I pushed up from the ground and wiped my brow.
This should work.
I looked over the small formation I drew on the floor of our room.
Okay… now.
I infused my chi into the formation, running it along the lines I just drew.
It wobbled, threatening to fall apart.
No!
Come on, come on…
It stabilized, and began to sustain itself on environment chi.
YES!
Sweet, sweet success.
I took a step back and watched my formation beginning to gather some chi in it’s center.
I succeeded in creating a basic chi formation, the same kind as the ones used here in the clan.
It only took about sixty years of studying.
Well, maybe that was unfair.
I’ve been studying a lot of different disciplines at the same time.
I was competent in treasure creation, illusions, and now formations.
Well, maybe another decade to really nail the basic level of formations.
Then I can move on to charms and spells.
And then?
I’ll have mastered all of the basic support techniques for cultivators, which was insane.
Most cultivators only specialized in a single support skill, and some combat techniques.
The truth was, I was incredibly unbalanced.
However, that was what my chi excelled in.
I would have to be in Core Formation before I could even learn a defensive technique.
Support was all I had.
But…
It wasn’t too bad for me.
At least, I didn’t have to worry about evil cultivators capturing me and using me to constantly make formations and treasures for them.
Thanks to my incredibly unbalanced husband who only knows how to fight.
I gently pulled on the formation, letting it fall apart.
I smiled at the basic lines on the ground.
I would have to show Zhi later.
Plus having our own personal chi gathering formation will be useful for charging treasures and doing a bit of individual cultivation.
Once I got to Core Formation, I had to learn how to do a dual cultivation formation.
Then we’ll be able to gather lots of chi while on the road.
I turned and summoned my illusion ring, popping it on.
I now looked like an average cultivator.
A nondescript woman who was neither pretty nor plain.
Easily forgettable.
I left our house and headed for the training ground.
It was a simple field with various training dummies and sparring circles.
The largest one was in the center, and where I could usually find Zhi.
I heard the chaos before I saw it.
A nondescript cultivator man was in the center of a ring of fire, grinning like a lunatic.
That was my Zhi.
One of the Tang cultivators lunged at him, creating a barrier to run through the fire, but he was quickly met by Zhi’s sword, and he skillfully disarmed him.
A few more rushed through to try and overwhelm him all at once, but his fire technique was quickly snuffed out and replaced by a woody barrier.
He threw out a few metal missiles and used his River Step technique to create some distance.
He grinned and stomped his foot into the ground, throwing one cultivator off-balance and he rushed them with his movement technique, and quickly disarmed him.
The defeated opponent retreated from battle, and the two final cultivators circled him.
Zhi stood calmly in the center, patiently waiting.
Or not.
With another stomp another earth wall was erected between him and the opponent to his left.
They paused for a moment before rushing in using their movement technique, certain he was going for the other one.
Instead, he used a movement technique to slide around the wall, and attacked him from the back, ending it swiftly.
After, the final person engaged him in a straight sword duel, but it didn’t take long for him to get knocked out too.
Four against one, and he won pretty easily.
Of course, these were all beginning cultivators, who wanted to spar against him to sharpen their battle skills.
His battles against Xiu, or the clan’s upper Foundation Establishment and lower Core Formation cultivators were much closer.
He lost against Xiu most of the time.
I believe their current score was 2056 wins for Xiu and 986 wins for Zhi.
Which, considering Xiu was almost to Golden Core, was nothing to sneeze at.
Zhi was a damn good fighter.
And when I joined him, my support combined with his combat prowess made us nigh undefeatable to anyone below Golden Core.
I waved at him and Zhi jogged over to me, a huge grin on his face.
“Whew!
Did you see that?!
I’m on fire today.
I’m hoping Xiu will stop by so I can challenge her.
I’ve got that Fire Ring technique down pat.
Next I think I’ll work on the Steel Body metal technique.
That way if someone does manage to get me I’ll be a lot more durable.
Ha!
I can already see Xiu’s face when she tries to nick and poison me but her dumb fans can’t even scratch me.
I swear, I’ll surpass her wins and become the strongest sword master on the continent!” He puffed himself up, showing off for me.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Just make sure you don’t add to her wins.
You’re already going to have a hard time catching up.”
“Bah, I’ve got this.
And just look at that.
It seems like fate wants me to fight her today.”
I turned to see Xiu come in.
She scanned the training ground, then made a beeline for us.
However, our good mood was killed by her grim expression.
Zhi asked first.
“What’s wrong?”
“We have guests.
The kind of guests we’d rather not have.
From the Soaring Skies Sect.”
Shit.
“Who specifically?
Anyone important?”
She sighed.
“An elder.
He’s in Spirit Transformation like my grandmother.
And he brought a senior disciple in Golden Core, Zhong Chen.”
Zhi and I shared a panicked look.
I turned back to her.
“Zhong came after us for the poison.
We barely managed to hide from him.
Do you think they heard about us?”
Xiu let out a stressed sigh.
“I don’t know, all I do know is that they just showed up at the gate and demanded an audience with Grandmother.
And that it’s a bad idea for you to meet them.”
She could say that again.
“We’ll head home right away.
Come and tell us when they leave.”
She nodded and Zhi and I wasted no time retreating back home.
In fact, I even let out a sigh of relief as I closed the gate to our courtyard behind us.
Zhi turned to me.
“Don’t worry Ming.
While the Tang family is in decline, the Soaring Skies Sect can’t cause trouble here without consequences.
The other martial families will step in and support the Tang family.
I bet they’re looking for any excuse to try and tear the Soaring Skies Sect down and rebalance the power between the sects and families.”
Right.
It was comforting to know they weren’t just going to bust in here and kill us.
I believe the Tang family had the matriarch who was in Spirit Transformation, and two Golden Core cultivators here right now, and three more out wandering the world, and two Nascent Soul cultivators.
While the clan was in a disadvantageous position politically, they didn’t lack in strength compared to other martial families.
However, the Soaring Skies Sect had an Immortal as it’s leader.
And two Spirit Transformation Elders, with seven Golden Core senior disciples, and three Nascent Soul elders, one of which was Xaoge.
Zhong Cheng was a senior disciple.
As for the elder…
“It’s probably Xiaobao.”
He grimaced.
“You’re right.
It probably is.
Xaoge’s teacher.
Why didn’t Xaoge himself come…” His eyes glittered darkly and I grabbed him.
“Zhi.
We are nowhere near at the level we need to be to take Xaoge on.
And don’t even think about confronting Xiaobao.
Or Zhong.”
He pushed me away.
“I know Ming.
I know we’re only mid Foundation Establishment and we’re still far too weak.
I wouldn’t last five seconds against any of them in a fight.
I’m not just gonna blindly charge at the first opportunity to get my revenge like an idiot.
The best revenge is served cold.
Once we’re both strong enough we’ll go after them.”
Whew.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Okay.
Oh, I made a working chi gathering formation!
Come and see!”
“Wait, really?
Wow, that’s great!
We’ll still be able to cultivate for however long we’re stuck here.” We moved inside, and I took him to the chi gathering formation in our room.
“I know!
Now that I have the basis, I should pick up the dual cultivation formation quickly once we reach Core Formation.
I started it up and it began working again
“I mean… we can still dual cultivate in your formation it just won’t be able to keep up with our chi demands.” He gave me a sly look.
Heh.
“Don’t want to cut into our alone time huh?
Well, I think we’re going to have plenty of alone time together until those unwelcome guests leave.”
He smirked and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“How do you feel about spending some alone time together right now?”
“Hah!
Take off your illusion ring and try asking me again.
I don’t sleep with humans.”
He took his ring off and tossed it and I did the same.
He kissed me, needy, and I let him push me into the formation on the floor.
I tugged at his shirt.
Well, if nothing else, at least these next few days were going to be fun.
Knocking.
At our door.
Uuuugh.
I opened my eyes, tired.
Bleh.
So tired.
And sore.
I shifted, wincing and reaching around and rubbing my back.
Zhi has really been going to work these past two weeks.
Honestly, if we couldn’t leave the house soon, I might have to put my foot down and say we could only do it once a day.
More knocking.
Whyyyyy?
“What is it?”
“Masters, you have received a message from the main residence.
You are invited to dinner tonight.”
I was awake in half a second.
What?
We haven’t been to any family events.
In fact, by and large we’ve been ignored and left alone except for the occasional visit from Xiu.
I shook Zhi.
“Uh whuh?
Ming?”
“Zhi!
We received an invitation to dinner at the main residence!”
He looked blankly at me for a second.
“Shit.”
We didn’t have too long before dinner, so we did what we could, taking a quick bath to get the smell of sex off of us, and putting on our nice clothes.
Plus, of course, our illusion rings, even though I was doubtful they could hide our true natures from their eyes completely.
But we had to at least try.
I also included our hidey rings and some defensive bracelets, as well as a communication earring for both of us.
That way, we could use our chi to communicate, even when we couldn’t speak out loud.
We were as ready as we could be.
Zhi and I followed a servants to the main residence, and the guards smoothly let us pass, though not without one worried glance.
We stepped lightly through the halls, my nerves getting worked up.
We were about to face two of the major forces working with Xaoge.
This had to work.
I felt something gently grab my tail.
Zhi.
He grabbed my tail with his since they were invisible, and was comforting me.
And I was comforted.
As much trouble Zhi can be, I wouldn’t want to face this with anyone else by my side.
We would get through this.
Somehow.
The servant stopped in front of the main hall, and gently opened the doors.
Before we went in, he announced us.
“Cultivator Mei and Cultivator Ping are here to join your illustrious company.”
Clever.
This way we knew what fake identities they made up for us before we entered the hall.
The doors opened, revealing three long mahogany tables.
The ones on either side were filled with members of the Tang family, while the one in the center held Lady Tang at the far end.
Xiu sat beside her, on the right, with two empty seats that were obviously for us.
Besides the matriarch were two cultivators in light blue robes with white embroidery.
Xiaobao and Zhong.
Zhi went first, stiff, and I followed him.
Xiaobao was dressed in flowing blue robes and had a young face with a short beard.
Zhong was tall, and bald, with a much more prominent, but still well-groomed beard.
The other family members dining her watched us with trepidation, cautious to stay out of the conversation.
When Xiaobao and Zhong saw us, they had totally different reactions.
Xiaobao had a poker face, not giving any of his true thoughts away.
Zhong’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
He quickly recovered his expression, slipping into a poker face like his master, but the damage was done.
Apparently we weren’t who he expected to see.
Zhi smiled as he walked up to Xiu.
“Hello there Lady Xiu.
I take it Mei and I are supposed to sit beside you?”
She slightly inclined her head, showing respect.
“If you would Ping.
I apologize for calling you out so suddenly.
I’m sure you and your wife were busy.”
Zhi slid in next to her and I sat next to him.
“Not at all!
We’re delighted to join the Tang family and the honorable Lady Tang anytime.
But, who are your other guests?
I don’t believe I’ve seen these cultivators around before.”
The matriarch introduced us.
“This is Elder Xiaobao of the Soaring Skies Sect, and the senior disciple Zhong Chen.
The two of them have honored us with their presence for the past two weeks, but they insisted upon meeting the other honored guests of our clan.
Xiaobao, Zhong, this is Ping and Mei.
They are two wandering cultivators who did me a favor and asked to stay with the clan for a while.”
Xiaobao nodded.
“I see.
I was quite curious to meet the two of you.
I apologize for disturbing the Tang clan’s honored guests.”
Zhi’s jaw tightened slightly, but I wasn’t sure why.
This time, I swung my tail and caught his.
I saw him relax a little as he answered.
“Not at all, indeed the honor of meeting you is all ours!
Why, not only have we had the good luck to become acquainted with Lady Tang, we are now meeting an elder of the Soaring Skies Sect as well!
Me and my wife are truly blessed with good fortune.
But, if I may ask, why were you curious to meet us?
We are but two simple cultivators who dream of the lofty heights where you live.”
“Ah, I was simply curious about what the matriarch saw in the two of you to let you stay as guests of the clan.
I see you’re both quite bright young talents.
I’m sure you’ll go far.”
I felt his tail stiffen, and I squeezed it.
Stay calm and lie your ass off, please.
Even though he must have been angry, not a hint of it showed on his face.
“Why if an honored elder like you says so, then it must be true!
Thank you for your encouraging words.”
Xiu put an end to that particular conversation.
“It seemed the food is ready to be served.
Let us eat while it is hot.”
The servants brought in the fragrant plates of rice, meat, and side dishes and filled the cups with rice wine.
But, it was far from a friendly atmosphere.
Zhong couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of me for two seconds, and I could see Xiaobao slipping peeks as well.
It couldn’t be the illusion.
I specifically made sure my illusion wasn’t pretty.
I didn’t want any attention from men.
But then, if they could see past the illusion, that didn’t make sense either.
Why were they only looking at me?
Why not Zhi?
It made me uncomfortable.
I just tried to ignore them as I cut my food and ate.
This… was really good.
It was a shame I thought it was going to give me indigestion from this atmosphere.
Ming, I’m getting pissed off.
Zhong keeps staring at you.
Shit.
Zhi, I doubt he’s attracted to me.
But… I don’t know why he keeps staring at me either.
I don’t care why he’s staring at you, I don’t like it.
Don’t—
“Excuse me?
Your name is Mei correct?” Zhong Cheng was addressing me and cut off Zhi’s communication.
I wanly smiled.
“Yep!
That’s me!”
He kept staring at me, but he didn’t say anything else for a moment.
Then.
“I see.
And… how long have you been married to Ping?”
Zhi jumped in, his smile turning sharp.
“Why, Senior Disciple Zhong, it seems you’ve been captivated by my wife’s stunning beauty!
I am a very lucky man indeed.”
Zhong’s eyes slid from me to Zhi.
“Ah… yes, I simply couldn’t believe such a jade beauty could possibly exist.
Forgive me for my rude question, I’m afraid my amazement overcame my manners.”
“Not at all!
I am very blessed that the heavens gifted me such a wonderful woman.
But please, my wife is quite shy, especially around strange men.”
With that, Elder Xiaobao distracted everyone by talking about the food.
The conversation occasionally continued, and Zhong quit staring so much, now occasionally shooting glances at Xiaobao.
Dinner came to an end without much more interaction between us and them.
At the end, Elder Xiaobao and Zhong bid us goodbye.
Finally.
A servant led us back to our house, and I was all too happy to rip the disguise and illusion ring off and collapse on our bed.
I groaned as Zhi did the same.
“What was that all about?”
“Clearly they requested to meet us and the matriarch couldn’t turn them down.
But as for their interest in you… I don’t know, but I don’t like it.
I don’t like the way Zhong Chen kept staring at you.
We should be on guard until they leave.”
I rubbed my face, tired, and pulled the blankets over me.
“I’m going to nap for a bit.
Wanna join?”
He paused for a second before nodding.
He climbed in with me and I snuggled into him.
But he didn’t relax.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.
I just want to think a bit while I cuddle with you.
Go ahead and sleep.”
Mmm.
I closed my eyes and got nice and comfy.
I yawned and went to sleep.
Mmmm.
Something was tugging at me.
What…
I opened my eyes.
I had to find it.
I shifted up, ready to get up and leave.
“Whoa!
Ming?” Zhi grabbed me and turned my face to look at him.
He stared into my eyes for a moment before he cursed.
“Shit, Ming, you’re charmed.
Try to fight it!”
Fight…
My mind felt foggy and thick, like syrup.
I felt the tug again and It felt like my entire mind was going numb.
Ugh.
This wasn’t right.
What…
My body kept moving against my will, pushing Zhi away and turning to get up.
Zhi grabbed a hold of me.
“Ming!
Damn it, I’m sorry about this.”
He grabbed the blankets and swaddled me up, tight.
I struggled against the blankets, but it was useless.
I couldn’t move.
Zhi stood up and rang for the servants.
He told them to send a message to Xiu to come here right away.
They quietly complied, and Zhi came back to me, smoothing my fur back.
“You have a slight fever.
Ming, can you talk?
How are you feeling?
What are you feeling compelled to do?”
I couldn’t speak.
It was like my mouth had been wired shut.
But the tugging grew stronger and I wiggled in my blanket cocoon, desperate to reach the other end.
I had to find him.
Him?
Who… My mind blanked out again, and an especially hard tug let me locate where it was coming from.
My pinky.
It felt like someone was tugging on my pinky, telling me to follow a connection I never felt before now.
Follow… Find him…
Who was him?!
No!
I didn’t want to find him!
The tugging kept up for a few minutes.
Then… it stopped.
That was almost spookier than when it started.
My mind slowly cleared up and I regained control of my body.
“Zhi?”
He turned to me.
“Ming!
How are you feeling?”
He looked into my eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’re no longer charmed.
Let me get you out of there.”
He undid my cocoon, and I could move again.
I shivered, and rubbed my arms, happy to be back in control but disturbed that I hadn’t been just a minute ago.
“I’m back.
It was… horrible.
Everything about that was horrible.
I couldn’t control myself at all.
I could hardly even think.”
He opened up his arms, offering me some comfort, and I wasted no time in diving into them he rubbed my back as I trembled.
“It’s okay Ming.
I’ve got you.
I’m right here.
I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
I sniffed, exhausted, just letting him comfort me as I calmed down.
Thank god he had been here.
If he wasn’t, I would have blindly followed the compulsion.
“Uh… am I interrupting something?”
We both froze, and Zhi looked up at Xiu, standing in the doorway looking awkward.
I pushed him away, and he turned away from me, and we both flushed in embarrassment.
“I’m sorry for intruding, but I heard it was an emergency.
What happened?”
Zhi cleared his throat.
“Ming was charmed by something, and she just regained control.
Ming, do you think you can tell us what happened?”
He turned back to me, concerned.
I swallowed and nodded.
“Yeah.
I woke up because I felt something tugging at me.
And I felt compelled to follow it.
Oh, it was around my left pinky!
It felt like something was tied to it and I had to find the man tugging on it.”
Xiu reached out, concerned.
“Your left pinky?
May I see it?”
I hesitantly nodded and held my left hand out to her.
She fiddled with it, her violet eyes glowing, but after a minute or two she sighed and dropped it.
“I can’t feel anything on it.
The spell must be stronger than me.
Tomorrow, I’ll ask my grandmother about it.
For now, Zhi, keep an eye on her to make sure she’s not charmed again.
I’ll bring an expert to look at her in the morning.”
Zhi nodded resolutely.
“I’ll keep a close watch.
Thank you Xiu.
And… I’m sure we all know who is to blame for this charm.”
She was grim.
“Our unwanted guests.
They must be trying to get Ming alone.
Ming, don’t go anywhere without someone by your side.”
I nodded scared.
“I won’t.
But… why me?
Why not Zhi?”
Xiu hook her head.
“I don’t know.
I’ll be back in the morning.
Stay on guard.”
She left, leaving me and Zhi alone again.
He turned towards me and caressed my face.
“Get some sleep Ming.
I’ll guard you.
If something happens I’ll swaddle you up again.”
I swallowed and nodded.
I laid down, but it was pointless.
I was just too scared to sleep.
Instead, I watched Zhi as he grabbed some normal clothes and his sword.
Then, he resolutely stood by our bed, alert and ready.
Guarding me.
That did comfort me a little.
As I watched him watching carefully, I slowly began to drift off, comfortable enough to sleep.