Chapter 70: Heart warming Damn You!
After picking up the Spirit Locket, which unsurprisingly didn’t get stolen, Kian walked to his home leisurely.
He wondered what the girls were upto, which was a nice thing to imagine.
Since Jia and Mia had just entered into the path of cultivation, they were probably getting used to their new state of reality, he assumed with a smile.
’It would be nice to see them mature.’
With a shake of his head, he looked forward and opened his status window.
The blue light of the system floated before him, reflecting the slow, steady rise of his power.
A new technique had been added: the puppet master one. Other than that, there wasn’t much of a change.
And there was now also a table showing his Blood Beasts.
[Blood Beasts: 1/1]
[Puppet Threads: 1/3].
He dismissed the screen with a swipe of his hand, a quiet chuckle escaping his lips.
Without a blood beast, more puppet threads was useless.
Considering that though, how can he improve now?
Though his pockets were nearly empty of spirit stones and his Fortune had been reset to zero, his actual combat power had reached an absurd level for an outer disciple.
Between a body of reinforced bronze, the ability to run up walls at blinding speeds, and a literal blood puppet acting as his spy inside a rival sect, he was no longer just some random on the side.
Kian held his jaw in thought.
And as he did, he soon reached his home.
Pushing open the heavy wooden gate of his courtyard, the scent of fresh pine and jasmine instantly washed over him, accompanied by the familiar, comforting sounds of his new home.
Mia was outside, watering the freshly de-weeded garden as she hummed a tone.
Noticing Kian, she raised her jug of water. "Thought I might as well water them up."
"Really? Aren’t they mostly dying?"
"...Maybe we could help?" she asked bashfully. "I just felt a bit bad for them."
Kian walked upto her and ruffled her hair. "Who knows? A cultivator is watering them, surely there must be some luck."
Mia’s face brightened. "Indeed!"
As such heartwarming scenes were happening here, another heartwarming scene was happening in the Jinguan Sect.
The fatty Zhang Wu stood outside his Uncle’s home, his hands tightly clenched as he watched the officials storm in.
"Humph! This Zhang Baole truly was a corrupt man! The Sect has decided to strip him off his role and demote him from steward to a normal disciple!"
"To think he would hold such a dangerous connection to the bandit group. Truly vile! He deserves this demotion."
The butler beside Zhang Wu looked tense.
He murmured in Zhang Wu’s ears: "It seems the sect is no longer favoring our Zhang family after your father’s death. Now, they are fully leaning on Su Chen’s side and weakening us like weed!"
"How dare they!" Zhang Wu said softly.
"Su Chen is too heaven shaking, young master. He woke up and became so strong so quickly. The sect is now trying hard to get on his good graces."
"Let them talk," Zhang Wu said, his voice flat and robotic as Kian subtly adjusted his grip on the puppet thread from across the city. "The storm will pass, but the trees that bend will survive."
The butler blinked, staring at the heavy-set youth with a sudden unfamiliarity. "Young master... you have truly grown wise under this tragedy."
The fatty nodded.
They bypassed the shouting officials and slipped through the side entrance, navigating the quiet corridors of the estate until they reached the inner study.
Zhang Baole, the uncle, sat behind a desk of dark pearwood, his silk robes disheveled.
"We are ruined," the old man whispered, not even looking up as they entered. "The sect master has personally signed the demotion; they are taking the storefronts in the lower market by sunset, and they even took away my mistress."
Zhang Wu did not offer words of comfort.
Kian was not like that.
Not to some random men, at least.
He simply walked to the low, leather-bound couch against the wall and collapsed backward onto it, his heavy limbs splaying out as his head hit the cushions.
The butler, exhausted by the sheer momentum of their family’s collapse, hesitated for a single breath before sinking onto the opposite end of the couch, his spine curving into a defeated slump.
For a long, heavy minute, the only sound in the room was the distant shout of an official counting seized spirit chests in the courtyard outside.
"Truly, there is nothing we can do."
The uncle let out a long, shuddering sigh, pushed himself away from the desk, and dragged his feet over to join them, wedging his thin frame between the two larger men.
The three of them sat in a silent, miserable row, their eyes tracing the gold-leaf patterns on the ceiling beams.
Meanwhile, back at home, Kian whistled as he entered home.
Feimei was currently cooking with a beautiful apron on her.
And Jia and Jiao Yin were playing cards.
As Kian entered, Jia said: "Did you bring any snacks?"
"Oh, sorry I didn’t..."
Mia scoffed. "If you want snacks, go buy it yourself."
"Oh shut up. Did I ask you for it? I was asking my guy."
Kian walked over and sat between the two of them, his arm naturally finding its way around Jiao Yin’s slender waist while his other hand reached out to pinch Jia’s waist.
"Can I join you guys while we wait for lunch?"
Jia puckered her lips. "Not now, I am winning and the game is about to finish. For now, just watch."
"Alright, I’ll just be the appreciative audience," Kian said, leaving the two to their game and sitting beside Mia on the couch.
Mia smiled at his surrender, shifting her weight on the cushions before stretching her legs out along the length of the couch.
With a soft, contented sigh, she laid her head directly onto Kian’s lap, her long black hair cascading over his knees in a silky, dark pool.
"Can I take a nap here?"
"If I am allowed to kiss what I see."
"Have at it, young man, have at it," she said, imitating her mother.
Kian pinched her nose. "Like mother, like daughter."
He rested his hand against her temple and began to slowly comb through the dark strands with his fingers, his touch light.
"How does it feel having become a cultivator?"
Mia closed her eyes under his touch, her face softening into an expression of pure, unbothered peace while the sound of Jia and Jiao Yin arguing drifted around them.
"It feels nice. Very freeing actually."
But more than that, Mia had to agree that his presence was the bigger impact on her life.
Before Kian appeared in her life, she was constantly stressing over this or that. Now, she had nothing to stress about other than fun little things.
Now, she was a free bird.
She had someone she could love, who loved her back, and she also had a beautiful family. She had also become a cultivator and had bright prospects ahead of her.
She let her eyes drift shut completely, the gentle warmth of his fingers tracing through her hair making her feel heavier than the osmanthus wine had.
She thought back to the cramped, drafty room she and Jia had almost been kicked out of, the constant, suffocating dread of her brother’s rising shadow, and the absolute certainty that she would eventually have to leave the sect and live in disappointment.
Now, she was breathing air that tasted of clean pine, her body was humming with awakened spark of Qi, and the man holding her was someone who made her feel entirely, unconditionally safe.
It was a stupidly perfect reality, so far removed from the dirt and survival of her past that it felt almost like a dream she was terrified of waking up from.
"Alright, clear the table, you lazy brats," Feimei’s voice drifted in from the kitchen doorway.
A sudden, savory wave of garlic, ginger, and roasted sesame cut through her thoughts, making her stomach let out an immediate, unladylike rumble that had Kian chuckling above her.
"Playtime is over. If I see one more card on this table when I set the rice down, I’m feeding your portions to the neighbor’s stray dog."
"I win!" Jia said, instantly scrambling to sweep her winning hand into a messy pile while Jiao Yin hurried to help her clear the low wooden table.
Mia reluctantly slid off Kian’s lap with a soft pout, stretching her arms above her head only to get herself wrapped in his arms again. "Eh, let me go. Let’s eat."
"Let them set the food. We have some more time."
"You are truly shameless," she chided him softly, though her body remained soft.
Kian only laughed, his arms tightening around her waist as he pressed a quick, playful kiss to the soft curve of her neck. "A cultivator needs his energy, and you happen to be the most delicious thing in this house, baby girl."
Feimei rapped her hands on the table. "Sit now or I am feeding you things you wouldn’t want to eat, Kian."
Kian’s lips twitched. "You wouldn’t."
"If I did, you would not know. So better listen to me, little boy."
"Damn you!"