Chapter 44: Mulberry Gate Spring
The amount of cultivators in the city was not high, as most people Kian saw were mortals. Even compared to Hugan Sect, Kian would say the sect probably had more cultivator sighting.
But it was not empty of cultivators either. Every few turns, Kian would see a cultivator or two doing cultivator shit. And unlike the sect, they didn’t seem so well behaved and proffessional either.
Jia nudged a pebble with her foot and watched it skitter into a gutter. "It’s no wonder you don’t see many cultivators out here," she said. "Everyone knows becoming a cultivator is easier inside a sect. The outside world is just... harder."
The merchant grunted from behind the party. His ox had been taken away by one of his servants, so he was free for the time.
"That’s true enough, young miss. But don’t let the low numbers fool you. Mulberry Gate is still a commerce city—the biggest one between the mountains and the wastes."
Kian looked at him.
He continued: "Everything that can be bought and sold passes through here at some point. Cultivators, mortals, spirit beasts, artifacts. You name it."
"Really?" the girls were also curious.
"The cultivators just don’t linger on street corners like bored disciples. They’re inside the auction halls, the pill shops, the brothels with silencing arrays. You’ll see plenty if you know where to look."
Kian glanced at the leather sack of spirit stones still slung over his shoulder, then at the merchant’s weathered face. "You’ve been driving this route a long time, old man. You must know the city well." It wasn’t really a question.
"Born and raised in the outer districts," the merchant said, puffing his chest a little. "Got connections. Owe me a few favors, even. So I am bold and fearless once I am in the city." He squinted at Kian. "Why? You need something?"
"We need a place to stay. Can you arrange that?"
The merchant’s eyes flicked to Feimei, to the sisters, to Jiao Yin, then back to Kian’s calm expression.
"Of course, but for this many people, you need a big home... for the right price."
Kian threw him ten spirit stones.
"I bought a house here three years ago—planned to settle down, but my wife preferred the village life, so it’s been sitting empty." The Merchant laughed. "It’s a small courtyard, four rooms building with a decent kitchen. Nothing fancy, but the walls are thick and the neighbors mind their own business."
Kian whistled.
The merchant scratched the back of his neck. "You could stay there, if you want. I’d charge you rent, obviously—but a fair priceof course."
Kian and party were then led to the building in question. A pretty home with a hot spring just outside it. They immediately unpacked everything, then watched as the Merchant left with a big grin.
Jia was the first to move after the door clicked shut. She dragged the largest bedsheet from the unpacked pile and shook it out with a snap that sent dust motes swirling through the afternoon light.
Then she dropped it in the center of the main room’s wooden floor and collapsed backward onto it, arms flung wide, legs splayed, her short hair fanning out.
"I’m never moving again," she announced to the ceiling beams. "This is my life now. Bring me food. Bring me water. I’ll die here."
Mia laughed, a soft sound that caught in her throat, and then she was falling too, her body folding onto the sheet beside her sister with none of her usual grace.
Her long hair pooled around Jia’s shoulder, and she didn’t bother to move it.
Jiao Yin hesitated for exactly one breath before her knees buckled and she flopped down at the edge of the sheet, her narrow frame curling inward, her cheek pressing against the fabric with her eyes already closed.
"Woah... so comfortable!"
The three of them lay there in a tangle of robes and loose hair, their breathing slowing into a shared rhythm, the exhaustion of the journey finally catching up all at once.
Kian leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching the pile of women on his floor.
Beside him, Feimei stood with her hands tucked into her sleeves, her crimson eyes soft in a way he hadn’t seen before.
"Look at them idiots," she said.
"Indeed," he replied. "Aren’t you going to fall with them?"
"Then who will clean up this house and make it liveable?"
"Well, that’s true."
"And why don’t you fall?"
"If I fall at them, I am going to become horny. If I become horny, I’d want to keep going for a while. Then, I’d feel sleepy."
"Not horny when you are standing with me?" She looked sideways at him.
Kian’s member stood right up.
"Now I am."
She shrugged, trying to leave, but Kian held her hand.
"...What?"
"You have a promise to fulfill."
She looked at him sideways again.
Damn. So hot.
Before he could react, Feimei’s wrist twisted in his grip, a quick rotation that should have snapped free from any ordinary hold, but Kian’s fingers were not ordinary.
He tightened just enough to keep her, his thumb pressing into the soft hollow where her pulse beat steady and slow. She looked down at his hand, then up at his face, and her red eyes narrowed into slits.
"You’re being unreasonable," she said. "The girls are right there. Later."
Kian tugged her a step closer. She came, but only because she let him, her feet sliding over the dusty floor with the reluctance of a cat being pulled by its tail.
"A promise is a promise, Mother-in-law."
The sisters still had not noticed that their mother was moving towards Kian’s arms.
"Not now, please?" she whispered. "I’ll do more later."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"What more?"
"You will see, now let go."
"Say something sweet and I’ll let go. Be fast or they’ll turn to look."
"Okay. Okay. Sweet? Yeah. I actually like kissing you, it’s pretty fun."
"Good."
Kian turned around and left like the wind to his own room.
For the time the house got cleaned, he could do other, more interesting things!