I turned back before we left Dumincheng, looking back at the Tang family compound.
It sat at the top of the hill, the roofing of the city around it spilling down the side.
Where the buildings ended, fields began, the hill terraced with vibrant rice fields that echoed out in every direction, folding gently in the breeze.
To think.
We lived here for over a century.
And yet… I didn’t really feel attached to this place.
It was just… where we stayed.
But we grew a lot here.
Even if I don’t really mind leaving this place behind, I was grateful to the matriarch and the Tangs for giving us a place to safely practice our skills and cultivate until it was time to leave.
“You good Ming?”
I turned back to the road that snaked through the gentle rice paddies, the bright green stalks scenting the air with a pleasant smell.
I nodded to Zhi.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just reminiscing.
One day we’ll have a compound like the Tang Family, won’t we?”
Zhi grinned as we started off again, Xiu amicably walking with us, escorting us to the edge of Tang territory.
“Yeah, we will.
We’ll build it right where the old compound was.
It might even be still there!
You’ll love it, it’s way up high in the mountains, above Jianshun.
The view is breathtaking, and there are cherry trees that flower every year.”
Zhi went on, describing his lovely mountain home, and I found myself looking forward to it too.
Xiu simply shrugged when he was finished.
“That sounds too cold for me.
I prefer the warm southern climate.
And the smell of rice as it ripens, golden waves flowing out in every direction you can see while the city bustles.”
“I think everyone prefers the place where they grow up.” I laughed.
“I know I’m partial to humid forests with lots of fruit trees myself.”
Our amicable chatter continued until Xiu began pausing and looking back nervously.
Zhi stopped too; his face grimly set.
I gave Zhi a questioning look and he leaned in.
“We’re being followed.”
Oh.
I swallowed and peeked behind us but I couldn’t see anyone.
“What… what should we do?”
Xiu worked her jaw.
“For now, we keep moving.
Perhaps they are only here to observe.
We’ll keep a guard at night and remain cautious.
If they’re still following us tomorrow, we do something about them.”
Damn.
This completely killed the good mood we had setting out.
We walked forward, determined, setting a good clip.
We walked until the sun began to creep down, eating dry food while walking.
And we stopped when it was time to set up camp and eat dinner.
We made good time today, but it was overshadowed by the fact we had others trailing along.
I went ahead and made some dinner for all of us, fixing some rice and some meat kept fresh inside my storage ring.
As we ate, Xiu got down to business.
“I can take first watch.
Who wants second?”
Gah.
I wanted first watch.
“I can.”
“I’ll take the final watch then.” Zhi looked out, beyond the light of the campfire.
He took the last bite of food before taking all the dishes and cleaning them, and I stored them away again.
Zhi and I used our tent to sleep.
I curled up into him, nervous.
He wrapped me up, nice and warm.
“It’s okay Ming.
We’ll deal with them tomorrow.”
I sighed.
“I know Zhi.
I’m just sorry.
I know this is my fault somehow.
It’s probably the Soaring Skies Sect.”
He patted my head, prompting me to close my eyes.
“I’ll protect you.
Just get some sleep.”
I drifted off uneasy and nervous, dozing off and on throughout the night.
Until Xiu nudged me.
I blinked up at her, sleepy.
Ah.
My turn for watch.
Ummm.
I tried to untangle myself from Zhi, but his arms tightened around me.
Ack.
I gently shook him.
“Zhi.
It’s my turn to watch.”
He mumbled.
“No.”
“Zhi, let me go!” I tried to struggle out of his arms, but they remained locked around me.
He looked up at me blearily.
Then darted forward and kissed me.
He sat up.
“I have something I have to do.
Stay here.
Xiu, let’s go.”
Xiu crossed her arms.
“Uh, isn’t it my turn to sleep?”
“You can sleep in a few minutes once we get back.
Hey Ming, can you pull out that unbreakable rope you made?”
Uh… I pulled it out and he took it and heaved himself up and out of the tent.
Xiu sighed and followed him.
Ugh.
I rubbed my eyes, tired.
What was he even going to use—
A loud bang made me leap up and I ran out of the tent.
About fifty feet away, Zhi was holding a limp body and Xiu was dragging another person over to him as they kicked and shouted.
There was a small crater in the ground from where Zhi had evidently landed on them.
The two prisoners wore white robes with light blue edges, rather simple.
There was a symbol of a fluffy cloud inside a circle over the right side of their chests.
They looked young, and when I cast my chi senses over them, I realized the two of the were in Foundation Establishment, a stage below us.
Zhi and Xiu tied the two of them up tight, and dragged them back to camp, Xiu taking two treasures off of them.
Zhi dragged them beside the tent and threw them onto the ground.
His glare made the conscious one shake in terror.
“I’m tired.
I want to snuggle with my wife and sleep.
So just lay there, and fucking sleep.
Understand?”
The conscious one nodded, jerky and wide-eyed.
Xiu rubbed her face.
“Won’t we have to put a guard on them?”
“Why?
They don’t even have weapons.
And they’re Foundation Establishment.
I say we either let them escape or wait until morning to deal with it.”
“Couldn’t we have done this before I spent a third of the night on watch?” She crossed her arms, annoyed.
“We needed them to let their guard down.
And now we can all sleep in peace.
Let’s just get some rest.”
Xiu rolled her eyes before heading into her tent.
I gave Zhi a flat look.
“Really?”
He tugged on me and I let him pull me into the tent, and his embrace.
We laid down.
He snuggled into my chest and tugged the blanket up.
“Shhh.
Sleep.
Snuggles.
We’ll deal with it when it’s light out.”
His dedication to sleep was admirable if nothing else.
I sighed and closed my eyes, also tired.
At least I could sleep a little easier knowing we captured the people following us.
I drifted off into an easier sleep.
Mmm.
I blinked.
And yawned.
I could hear some faint birdsong and sunlight stream through the wall of the tent that was warming up me up from cozy to uncomfortable.
I shuffled and Zhi stirred too.
He gave a big stretch followed by sitting up and a big yawn.
I sat up with him, stretching and felt compelled to yawn myself.
He sighed.
“Alright.
Let’s deal with these bastards.” He opened up the tent flap and walked outside.
I followed him.
Damn.
The two were gone.
And…
“My rope!
They took my rope!” Gah!
I turned and glared at Zhi.
“Don’t you have three more?” He took a few steps back.
“Yes, but they still took my rope!
We should have guarded them!”
“I mean, at least they escaped quietly, like I asked.”
Gah!
I growled.
“I can’t believe this.
What are we going to do now?”
“I presume we’ll keep heading west.” I turned to see Xiu sighing as she saw the prisoners were not where we had left them last night.
“But we can’t question them!
We don’t know who sent them!
And they took my rope!”
She shrugged.
“They had the Soaring Skies Sect symbol of their robes.
So we know who sent them.
And considering they were only Foundation Establishment, I doubt they knew much of anything.
They probably went to report we’re heading west.
I’m sorry about the rope, will these make up for it?”
She pulled two treasures out of her spatial ring.
I took them and used my chi to examine them.
One was a communication stone, but I went ahead and severed the connection.
I guess it I could connect another stone to it we could use it to communicate, even from long distances.
And the second was some kind of disguise treasure, but it was only in Foundation Establishment.
My hidey rings were far more effective.
I handed the disguise ring back to Xiu.
“Here, you can keep this.
I guess I can get some use out of the comstone.
But… my rope.”
“It’s just a Foundation Establishment treasure.
It’s a dime a dozen.
You can always make another.”
I glared back at Zhi and he looked away, rubbing the back of his head, trying to not take responsibility for his rashness last night.
Eventually I sighed.
The chance to do something about it had long passed.
“You’re making breakfast.”
He got the fire going again and Xiu and I sat down as he began cooking.
I brought out eggs, some rice, and bacon for him to cook.
As the fat sizzled in the frying pan over the
“Look on the bright side Ming, at least we don’t have to deal with them this morning.”
“But wouldn’t that be better than them running away?”
He quirked an eyebrow up at me.
“Deal with them how?”
At that, my mind blanked.
“Fuck, I don’t know.
Xiu couldn’t you have arrested them or something?”
“For following us?
I mean, I could have dragged them back to Dumincheng, but it’s not like they actually did anything.
In fact, we’re the ones who attacked them.
The Soaring Skies Sect could have simply complained to the Tang family for the return of their disciples.
The end result is the same.
The only way to completely silence them would be to kill them.” She gave a breezy shrug, clearly not too fussed they had gotten away either.
Oh.
Well… that seemed a bit drastic.
While it was true they followed us, it was just on orders.
Being an entire cultivation stage behind us they wouldn’t dare to attack.
They were just… disciples trying to get favor from their seniors.
Zhi glanced at me as he seared the bacon.
“I know you don’t like killing.
In the end, scaring them and cutting off their communication is our best option.
They’ll have to get back to the sect to report anything about us.
We’ll be long gone by then.”
Xiu nodded.
“It’ll take them about two weeks to get out of Tang territory, and a month for word to reach the Soaring Skies Sect through mundane means. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
But… it is concerning.
They know you’re heading west now, and even once you leave Tang territory they’ll try and find you.
A change in course might be prudent.
What do you think?”
Damn it.
I looked into the fire, the gorgeous morning sun streaming through the canopy, and gentle mists rising from the paddies.
The only thing I could think of right now was how good that bacon smelled.
“It’s ready.” Zhi dished it up for us, and I eagerly dug in to breakfast, rice, eggs, bacon, and some plums to round out our breakfast.
Once I had a few bites, I was able to think again.
Xiu had a point.
I think… I think the amount of danger we’re in being out on our own hasn’t really sunk in.
A major sect was looking for the two of us.
And if they found us…
Zhi sighed.
“Ming.
I know you want to learn everything you can about alchemy.
But…”
“I know.
We… we should head north.
Stay with the Ice Blades tribe.
Try to lose the Soaring Skies Sect.
I just…” I took another annoyed bite of bacon, trying to ignore my frustration.
It wasn’t a big deal.
I could learn alchemy later.
“Thanks Ming.
I swear, we’ll hit every treasure pavilion between here and the north of the continent to get you ingredients.
And once we leave the Ice Blades tribe and lose the Soaring Skies Sect, we can take our time getting to the next clan.”
His comforting words irritated me, but I pushed that down too.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t study other things while we were there.
I want to learn more about healing.
And I always had more techniques to practice from the Order Immortal.
This wasn’t the end of the world.
I finished eating, and we got moving again, Xiu leading us to the north now.
Two weeks later, it was time to say goodbye to Xiu.
We all lingered at the edge of Tang territory, and she gave us an emblem we could use in rice supply stores across the empire.
Then we could get information through the Tang spy network.
And get a discount on rice for being a friend of the Tang family.
The rice paddies were beginning to give way to the central plains, which would eventually turn to desert.
The land was flat all around us, the horizon stretching on forever.
It was cloudy, and they hung low and heavy, threatening rain.
She smiled at us.
“I wish you fortune in your journey.
May heaven bless you with many insights into your daos.”
Zhi bowed his head to her.
“Thank you, Xiu.
For everything.
When it comes time to bring Xaoge to justice, I will mention the Tang family.”
“No, not the Tang family.
Grandmother has declined an official pact with you, and that is the family’s official stance.
But…” Her eyes glittered.
“Tell Xaoge my name.
Tell him I had a hand in his downfall.
And tell him he’s a womanizing bastard who pretends to be chivalrous.”
Oh… I had forgotten.
Xiu… had feelings for Xaoge back when he stayed with the clan.
Zhi nodded.
“I will ensure he pays for betraying you then.
I hope you reach Golden Core quickly.”
I reached out and took Xiu’s hand.
“Goodbye Xiu.
We’ll see you again, when we’re much stronger.
But for now…”
I let go of her hand and summoned a small treasure from my necklace.
It was a hairpin.
It wasn’t especially powerful, but it had a jeweled flower the same color as her eyes.
“This hairpin has a hollow space to hold poison.
And a small storage space where you can keep an antidote.
I hope it serves you well until we meet again.”
She gently took the hairpin and smiled.
“You’re too kind Ming.
You’ve already given our clan more than enough.”
“Well, the poison was for the clan.
This gift is for you.
Because you’re our friend.”
“Your friend… Thank you.
I’m sorry I don’t have anything… Ah, wait.” She slipped a small vial out of her spatial ring, and I gently took it, as I had a good guess as to what it was.
“This is a vial of sleeping drug.
Slipping a drop into a Golden Core’s food will put them to sleep for a day.
I know you don’t enjoy killing, so I hope this drug serves you well instead.”
I chuckled.
“Thank you, Xiu.
I’ll use it carefully.
Goodbye!”
She waved to us as we moved out, beyond the small town that denoted the border.
I waved back until she was out of sight, then I sighed and turned back to the dirt road ahead.
“That was nice Ming.
I didn’t know you made her that treasure.”
“It’s nothing much.
The storage space is really small, and I had to get an expert to help create the hollow space.”
Zhi scanned the horizon.
“Sometimes, it’s not about how powerful a treasure is.
It’s about how well it fits the recipient.
And that was perfect for Xiu.
I’m sure she appreciates how much thought you put into her gift.”
“As long as she gets some use out of it, even as just an ornament, I’m satisfied.”
He flashed a smile at me.
“Well, your networking skills are top tier.
That’s important for the future lady of the Liu family.”
“Ugh, it’s not networking.
We’re just friends.”
“Of course, of course.
The future head of the Tang family and the future lady of the Liu family are friends.
I’m sure that won’t have any political implications.”
“Ugh, and now you’re bringing politics into it!
You keep those dirty politics away from my pure friendship!”
I lightly smacked him as he laughed his ass off all the way down the road.