Chapter 5: 05: Maybe Sleep Deprivation IS The Answer

Standing in line like a fish that had somehow lost the ocean, Lin Songmei, seeing that many of the others had decided to sit down, followed suit, plopping onto the ground while ignoring the gazes she was getting from the others around her. 

Songmei, deciding to just take what she could get and be glad that the interior of the building wasn’t hot even though there was a lot of incoming sunlight, occupied herself on her terminal, passing the time best she could until her turn. 

Freezing for a moment, Songmei’s fingers began to blaze across the small keyboard as she remembered Mingqing from earlier. There had to be a photo of her online, right? She could confirm for the millionth time that it was actually the second child of the current head of the Kunpeng Clan. 

‘Kunpeng Clan...’ 

[The Kunpeng Clan is a clan descended from the famous Kunpeng of times past. The Kunpeng is a spiritual beast that has two forms, the Kun, a large fish, and the Peng, a large bird. It represents freedom along with having many connections to the ocean, water, the sky, and other things in that realm... Furthermore...]

Shaking her head and scrolling past the ‘helpful’ information about the Kunpeng, information that anyone who had lived more than 5 years should know, Songmei scrolled through several articles before narrowing her search. 

‘Kunpeng current family members...’

Finding some gossip articles about the oldest child and his potential love life, Songmei kept scrolling, noting however the... keen resemblance between the two siblings. 

Finding a picture of Mingqing, Songmei’s hand shook a touch, seeing that it was a perfect match, even the earrings that Mingqing was wearing were the same.

‘I should just believe her... the stories aren’t something you can make up anyway... but just... Why would she come talk to me?’

Songmei, of course, didn’t know that Mingqing came to her since she was attractive and alone just like her, but that was something for Mingqing to hold in her heart and her heart only. 

Having finished doing some light... stalking, one could say, of her new ‘friend’ someone she’d probably... no definitely, never see again, Songmei scrolled through some random news articles until she came to the front of the line. 

The staff attendant that managed the front of the line was... imposing to say the least. With thick muscles that seemed to be torturing the shirt like it was a prisoner in front of its greatness, the man had a pair of black sunglasses on, stoic-faced and ready to quell any potential fights. 

Glad that she had no urges to start or be in any fights, the man would probably obliterate anyone within a couple of punches after all, Songmei fidgeted in place until she got let into the interior area where the measurements would take place. 

-------

Click. 

As the door closed behind her, sealing her fate no matter how much the nervousness seemed to erupt in her stomach, killing any butterflies that might have been flapping in there, Songmei looked around the small, dark, but lavish and ornate room. 

Sitting down at the small, wooden round table in the center of the room, Songmei was in awe as she listened to the kind staff member explain what to do and a little bit about how the orb worked. 

Press. 

Pressing her hand against the small orb, Songmei was impressed. The orb began to have a mist swirl within it as Songmei could feel a small tugging sensation through her arm, what magic cultivation thing was this?

‘Hopefully the orb doesn’t take into account being poor or potential carpal tunnel into its measurements...’ 

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‘And what the hell, this place is so rich, they have velvet colored blackout curtains just for this room? Just for this??? I’d kill for some curtains like this...’ 

“That’s unexpected...” 

A smile breaking out on his face, the staff member that had been recording down the measurements on the orb paused for a second, getting Songmei’s attention. “Young lady?” 

“Y-Yes! Yes... yes?” 

Jolted out of her thoughts and her worries, Songmei looked up to see the staff member in front of her, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showing his age as he began to speak again. “There are some things I shouldn’t ask and shouldn’t comment on. But I can tell you that your life... is going to be much different, and if I hazard a guess, much better. This is the highest quality spiritual root I’ve seen not just this year so far, but highest in several years...” 

“A... A-Are you...” Suppressing the urge to say “shitting me” to someone she should be polite to, Songmei sat there, jaw dropping as the realization hit, “R-Really?” 

With the staff member giving an affirming nod, Songmei sat there in disbelief, wondering... maybe she was dreaming? She met the heir to the Kunpeng Clan then found out she was really talented... What was this? Was the sleep deprivation making her hallucinate? 

A second later, Songmei’s throbbing wrist that sent pain scrambling up her arm every time she moved it reminded her that she was awake... wide-awake. 

Ow. 

Why did it hurt so much anyway...

Giving the staff member a nod as she walked away, pushing open the door to blind herself with the bright light outside, Songmei walked along, disbelief pushing aside her thoughts. She felt as if she was floating on a cloud, that the sun was bright, that the food she had eaten was good, that life... seemed brighter. 

Walking out of the hall back into the main auditorium, Songmei looked around, trying to find a path back to where she was sitting before. 

People. So many people. 

All sitting on the ground since even the super rich cultivators were too lazy or cheap to give them chairs or tables, people were sitting in circles, in pairs, or alone, all hanging out. Some were even doing an obscene amount of public affection... 

Snaking her way through the crowd, apologizing here and there, her mouth repeating “excuse me” over and over... and over again. 

Close to where she had been sitting earlier, Songmei noticed a smaller circle had cleared out around where Yan Mingqing was sitting, it really seemed like she did have that resting bitch face that she had talked about earlier.

Mingqing, who was sitting there stone-faced, absorbed in her terminal, had a sharp expression on her face, her previous smile and warm golden eyes were replaced with a cold demeanor and eyes that seemed to look down on everyone around her. 

Breaking into the invisible circle that had been created around Mingqing and the repressive air that surrounded her, Songmei, surprised at the initiative that she was taking—maybe it was because of the good results of the test, maybe it was something else— tapped Mingqing on the shoulder. 

“Hey again, I’m back, how are you doing?”