Cultivation Nerd: A Xianxia Progression Fantasy, page 33
I shot her a bewildered look, and she frowned in response.
Did she understand what a second in command meant? She made it sound like I was her servant.
“You have my sword, but not my broom.” I drew the line on the sand, metaphorically speaking. Then, I met Song Song’s gaze as she looked at me, confused.
It was important to set boundaries, especially with someone like her.
Song Song was strong and undoubtedly someone who could enforce her will on me. But if she expected me to be her second-in-command and loyal, we needed clear boundaries. The last thing anyone would want was a second-in-command who felt like a janitor.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said, her voice no longer a whisper, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Back there, when we were fighting the scorpion monstrous beast, I didn’t run. I even went to help you. I was ready to lay my life there, despite your questionable decisions,” I clarified calmly, holding her intense glare. “Do not take such actions lightly. I’m not suicidal, and it’s not your prerogative to treat our lives as mere pawns in your war games.”
I was dancing with flames here. However, there had to be a clear line in our partnership; she couldn’t continue taking our actions for granted and treating us as expendable.
“My questionable decisions?” she inquired.
She really couldn’t tell? I was bewildered for a second before quickly regaining my composure and thinking things through.
“Let’s start with what you did well. Despite your injuries, coming to save us was commendable. Those actions earned my loyalty, not because someone said you’re supposed to be my leader, but because of what you did.” I said, taking a moment to choose my words carefully, while Song Song’s lips twitched upward, almost forming a smirk.
It seemed she liked that. Now, the next part would be the hard pill to swallow. I’d better be careful so I didn’t end up as the one needing to swallow my teeth at the end of it.
“But the decision not to stop at Greengrass Town for supplies was foolish. We wasted so much time searching for food in the wild when a brief stop in town would have sufficed to supply us for the journey,” I explained.
“Be mindful of how you address your superiors, Liu Feng,” she warned.
“If you prefer suck-ups, you should have made it clear. I’m sure many people would kiss the ground you walk one second and then stab you in the back the next if someone more powerful told them to.”
We halted on a stone bridge, locking eyes above the rushing water below.
“You know I could make your life hell in the sect,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“I am aware.” I nodded.
At least she said nothing about killing me yet. So the results were better than expected, for now.
She scrutinized me, daring me to show any sign of weakness. If I did, she would pounce.
“Very well, have it your way,” she said, striding forward.
“Thank you.” I smiled. “From now on, you needn’t worry about menial tasks. I’ll handle them.”
She paused, her face showing bewilderment, as if questioning whether she had misheard me.
Before she could respond, I continued, “When I cooked for everyone, it was because I wanted to, not because I was forced. And I don’t mind doing it again.”
“You were willing to risk your life for something you’d still willingly do?” She returned to her senses, gazing toward the docked ships in the distance, then back at me. “You’re the strangest person I’ve met.”
Explaining to her that my caution stemmed from past experiences where bosses took advantage of my kindness and being unwilling to set clear boundaries wasn’t an option.
Instead, I mustered the nicest smile I could manage and said, “Well, you saved my life. So now you can rest assured; I won’t hide anything crucial from you.”
She responded with a smile of her own, accompanied by that dangerous glint in her eyes that made some of my fellow outer disciples slow their pace. But ultimately, she said nothing and strode a dozen steps ahead, assuming the leadership role she was there for.
When we reached the docks, Song Song led us to a corner where identical wooden boats with flags depicting a sun surrounded by cartoonish flames were docked.
Song Song’s mad laughter filled the air upon seeing the ships, unsettling us all.
Had she finally lost her mind?
As she turned toward us, genuine happiness lit up her face. “See? It seems like none of the others have arrived here yet.”
Okay? And?
I thought she didn’t care about leadership competitions or who won or lost.
Regardless, this had nothing to do with me, and I was inclined to call her out on it. So, I just shrugged and followed along as she approached a man who looked like a bookkeeper, wearing a robe signifying his status as Outer Elder of the Blazing Sun Sect. He handed her a peculiar wooden block, and after Song Song tinkered with it for a bit, she passed it to me.
“Here, this is yours from now on.”
I examined the wood; it felt like ordinary wood judging from its weight. After fiddling with it for a minute, I turned toward her and asked, “What is this for?”
The smile faded from her face, and she regarded me as though I were a primitive caveman. “Well, to control the artifact, of course.”
“What artifact?”
“The ship.” She pointed to one of the ten identical vessels, and we followed along.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never been on an artifact ship.” She furrowed her brows. “Okay, I’ll teach you how to handle this. But from now on, you’ll have to take care of it since I’ll be engaging in indoor cultivation until we reach our destination.”
After a brief explanation, I understood; it was essentially like a remote controller. After infusing Qi into it and making a specific motion, it would follow my commands. The vessel already had Qi, so essentially, I had little to do except call for Song Song in case of an emergency.
In the end, she said, “Anyway, the ship will navigate itself. So, you don’t need to worry.”
Why would she go through all this trouble just to say the ship was on autopilot?
She disappeared into the captain’s cabin, making it clear she didn’t want to be disturbed.
With her gone, I turned to the others, ready to give some orders. However, the sails unfurled themselves, and the ship began moving on its own.
The docks receded until they were out of sight. I glanced up, and the flag flapped in the wrong direction. We weren’t catching any wind at all. But the ship was still moving like it was.
There was probably some intricate Qi work involved in this, but sadly, I could see nothing. It was times like these when I would envy being a Qi Gathering disciple.
“Well, at least we can spend this time resting.” I turned toward the others. “Also, let’s ensure we’re good on food and not going into this blind.”
“Yes, understood! Sir!”
“Don’t call me ‘sir.’” I waved them away as they headed below deck, their smiles evident. No doubt, they were relieved to finally have some rest from constant running and only resting when sleeping.
My chubby friend, whom I had barely spoken to during this journey, stood behind me, looked at me, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally, you’re alone. It felt so strange with that woman around; it was like she would kill any of us for making the slightest mistake. During our hunting trips, we used to whisper about her. People couldn’t say it in front of her, but they’re thankful to you for dealing with her.”
“We both know the doors leading to the captain’s cabin are probably covered in silencing arrays so she can cultivate in peace. But please, be careful what you say,” I cautioned him but didn’t dwell on it for long before returning the smile. “Also, she isn’t so bad. Maybe a bit socially awkward from all that indoor cultivation, but anyone could end up like that.”
“Yeah, I bet you would think something like that,” the chubby guy muttered under his breath.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I raised a questioning brow and crossed my arms.
“We might be afraid of her, but we’re not blind, Liu Feng.” The chubby fellow shook his head, a knowing smirk crossing his face. “We see the looks she constantly gives you, and despite what you say, she always listens. Despite the power disparity.”
What was he getting at?
It took a couple of seconds before everything clicked into place.
Oh… Oh… I get it now…
46
NOT BREAKING ENGAGEMENTS
“Why would you even imply something like that?” I cringed.
“Well, she actually listens to you, and even under threat of death, you look each other in the eye and support each other. Also, she picked you out of everyone else first. How did she even know your name?” My chubby friend fired one question after the other, making it clear that this was the sanest option from his point of view. “Also, the whole inner disciple problems, you had none of those like… ever. I bet she took care of them.”
“Cool it with the fantasies there.” I walked toward one of the stairs leading to the helm and sat down, looking toward the slowly disappearing town in the distance. “First of all, I am an engaged man.”
“To a fiancée you have probably never met.” My chubby friend played the devil’s advocate. “For all you know, she could be a seven-foot-tall ogre with big feet.”
“We did actually meet when we were younger, and I doubt she suddenly grew to become a monster.” I looked up at the sky, and the sun rays gently landed on my face. Despite the rough wooden stairs I was sitting on, it felt comfortable. “A man is only worth as much as his word…”
I wanted no part in breaking off an engagement with anyone. That was asking for trouble in a place like this. If I were ever going to break off an engagement, I would ensure we both ended things on good terms.
Also, Song Song was too crazy, and the last thing anyone would ever want was to date someone like that. It took a certain kind of crazy man to deal with that type of woman. Double so when said crazy woman could also slap you to death.
Despite how my chubby friend here saw it, I doubted Song Song had any romantic interest in me. She was interested in my abilities and what I could help her with. This was not some lame romance drama where one character would like the other for no reason.
Before long, the guys came from below deck. Some of them wore smiles and gave me the good news that there was more than enough food for all of us. I would go and check that later in person to make sure.
Some others also showed some fishing rods and smiled. Without saying anything back, I smiled back at them.
During our journey here, I had gotten to know these guys pretty well. They fought by my side, so there was no reason we couldn’t have a little fun until we reached our destinations.
“What’s happening?” My chubby friend asked.
“Have you never wanted to try fishing?” I asked.
Hours passed, and we were just a group of men with sticks in our hands and nothing to show for it.
There were no damn fish!
Despite my inner turmoil, I maintained a cool facade. While I considered my relationship with these guys friendly, as the de facto leader, I couldn’t display illogical emotions.
I had to be the calm head in these waters.
“You look angry,” my chubby friend commented.
“And you look like someone who would be easy to throw overboard,” I retorted. “Can you swim?”
“Nah, but I can float.” He smirked. “Also, the tidal wave I would create after slamming into the water would sink this ship.”
Despite my annoyance at not catching any fish, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. My chubby buddy knew how to be funny when he wanted to.
“Damn, you’re probably right,” I mock-grumbled.
“Just be careful not to slurp down all our food, fatso,” another guy commented with a smile on his face.
The smile that was slowly making its way onto my face slipped away, and I frowned, turning toward the guy who said that.
Sometimes, people got so absorbed in the mood that they thought they could just insult someone. Perhaps it was just the fatigue getting to him. This was going to be awkward as hell, but I would have to stand up for my chubby buddy here.
“What the hell did you just say to my friend here?”
“I…” He paled, realizing he had just gotten into deep shit. “I thought we were just joking.”
The guy didn’t seem to have meant it to be offensive, so I wouldn’t do anything drastic, but it was better to explain how things worked here.
“I can say that because he’s my best friend,” I explained. “I can insult him, and he can insult me. But if some guy just comes around and calls my friend a fat slob, then we have a problem.”
He looked even more confused. Relationships like friendship were weirder here. Or, more correctly, they were just foreign to me. But my chubby friend and I had our own thing going on.
I was pretty sure his weight was just because of some martial technique he was practicing. But that was no reason I would tolerate someone else making fun of my friend.
“Just keep in mind next time, okay?” I patted the guy who spoke on the shoulder. “We have been through a lot together on this journey, so I won’t toss you overboard. But be more mindful of your words here; you could have hurt my friend’s feelings. He is a good guy and has been with me through thick and thin. I can’t let somebody insult him like that.”
The guy mumbled an apology and went on doing his own thing. He would thank me later in life because if I was the typical xianxia guy, his cultivation would have been broken by now over a perceived slight.
Despite the moment of awkward silence, we returned to joking about fish and other stupid things.
Some more time passed, and someone finally caught something. It was my chubby friend who managed to hook a small sardine.
He held the fish in his hands, stood up, and pointed it at the sky. “Bow before me, mortals! I am the king of fish!”
“Oho!”
“The Fish King!”
“Praise the Fish King!”
It was an overall impressive performance and would have been the perfect scenario to lead into more of the usual foolishness guys got into while hanging out.
But sadly, at that exact moment, Song Song emerged with a calm look on her face. She looked ready to say something, but stopped and looked at what was happening.
She saw my chubby friend parading a fish, and then her face scrunched in disgust. For some reason, she decided not to say anything about the fish and just added, “Soon, we will arrive at our destination. Everyone get ready.”
With that, she closed the door and went back inside.
“This was a pretty fast journey.” I turned toward the others with a serious look, as if we were not acting like absolute fools just two minutes ago. “We should hold a feast and eat as much as we can. It’s anyone’s guess when we will get our next comfortable meal, so go and get the food from the ship.”
It didn’t take long before we caught sight of the island in the distance. There wasn’t much to say about it from so far away; it looked like any other island. There was a beach and some jungle-like greenery in the inner parts. The island seemed big, and the trees looked like we had suddenly arrived in some land where giants lived.
However, there was a worn-out dock for ships. As we got closer, an outer elder was there, and he waved us over.
Song Song came out again, and the Qi around her flowed smoothly. It seemed like she had spent some good time cultivating.
“Do you want to try sailing the ship there, or do you want me to do it?” she offered.
“Here, you do it.” I handed her the wooden brick-like artifact used to control this ship.
She touched something on the wooden controls and smirked. “Do you think we could get away with acting like it was an accident and we crashed into the old bastard?”
Excuse me! What?
“No,” I answered before she could follow her wilder impulses. “That would just be making unnecessary enemies for a not-so-funny joke.”
She shrugged and sighed. The ship slowed down, and the sails furled by themselves as we settled onto the dock. As we walked out of the ship, with Song Song leading the group, the outer elder approached us and bowed toward Song Song.
“Lady Song, you’re the first here, as expected from someone of your caliber,” he said, clearly trying to butter her up. I never thought outer elders could be like this.
Just by the look in her eyes, she had already lost all respect for the elder, with the way he acted like a fool. While her words might suggest otherwise, Song Song didn’t like people who were yes-men no matter what.
Also, what kind of background did she have to end up in a place where even elders shamelessly bowed their heads toward her?
“When will the exam begin?” Song Song inquired.
“Lady Song, I’m sorry to say this, but without the other nine inner disciples coming with their teams, the exams won’t start. However, you can get a look at the contestants. They’re over that hill.” He pointed in the distance toward a large peak. “You can look down at all of them. Do you need me to escort you there?”
“No need.”
She nodded, and we began walking toward the hill where we could oversee the newcomers.
On the way there, we entered the gigantic forest, and the average person would have had difficulty climbing over the root bumps that were taller than me.
We jumped over them at a leisurely pace, and Song Song was leading us, so I followed behind her. Until I decided to quicken my pace a bit and catch up with her, “So, you have even outer elders acting so polite with you. I don’t think I ever asked before, but what exactly is your position in the sect?”
