Chapter 175: 239. Miscommunication

Jia followed Narae into a quaint little room where Jung lay resting on a cot. The room was spartan except for a small chest tucked away into the corner, perhaps belonging to one of the shrine maidens—had they borrowed the personal quarters of one of the servants? Narae returned to her mother's side and dutifully wiped the sweat from her brow with a moist cloth. She wasn't alone—Heian had been spending time with Narae and was currently curled up at the foot of Jung's bed in cat form.

"She’s still sleeping, but her fever has gone down. I haven't tried waking her up yet."

Jia nodded, kneeling down next to Narae as her little sister fussed over Jung.

"Do you mind if I wake her up?"

Narae shrugged.

"You're her doctor, not me. Or your girlfriend is, but you're also her or whatever, so I guess you're her doctor too?"

Jia giggled as Narae scrunched up her face in consternation.

"Fair enough."

She laid a hand gently on Jung's shoulder and woke her up with a tiny infusion of qi. Her big sister stirred awake slowly and blinked up at Jia.

“Oh! You’re back—or...actually, where are we?”

“We’re at that shrine I told you about. Seong Misun brought you here after you collapsed. What can you remember?”

Jung frowned.

“I collapsed? I remember feeling a little feverish, and I was just going to remind Narae not to give Sir Hattori a hard time about her studies then...I woke up here.”

Jia crossed her arms and glared at her sister.

“You should have told us that you were starting to feel worse. We wouldn’t have left you.”

“I...I didn’t realize. I’ve spent so long being bedridden that I got used to it. Compared to that, I’ve been feeling just fine.”

“Alright. Just try to pay closer attention to your condition, please? There’s only so much Eui’s treatments can do and it’s important that you be honest with us.”

Jung nodded solemnly.

“I’ll do my best. I’m sorry for not informing you sooner. I simply hadn’t realized it had gotten so bad.”

“It’s fine—we didn’t notice either. I’m worried that your illness is going to keep getting worse at this rate. Eui’s treatments might not be able to keep it at bay forever. It’s important we get you to a qi healer as soon as possible, which means we’re leaving as soon as you’re feeling up to it.”

Jia’s sister grimaced.

“Oh...another one of those spells Princess Seong Misun uses? I hate those.”

Eunae smiled and bowed apologetically.

“I’m afraid the wind walking spell tends to be rather uncomfortable even for us immortal practitioners.”

Narae put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

“Not for me! I think it’s fun!”

Jia snorted and ruffled the girl's hair.

“You’re a natural born flier. Making your big sister jealous over here!”

“Don’t worry big sis! I can teach you how to fly someday—ouch!”

Jia flicked the arrogant brat in the forehead.

“I already know how to fly, and don’t forget that you’re my disciple. I may be your sister, but I’m also your master. Don’t get cocky.”

Narae pouted, rubbing her forehead.

“Okay...”

"But yes, I look forward to refining my flying technique with the help of my cute little talented disciple."

The little girl brightened considerably at that, and Jia ruffled her hair gently before turning back to Jung.

"Sorry Big Sis, I know it's not the most pleasant way to travel, but with your condition worsening we can't afford to lose any more time."

Jung sighed and shook her head.

"I understand. I'm just an old lady complaining—don't pay it any mind. I should be appreciating all the help the princess is giving us."

"Jung, you're not even thirty years old yet, and I do care about your comfort and happiness. But speaking of Princess Seong Misun, she wanted to leave as soon as you woke up—we should probably go let her know. Eunae, could you introduce Jung and Narae to Lady Tennin while I go find your sister?"

Eunae smiled brightly and bowed.

"I would be happy to, Jia. Jung, are you feeling well enough to walk?"

Jia couldn't help but giggle at how eager Eunae was to avoid having to talk to her sister. Jung sat up and stretched.

"I think I can manage, thank you Princess—"

"Just Eunae is fine!"

Jung hesitated, and Jia gave her an encouraging smile as she glanced over for confirmation.

"E-Eunae…ancestors, I don't think I'll ever get used to being on a first name basis with royalty. Jia, do you ever just stop and think about how insane your life has become?"

"I generally try not to, but as weird as it sounds, I think I've just gotten used to it at this point."

 

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Naturally, Jung and Lady Tennin hit it off immediately. Far from being put off or disgusted by Jung's past as a prostitute, the inexperienced Tennin was excited to hear stories of sex and debauchery, as were Eui and Rika. Some of Jung's stories were enough to make Jia's ears burn red even though she wasn't in the same room as them, though she rolled her eyes a bit when Eunae tried to cover Narae's ears—that girl had almost certainly seen or heard of worse already.

The shrine maidens were more than happy to point Jia in Seong Misun's direction—perhaps even a bit too eager. Jia hoped the princess wasn't abusing their hospitality too much. They led her to an out-of-the-way meditation chamber where Seong Misun sat at the back of the room in total darkness. Jia's cat eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, and she saw Misun's six fox-like tails fanned out behind her in an impressive display. Even more impressive was the way the mana moved around Seong Misun—Jia had rarely had the opportunity to observe a xiantian cultivator in meditation, and she found the display dazzling to her mana sense.

Misun was like the center of a swirling vortex of mana—a living hurricane of energy. Jia knew that she would be condensing that mana into divine essence, a much more powerful form of energy, but even just the sight of the raw mana was mind-boggling.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me, or are you going to come in?"

Misun's eyes had opened, and her glowing blue gaze felt as if it would bore a hole into Jia. She blushed, realizing she'd been staring, and quickly stepped into the room. As soon as she did, a series of invisible formations suddenly lit up and the full force of Misun's vortex of mana bore down on Jia.

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Yoshika accelerated her thoughts using her Absolute Awareness technique, cutting Eui off in the middle of telling a dirty joke. What was happening? Had Seong Misun gone insane? Why was she attacking Yoshika? There was no time to answer these questions or any others—her mind worked a mile a minute to assess her situation, but Misun's magic worked just as fast.

A barrier went up around the room, restricting Yoshika's domain and dulling the connection between her bodies—though it didn't break it entirely. Meanwhile, Seong Misun's domain slammed into hers, attempting to suppress her. Yoshika fought back with all her might, but the princess' domain was inexorable.

Every time Yoshika attempted to counteract one of Misun's binding spells, the princess reacted instantly, cutting off her attempts. It was clear that she had some kind of technique similar to Yoshika's Absolute Awareness, but while her mind might be as fast as Yoshika's, she was still a single discipline mage—Yoshika had the edge in raw physical strength and speed. If she was going to win, it would only be by leveraging that advantage.

Lightning coursed through Jia's body as Yoshika channeled the full power of her Lightning God Transformation technique, and Seong Misun's eyes widened fractionally as she bolted across the room at the speed of thought, slamming forcefully into a barrier just inches away from Misun's face. Yoshika wasn't surprised by the barrier—Misun was a mage, and she had time to prepare her battlefield ahead of time— that much was to be expected. As the princess channeled metal elemental mana to bind and suppress her lightning techniques, Yoshika summoned an artifact from her dimensional storage ring.

The handcrafted black leather glove was engraved with red fractal patterns, with silver studs over each knuckle and openings at the end of the fingers for Jia's claws. The Fist of Earth—one half of an artifact of Yoshika's own creation and sister to the Claws of Heaven—allowed Yoshika to freely channel a fraction of Eui's absolute destructive power through Jia's body. Moving faster than even Seong Misun could react, Yoshika took a stance from Eui's Six Arms of Asura and drew elemental destruction forth from—

Yoshika faltered as a sharp pain lanced through Eui's chest. The demonic core was practically vibrating, refusing to let go of the destruction essence as the blow that should've shattered Misun's barrier like cheap ceramic glanced off weakly. Yoshika was so stunned by the sudden failure that she hardly even reacted as Misun’s spells finished binding her—mana constructs wrapping tightly around Jia's wrists and ankles.

The princess leapt to her feet and rounded on Yoshika with a furious expression.

"What the hell was that you crazy bitch?!"

Yoshika blinked at Seong Misun, momentarily unable to process what she was asking.

"You attacked me."

"No, you attacked me. All I did was cast a barrier spell and then defend myself when you tried to take my fucking head off. Ancestors, you almost managed it too—you really are a monster."

"But your barrier cut me off, and you were suppressing my domain…"

Misun tossed a stray lock of hair over her shoulder.

"Hmph, it's called intimidation, though I didn't count on it working quite so well."

Yoshika scowled, but now that she knew she wasn't in immediate danger she had other priorities.

"Just a minute, our friends are panicking."

Yoshika closed Jia's eyes, ignoring the princess’ sputtering protests as she focused on Eui's body which had reflexively clutched her chest in pain. Technically, Yoshika was perfectly capable of splitting her attention between the two, but she was annoyed enough to make Seong Misun wait as a bit of petty revenge.

She waved off her friends and family fussing over her.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm fine. Just got a bit of a spook from Seong Misun. Eunae, you never told me your sister had a penchant for practical jokes."

Eunae furrowed her brows.

"She doesn't…Yoshika, what's going on?"

"We'd like to know that ourselves. Just give us a moment."

Yoshika returned her attention to Seong Misun, who was glaring daggers at her.

"So what is this all about, anyway? If you weren’t trying to attack us, then what was the point of all that?"

Misun crossed her arms under her chest and scowled.

"I needed to get you alone, without your psychopath exile girlfriend or my sister around."

Yoshika chuckled incredulously and shook her head.

"That's impossible. We’re never alone."

"I know! You freaks are joined at the fucking hip, ancestors! The barrier was supposed to stop whatever weird telepathic communication thing it is you're always doing, but apparently it's not working. How are you bypassing it?!"

"No, you're misunderstanding. Eui and I are never apart because we share a soul. I am her and she is me—soulmates in a much more literal sense of the word than usual. We can’t be separated.”

Misun opened and closed her mouth a few times, struggling to find the right words.

"What the fuck?"

Yoshika snorted.

"It's a little unusual, but we're surprised you didn't already know that. It's not a very closely guarded secret—half the Academy knew that we were secretly dual cultivators, and Jia has infamously loose lips."

The princess stared flatly.

"You're Jia."

"Yes, and also Eui. To avoid confusion, we usually refer to ourselves as Yoshika when merged."

Misun pursed her lips.

“I thought that was just a cutesy nickname.”

Yoshika bowed her head as well as she could with her arms and legs restricted.

"Though we’ve already met, you can consider this an introduction. We wish we could say we’re pleased to meet you, but honestly this is pretty unpleasant. Could you release us?”

“Ugh, fine!”

Seong Misun waved a hand in the mana binding Yoshika dissipated. The princess twisted her face up into a contemplative frown before coming to a decision.

"Ancestors help me, to hell with it—you need to know. My sister isn't the cute little sweetheart you think she is. You probably don't believe me—nobody ever does—but she's already enthralled you. You need to get as far away from her as you can while there's still a you left to make any decisions at all."

Yoshika rubbed her wrists idly and shrugged.

"Is that all? We already knew that."

"See? This is what I mean, nobody ever—"

Misun stopped and did a double take, staring at Yoshika with wide-eyed incomprehension.

"Wait, what? I can't have heard that right, did you just say you know?"

Yoshika nodded.

"Of course. We've known since before we left."