Three days of training.
Madam Qiu was not patient. Not gentle. The instructions were harsh. Demonstrations with a dummy.
When her hand tried to touch Li Yuan for a "live demonstration"—
The hand stopped. Half a centimeter from his skin.
As if there was an invisible wall.
Madam Qiu frowned. She tried again. She couldn't.
"Strange." A sound of uncomfortable mumbling.
Li Yuan felt it—the Understanding of Wrapping had activated on its own. It was protecting him. Automatically.
And two other understandings—Fear and Doubt—flowed out. Subtle. Passive.
Madam Qiu backed away. She didn't know why, but she felt... hesitant. Unsure.
"We'll try with a client tomorrow. Maybe it's just me who... is not suitable."
The intention behind it—uncertainty. A sudden doubt. Feeling like something was wrong but not knowing what.
On the fourth day, Madam Hong came.
"Tonight. First client. He has already paid."
Li Yuan was bathed. Thin clothes. Perfumed oil.
He was taken to a room with a soft bed and candles.
"Sit. Wait. The client will come."
Madam Qiu left.
Li Yuan sat. Hands on his lap.
Inside his Zhenjing, he felt his Understandings move—Wrapping was ready, like a waiting shield. Fear and Doubt flowed out, a small radius, a subtle passive effect.
The others—15 Understandings—were held back. Tightly wrapped. Inactive.
Only three. Only for protection.
The door opened.
Footsteps entered. Slow.
"You... Xiao Yan?"
A man's voice. Young. Nervous.
"Yes."
The footsteps approached. The bed moved—he sat down.
Close. Within the two-meter radius.
Wenjing caught the intention—the same fear. Doubt. Unsure of what to do.
But then—the passive effect of Fear and Doubt touched him.
The man's breathing changed. Faster. Shallower.
"I... I can't..."
A hand lifted. It moved toward Li Yuan's face.
It stopped.
Half a centimeter from his skin.
It could not get closer.
Wrapping—invisible, inaudible, but absolute.
"Why can't I—"
The man tried again. His hand was trembling now.
The effect of Doubt went deeper—do I really want this? Why am I here? What's wrong with me?
The effect of Fear whispered—something is wrong. Danger. Back away.
"I... I'm sorry. I can't. I don't know why but I can't."
He stood up. Quickly. Almost ran to the door.
"I'm sorry!"
The door opened. Closed. The footsteps hurried away.
Li Yuan sat alone.
Untouched.
Wrapping worked.
Five minutes later, Madam Qiu entered.
"Why did he leave so fast? What did you do?"
"I did nothing. He... he couldn't."
"Couldn't?" Madam Qiu approached. "What do you mean couldn't?"
She tried to touch Li Yuan's shoulder—
Her hand stopped. It didn't reach him.
"What—" Madam Qiu pulled her hand back. Her face was pale even though Li Yuan could not see it. "There is something wrong with you."
Intention—sudden fear. Doubt. Not wanting to get close. Something unnatural.
"Wait here."
She left. Quickly.
Madam Hong came. Her face—Li Yuan felt from the intention—was angry but also confused.
"The first client ran away. He asked for his money back. Said there was 'something strange' about you."
She walked around Li Yuan. Not too close.
"Madam Qiu said she couldn't touch you. What did you do?"
"I did nothing."
"Lies!" Madam Hong stepped forward—
She stopped. The two-meter radius. Fear and Doubt touched her.
Her face changed. Her intention changed—uncertain. Hesitant. Why am I angry? What is happening?
She backed away.
"You... you are a sorcerer? A curse?"
"No."
"Then why—" Madam Hong bit her lip. Thinking.
The intention changed again—business calculation. A problem. Can't be sold if he can't be touched. A loss.
"I will try another client. Tomorrow. A more... experienced one. Maybe the young one was just weak."
But the true intention—doubt. Fear. Not sure if this will work.
The next day, a different client.
Old. Confident. He entered without hesitation.
"Where are the goods?"
Goods. Not a person.
Madam Hong pointed to Li Yuan.
The old man approached. Impolite. His hand lifted to touch his face—
It stopped.
He tried again. Harder. Like pushing on an invisible wall.
"What is this?" A harsh voice.
He tried to touch his shoulder. He couldn't.
He tried to pull Li Yuan's hand. His fingers did not reach him.
"What did you do to him?!" Angry at Madam Hong.
"I didn't—"
"Fraud! I want my money back!"
But there was something else—the effect of Fear began to seep in.
The old man suddenly went pale. He backed away.
"There is something wrong here. I'm leaving."
He went out. Quickly. As if he was running away.
Madam Hong stood. Her hands clenched.
"Two clients. TWO! Both of them asked for their money back!"
She turned to Li Yuan—but she didn't get close. She didn't dare.
"What is wrong with you?!"
Li Yuan didn't answer. Didn't know what to say.
"Shen Du will hear about this. He will—"
Madam Hong stopped. A deep breath.
"Locked in your room. Now."
Three days in the room. Locked.
Food was given—pushed through the gap under the door. No one entered.
Li Yuan sat. Waiting.
The Understanding of Wrapping never slept. Always on guard. Protecting him from unwanted touch.
Fear and Doubt continued to flow—passive, subtle, but constant.
No one could touch him. No one dared get too close for too long.
On the fourth day, the door opened.
Shen Du.
He stood at the threshold. He did not enter.
"Madam Hong said there was a problem."
"Yes."
"Clients cannot... complete the transaction. Cannot touch you."
"Yes."
Shen Du was silent for a long time. Intention—calculation. Loss. Anger but also... doubt. Fear.
"I invested fifty gold. For what? For a good that cannot be used?"
Li Yuan did not answer.
"You did something. I don't know what. But you made it impossible."
Shen Du took a step back—the effect of Fear touched him even though he tried to resist.
"I can't sell you to another place if they know about this. I can't return you to the slave market—my reputation will be ruined."
He thought. His intentions fluctuated—anger, frustration, fear, doubt.
"I will take you north. Further. There is... there is another job. A job that does not require touch. Maybe there you will still be useful."
He did not enter to get Li Yuan. He did not dare.
"Be ready. We leave tomorrow."
The door closed. Locked again.
Li Yuan sat in the darkness.
The Understanding of Wrapping protected him—just as it had always done when there was a threat, when there was a deep discomfort, when there was pain.
Automatic. Not fully controllable. This was true protection.
And Fear and Doubt—two understandings he had allowed to flow out—created an aura that made people unsure, not daring, unable to complete their malevolent intentions.
No one could touch him.
No one could.
This consciousness body was protected by the resonance of the Dao that did not care about human physical laws.
But that did not remove the trauma of the expectation—of knowing what was supposed to happen, of seeing the dark intentions in people's hearts, of hearing how they talked about his body like goods.
Physical touch was prevented.
But the psychological wound remained real.
Hearing clients talk with lust. Hearing Madam Hong calculate the profit from his body. Hearing Shen Du call him a "failed investment."
Objectification does not require touch to hurt.
Dehumanization does not require physical contact to leave a wound.
The Understanding of the Body sang—not with joy that the protection worked, but with a deeper acknowledgment:
This was the learning about how a vulnerable body lives in constant threat—even if the threat never physically materialized, the threat itself was a trauma.
About how verbal objectification was just as harmful as physical objectification.
About how a system that sells bodies wounds even when the transaction cannot be completed.
And about how his Understandings—a protection from the Dao—saved the body but could not save the mind from hearing, from knowing, from understanding exactly what others wanted to do to a body they could not touch.
Li Yuan sat.
Protected but not whole.
Untouched but not unharmed.
Physically safe but carrying the weight of the knowledge of the dark intentions that his Wenjing had let him hear with painful clarity.
Tomorrow, Shen Du would take him north.
To another job that "did not require touch."
And this journey in the darkness—this journey to understand the vulnerable body—continued.
One step deeper into a world that Chen Ming never experienced but that thousands of others faced every day.
A world where physical protection existed but was not enough to stop all forms of suffering.
A world where the body was safe but the soul remained wounded.
One day at a time.