Jin Muyi/Ferenike (The Shimmering Soup Disaster, Road Trip pt 3)
Far above the three travelers heads thousands of stars wheeled, tracing out the domain of the Heavens. All around their little camp in the lee between two fifty meter dunes, were even more dunes, a massive sea of sand. The light of their fire, fueled by cactus and arrays lit the two dunes in flickering light.
Ferenike sat on one side, Muyi on the other with the bulk of his brother sleeping beside him. The remnants of dinner lay beside the fire and the silence was peaceful as Ferenike looked up at the stars, tracing the shapes of the Nine God-Kings far above in the constellations.
Breaking the silence, Muyi tossed a couple of twigs into the fire before asking a question.
"I didn't really see if my Philocates Formation was of any use during the Trial. You experienced more than me during the trials with rescuing the juniors and leading the defense at Pleuron. Tell me honestly, did it help?"
Ferenike looked down from the vault of heaven and looked over the fire at her friend, a faint red light in her eyes as she hums in thought. "Yes, in a small way. As a commander of forces at times I found the addition of poison gave me greater flexibility and more options when considering deployment of squads who knew it."
She tapped her chin as she threw a bit of cactus into the flame, causing it to spark and hiss. "What is your intent with it? I could see two ways to take it myself: Improve the Kataphractoi itself, or make something entirely new." She said.
"I think that I could improve it. Right now it shows all the weakness of an attempt by a cultivator with low cultivation. It requires at least another person for it to work and only 1 arrow is launched per formation. With my new changes… " Abruptly standing up, Muyi held out his right arm and allowed the Darkness to change it, turning his arm into something that could be both Bow and Crossbow.
A tug with his left hand on the vine that made up the bowstring pulled it back and caused a thorn arrow made out of Qi to take shape. "I'm thinking that I could work in a change so that like the Hoplite, the Formation allows for a construct to take shape to fire the Poison Arrows instead. That should allow cultivators to work it as a Qi Spell and when fired together, achieve it's full might in the form of a volley of poison arrows."
Ferenike didn't blink at the change that had overcome his arm, already used to her friend's strange constitution. She smiled and chuckled a little. "Yeah, myself I was thinking you'd have a much more arduous and onerous task trying to make a completely new formation from your base. If you didn't, it'd end up replacing the Kataphractoi with new strengths and uses. Essentially, I think improving what we have with what you've started with might be the most effective since its a better foundation if that makes sense?"
She waved a hand. "My own work on the Century Oasis Formation has also been published. Thanks for the name by the way. I made sure to credit you in the supporting documentation. My own path with this formation was to give us a tool we did not have before. We are an army, with logistics, maintenance costs, attrition considerations and so on. One of the prominent issues in the aftermath of Pleuron was a shortage of medical supplies."
She smiled and then laughed as her face brightened. "It is supposed to help solve those problems by drawing on the energies of the desert, not unlike a Demon Plant might. So I just had a funny idea. Would you like me to teach it to you senior?"
"Yes, I would be honored to learn it from the hands of it's creator. Strategos Parmenion sent letters cursing me for not introducing you to him and allowing the credit for discovering another promising Formation Junior to fall to his rival. In his words,
you dunce! This was a masterpiece! A fresh train of thought that would revolutionize the Tatika Bureau! I myself was astonished by the amount of work it took to bring that idea you mentioned to me to fruition. It is inspiring in how it integrates the Dragonlines of the region into the Formation base."
Ferenike started laughing. "Oh gods dammit, that bastard Wei. Okay I hope we don't end up in a feud between two seniors. Also thank you for the flattery but if I hear too much of it, my head will swell and then be shot off!" She said, voice like the peal of bells
She stood up, dusting herself off. "Took me forty years or so from the initial idea I think. But lets get started…!" She said as she began to show him how to form the qi net-like structure at the heart of the formation.
After they had been working for several hours during a pause to refine a particularly troublesome spell component, she departed from their discussion on its nuances and raised another topic. "Muyi I know you once went into Qiguai when you were in the Essence Gathering realm. What was the place like?" She asked, then held up her hand while she clarified.
"I know the specific trials and dangers faced there change for every individual, so I'm more curious about the general structure and movement of people in the realm and any unusual things. I've heard twice for example that you can fly in some fashion there, which I'm inclined to believe given who I've heard it from, but more
about it would help me." She finished, looking at him curiously.
"The first thing i think should be mentioned is it's sheer scale. It's much wider than what you might have imagined. The entrance to the realm itself will split members into different areas of the realm, with your luck determining where you end up. My experience was slightly lesser than others in that I've only managed to come across one location, which was the Temple where I got both the fragment that currently makes up my Ji's blade and where I broke through past the Ninth Heavenstage.
Even then I won't call the improvement to my cultivation a blessing considering what I had to undergo to obtain it. However, I was lucky in that I did not run across any other cultivators within the Realm, in that even our allies can attack us for no one will know of it. Perhaps the best way to put it would be to treat every moment in there as if it was the Trials once more, the atmosphere and threats beyond your strength are exactly the same."
Ferenike sighed as she started packing up her gear so that they could begin traveling again. "Truly, it sounds like an utterly cursed place. Well, hopefully it has lore I can use for the Oasis, as that is my primary purpose for going there."
She paused for a moment in thought as she put things into her storage artifact. "And as practice for when I pass over the Great Mountain Wall!" She said with a smile. "I am
incredibly excited to be traveling! Do you think we'll make it to the Soup Sect in a day or two?"
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It was the smell that informed them they were getting close to their destination. A rich concoction of smells that would stir hunger into a stone and raise the dead. To Muyi, the Wind carried with it Qi emanations that sent the Darkness beneath his skin writhing in what could only be excitement. Qing Yun was better able to appreciate the wondrous smells, within moments of scenting it, his speed increased tenfold causing Muyi to break into a sprint to catch up.
"Wait up you two!" Ferenike hollered as she clanged behind them in a sprint, the slowest member of the group by unfortunate circumstances. "DON'T EAT ALL THE SOUP BEFORE ME YOU GLUTTON QING YUN!" She roared after them as the sand melted into glass behind her fire sped steps.
Ferenike's shout must have made Qing Yun feel guilty. Without giving any signs, he came to a sudden halt causing Muyi to attempt to do the same only to trip and land flat on his face.
"I see where your priorities are Qing Yun. How much Oats did you beg from Ferenike to react in this fashion? Clearly without me you've been indulging yourself."
Ferenike shot past the two brothers, feet a blur of gold. "About a thousand kilos! I'm surprised the glutton isn't round as a boulder! You best get up before I get all the Good Drinks!" She said with a laugh as she raced ahead, voice trailing off into the wind as she made her way towards the gates.
"Oh that's a challenge right there. Let's go Greedy Guts. If you beat her, i'll get you one pot of soup designed for Spirit Beasts."
"Wait a second! I meant pick me up so we can ride together! Not carry me by the scruff of my neck like a misbehaving kitten! QING YUN, I"LL REMEMBER THIS!" With Muyi dangling from his mouth, Qing Yun put on a burst of speed to catch up with Ferenike.
A fan-tail of super hot sand was kicked up behind her as she raced ahead, laughter carried on the wind as they approached Mogui City. Framed as it was by the sheer cliffs of the plateaus and spires of the Qi-Draining Scarab Mesas which surrounded the sect's territory, it was a jewel of the desert.
Unfortunately for Muyi, the once in a lifetime experience of approaching the city for the first time and being enchanted by the view was lost to him. With the speed that Qing Yun was running and the rough shaking of his body, all that he could see was a blur of blue sky and golden dunes before feeling the impact of running into something and the loud cry of "MY SOUUUUUUP!" as the world started coming back into focus.
Staggering to his feet from the wet puddle he found himself in, Muyi found himself standing amidst the wreckage of a portable Soup cart next to what was clearly the owner bemoaning the destruction of his property and a sheepish looking Qing Yun.
Ahead of them was the front gate of Mogui City. The city's pure bronze walls towered at least a li into the air and blazed with the crimson and gold array work of the Golden Devil Clan. Beyond the walls steam and scented cook smoke rose in a great plume, almost making the city seem like a giant bowl of hot soup.
Ferenike popped back up at that moment in a swish of her robes. "Uh, oh dear. My sincerest apologies Sir Soup Merchant. Please take these spirit stones in recompense." She hustled to the despairing merchant.
Stepping out of the wreckage, Muyi gave his own apologies to the merchant. "Yes, my apologies for the trouble, due to my unique constitution I was able to drink a bit of the soup amid the crash and I found that it has the ability to warm up the body? It does leave a comforting sensation upon consumption."
Soup man waved them off after taking the spirit stones, muttering about ruination and doom. Ferenike turned sharply then with a concerned look and quickly stepped past Qing Yun, gave him a slap on the haunch to get him sprinting, and then bodily picked up the slightly viney Muyi and whispered in a sharp voice. "Now we
go while he's distracted! Go go go run!"
As they moved past the gate, Muyi found himself luxuriating slightly at the continued feeling of warmth within him. The Darkness itself appeared to be slightly satisfied, coiling languidly in slow motions beneath his skin.
"That was interesting. I didn't exactly drink the soup. My Vines were able to absorb it like they did for any other liquid. However, the continued warmth I'm feeling seems to be a sign that I'm able to feel the other effects of the soups as well.
Well, all these stalls and shops are all the same to me, which one would you like to head to first?"
Ferenike broke out into a huge smile as she set Muyi down in the sprawling bazaar they found themselves in. "Excellent!" She turned slightly in place then pointed at a large and imposing looking stall with a bowl big enough to fit two people in it manned by a woman with muscular arms and an incredibly loud voice.
"Free taste of my Tongue-Burning Menagerie Soup!" The woman shouted.
"That one!" Ferenike said as she walked up to it. The woman looked down at her from her great height and nodded.
"Welcome Honored Devil, a free sample for you?" She said as she clasped her hands and bowed.
Ferenike smiled, red glass teeth flashing in the sun and bowed back. "Please madam!"
A quick moment of work and a large cup of a bright red soup with green onion like vegetables in it appeared in Ferenike's hand. The smell seared her nostrils with its incredible spice. Carefully she took a drink.
Pain, fire, going straight to her eyes. The spice was so intense it burned right into her meridians and caused smoke to start leaking from her nose like a dragon. "Oh sweet buddha! MY FACE!" Ferenike's booming laugh, voice trained to break through the din of battle, rang out over the market as she turned to Muyi with reddish tears dripping from her eyes as she wiped at them and laughed.
"Muyi you have to try this!" She said enthusiastically and then started coughing. Feeling the slight tinge of curiosity, Muyi approached the stall owner and accepted a cup from her as well. Putting it to his lips and taking a sip, he felt heat flow among his Vines. Bringing to mind the Yang Qi from the Sun shining on him and instilling him with energy.
Handling the cup back to the stall owner with no noticeable change of expression, he gave a small bow. "I can feel the Yang Qi within the Soup. Madam is talented, I feel full of energy such that I almost lost control of myself."
"... You looked calm?"
"I've always looked like this. But I assure you I'm bursting with energy right now."
"Isn't my soup spicy? Most people react like your friend."
"Oh no, I found it tolerable, the Yang Qi contained within it was what stood out to me."
"Sir, your face is red. You look like you're going to explode."
"Oh, well I'm sure it'll pass.Your face looks red as well Madam, are you alright? I hope you do not explode as well. It would be a shame to lose your talents."
Ferenike stepped in front of Muyi and Qing Yun behind him. "Ah madam my friend is I think so overcome with your talents that he has slightly lost his wits. Please excuse us!" She said in a rush and then spinning around grabbed Muyi by the shoulders and started pushing him away from the stall.
The hollers of the angry soup lady behind them are quickly lost in the bustle of the crowd as they stop in an alley.
All around them the city towers, most of the buildings being multi storied affairs with restaurants and tea houses on the first floor. It seemed like the citizens of the city inhabited the upper floors, and there were many bridges of wood and stone arches between the upper floors of buildings.
"Well then Muyi!" She coughed, still affected by the spicy soup. "What next?" She said with a smile.
"Since we've tried something filled with Yang, perhaps we should try something cold. While i was unable to taste the soup, perhaps i might if the soup contains things that the Darkness never experienced." Scanning the many banners and stall signs, a sign made out of Ice caught Muyi's eye.
Making his way through the crowd with Qing Yun and Ferenike in tow, Muyi soon found himself in front of a bustling shop filled with female cultivators sipping bowls of what appeared to be water.
"Waiter! What soup are you selling? It looks like water and why do you only have female cultivators within the shop?"
"Ah, Milord must be new to our City! Our Moonfish soup is known for it's clear and cooling properties! Upon drinking it one will find Yin arts and Water Arts easier to work with, it also has the benefit of making one forget the heat of our desert.
The Ladies here are all Ice Maidens from the Ice-Qi caverns and our soup aids them greatly in their cultivation. So useful is it that a trip to our store is a reward given to Maidens who have achieved great deeds for their Sect."
Feeling a sense of mild curiosity at the waiter's claims, Muyi found himself ordering bowls of soup for each member of their trio. Taking a sip of the soup and letting his vines absorb it, he found to his mild sorrow that he wasn't able to taste it either, however the Yin Qi within the soup flowed into his body and in contrast to the Yang Qi of the previous soup, made him feel sleepy and slow, each movement appearing as if it took forever. It brought to him a sense of peacefulness, a moment to just relax utterly without the Darkness seeking to take control over his body.
" This is good soup."
A glance at Qing Yun indicated that he disagreed, a small sip had him trembling and his face had an expression of disgust. In fact, even as Muyi watched, Qing Yun started licking the ground in what seemed to be an attempt to scrape the taste off his tongue.
There was a slight
clink as Ferenike set down her own empty bowl onto the table, a strange experience on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, then blinked and raised a hand to hold her head. Before it could reach her forehead, her eyes fixed onto her hand and she seemed to get caught looking at it. "Huh. Muyi, I can't feel my face." She said slightly slurred. She started poking at her face, seemingly frozen into some kind of facsimile of a smile, slight
tings of metal on metal from her finger meeting her cheek.
"Oh. Bother. Its frozen my face." She grumbled. There was a moment as she seemed to try and change her expression, ominous creaking coming from her metal skin before there was a pop of heat and she exhaled a cloud of steam, her expression moving properly again.
Then her face screwed up like she'd just smelt something rotten. "Oh,
oh. Urgh." She shook her head. "Nope, not trying that again."
"Ah, I see Milady is unable to handle our soup at it's purest. We do offer options that dilute it to make it easier to drink, but those soups will provide less help to the cultivation. However, i can assure Milady that each of the diluted options are specially formulated with the aid of the Seven Decade Heart-Tongue Flower to ensure that taste is maximised without too drastic a loss in it's effects."
"Seven Decade Heart-Tongue Flower? What's that? Waiter, explain it to me and i'll give you a low Spirit Stone if i find the information useful!" So saying, Muyi pulled out a spirit stone and slammed it on the table with a thud.
"Dear Customer, I will be honored to answer your question! The Seven Decade Heart-Tongue flower is a unique plant that was carefully bred into existence by generations of Souplords. Its purpose is to help Soup Chef Cultivators in determining if their latest creation is one that will harm the drinker.
It can taste as well as the most sensitive gourmet tongue, and it's petals will change color based on how it finds the soup. From Delicious to Foul, from providing great help to cultivation to only consisting of taste, the plant can tell it all! It allows our Soup Chefs to go wild in the pursuit of their Dao since it helps prevent lethal concoctions from being served to our customers.
Alas, that it's not an easy plant to breed, only the talents of our Sect have access to a plant of their own. The rest of us have to either rent it from them or hope to win one from the annual Soup King Of Mogui City tournament.
It's almost impossible to win though, since most of the top contenders are the direct disciples of the Souplords."
Picking up the Spirit stone from the table and tossing it lightly to the Waiter, Muyi nodded in thanks and continued with his questioning. "Thank you for the information Waiter, you have earned this spirit stone. When and where is the tournament held?"
"Milord is in luck! The finals for this decade's tournament is taking place in two days in our Grand Kitchen! It's a cooking arena built for the contest and is able to assist with any cooking! Milord should definitely go and see it and the finals if your schedule allows for it!" The waiter gushed enthusiastically.
"Thank you for the suggestion. Here's another two Spirit Stones, use them for the bill. Whatever change is left is yours for the information."
Ferenike stood up and bowed to the waiter respectfully. "Thank you for your information." She said and then started walking out with a spring in her step. "Come on you two!" She said happily.
Exchanging a look with Qing Yun who seemingly shrugged in reply, Muyi chased after Ferenike whose determined stride was unintentionally forcing passersby to part in front of her, the heat she radiated uncomfortable in the desert heat.
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The three travelers made their way quickly through the semi-shaded streets of Mogui City, shaded by awnings and arches and walkways, towards the looming edifice of the Grand Kitchen.
She turned sharply down an alley and made a gesture for Muyi and his brother to follow her. As they gathered around her she spoke in a quiet whisper. "So, I was thinking we could infiltrate the tournament and get the plant that way, maybe we can make something out of it that will give you taste back."
She shrugged. "Course getting in to compete might be a bit difficult, though flexing our status might do it? And they're probably better cooks than we are..." She mused as she thought, rubbing a metal finger on her chin.
"Or, we can steal it." lightly tapping on the wall of the Grand Kitchen with his hands, before using the Darkness to create a Thorn Spike and driving it into the wall, Muyi paused for a moment and continued speaking when no cries of alarm were raised.
"It seems that they have no Arrays built into the walls itself. It is thick, too thick for anyone to break through before getting caught. But there doesn't seem to be anything preventing someone from climbing the walls. I assume that would be because most cultivators among the Soup Disciples who can do that would have already owned their own plants and the reward isn't as useful to outsiders.
But yes, I think I can climb the Grand Kitchen with the aid of the Thorns I can generate and slip in through the open air roof to get to the Top Box."
Ferenike smiled. "We'll need a distraction then! I… know
enough about cooking to make a distraction while you climb in and take it."
There was a small part of her considering if there might be an alternative, but desperation drove her to discard any such thoughts.
Letting out a thin smile at Ferenike's agreement, Muyi gave a nod back. "Lets do it". For Muyi, the days leading up to the finals were spent practising the speed of which he could generate his Thorns and finding out the limits of his vines. How far could he stretch them and still have them bear his weight? How many thorns could he generate before losing control of the Darkness? That and many other questions were thought of, experimented on and taken note of in preparation of the Heist.
For Ferenike, she spent time squirreled away in an inn, making frantic preparations on her cooking abilities. She had several old recipes tucked away in her memories from her mother, and hopefully one could be made suitable for it. She also spent a significant sum, most of her savings in fact, bribing her way through the tournament staff in order to get a spot in the tourney under an assumed name of Green Cherry.
For Qing Yun, he found himself staring at the two humans as they went insane. Brother was constantly climbing and falling while Oats-Giver was constantly letting out black smoke from her room. Rolling his eyes at their antics, he spent most of the days sleeping in peace and quiet, without anyone smacking his bum or calling him Greedy Guts. It was two very excellent days for him!
After their preparations, they were hopefully, ready.
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Ferenike walked through the tunnel to the central arena and the stage, her thoughts racing at a million
li per minute. Hope fought with a giddy feeling to make her race ahead, her usual patience forgoed. She was exploring new places and trying to help her friend! When she came out onto the field the wash of the tens of thousands of spectators rushed over her and she surveyed the stage.
A great white edifice arranged in a hexagon with three stations set around it, the other contestants were already present. One woman was going by the epithet Red Heart and her skill with soup making was lauded throughout the city as she stood in the ninth Heavenstage. The man competing was a fellow by the epithet of Spring Breath, in the eighth stage but vaunted for his skill, trained under a great Soup Guru. Both were well accomplished cooks and Ferenike was… not.
At all. Oh this was a terrible idea.
At the same time, Muyi stood in the same alley they were in before, and timing it so that his first thorn was stabbed at a particularly loud outburst from the crowd, he began his climb. Thoughts of the experiments conducted went through his head as well as the suggestions on how to best avoid attracting attention.
Timing each insertion of the thorn spikes with the roars of the crowd and stretching his vines to their utmost to minimize the chance for detection. To his slight horror, there were more defenses around on the days of the Finals. The crisscrossing lines of Qi arrays formed a web that would have been impassable for any human to fit through.
Thankfully for Muyi, overcoming that obstacle just required some minor adjustment on his part. Fully losing the pretense of his human appearance, he found himself compressing and stretching his full body through the gaps left in the web. The effort and control needed to do this made him slightly glad that he subdued the Darkness before the trip, allowing his movements to be executed with exact precision.
The presiding Souplord went through a long and jovial speech which Ferenike listened to with half an ear as she examined the ingredients spread around her station. Meat, a variety of leafy green vegetables and sprigs of spice, and a dizzying array of spices and ground and dried fruit for flavoring. All arranged around a massive soup cauldron and a large wooden stirring spoon, and dozens of other utensils.
Getting past the web brought him to just below the roof of the Grand Kitchen, which Muyi realized with a start was resting lightly on a intricate arrangement of poles set far enough apart from each other that they were impossible to climb without the aid of tools, whose activation would have drawn notice from the cultivators within the Arena.
Once again thankful that he had chosen to find out what his limits were before the heist, Muyi flung his vines towards the nearest pole as a makeshift grapple and in a series of simple repetitive motions begun to swing himself lightly upwards towards his objective.
"... Begin!" The souplord shouted and Ferenike leapt into action with the other two cooks. This was
bad. She barely recognized half the ingredients, but she'd tried to prepare for this and she was just meant to create a distraction.
Following half remembered memories from her mother she filled the cauldron with water and some salt. Actually a lot of salt. And then she set the cauldron to begin boiling. Turning to the cutting board and spice racks she started preparing her seasoning for the chicken she would put into it. She was rapidly adapting her mother's green chicken soup, for the task at hand and taking anything that looked familiar enough to probably work.
After a glaze was made and the chicken diced and spread within it, the cauldron steaming away furiously behind her and helpfully obscuring her side of the arena to the ooohs and ahhs of the crowd, she set about dicing a bunch of greens and spices. Unfortunately for her she had picked a number of onions which were collectively known as Eight-Color Screaming Onions. So after the last fell in there was a horrific
screech as they boiled, and a horrific stink began to emerge. It rang out and swallowed the entire arena, some of the viewers in the stand falling unconscious as the sound hit them. Red Heart and Spring Breath both grimaced and shared looks of disdain and confusion about their opponent. With a flare of Qi and frantic motions Ferenike began trying to increase the temperature of the cauldron, maybe that would shut them up?
Reaching the roof and gradually crawling to the open hole in it's midst, Muyi found himself gazing from up high to the contest down below. The Event clock indicated to him that he thankfully made it up before the time given by Ferenike on when her distraction will take place. Laying flat down, Muyi held himself ready for the chance to strike, the culmination of both their efforts and the hoped for solution for his problem.
Feeding more spirit coal and wood under the cauldron the screaming just rises higher and higher in pitch and volume until drink glasses started breaking and people started fleeing the stands. With a heft and a toss Ferenike tossed in her "prepared" Spirit Chicken. There was a poof of yellow smoke as the steam became as yellow as her hair as well and then the mixture began to furiously bubble as an incredible stink began to flood the arena and then the city beyond. Screams started as Red Heart and Spring Breath both fainted, felled by the stink.
Falling to her knees Ferenike felt around blindly until she was facing the fire and then taking a deep, painful breath, Ferenike gave a short prayer to whatever would listen that this would work. And then she
exhaled with a screaming roar of red flame. The fires of her skills and inner core hit the cauldron and melted clean through it. It hit the noxious green-yellow mixture, silencing it's screams, and then when it touched the fumes it exploded in a bright green flash that bled into white.
Now! This was the moment! As the surroundings went white, Muyi flung himself through the hole and twisted his body while mid-air and flung out a vine with a thorn at the end towards the underside of the roof.
Latching on with a brief thud, Muyi move with utmost haste, flinging and withdrawing his vines with utmost haste as he made his way to the Top Box and the retching guards. Landing in their midst, he swung his vines at them before they could react and send them sprawling into the stands. Dashing to the Seven Decade Heart-Tongue flower, Muyi grabbed it lightly with the intent to follow the plan and store it temporarily within the hollow space he had created within his body before he attempted to sneak out of the stadium as one of the unfortunate audience members when a strange feeling started to take hold.
The sensation felt like that of a vine bursting from him except it was in reverse. Taking a quick look at the space he had stashed the plant in, Muyi found to his shock that the Seven Decade Heart-Tongue flower had stabbed it's roots into the Darkness and seemed to be merging with it.
Before he could recover from the shock, the flower fully merged into the darkness and the stench hit him. With the sensitivity of the Seven Decade Heart-Tongue flower, Muyi found that he could
taste it. The way it revolted and killed almost any tastebuds that came into contact with it, at how it caused the Darkness to curl itself into tangles causing him to stumble as he made his way down the Box and out of the stadium where he joined the other members of the audience with breaking out into dry heaves.
Ferenike herself was stumbling out of the noxious, many colored cloud her creation had produced, hacking badly as she rushed for the exit half-blind. Only her reinforced constitution was keeping her upright and she felt like she was suffering the
mother of all hangovers. And she
stank. Or at least she thought she did, it was hard to tell. A few moments later she was out and felt Muyi's presence nearby.
Forcing himself to his feet and making his way to Ferenike, Muyi couldn't help but rest an arm on her shoulder before speaking. " I think you should leave the cooking to the professionals…Somehow the Seven Decade Heart-Tongue flower merged with me and i could taste the smell.
I could taste it…!!" He retched again.
Ferenike smiled, crying from the stink and a bit from happiness as she initially went to hug him and then thought better of it as she staggered away from the stadium, clouds of smoke billowing out of its exits. "Yes, gods
yes please let's never do this again!" She choked out as they raced for an alley.
"I would certainly hope not." A powerful voice said from in front of them as the Souplord presiding over the tournament landed in front of them. Ferenike skidded to a dead stop and paused.
"Ah elder, I'm not sure what you mean?" She blurted out in a mild panic.
The older man harrumphed. "What I'm meaning is that you two dunderheads could have
bought the silly plant. We have thousands of the things stocked up and its easy to pass them on!" He grumbled and then coughed as the smell clinging to Ferenike hit him.
"Oh. I didn't think of trying that" Muyi winced as he looked apologetically at Ferenike.
"Crap." Ferenike said dejectedly.
The man ignored their outbursts and digging into the sleeves of his robe pulled out a palm frond. "Hah!" Giving it a wave at them, as Ferenike flinched into a defensive posture there was a massive blast of pure and clean smelling wind which eradicated the scent. Shaking his head he made shooing motions. "Get out the both of you, while this was funny, I feel like I might lose all my beard hair from stress if you stay in this city for any longer."
"Ah, thank you sir…" Ferenike said, then gagged when she smelt her breath. Ugh, the wind didn't clean the inside of her mouth from the backblast she'd suffered lighting it all on fire. "Sorry." She muttered, mouth held as closed as possible to prevent the stink escaping.
"Thank you for your understanding Sir, i'll be willing to pay for the plant as soon as my salary from the Clan starts coming in." Wincing at the stoney look on the Souplord's face, Muyi tugged at Ferenike and Qing Yun and ushered them out of the alley before the Souplord could change his mind.
They rushed for the gate, the city a seething mass of people as they retreated from the spreading stink. All around the trio could see disciples of the Sect appearing with various treasures and spells to attempt containment of the stink cloud.
After making their way through the crowds and out of the gates, which had a stream of people partially evacuating the city. The chatter seemed to be that only some people closest to the epicenter were evacuating, but that still meant a good several thousand all spilling out into the rest of the city and the desert outside the gate.
In this spreading wave of people, the trio found themselves in a clear patch of the road a few dozen meters wide. As they stopped to catch their breath and started wondering what to do next when a golden blur skittered up the road towards them, homing in on Ferenike like a magic arrow.
There was a puff of dust as a dog sized golden scorpion with pretty faceted blue eyes stared up at them and held a letter up to Ferenike. "A letter for you Centurion." The little Ten-Legged Messenger Scorpion piped in a fluting voice.
Ferenike blinked. She had a letter, from who? She reached out and took the letter with an absentminded, "Thank you,". Unfolding it she began to read. Her eyebrows rose higher and higher as her eyes scrolled across it and then she stopped at the end.
"The fuck, you have a daughter?" She exclaimed in confusion and then looked up at Muyi.
"Gui Xing is alive? And I have a daughter? That's not possible. I buried her myself!" The conflicting emotions of joy, guilt and rage generated was strong enough to break through his numbed emotions. Reeling slightly from the shock, Muyi found himself only standing upright due to Qing Yun's sudden support.
"I...I can't see her. How could i? After what i did? Ferenike, please could you do it for me?"
BONK!
Ferenike's metal fist slammed into his forehead, hot and hard. She grumbled at him. "Don't be an idiot Muyi. You are an incredibly reliable man and it is inconceivable to me that you wouldn't love these two."
She prods him in the chest as she smiles. "I have a bargain for you.
I go pick up Gui Hua, and do not speak a word of your living to Gui Xing because you
clearly are completely heartstruck with that woman, and in return you give Gui Hua a father. I'm going into Qiguai in a few years which would leave Gui Hua without
any caretaker."
"I...You have a deal. I'll do my best to be a Father to her. I doubt I'll do a good job considering my own background...But I'll try for her and for Gui Xing. I won't make her regret her life with us, I'll show Gui Hua that life among the Golden Devils has its upsides as well."
Ferenike laughed, dispelling the serious atmosphere. "That's a man for you." She turned and flung her hands behind her head as she walked down the road, in the wake of the scorpion that had raced away into the distance.
"Hey Ferenike! I said it before, but thanks for being my friend, let's drink when you get back."
Ferenike looked over her shoulder and smiled. "We will!"
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@occipitallobe Part 3 of Road Trip and i'm glad that i managed to bring it back to Comedy! It is also a collab between Bungie and I just like Part 2
Thanks goes again to
@BungieONI for making things 150% better as well as helping me learn more about Muyi, Gui Hua and Qing Yun as characters.
This ends the Road Trip series, and for now my Omakes for Turn 6 unless i get more inspiration. Surprisingly, we hit 10K+ of words on it. Which is pretty shocking for me.
