Chen Ai lay slumped on the stone grass as the stars spun overhead. She was too drunk. It had been so long since she could afford alcohol that the prospect of an open bar ruined any sense of self-control or self-preservation she might possess. Now, she was paying the consequences.

  If she thought about it, the amount of alcohol sloshing around inside her was quite impressive. It took a lot to get a 7th Stage Qi Condensing cultivator drunk, after all. However, the drinking house had a lot of alcohol, and in this particular match-up, Chen Ai had lost.

  Lost profusely.

  She seemed to be doing that a fair bit lately. First with the Flawless Blade, then with the snake, and then on the bridge… If it hadn’t been for her senior brother, then she would be dead twice over. Probably more so.

  Still, he hadn’t put up more than token efforts to get rid of her, and for that she was grateful. The road was lonely…

  She looked up at the stars with a cringe.

  Damn, alcohol made her all maudlin and mopey.

  Her hands ran across the stone grass, which was rigid and sharp but surprisingly comfortable once she figured out how to distribute her weight. Any mortal stepping on that would lose their feet. She idly wondered what would happen if she tried to cultivate with stone grass… but stopped short of plucking a blade. Even drunk, she knew that she was only up in this beautiful garden as a courtesy.

  Again, her senior brother helped her out…

  She really needed to repay the debt she was accruing…

  “Nope,” she said.

  “What?” the senior brother’s disciple asked her.

  “I’m not moping,” she said.

  “I see.”

  She sat up and observed him kneeling on the grass. That had to be uncomfortable, especially since his qi bleeding core placed his current cultivation around the 9th Stage Body Tempering.

  “Hey?”

  “Yes?”

  “What’s… like… what’s your deal?”

  He turned to face her with an expression both deadly serious and completely condescending.

  “My deal?”

  “Yeah, what are you about?”

  “I will become the greatest swordsman the world has ever known,” he said without hesitation. “To that end, I will serve my master in any way I can.”

  “You really think senior brother will help you become a better swordsman?”

  “He already has.”

  She considered revealing the nature of her senior brother’s bloodline, if only to squash the strange arrogance that the cultivator formerly known as the Flawless Blade had about his humiliation. It was really strange and annoying.

  Still, that information was not for her to reveal. Besides, who was she to say that her senior brother hadn’t assisted this man’s swordplay? He had certainly done enough for her in the short few days they’d known each other.

  She waited for the other man to reciprocate conversation, but he gave no indication of speaking.

  “I don’t know what my deal is,” she said.

  “Oh?”

  “I don’t want to be the greatest anything, I just… I was a servant, and when my bloodline awoke, I suddenly had this purpose thrust onto me. I became a cultivator, so I cultivated. I strive for immortality, I’m lining up the steps to attain a Blessed Foundation Establishment cultivation, but I don’t even know why.”

  He glanced at her with an inscrutable expression.

  “Why?”

  “I just said that I don’t…”

  He held up a hand to stop her.

  “No, why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I’m drunk.”

  “Oh, alright.”

  “You’re not really a people person, are you?”

  “I only care about swords and my master.”

  She sighed. Did this really have to be the disciple that senior brother attracted? Couldn’t he have asked her to be his disciple? She wouldn’t be this annoying.

  “You’re supposed to say something kind,” she said. “Try and lift my spirits.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  “We dueled.”

  “Our swords never touched, and so I never met you.”

  “You’re annoying.”

  He looked at her.

  “You are also annoying,” he said. “My swordless slash should have severed your arm from your body, but instead, you moved at the last moment and altered the trajectory of impact. Furthermore, your body is far tougher than it should be, thanks to your cultivation of your bloodline, and so I could not sufficiently cleave the muscle and bone. My attack was enough to defeat you, but the arrogance you displayed when you challenged me deserved a maiming, not the mere injury you received.”

  Chen Ai blinked. Was that a compliment? She couldn’t tell, but it kind of felt like one.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  He nodded and continued kneeling and staring at the garden path that her senior brother and the matriarch had gone down.

  Chen Ai rubbed at the scar on her shoulder. The wound had been so clean that it healed quickly and cleanly, leaving only a razor-thin reminder on her skin. Was it really thanks to her bloodline that she kept her arm? She knew it made her stronger, but she’d always felt as though it were a burden. Maybe she was doing alright after all, and who was to say how powerful her bloodline could become after spending time with her senior brother?

  Well, a compliment deserved a compliment.

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  “You’re already an incredible swordsman,” she said.

  “What makes you say that?”

  She shrugged.

  “You’re better than me.”

  He studied her for a moment.

  “I appreciate the compliment, but it means nothing.”

  Chen Ai bristled.

  “Well, fuck you.”

  “No thanks.”

  Chen Ai’s jaw dropped. She desperately wished her senior brother would come back, if only to interrupt the awkward moment.

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Oh… my answer remains the same.”

  “This is a nightmare,” Chen Ai murmured to herself.

  “Trust me, you know nothing of nightmares.”

  “Really? I was eaten alive by a giant serpent.”

  “Hmm, you think that’s bad? Try forming a core in the heat of battle, receiving the judgement and blessing of the heavens for all the work you did during Foundation Establishment, and then experiencing a shattering of your ego and power all in a handful of minutes, and then swimming in a fever as your soul searches for any scrap of meaning that might pull you out of abyssal despair.”

  Chen Ai snorted.

  “Just because your nightmare is more existential than mine doesn’t make it better… or worse… You just had a bad time. I was literally eaten.”

  He frowned at her.

  “Ignoring your crass remarks about the absolute annihilation of my sense of self -- thank my master that he could restore purpose in me -- you don’t even look like you were eaten.”

  “Senior brother pulled me out of the snake.”

  He leaned forward with a childlike expression of eagerness.

  “Master saved you? You must tell me that story.”

  His enthusiasm was infectious, and Chen Ai got more comfortable on the grass. The focus of keeping her body from being stabbed was actually clearing her head.

  “So, it all started after I lost my duel to you…”

  “Excuse me?” Xue Yaoni said from behind them. “Honored guests?”

  Startled, Chen Ai leaned back too fast, piercing her palms on the grass.

  “Ah,” she said as she plucked a fragment from her skin. “Why are you sneaking up on us?”

  “This one is sorry,” Xue Yaoni said without much sincerity and a shallow bow. “The Matriarch signaled that I should escort you back downstairs.”

  Chen Ai stood.

  “What about senior brother?” she asked.

  “The Matriarch indicated that they are having a private… discussion. You may wait for your senior brother in the drinking house if you wish.”

  Chen Ai caught the suggestive tone, and she nodded sagely.

  “Ah, so it’s like that.”

  Xue Yaoni nodded.

  “It’s like that.”

  “Come on,” Chen Ai said to the cultivator formerly known as the Flawless Blade. “Time to go.”

  “I only go where my master commands. He asked me to wait here, and so I shall.”

  “I really don’t think he wants you to wait here.”

  “Again, I don’t care what you think, only what my master tells me to do.”

  Chen Ai grimaced.

  “Fine, let’s do it the hard way.”

  The cultivator formerly known as the Flawless Blade’s cultivation was still slipping, and now he was barely in the 8th Stage of Body Tempering. Chen Ai nodded to Xue Yaoni, and together they picked him up easily.

  He kicked and tugged, but their grip was like iron as they frogmarched him into the room between rooms.

  “No!” he shouted. “You can’t take me from my master! Master! Save your honorable disciple!”

  “It’s fine!” shouted Chen Ai’s senior brother from deeper in the garden. “You can go!”

  “Oh,” said the cultivator formerly known as the Flawless Blade as he completely relaxed. “Very well, let’s return to the drinking house.”

  Chen Ai glared at him.

  “Some people get less annoying over time,” she said. “I have a feeling that doesn’t apply to you.”

  “You echoed my thoughts perfectly,” he replied.

  “Going down,” said the exasperated Xue Yaoni.

  ###

  Cabbagy would be proud.

  After the garden, Xue Ruixue led me to her private chambers, and after the chambers, we returned to the garden until the dawn shone gentle rays upon my bruised, battered, and utterly blissful body.

  Turns out a Core Formation cultivator is very strong, and when she found out how much punishment I could take, she became very enthusiastic.

  To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would be less damaged had she merely slapped my head off the mountain, but I was certainly happier.

  My robes were destroyed over the course of the night, but Xui Ruixue provided me with a luxurious set of blue and gold robes that felt like a silken massage as they slipped onto my body.

  She helped adjust my new robes as her sapphire petals unfurled a new dress across her body.

  “There’s something about your eyes,” she said. “Everytime I look into them… there’s a pressure…”

  “I think I know what you’re talking about,” I said as I looked back into hers.

  She laughed.

  “Everything you say… I have no idea if you’re a fool or the most talented cultivator I’ve ever met. I still can’t even tell your cultivation level, you know? You feel like a mortal, but a mortal would be dead ten times over after last night.”

  I decided to grin my way through the panic I felt when she said things like that. There were plenty of times during the night I considered fleeing to preserve my secret; fortunately, not a single one of my memories supported that idea.

  And as Xue Ruixue kissed me again, I had a hard time disagreeing with my former lives.

  The Matriarch of the Stone Forest Merchant House was a busy woman, and after gifting me the robes and kissing my cheek, she left me in the room between rooms to take me back down to the drinking house. There, I found Chen Ai and my disciple having what looked like a drinking contest. I’d expected most of the patrons to be gone, but several nobles were still waiting, and they hurried over as soon as they saw me.

  “Honored cultivator,” said one man. “I am a representative from the Ran Clan, and I wish to speak to you about your upcoming expedition to --”

  “Ignore that Ran dog!” sneered a woman. “The Shen Clan is more than happy to assist you on your expedition to the Howling Blossom Valley.”

  “You dare?” shouted the Ran man as others from his clan backed him up.

  “Know your place, Ran trash!”

  I quickly hurried away from the growing fight and grabbed Chen Ai.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Did you and the Matriarch…?”

  “Yes, let’s go.”

  “Nice job, senior brother,” she said as she flashed me a drunken thumbs-up. “She is much better than Ran Jun.”

  I rolled my eyes and headed toward the door.

  She and my disciple followed me out of the building and onto the streets. Though the plaza surrounding the Stone Forest Merchant House was getting busy as street vendors set up their market stalls, we hurried away in case any of the nobles followed us out.

  “Why are you hurrying?” Chen Ai said.

  “Surely you saw how those nobles were begging my master to take him on as their disciple?”

  “No,” I said with a shake of my head. “They want me to take them along to Howling Blossom Valley.”

  Chen Ai shook her head with wonder.

  “I know you’ve said as much, but you’re really going there, senior brother?”

  “I have to.”

  They both glanced at each other before nodding.

  “I shall follow you anywhere, master.”

  “I’ll come to,” Chen Ai said. “Who knows if your life will need saving?”

  “Of course master won’t need saving!”

  I couldn’t help but smile at their earnestness. It was nice to have friends.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that.”

  “Oh, master?” said my disciple as he pointed. “It appears the nobles are still following you. Shall I cut off their legs?”

  I sighed.

  I really wanted to get back to the inn. Even though it had only been a night, I hadn’t been this separated from Cabbagy since the pagoda buried me. Was he worried? What if he thought I wasn’t coming back? After his wife left him, I just couldn’t put the little guy through something like that.

  “As much as I appreciate the offer,” I told my disciple. “We should talk this out.”

  “I didn’t take you for the kind to talk to nobles, senior brother.”

  “I’m not, but it might just be better to get this over with.”

  “What do you mean, master?”

  I ran my hands through my hair. Even though I knew exactly how Xue Ruixue talked me into it, I still couldn’t believe I’d agreed. That woman really had a way with words, and hands, and…

  My cheeks burned as I tried to refocus on the situation at hand.

  “So, you know how the plan was to leave for the valley after Chen Ai got her potions?”

  “Of course,” Chen Ai said. “I appreciate you postponing your plans like that.”

  “Well, it looks like I’ll be leaving in a week instead. Also…” I trailed off and grimaced as the implications truly set in. “I’m putting together an expedition team.”

  There were three nobles waiting at the end of the alley, and they all perked up at my words like hunting dogs that finally caught the scent of their prey.

  “There’s still time for me to delimb them, master.”

  “What do they want, senior brother?”

  My merchant memories nudged me a little hunch.

  “Probably want to bribe me into letting their clans join me on my expedition.”

  Chen Ai stared at me for a moment.

  “Bribes?”

  Judging from the cut and make of their clothing, and the unbearably rigid posture they maintained, these were proper pedigree nobles.

  “Certainly,” I said with a decisive nod.

  “Idiot.”

  She slapped me in the back of the head so hard I bent forward at the waist. As I straightened out, I heard tiny clicks as my neck vertebrae repaired a micro-fracture. Sometimes I forgot how strong Chen Ai was. Did she hit that hard because she knew it wouldn’t kill me? Or is she that careless when she’s drunk?

  “Shall I cut off the hand that struck you, master?”

  “No,” I said as I rubbed the back of my head. “Why’d you hit so hard, Chen Ai?”

  “Acting like bribes aren’t worth collecting,” she muttered, before calling out to the nobles. “He’s ready to talk now!”

  The three nobles walked toward us, jostling at each other to re

  ach me first without exceeding a respectably unhurried pace. I was dreading the coming conversations, but Chen Ai had a point.

  Sometimes, bribes were worth collecting.

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