The Urban Dao Child

The voice of the trial spirit rang out, "Well done, you have completed this trial earlier than the rest of the people who ever attended it."

Yang Dao said, "Get to business, what is the next round?"

The trial spirit replied, "You have proven your strength, now you will have to prove your wits. You will be put together inside an array formation and you will have to break it within an hour, otherwise, the array will collapse leaving behind a space chasm, you shall understand what might happen to you."

Bai Hu, Seth, Hector, and Natalie all opened their eyes wide and Yang Dao said, "What is the rank of this array?"

The trial spirit said, "Rank five."

Yang Dao stood up and pointed the sword in his hand at the sky and scowled, "Shameless, who do you think we are? I am a ten-year-old kid, and I do not know much about the array science, let alone these people. How do you think we will be able to solve it?"

The trial spirit said, "That is not my problem?"

Yang Dao grits his teeth and said, "I condemn you for being two-faced. You pathetic old spirit."

He berated the spirit as if the entity was some junior. Bai Hu was afraid that the trial spirit might do something to Yang Dao or make the trial even harder, and he stepped up, "Senior Trial Spirit, please overlook the behavior of my brother."

The trial spirit maintained the indifference in his tone and said, "I am not so lowly to meddle with a junior who is yet to shed his milk teeth."

Yang Dao flared up again and said, "You are the one with milk teeth. I will not step in until you tell me about what kind of array it was, I have the right to know every single detail about the death trap I am going to walk into."

His words were somewhat reasonable. Seth decided to jump in and clear up the bad things happened between him and Yang Dao. He said, "Indeed, if we are to die inside the array, then we shall at least know what killed us."

Hector nodded and Natalie also expressed her willingness with the demand. The trial spirit replied, "The array is an illusion array, it will be testing your wits inside specific situations. However, if you did not manage to get ahead of it, the array will turn into a death array. The means of death are very gruesome."

Yang Dao said, "You are heartless. Start it already."

Bai Hu, Hector, Seth, and Natalie nodded and came to stand up behind him. The trial spirit said, "As you wish."

The five people flashed with a golden glow again and the next moment, they appeared inside a bustling market.

Bai Hu said, "This will be very hard to get by. We do not know what is the situation."

Yang Dao said, "Keep your communication talismans outside the space rings. Wear your weapons on your body."

Natalie Brooke asked, "Why?"

Yang Dao said, "The situation is going to be a test for us, so that means, this array is going to work against us. So, those against us will try to apprehend us and take away our space rings."

The people understood what he meant, and they quickly moved and took out their talismans and weapons. Yang Dao said, "First, we need to find out what is going on around here."

Bai Hu nodded and said, "Let's go, find a restaurant here, Seth you will be in charge of talking things, Hector you are surveillance, Natalie you will be the lure, I will be your guard. Dao what will you do?"

"I would like to taste some food and see how it compares with the real food." Said Yang Dao.

Bai Hu nodded and had no comment. Yang Dao had been suggesting things to them and he felt like he was not useful. So, this time he took it upon himself to see things through this time.

Yang Dao also did not comment on anything, after all, he was not the only one who needed to pass the trials, it was a test for everyone else too.

The group moved to the nearby hotel after navigating through the market, but they were able to sense something was wrong, Hector moved through the crowd and blended into the crowd. He was not much of a speaker so it was easier for him to hide.

Hiding in the plain sight would allow him to see a bigger picture. Then he would be able to help other people as well.

While Hector hid among the people,  the others began to take a sniff inside the world of illusion. Yang Dao sat inside a restaurant and picked up a menu card. He converged his strength.

Bai Hu, Natalie Brookes, and Seth sat at another table to put the play into action. They were going to use Natalie as a honey trap, while Seth was going to play the clown. Bai Hu was going to be the guard beside the lady.

A waiter came. over and asked, "Sir may I take your order?"

Seth nodded and said, "Serve us with your specialty."

The waiter nodded politely and said, "Yes, sir, right away." and left the place.

Yang Dao sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant, watching all the things unfolding in front of him. He waved his hand and called over a waiter, the guy came over and asked, "What can I get you, Sir?"

The Dao Child replied, "One serving of your specialty."

The waited nodded and left the table to get him the food he ordered. Yang Dao did not ask him anything unnecessary, the reason was simple, he was trying to lay low. He did not want the illusionary people in the world of arrays to pay him any mind than necessary. That said, the boy kept his head down and watched the situation unfold.

After the dishes on both the table were served, the people began to eat and suddenly, a murmur spread around the restaurant. Seth asked a passing waiter, "What is happening? Why are all the guests unsettled?"

The waiter looked around him and said in a low voice, "Sir, the young city lord is coming back from the frontlines today, it is said that his father, The City Lord, will have him get married this time. Did you not notice, only this young lady with you is the only female out of the walls today."

Seth raised his eyebrow and asked, "What does this have to do with the young city lord?"

The waiter shook his head and said, "You shall take a look at the face of the young city lord before you say this sir. Years of constant wars and battles have left him with anything but a pristine appearance."

While Seth and Bai Hu were surprised, Natalie was shocked enough to forget that she was holding a piece of noodle between her chopsticks. She could figure out the head and tails of the matters here. This situation meant that she will be trapped in this battle of marriage.

Yang Dao, who was eating similar noodles to Natalie almost did not choke on his food from laughter. This stifled laughter of his did earn him a glare from the lady though. The scene continued, and Seth asked, "What is the solution to this situation?"

The waiter gazed at Natalie and then shook his head and said, "Nothing can be done, I hope that you all do not hold it against us, but we all have to think of the future of our daughters, we cannot let them be sacrificed. I apologize but the noodles you just swallowed were all poisoned."

Bai Hu did not flinch and kept eating the food. Natalie was the same, Seth said, "You may think that we will be fooled by your jokes, but the food is not poisonous, so, tell me what is going on here."

The waiter smiled and said, "Hahaha, turns out all of you are seasoned travelers. The thing that I want that makes all the people here uneasy is the beauty of your lady companion. You see, we all are blessed with nothing but ugliness when it comes to our better halves. So we all were surprised to see such a heavenly beauty arrive here."

The sudden change in the statement made Yang Dao raise his brow. Bai Hu and the rest were the same as well. They did not know what to make of it. After all, this was going too weird for them to understand. Just when Seth and the waiter were discussing things, a person entered the restaurant and came to sit in front of Yang Dao.

The Dao Child raised his head and found that Hector has returned. He gestured to the latter to tell him what he found and Hector made a few signs with his hands. Yang Dao squinted his eyes and revealed a smirk. He said, "This is interesting."