Chapter 55: Qi Anomaly
They cleaned up quickly with a few cloths and a bucket of fresh water someone had left in the corner. Kian pulled his loose trousers back on and didn’t bother with anything else.
Feimei adjusted her black trouser-panties with an elegant work and slipped the sports bra over her head before he could offer to help.
She caught his disappointed look and smiled.
"What are the chances my voice leaked outside?" she asked.
"Even if it did, it probably didn’t reach where the girls are. We are some distance away, aren’t we?"
"Indeed."
When they pushed through the bamboo door and stepped back into the steam of the hot spring, three heads turned at once. Jiao Yin studied them with narrowed eyes.
Mia and Jia were focused on their own discussion and quickly looked away, not noticing much of an anomaly.
After all, Kian and Feimei had been quite quick.
Jiao Yin, though, clearly noticed the slightly bleeding lips and Kian’s relaxed gait.
Jia splashed water in their direction. "That was a long discussion about cultivation."
"It was very educational," Feimei said serenely, and lowered herself back into the spring beside her daughters without another word.
She swam away like a mermaid.
Kian dove in after her, and the water closed over his head like a warm blanket. When he surfaced, Mia was already in his arms.
"Why are you such a quick swimmer?" she complained.
"Who knows?"
...
They stayed in the spring until the lanterns burned low and Jiao Yin’s eyelids began to droop.
Then they dried off, dressed in the fresh robes Kian had bought, and walked through the quiet streets of Mulberry Gate with the moon fat overhead and their shadows stretching long behind them.
Kian buried his hands in his sleeves as he walked, feeling fresh and cool.
Jia, on the other hand, was dozing off even while walking.
"How about we eat some street food?" he asked. "The stalls look really tempting."
Mia perked up immediately, her exhaustion evaporating. "Oh, I saw a grilled skewer stall on the way here. The smoke smelled like cumin and honey."
"Lead the way," Kian said.
Jia grumbled something about her feet hurting but followed anyway, one hand clutching the back of Kian’s robe like a child afraid of getting lost.
Jiao Yin walked beside Feimei, their shadows merging on the cobblestones.
The night market sprawled across three winding streets near the city’s eastern gate, its stalls lit by paper lanterns and the occasional flicker of spirit-fueled glowstones.
Vendors shouted over each other, hawking everything from candied hawthorn to sizzling meat skewers to clay bowls of steaming noodle soup.
The air was thick with smoke and spice and the low murmur of a city full of people.
Kian bought a handful of skewers—lamb dusted with red pepper, chicken glazed in honey, and something the vendor claimed was "dragon tail" but tasted suspiciously like a takoyaki.
He distributed them among the women, keeping two for himself.
Feimei ate with delicate bites, her red eyes reflecting the lantern light.
Jia devoured hers in three savage mouthfuls and immediately stole half of Mia’s.
Jiao Yin nibbled at the edges of her skewer, her gaze drifting toward a stall selling fresh meatbuns, and Kian wordlessly bought her three.
They wandered the market for another hour, sampling rice cakes, sweet bean paste, and warm osmanthus wine from a flask the vendor swore was a hundred years old.
Sitting by a small stall, they tried it.
It wasn’t one hundred years old, but it was sweet enough to make Jia giggle and strong enough to put a flush on Feimei’s cheeks.
"Wine is really bash for you," Mia said, leaning against Kian’s chest. "I am shoo drunk!"
Jia laughed at her sister’s state, her own sleepiness long cured. "Look at her go! So drunk from just a few drinks. Weak, too weak!"
She gulped down another glass herself.
Feimei said: "Don’t drink too much Jia, it’s not good for you."
Mia pressed her cheek against Kian’s chest, rubbing it on him like a cat. "More wine!"
"No more wine for you."
"More wine~!!"
She tried to snatch the bottle from Kian, but he raised his hands away from her. She stretched her hand in an attempt to grab it, but it was just a bit out of reach.
Her eyes became moist.
Kian shook his head, giving her a little sip more. "No more though."
By the time they stumbled back through the courtyard gate, the moon had climbed to its peak and the house smelled faintly of the jasmine soap Kian had bought that afternoon.
He locked the gate behind them and stood for a moment in the quiet, listening to the women’s soft laughter as they went inside, and felt something settle in his chest that he didn’t bother naming.
Then, he watched the moon for a while before going into the house as well.
"Wow, you guys are a mess."
Inside, the scene was exactly as messy as he’d expected.
Jia lay sprawled across the low table, one arm dangling off the edge, her cute cheeks smushed against the wood.
A thin line of drool traced from the corner of her mouth to a puddle forming on the surface. Her new sleeping robes were twisted around her body, one sleeve half-off her shoulder, and she snored with the unselfconscious volume of someone too far gone to care.
An empty wine cup rested beside her head, tipped on its side.
Kian turned to look at Mia.
Mia had made it slightly farther—she’d crawled onto the floor near his room and was now sleeping on the floor, wrapped around a pillow like it was the last solid thing in the world.
Kian was speechless.
Her long black hair fanned across the tatami in a dark spill, the beauty mark beside her closed eye the only still point on her peaceful face.
"I told them not to drink so much," Feimei said, sighing. "This is what happens when they don’t listen."
She sat at the other end of the room, her posture perfect, a porcelain cup of tea steaming between her palms.
She had changed into a simple sleeping robe and looked utterly unaffected by the wine, though the faint flush still lingered high on her cheekbones.
Jiao Yin crouched beside Mia, gently shaking her shoulder and whispering, "Miss Mia, the bed is just a few steps away, please get up."
But Mia only burrowed deeper into the pillow and made a noise that meant no.
Kian bent and scooped Mia off the floor, pillow and all. She muttered something against his chest and curled her fingers into his robe, still half-asleep.
He carried her toward his room, smiling as he imagined the night.
That was when his Qi Sense went wild.
The world outside the house erupted.
Qi was suddenly moving like a storm towards the westm rattling the shutters and sending a stack of bamboo cups clattering off the table.
Feimei shot to her feet, tea splashing across her sleeve. Jia almost jerked awake.
Jiao Yin grabbed the nearest wall, her eyes wide.
"What is this?"
Kian crossed the room in three strides, laid Mia on his bed with more care than the noise deserved, and was out the door before Feimei could speak.
Qi was moving towards the western region of the city as if a whale were devouring it.
Kian flashed towards the scene.