Seasickness, or motion sickness for the technically inclined, was triggered by the strong reaction of the ear’s vestibular system when the body was subjected to a new state of motion, such as car jolts from a vehicle’s vibrations. Motion sickness’ degree varied with each individual’s vestibular system’s sensibility and signal tolerance.
On Earth, pilots needed to have a sensitive vestibular system and high tolerance. As irony had it, Wang Qi’s was more than sensitive, but had next to no tolerance. Tolerance could be trained, but considering that cultivators’ perception only improved with cultivation, Wang Qi came to a crushing realization—he was stuck feeling seasick for life.
Near Jiongli, Mao Zimiao looked for Wang Qi on deck, who was curled up at the side. His bookworm attitude was nowhere to be found, looking ragged and unsteady on his feet as if he’d studied too much biology last night. He was looking yellow, with tightly closed eyes as he leaned weakly on the railing.
The cat-eared girl was equal parts amused and worried. She’d never seen the always obnoxious and show-off of the Immortal Institute brought so low. Her hen-mother instinct flipped and helped him. “Little Qi, are you alright?”
Wang Qi forced himself to wave her off. Mao Zimiao helped Wang Qi with her right hand while using her left to trail the boat’s railing. Seals on the railing flashed and a gap was formed in the wind protecting array acting as a windshield, letting the high altitude piercing cold breeze slip over Wang Qi’s face.
“The wind will make it better, nya.”
Mao Zimiao felt as Wang Qi struggled a few steps forward with her support. He leaned overboard and hurled like no tomorrow. As his stomach had been emptied a long time ago, and since he didn’t know how to create stuff out of nothing, all he spewed out was nasty saliva.
“Ah’Zimiao, I’m about to sleep, nya. Let me go…”
“Don’t copy me, nya!” The girl snapped. “Don’t go sleeping since we’re close, nya.”
Mao Zimiao butted in. “Little Qi, it’s not very ethical how you vomit, nya. What if you hit someone?”
“On our journey to Jiongli, we passed through three large lakes, three protected areas, and one inland sea. The statistics of there being anyone that unlucky to douse them on the way is negligible.”
The cat-eared girl pointed outside. “We’re in Jiongli, nya. We’ve arrived.”
Wang Qi’s vision swam from all the puking and hadn’t bothered where he was ages ago. Hearing her words, he focused his eyes.
Below the spirit boat was a layer of thin clouds, through which Wang Qi saw the shifting reflections beneath. He figured they were over a lake, but as the spirit boat descended, Wang Qi saw a landscape of water and mountains. The water flowed around the many mountains. The currents of the rivers were so slow that the people on the spirit boat could see reflections on the surface. Most of the mountains were small, but were formed in baffling ways. The mountains were connected through floating bridges, while the many buildings were erected on the steep mountainsides, blending with the scenery.
“Jiongli, the land of mountains and water, must get plenty of visitors, nya.” Before Mao Zimiao finished, Wang Qi’s heart flew at the promise of the sweet release of motion and towards grasping solid ground.
The spirit boat anchored above the water and Mao Zimiao dragged off the feeble Wang Qi from too much barfing.
Stepping on the wet ground, Wang Qi felt much better. He took a deep breath and looked around. “Where has Ai Dinglan run off to? Talking about looking after me whole I almost puked my life back there. Just when I needed her most for a motion sickness pill, she’s nowhere to be found.”
[Whatev, that fried brain genius must’ve been looking after me only that time only.]
Mao Zimiao defended her, having helped the catgirl a lot. “Senior Sister Ai cultivates too, nya.”
Wang Qi held onto the warehouse wall on the dock and skipped twice. Argent Apex Immortal Institute’s teacher, Yun Xiang, flew down, announcing that they were dismissed. Freshmen were free to roam, but to go to the Jiongli branch’s main hall at sundown.
The crowd dispersed in haste. Wang Qi couldn’t move yet, waiting for the few people he knew to walk by. He waited and waited, but no one arrived. He was forgotten.
“That rotten Wu Fan is gone already?” Wang Qi gnashed his teeth as he glanced about. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
Wu Fan did think of coming over, but a wicked silver-haired dog-eared girl smiled as she pulled him away.
Speaking of, Zhen Chanzi saw it through his spiritual sense, just that as of late, the Great Ascension old relic didn’t speak out due to some recent nasty mental shock.
Mao Zimiao looked around with curiosity. “Qiqi is also gone.”
“Making quick friends leads to disappointments…” Wang Qi nagged. Mao Zimiao beamed. “Little Qi, just say you’ve got few friends, nya.”
“My harem’s too small!”
Mao Zimiao wasn’t a bad choice either. Cultivators were way better than mortals, and since she was also a demonborn, she could carry three Wang Qis over three mountains without breaking a sweat. While her strength was one thing, Wang Qi’s prestige was another. Letting a moe girl give him a piggyback, or hoisting him like a potato sack down the street…
The image of the cat-eared girl princess carrying him down the road under the eyes of everyone made him shudder.
Clueless to his errant thinking, the demonborn asked in concern, “What’s wrong this time?”
“Feeling sick and weak i the knees.”
Mao Zimiao looked around and found a porridge stall by the dock. “Shall we eat some rice soup, nya?”
The demonborn girl was born on the Western Sea’s shore. No one said porridge there, only soup to anything made of grain and water. Hence the people here liked to say ‘let’s go for soup.’
Wang Qi was also looking for a place to rest his feet and nodded.
Porridge stalls were common in the southeast hinterlands. A felt fabric and a little rope made the canopy hanging over a couple of tables underneath. The image was complete with the stall owner tending a few wooden barrels wrapped in thick quilts to keep the porridge warm. In this region, porridge was a beloved staple, the humble stalls serving it a frequent feature of their everyday lives.
Unlike Argent Apex, which emphasized commerce and only allowed cultivators with purchasing power in the city, Jiongli City had many common people living in its center. Most of the customers visiting these stalls were mortals. Seeing the obviously cultivating young couple, the owner rushed to set them a table.
Mao Zimiao ordered their signature dish for each of them and took a sip from hers. Wang Qi barely touched his before putting the bowl down, just stirring it with chopsticks.
The cat-eared girl worried again. “What’s wrong? Still feeling sick, nya?”
Wang Qi gazed into the mackerel porridge with an endless grudge. “I have a sweet tooth. I never take my porridge without a bit of sugar.”