A Hot Potato
Xiulan coughed and blinked as dust swirled around the room. The twins and Fu Jinjing had also been awoken but the sudden imposition of a man through their bedroom wall. The dust started to settle, and Xiulan saw that the intruder was dead.
He had been beaten bloody and his chest was caved in. The man’s face was too battered to be recognizable. His clothes however were far finer than anything that could currently be made in the Blue Crane Kingdom. It was red with tiny flecks of pearl-like white beads even spaced around the robe.
Xiulan saw that the robe even had a hood made of the same fabric as well as a scarf to wrap around his face. It certainly left a lot to be desired in terms of style.
Xiulan appraised the outfit as it was also the item that the system had highlighted as a money-making opportunity.
Concealing Red Robe - This robe was custom-made for a cultivator of the nascent soul stage. The robe conceals all traces of the cultivator’s qi signature from all except those at the Monarch stage.
Xiulan started to salivate. This robe would be incredibly valuable. It was far above the current needs of the kingdom. She would have to somehow market it to mainland cultivators. Possibly in an auction.
Her scheming thoughts were interrupted as an ethereal-looking woman in a diaphanous blue dress floated through the hole in the wall. She imperiously looked down her nose at the dead man on the floor.
Without saying anything she raised her right hand and the man’s dead body floated upwards. She was preparing to leave with it. Panicking Xiulan said, “Wait!”
___
Wan Qingge was supremely annoyed. Her punishment assignment should have been easy. She only had to hunt down some nascent soul cultivator who had been practising demonic techniques. She should have only been away from the sect for a few weeks at most.
Unfortunately, the annoying man ordered a robe from the Yangchoek seamstresses. Those women would work for anyone as long as they had spirit stones. With it now being impossible for her to trace him via his qi trail she had to hunt him down the old-fashioned way.
When she finally found him in a gambling den the man had a seemingly endless supply of escape techniques and life-saving items. Wan Qingge was forced to pursue him across the continent and even over the ocean. She had finally landed a decisive strike to his chest.
Unfortunately, she had used too much force in her anger and sent his corpse flying for a few kilometres before it crashed into a quaint little palace. She could sense that luckily the body had not killed anyone. She had been taught that the locals of this island were not particularly strong.
Wan Qingge discreetly entered the hole in the wall and prepared to clean up the mess by removing the corpse. As she was about to leave a naked woman interrupted her saying, “Wait! You cannot just leave after putting a hole in our wall. You must compensate us.”
Wan Qingge blinked in surprise. She never thought that anyone here would dare talk to her. She supposed that the naked woman must be close to the peak of power in this land. She was only at the golden core stage but still in this qi-starved region that was…
Wan Qingge blinked in surprise again. The qi was not that scarce here. Somehow the barren island had begun to fill with life again.
A puzzle for another time. Wan Qingge decided to humour the woman and said, “I am sorry. I do not carry any spirit stones. If you give me your name I will have someone send them over after I return to my sect.”
The impudent woman shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. Wan Qingge could not help giving her naked body a second look.
The woman admonished, “That is not good enough how do I know that you will not renege? This is a newly built palace you know.”
Wan Qingge was amused but kept her face schooled to calmness as a good cultivator should. Wan Qingge queried, “Then how would you have me compensate you? As I said I have no spirit stones.”
Barely hiding a smile the naked woman suggested, “How about you leave that man’s robe behind? It looks valuable and he will obviously not be needing it anymore.”
Wan Qingge realized that the robe had most likely been what the woman was after all along but decided to grant the request.
Wan Qingge took out a tiny vile of clear liquid and placed a drop of the substance on the corpse. The man’s body burnt up in a heatless fire leaving only his clothes and belongings behind.
Wan Qingge picked up the man’s sect token with pinched fingers and advised the woman, “You might want to have the robe washed. He was a most unsavoury character.”
Wan Qingge then sped off back towards the continent and her sect. She had been away for too long.
___
Xiulan collapsed to the floor. That had been nerve-racking. Her appraisal eyes had let her know that the cultivator had been in the transcendent stage of cultivation. If she had been a haughty or malicious person then XIulan or even the whole palace could have been levelled.
Something about the serene woman had given Xiulan the confidence to continue however and now she had a valuable item to sell.
Looking down and the robe and giving it a sniff she decided that she would follow the cultivator’s advice and wash the thing first.
A Hot Potato
Xiulan coughed and blinked as dust swirled around the room. The twins and Fu Jinjing had also been awoken but the sudden imposition of a man through their bedroom wall. The dust started to settle, and Xiulan saw that the intruder was dead.
He had been beaten bloody and his chest was caved in. The man’s face was too battered to be recognizable. His clothes however were far finer than anything that could currently be made in the Blue Crane Kingdom. It was red with tiny flecks of pearl-like white beads even spaced around the robe.
Xiulan saw that the robe even had a hood made of the same fabric as well as a scarf to wrap around his face. It certainly left a lot to be desired in terms of style.
Xiulan appraised the outfit as it was also the item that the system had highlighted as a money-making opportunity.
Concealing Red Robe - This robe was custom-made for a cultivator of the nascent soul stage. The robe conceals all traces of the cultivator’s qi signature from all except those at the Monarch stage.
Xiulan started to salivate. This robe would be incredibly valuable. It was far above the current needs of the kingdom. She would have to somehow market it to mainland cultivators. Possibly in an auction.
Her scheming thoughts were interrupted as an ethereal-looking woman in a diaphanous blue dress floated through the hole in the wall. She imperiously looked down her nose at the dead man on the floor.
Without saying anything she raised her right hand and the man’s dead body floated upwards. She was preparing to leave with it. Panicking Xiulan said, “Wait!”
___
Wan Qingge was supremely annoyed. Her punishment assignment should have been easy. She only had to hunt down some nascent soul cultivator who had been practising demonic techniques. She should have only been away from the sect for a few weeks at most.
Unfortunately, the annoying man ordered a robe from the Yangchoek seamstresses. Those women would work for anyone as long as they had spirit stones. With it now being impossible for her to trace him via his qi trail she had to hunt him down the old-fashioned way.
When she finally found him in a gambling den the man had a seemingly endless supply of escape techniques and life-saving items. Wan Qingge was forced to pursue him across the continent and even over the ocean. She had finally landed a decisive strike to his chest.
Unfortunately, she had used too much force in her anger and sent his corpse flying for a few kilometres before it crashed into a quaint little palace. She could sense that luckily the body had not killed anyone. She had been taught that the locals of this island were not particularly strong.
Wan Qingge discreetly entered the hole in the wall and prepared to clean up the mess by removing the corpse. As she was about to leave a naked woman interrupted her saying, “Wait! You cannot just leave after putting a hole in our wall. You must compensate us.”
Wan Qingge blinked in surprise. She never thought that anyone here would dare talk to her. She supposed that the naked woman must be close to the peak of power in this land. She was only at the golden core stage but still in this qi-starved region that was…
Wan Qingge blinked in surprise again. The qi was not that scarce here. Somehow the barren island had begun to fill with life again.
A puzzle for another time. Wan Qingge decided to humour the woman and said, “I am sorry. I do not carry any spirit stones. If you give me your name I will have someone send them over after I return to my sect.”
The impudent woman shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. Wan Qingge could not help giving her naked body a second look.
The woman admonished, “That is not good enough how do I know that you will not renege? This is a newly built palace you know.”
Wan Qingge was amused but kept her face schooled to calmness as a good cultivator should. Wan Qingge queried, “Then how would you have me compensate you? As I said I have no spirit stones.”
Barely hiding a smile the naked woman suggested, “How about you leave that man’s robe behind? It looks valuable and he will obviously not be needing it anymore.”
Wan Qingge realized that the robe had most likely been what the woman was after all along but decided to grant the request.
Wan Qingge took out a tiny vile of clear liquid and placed a drop of the substance on the corpse. The man’s body burnt up in a heatless fire leaving only his clothes and belongings behind.
Wan Qingge picked up the man’s sect token with pinched fingers and advised the woman, “You might want to have the robe washed. He was a most unsavoury character.”
Wan Qingge then sped off back towards the continent and her sect. She had been away for too long.
___
Xiulan collapsed to the floor. That had been nerve-racking. Her appraisal eyes had let her know that the cultivator had been in the transcendent stage of cultivation. If she had been a haughty or malicious person then XIulan or even the whole palace could have been levelled.
Something about the serene woman had given Xiulan the confidence to continue however and now she had a valuable item to sell.
Looking down and the robe and giving it a sniff she decided that she would follow the cultivator’s advice and wash the thing first.
