By this point, Kai was starting to get anxious. He had known that it might take several days, he just couldn't help but worry. They had rejected the idea of any sort of secret message system, because it would probably be detected by the paranoid sect, so he had no choice but to wait and work out his frustration in training. Sometimes he considered going to find them, but charging directly into an all-female sect was probably a bad idea.
Just when he started to consider it anyway, for the tenth time, he felt a source of qi descending from the mountain top. Even from a distance he spotted Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena first, but they were being carried by someone else. He checked to make sure they weren't being controlled or under duress and they looked calm, if a bit more neutral than normal.
The woman between them was clearly a Sky Soul and she carried with her the inhumanly beautiful aura that he'd come to expect, but otherwise she looked the same as most women on Cloudspire to him. He saw that she was controlling the flower petals around them and quickly checked her strength.
Cultivation: Sky Soul (945)
Physique Level: E-0 (80)
Based on the look of her soul, she must have been the matriarch of the sect, and once that was confirmed, she didn't particularly concern him. Except for the fact that all three were coming straight toward him, which was strange.
Hadn't Omilaena said they were claiming to be lesbian lovers? She was currently fixing him with a sharp glance, so Kai acted on instinct and lowered his head as they arrived instead of greeting them like normal.
"You may raise your head." The matriarch spoke smoothly as she landed, except her feet didn't actually touch the ground, she just continued hovering on her own qi. "These two are being granted the blessing of the sect, including many supplies. Load them onto the ship."
Kir Mei Bai touched a loose ribbon on her robes, which proved to be a spatial object, and revealed boxes of supplies. There was a ship descending after them, but it was simple blue, not the spotless white of the Pureflower vessel. Kai decided he wasn't supposed to care about that and just moved to pick up the boxes and put them onto the ship. Of course he was just going to put them in his spatial ring later, but this kept him close enough to easily hear the conversation.
"Thank you for taking such a dangerous assignment," the matriarch said to the other two women. "You must understand that while the Pureflower sect will be forever grateful for your assistance, we cannot officially acknowledge you."
"I understand," Zae Zin Nim said with a bow. "Given what happened, you can't trust any of your allies."
"Where are we actually going?" Omilaena asked.
"It seems there are so few I can trust, so I would like to send you to the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes." Kir Mei Bai waved her spatial ribbon again and summoned a scroll bound in gold. "I would like for you to investigate the Coiling Island sect and see if they could possibly have been behind the poison."
Kai resisted the urge to look up, but he could practically feel Zae Zin Nim get more uncomfortable. He remembered that name, even if he'd never seen one of their cultivators, because they were connected to the Brightwind sect somehow.
"I'm not sure that's the best place for us," Omilaena said. "Are you investigating all of the sects who attended that meeting? Who else was there?"
"But this was meant to be another reward for saving my life." Kir Mei Bai seemed honestly surprised. "The qi in the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes is more potent than any other region."
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
"Maybe in general, but not for us. Is there another option?"
"Yes, we are sending hidden investigators to all major parties. The others were the Heavenly Sands sect, the Masterful Crown clan, the Brightwind sect, and Cruellathe sect. Perhaps y-"
"I think we would be best suited to investigate the Masterful Crown sect," Zae Zin Nim said.
"Is that so? Well, I suppose..."
As he continued moving boxes, Kai smiled to himself. Omilaena had spoken up to deflect when Zae Zin Nim was uncomfortable, then she had returned the favor by selecting the Masterful Crown clan, which would take them to the Southern Rivers. It was nice to see them working together so smoothly.
"Then I can only wish you the luck of the heavens," Kir Mei Bai said. "Though, I must say... your servant is remarkably well behaved. I cannot remember the last time I met a man who didn't stare at me. His only concern seemed to be whether or not I was threatening you." ʀά₦ọ₿Ëṧ
"Yes, he is adequate," Zae Zin Nim said in a flat voice.
Kai tried to resist looking over, since he probably wasn't supposed to be able to hear them, but couldn't resist sneaking a glimpse. Omilaena caught him doing it and her tongue flickered out almost invisibly. Somehow she managed to convey an entire minute of teasing into an instant's expression.
By the time the Pureflower matriarch left, Kai had loaded the ship. This one was much more drab than the white vessel, but it seemed to be well-made, and the interior was nicer than it looked from the outside. He wondered just what had led them to the point of being sent on a clandestine mission, aside from obviously saving the matriarch's life.
"Man the ship, servant!" Omilaena said imperiously. "If you are obedient and dutiful, perhaps later on I will allow you to rub my feet."
"That is not appropriate," Zae Zin Nim said quietly. "We should not be cruel to Kai just because he needed to play that role."
"Oh, it's all in good fun. And we need to be completely respectable until we're out of sight or we'll ruin our cover. So no blowjobs on deck, which I assume you were going to do."
"That is even less appropriate."
While they spoke, Kai touched the controls and lifted the ship into the air, flying away from the rocky spire. He glanced back over his shoulder, keeping his face neutral. "Were you implying that I'm attracted to feet, Omi? I'll give you a foot massage if you want, but not if you're weird about it."
Omilaena let out an unnecessary moan. "Oooh, I hope I didn't cheat myself out of that foot massage, because I want one now. All the shoes in the Pureflower sect are stupidly tiny."
"Small feet are considered more attractive," Zae Zin Nim threw in half-heartedly.
"They're considered fucking stupid, as far as I'm concerned."
The mountain dwindled further on the horizon and the atmosphere relaxed, though they didn't go back to normal. Kai stayed at the helm, Omilaena kept watch, and Zae Zin Nim disappeared into the cabin. After they'd been flying for a while longer, Omilaena sidled up to him.
"Look at this." She stuck out her arm, revealing that her tattoo had grown.
"That's impressive," Kai said as he realized the power that lay within it. "The tattoo itself... did a cultivation breakthrough? I guess it's still following the cultivation power curve, even if it's been modified."
"Basically, but here's the best part." Omilaena stuck up her left hand, then her right. "Ice handjob on the left, poison handjob on the right. Neat, huh?"
Kai snorted. "Staying abstinent in the sect must have really done a number on you, because usually you're not this bad at seduction."
"Hey, you came around to the poisoned pussy. But can you blame me for losing my touch? I'm a frumpy married woman now, so all I care about is popping out children."
He laughed and almost kissed her, but held off in case they were still under scrutiny. There might be details regarding their mission or the sect that they needed to tell him as well. Honestly, he just wanted to ask them about everything that had happened. For its own sake, but also because he suspected that Omilaena had discovered something - she got weirdly frisky when she made a breakthrough.
Soon Zae Zin Nim reemerged on the deck and she had changed back into her black robes, with the Heavenly Sash bright white around her waist. She looked good in a way he couldn't put his finger on - he always thought she looked attractive, but now her eyes were narrow and focused in a way he loved.
"We have a problem," she said flatly.
"Oh?" Omilaena's casual posture shifted into a ready stance.
Kai turned to her sharply. "What is it?"
Zae Zin Nim blinked at them in surprise. "Not that kind of problem. There's no bedroom big enough for all of us. There are only two cramped bunks and a hammock in the hold."
"We got spoiled by those huge Pureflower beds," Omilaena said with a sigh. "Can't expect anything like that on a merchant ship . Ooh, Kai, you should have seen the ones in the sect. They're supposedly for deep sleep and improving the complexion, but I know an orgy bed when I see one."
"I'm sure we can figure something out," Kai said. "We'll be in this ship for a while, right? We can rearrange things on the way, maybe even get someone in the Southern Rivers to do the work. That's where we're going, right?"
"Yeah, just like we planned. Except now we have an additional mandate from the Pureflower sect."
"No more talking about them." Zae Zin Nim moved forward and wrapped her arms around their waists, and that broke the stiff illusion they'd been maintaining. Kai laughed and wrapped his arms around the two women as the last tension finally drained away.
The Western Wilds continued to dwindle behind them as they flew toward the Southern Rivers.