’s a new mark, how do you rule out it being drawn randomly by a child or someone else with nothing to do?”

Gu Zimou finally waited for this sentence and couldn’t help but feel a little excited. He eagerly wanted to keep them in suspense again, “This is the crux of the problem. So, why is this?”

At this moment, Su Qing was holding the talisman paper with the drawing, staring at it for a long time, unable to make out what it was from the abstract lines.

But she quickly realized, “I remember Madam Qian’s wonton shop is at the corner of East Market Street. Because the food is good and the location is good, business has always been excellent.”

When she sometimes patrolled the East Market, she saw that her wonton shop was always full, and some people who couldn’t find a seat would squat by the roadside, holding bowls and eating. Business was very brisk.

As soon as Su Qing spoke, everyone couldn’t help but ponder carefully: a fresh mark left on a busy shop at a street corner.

No one was stupid; they quickly realized, “Could this mark be pointing the way?”

“Precisely so.” Gu Zimou said excitedly, “Although I don’t understand what this mark means, I’m diligent! I searched all the surrounding streets and found this same mark on the doorposts of the academy, the fur shop, and the oil shop!”

“This indicates that someone is likely using this mark to leave signals. It could be for directions, a call for help, or a gathering point.” Gu Zimou pointed at the lines and said, “As long as we can decipher what this mark means.”

When this was said, everyone agreed it made sense.

But they had never seen this mark before, and asking them to interpret it yielded no results beyond simply describing the picture.

“Uh… these messy lines mean… I don’t know. The leaf in the middle… also I don’t know. Looking at the whole thing, well, it’s drawn quite ugly and baffling.”

Su Qing had spent a long time with her Body School senior sister and understood one truth: if you can’t break an array, then deal with the person who can break the array, solving the problem at its source. The same logic applied to deciphering this mark.

She asked Gu Zimou, “Do you know exactly when this mark appeared?”

“Just today.” Gu Zimou swore, “It wasn’t there yesterday when I went.”

When he ate wontons yesterday, he didn’t hold his chopsticks steadily and flicked a wonton onto the post. He quickly wiped it clean. It was precisely for this reason that he specifically glanced at the post today, discovering something was amiss.

Xiaocao mumbled unflatteringly, “And he said he doesn’t go every day.”

“Then it’s very likely that Gu Zimou was the first to discover it.” Su Qing thought for a moment and said, “Then we’ll divide into shifts and guard the locations where the marks were found, to see who gets lured by this mark.”

Their team had Xiaocao, a gifted anomaly. With his plant leaves for concealment, as long as they were careful, they wouldn’t be discovered. This skill was incredibly useful.

Everyone agreed. It was known that the Sword School students were all on the beast tide front lines, killing monsters, eating beast meat, drinking beast blood, absorbing beast cores, and rapidly increasing their cultivation. They, on the other hand, stayed here, dealing with trivial matters daily, not even doing their homework, and had long been itching for some real action.

What if, when the beast tide ended, everyone returned to the Sword School only to find their cultivation at the bottom? That would be utterly humiliating.

But ultimately, while the Sword School’s auxiliary squad was an auxiliary squad of the Yinlan City garrison, it was still managed by the garrison. It was better to give them a heads-up before acting. Su Qing also took the talisman paper with the drawing, planning to ask if they knew the origin of this pattern.

The Yinlan City garrison was naturally the Yan family army. The commanding general, Yan Yan, was usually very busy, so Su Qing met his deputy.

When Su Qing explained the reason for her visit, especially when she showed the talisman paper, the deputy didn’t pay much attention, only saying, “I will pass it on to the General.”

Su Qing asked, “Does the Little General know what pattern this is?”

The deputy shook his head; he was also unaware.

Su Qing asked a few more questions, and he answered them rather perfunctorily. She knew that this person wasn’t taking the matter seriously. It was understandable; from the perspective of the local garrison, what they were doing now probably seemed like child’s play.

When she left, she heard the deputy casually ordering, “Just put it on the General’s desk. He can look at it when he returns. Sending a message? What message? It’s not important.”

“Yinlan City’s affairs are enough for our Yan family army. When is it ever an outsider’s turn to interfere? I don’t know why the City Lord insisted on keeping these few people in the city.”

When Su Qing returned, the squad members were practicing their swords in the courtyard, waiting for her. Seeing her return, they gathered around and asked, “How was it?”

Su Qing simply said, “Didn’t see the General, only the deputy. He clearly didn’t believe it.”

Gu Zimou said with a grin, “Normal, normal. Just like how you didn’t believe me at first.”

Bai Ying was speechless, “We didn’t do so many messy things beforehand to reduce our credibility like you did.”

Su Qing looked at Xiaocao and said, “In any case, the danger of this mission isn’t high. Let’s try it first. If there really is something going on, once we find evidence, then we can go to the City Lord’s Mansion, and it’ll be easier to talk then.”

After nearly a week of stakeouts, the Sword School’s auxiliary team finally locked onto their target.

It was just as Gu Zimou had said: this mark had a reason. A few people were indeed lurking suspiciously around the marks, as if waiting for someone.

Whether they waited for the person they were expecting or not, they certainly waited for the Yinlan City Auxiliary Law Enforcement Team, Sword School branch.

Bai Ying said, “Their hideout is in a small, dilapidated courtyard in the lower district.”

Jiang Xiaocao said, “I’ve already sneaked in and checked. There are a total of twelve people, all mortals.”

“Mortals?” Gu Zimou guessed, “Could it be some criminal organization?”

Su Qing thought for a moment, “It’s not impossible. The lower district indeed houses many ruffians and scoundrels.”

Xiaocao said, “They are indeed a group of ruffians. When I was gathering information, I heard people say they all walk around that house. The people inside are not good.”

Jiang Shuyi said, “Wouldn’t we know if we just went to check? Can six cultivators really not handle twelve mortals? If they’ve truly done bad deeds, it would be eliminating a menace for the people, certainly better than finding dogs.”

This matter was best done sooner rather than later. After getting a clear understanding, everyone decided to sneak into the courtyard that very night to see what the situation was.

It was an abandoned courtyard in the lower district, rarely passed by people during the day.

At night, cats wailed with drawn-out cries, making the dilapidated courtyard seem even colder and more eerie.

Several people flipped over from a high point into the courtyard, landing without a sound.

As planned, Su Qing and Xiaocao entered from the front, Bai Ying and Gu Zimou blocked the back door, and Hua Ling and Jiang Shuyi flanked from the sides.

Logically, cultivators facing mortals shouldn’t need to be so cautious. But truthfully, after several years of schooling, this was their first time raiding a courtyard, and everyone felt a strange excitement.

When they rushed into the house, the situation was the same as Xiaocao had scouted during the day: all mortals, twelve in total. At this time, they were gathered around a red-hot brazier, chatting and gambling drunkenly.

One of them, seeing intruders, spat on the ground, grabbed a knife, and cursed as he stepped forward, “Which lunatic dares disturb this lord’s enjoyment? Don’t even think about leaving once you’re here! Hand over all your money!”

But once they were subdued, they immediately sobered up, their eyes becoming clear.

Su Qing hadn’t even asked yet, and they all readily confessed everything.

He whimpered, “Although this humble one is not a good person, I usually just do some petty theft. What matter would require esteemed cultivators to personally apprehend us?”

Su Qing took out the new talisman paper Gu Zimou had drawn from her sleeve, presenting the pattern before them, and asked, “Do you know what this is?”

“This?” The ruffian stammered, “This… this was drawn by this humble one!”

Xiaocao asked, “We know it was drawn by you, but why would you draw these for no reason?”

“This… I don’t know either.” The ruffian looked confused. “Someone paid us to draw them, so this humble one drew them.”

He suddenly seemed to have an itch, scratching everywhere, finally finding a piece of paper in his sleeve. He quickly took it out and presented it to Su Qing.

Su Qing opened it and saw that it was indeed the same pattern as Gu Zimou’s.

The ruffian quickly said, “We just did it for money. As for what the pattern on this paper means, we truly don’t know. If they offended you, there’s a head to every wrong and a debt to every debtor, esteemed cultivators. You should go find them.”

Su Qing heard the unspoken implication, “So, you know who the person is who told you to draw these patterns?”

The ruffian was a little scared, but also somewhat pleased, “Originally, I didn’t know. That person seemed afraid of being seen, wrapped himself up tightly, and spoke to us with a coarse voice. But this lord, pfft, this humble one has been walking in Yinlan City for many years, been to every place. Although that person concealed himself well, he couldn’t hide a certain smell. This humble one didn’t remember what the smell was at first, until last month when I went to the Old Temple for a vegetarian meal, and then I remembered that the smell was the incense from the Old Temple. There’s no mistake!”

Su Qing understood, “So this person is from the Old Temple then.”

“Precisely!” The ruffian nodded affirmingly, “I originally wanted to extort him with this, but he’s too slippery. I couldn’t figure out who he really was.”

What the ruffian said should be true, but there was no reason to fully trust people like him.

Su Qing leaned down, patted his face, and threatened, “You know I’m a cultivator, and cultivators have the most methods. I can search your mind and personally see what’s going on. But after you’re searched, you’ll become foolish and idiotic, only sitting there drooling all day, unable to even eat when food is put in front of you. My patience is limited. You’re not lying to me, are you?”

The ruffian shook his head fearfully, repeatedly saying, “This humble one wouldn’t dare, this humble one wouldn’t dare.”

Xiaocao stood aside, blinking, intensely learning. Next time, he would also threaten people like that.

Just then, Gu Zimou, who was guarding the back door, suddenly transmitted a message with a talisman, [Withdraw quickly, someone is approaching.]

Xiaocao also heard it. Su Qing left a warning to the people in the house, “Act like you know nothing.” The two quickly withdrew from the house.

But they didn’t leave. Instead, they silently hid outside the courtyard, cautiously peering through the windows.

Su Qing thought, perhaps the person meeting with the ruffians had arrived. But the ruffians’ words were unreliable and could expose them at any moment. Therefore, everyone held one hand on their weapons and the other on their life-saving or escape artifacts, ready to act as needed.

The newcomers were about three people, all dressed in black, agile and skilled. Almost the moment Su Qing and her team retreated from the house, they slipped inside.

The light in the house had been dim, but a few breaths later, it suddenly brightened.

Su Qing’s expression changed, “Not good!”

She summoned Man Qing Sword and rushed into the house in a few steps. The others followed closely behind. Gu Zimou was still bewildered, but Bai Ying and the others already understood what had happened.

Indeed, when they went in to look, the dozen or so ruffians had already been cut down, blood flowing everywhere; they were all dead.

Their brazier for warmth had long been overturned, and flames were spreading through the house, their light reflecting on the windows.

The killers, clutching blood-dripping knives, were holding the paper with the drawing and looking at it. Hearing the sound, they turned their heads, coldly scrutinizing them with eerie eyes.

These three were also cultivators, and one of them was even at the mid Foundation Establishment stage.

In that instant, Su Qing wondered what kind of people these ruffians had provoked, to be hunted down by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Su Qing’s auxiliary team, the highest cultivated members, should be Xiaocao and herself, followed by Bai Ying and Jiang Shuyi at Qi Refining Layer 9. Hua Ling was at Qi Refining Layer 8, but her contracted Golden Peng bird was already at early Foundation Establishment. Gu Zimou was at Qi Refining Layer 7.

They might not necessarily lose to these three.

Therefore, although their faces were tense, none of them showed any intention of retreating or fleeing.

Before a competition between cultivators of similar strength, it was a battle of mentality. Whoever faltered first would die first. Both sides were very tense, and a major battle seemed imminent.

But just then, there was another commotion outside, a huge one. For a moment, both sides wavered.

Su Qing didn’t know if the newcomers were friends or foes. The three killers were even more vigilant; they immediately threw out an explosion talisman, and amidst the sky-shaking tremor, they actually crushed a teleportation talisman and fled the scene!

It wasn’t a sure loss for three Foundation Establishment cultivators to fight, but it would be difficult to force them to stay.

Moreover, they didn’t know who was coming from outside. Therefore, Su Qing didn’t bother with them and said in a deep voice, “We retreat too!”

But just then, a familiar voice rang out, it was Yan Yan.

“Fellow Daoist Su, are you inside?!”

Su Qing was surprised, “General Yan, we are.”

The newcomers were actually the Yan family garrison, with Yan Yan personally leading the team.

General Yan rushed in with the talisman paper she had left behind. “This is the emblem of the Lotus Fire Cult.”

Su Qing frowned, “Lotus Fire Cult?”

Yan Yan only spoke two words, “Demonic cult.”

After Bayin returned to the Old Temple, she had been restless.

Fortunately, the children had many blessed sachets to make every day, so even if one or two went missing, it wouldn’t be noticed, and she wouldn’t be blamed for stealing a sachet.

She remembered that in the conversation she overheard last time, one person said they were responsible for making blessed sachets.

Presumably, that person should also be responsible for prayer-related work in the Old Temple.

So, she constantly paid attention to the conversations of the monks in the temple, trying to find that familiar voice again.

Unfortunately, this plan did not go smoothly. She never found that person.

After all, her range of activities was very small. Besides the dormitory where she slept and the room where she worked, she couldn’t go to other scripture halls or incense halls.

She couldn’t find anything herself, and she couldn’t tell her talkative friends about it either.

Bayin was a little troubled. She wanted to try her luck at the City Lord’s Mansion, but she learned that the Yan family army had already set off for the border again.

She wanted to find that kind big sister from the Sword School, but the Sword School disciples had also gone, and she couldn’t find them.

But Bayin couldn’t just drop the matter and go back to her old life. She was very scared, afraid that one day Yinlan City would become like the Inner Subsidiary City.

She knew how hard life was without a mother or father to protect her, so she didn’t want Yinlan City to become like that either.

A week later, it was the Old Temple’s monthly fast day. On this day, monks gathered to preach scriptures, and people could queue up to receive vegetarian noodles.

Although the vegetarian noodles were only a small bowl, and the noodles would be gone after two bites, it was very comforting to eat a hot meal on a cold day.

Because it was a fast day for blessings, their foster mother reminded her, “Bayin, today, let your fringe down to cover your birthmark. Don’t let it show.”

The dark blue-black birthmark had always been considered inauspicious. Some guests who came to offer incense might find it unlucky, but Bayin was a clever child, and her foster mother didn’t restrict her.

Bayin touched the birthmark at the corner of her eye and mumbled, “Understood, Amma.”

In the past, Bayin always queued up with her friends to get vegetarian noodles. To eat more, she would always shamelessly queue multiple times. This day was her favorite day, with no drawbacks other than avoiding the young masters who came to cause trouble.

But this time was a little different. Her friend, Big Mouth, pointed at a dusty figure in the queue, barely distinguishable as a girl, and clicked his tongue, “We’re only on our second round, and she’s already on her third. A master, truly a master!”

Another friend, Scarface, said, “She shouldn’t be from Yinlan City. I’ve never seen her before. She must not have money for an inn, so she came to the Old Temple to stay.”

“It’s fine if we children don’t have money,” a friend said, “but how can an adult still have no money?”

Bayin wasn’t surprised at all. She was thinking about something and said absently, “What’s so strange about that? Children who don’t have money won’t suddenly become rich adults when they grow up.”

Whether one could become a rich adult largely depended on whether the family had money. If they had no money when they were young, would the family suddenly become rich when they grew up?

Bayin’s words were truly despairing, and the friends felt a bit down at the thought of still being poor when they grew up.

But children were restless by nature and started chattering again.

Big Mouth curiously said, “She’s been veiled all this time; you can’t even tell what she looks like. It’s windy and frosty in Yinlan City, so being veiled isn’t uncommon, but being veiled so tightly is quite rare.”

Scarface said, “What’s the big deal? Maybe she has a big mole on her face and can’t be seen.”

The vegetarian noodles arrived. The bowl was hot and warmed her hands. The noodles were cooked in clear water, nothing special, but a drop of sesame oil in the soup made it very fragrant. Bayin picked up the soft noodles. She ate very carefully, but it was over in two bites. Then she drank the soup from the edge of the bowl.

The veiled woman they had been secretly discussing also stood nearby, eating her noodles.

She only revealed the lower half of her face, but it was clear that the girl was not bad-looking, so she definitely wasn’t veiled because of her appearance.

Just then, Big Mouth, who had long since gobbled down his food, saw a group of people approaching in the distance. He was startled and whispered, “Oh no, Bayin, it’s Azamu and his two lackeys. If he sees you, he’ll definitely cause trouble. He’s so petty, he must still remember what happened at the last competition.”

Bayin put down her empty bowl and said vigilantly, “Then I’ll leave first.”

These past few days, she had been avoiding Azamu and hadn’t gone to work at the wine merchant’s place, almost forgetting about it.

At this critical time, she didn’t want any involvement with Azamu. If she were punished with confinement, she wouldn’t have a chance to investigate.

But Azamu was already coming for her. He spotted Bayin at a glance and shouted, “Why are you running? Noribayin, stop right there!”

He rushed over quickly, grabbing her sleeve. When she turned around, he grabbed her collar, slammed her to the ground, and angrily cursed, “This is all your doing, making a show of yourself! Let’s have another match now!”

Bayin fell to the ground. Azamu was still not appeased, raising his fists to strike her. This little bastard was the reason his father had shed so much blood, and he himself had been severely reprimanded. Azamu had been seething with pent-up anger.

He cursed, “You motherless, fatherless mongrel! Your parents died because you cursed them!”

Big Mouth and Scarface were startled and rushed forward, “Azamu, this is still in the temple! Let go of Bayin!”

But they were no match for Azamu’s strong lackeys behind him and were quickly held in place, unable to move.

Bayin’s breath hitched from being pulled. She reached out, fumbling wildly for the bowls on the table, wanting to throw them at him.

Suddenly, she felt a lightness on her body. Azamu, who had been pressing down on her, was suddenly lifted into the air, then abruptly sent flying five or six meters, violently crashing into a pillar behind him, bouncing off it, and hitting the ground, shaking the entire room.

Azamu wailed in pain, “Do you know who my father is?!”

Everyone present was startled. “Who did that?”

“Too fast, couldn’t see clearly.”

Bayin sat up from the ground, her face red. She looked up in alarm. From her angle, she could just make out the cold gaze of the veiled woman through the slit of her hood, and the ugly, twisted red scales at the corner of her eye.

She was startled, and the woman also noticed her gaze. She covered her hood and silently left the crowd.

Bayin knew that it must have been her who helped.

‘Who was this person? Such ability, she must also be a cultivator,’ she thought, agitated. ‘Her gaze just now wasn’t meant that way, she just… ’

At night, Bayin tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

She wondered if she should go back to that main hall to investigate the situation again.

She knew that to those immortal cultivators, mortals were like crickets chirping in the grass, thinking themselves quiet, but actually making an astonishingly loud noise.

If it weren’t for the beast blood wine helping her that day, she would have been discovered long ago.

So, she planned to get some more beast blood wine to drink and then sneak back in.

It wasn’t that there was no beast blood wine in the Old Temple. Many pilgrims and believers would also send wine to the Old Temple as offerings for sacrifices.

There was sacrificial beast blood wine in the small bronze pot in front of the Buddha statue.

In the past, Bayin never touched offerings, but this time, there was a reason, and she decided to break a rule.

However, her luck was consistently bad these few times. She never encountered the same people as that day again.

It wasn’t until the fourth time, perhaps because she had become somewhat accustomed to the beast blood wine, that this time the wine didn’t burn her throat as much as before.

She curled up deeply inside the pitch-black Buddha statue, carefully listening to the sounds outside.

This time, she finally waited.

The two gathered again, starting with their usual complaints about Yinlan City’s coldness and harsh living conditions.

Bayin pricked up her ears, not daring to miss a single word.

Soon, they got to the main topic.

“How are the blessed sachets coming along? If anything goes wrong with the ritual, you and I will both die.”

“You can trust me with my work,” the other person asked, “What about you? How are you doing with spreading the news and drawing patterns around the city?”

“Such a small matter, how could I not handle it well?” That person chuckled. “When the Yan family army’s attention is drawn away by the Lotus Fire Cult, that will be our endless opportunity. Once that ritual is over, the entire city of Yinlan will become our blood food! Then, old brother, you and I can escape this hellhole!”

Bayin listened, burning with anger. She knew that there was indeed something wrong with those blessed sachets. But why couldn’t Granny Alan and the others see it? Did these bad people use some kind of trick?!

Her teeth were chattering with rage, and her blood was roaring, but she forcibly suppressed it, not daring to move an inch.

But just then, the voice outside suddenly became utterly menacing, and it sharply said, “Who’s there?!”

Bayin thought he was just casually probing, like last time. So, although her heart pounded furiously, she bit her lip, not daring to make a sound.

But just then, a sword actually plunged directly into the Buddha statue!

Light leaked through the cracked fissure, illuminating the blade with a dazzling gleam, and Bayin also saw her own terrified face reflected on that blade.

“Come out!”

She retreated backward in fear, but the Buddha statue’s space was inherently small. She only moved half a step before her back hit the rear.

She trembled, covering her mouth, and through the fissure torn open by the sword, she saw two hideous, terrifying faces approaching her step by step.

‘Save me.’

She froze, not daring to move. Why wasn’t the beast blood wine working today?

The sword was pulled out, and the Buddha statue also trembled. Bayin desperately shrank herself as small as possible. She knew that in the next second, this sword would stab towards her location.

Although she missed her mother and father, she, she also wanted to live. She didn’t want to go see them now!

Just then, a female voice suddenly came from outside, “I drank half of this wine, and the other half I added water to. It’s partly my fault she was discovered. I must take responsibility.”

“Who are you?”

“Ask the Ox-Head and Horse-Face after you’re dead.”

The other party moved extremely fast. Almost a few breaths later, there was no more sound outside. Bayin looked through the narrow crack in terror and saw the blood outside.

The female voice asked again, “Not coming out? Then I’m leaving, remember not to leave footprints.”

“Wait, I’m coming out.” Bayin forced out a few words. She slowly crawled out from the bottom of the Buddha statue, along the offering table.

At this time, there were two monks’ bodies on the ground. Although she had seen them before, she wasn’t very familiar with them. These two were the people she had searched for a week but hadn’t found.

Their blood flowed ceaselessly onto the ground, their faces still wearing expressions of disbelief.

And the woman in front of her was the one who had helped her when Azamu bullied her.

Bayin dared not look at the corpses on the ground again. She looked at the woman, took a deep breath, and tried not to tremble so much.

The woman didn’t pay her much attention, just stood sideways, as if ready to leave at any moment.

Bayin lifted her concealing fringe, revealing the dark, black birthmark that stretched from the corner of her eye to her temple. She said with a trembling voice, “I wasn’t afraid then; I just…”

She bit her lip and whispered, “We are the same.”

“The City Lord’s eyes also have such markings,” she emphasized. “All Batals are like this.”

The woman looked at her for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

She bent down and stroked the little girl’s head, but the child hadn’t bathed in a long time, and her hair was sticky.

The woman was a little disgusted and wiped her hand on the child, even though the child was also dirty.

Bayin was actually still a little scared, but she bravely endured, not dodging.

Ye Mingshi said, “That’s still a little different. I have a sect, and you don’t. And, I might be a little unluckier than you.”