Chapter 68: Arc 5: Chapter 1

“So, Dancer’s Abode. You say you’re familiar with some people there?”

“Mhm, and trust me, as soon as we clear this last bit of the journey, we’ll be able to rest comfortably for at least a few days. No more tents, no more resting out in the wild, and no more attempts to make decent food on our own,” the kitsune nodded, looking over to the campfire and the many pieces of meat being cooked atop it.

The fatty juices from them dripped down onto the fire on occasion, causing it to sizzle and spark, letting the scent of slowly burning meat spread throughout their camp.

They didn’t have much to cook it with, so they simply added some of the kitsune’s remaining supplies onto the metal spits in between the pieces of meat that they had obtained from… somewhere. Bianca found it difficult to keep track, and frankly, she wasn’t interested at this point. When she tried to learn about some of the common meats used in cooking in the Planar Continents – she knew that it was unlikely for every part of the world to share the same cuisine, but she wouldn’t be surprised if people could teleport around or preserve everything without needing for fridges and the like – she heard numerous sequences of words that seemed to make sense on their own, but together…

As such, she could merely say that the meat resembled something akin to lamb, and that the vegetables in between were akin to tomatoes, peppers and other things commonly roasted along with meat over a fire.

The upcoming meal brought back memories of one of the first days she had to make food for herself, and it was certainly an improvement from those times. Her food would actually be safe for consumption, it would be quite a bit more varied in terms of flavours, and she’d have two people to share it with. One was undoubtedly a positive through and through, the other was slightly less positive overall, but nonetheless, it was better than having nobody around.

“The Dancer’s Abode… that’s a place full of, uh, prostitutes, isn’t it?” Song Ming asked, blushing at the very notion of it.

“Yes, among others that wish to have a safe place to sell their skills and trade their wares without needing to tie themselves down to something as… demanding as most sects, temples, or the likes of Long Shiyi and the Exarch’s factions. Thus, the main abode itself is more of a small city, with everyone from farmers to wealthy traders residing within.”

“And prostitutes?”

“As I already said, yes.”

“… So, who runs this place and decided to make an entire city focused on… that?” Bianca asked.

“A lovely lady known by the name of Yan Taijun. She cares for the people working under her and wants them to prosper together, hence her creating and defending a neutral region for some time now. Everyone that can provide something for it is welcome to stay, and since I happen to be acquainted with her, I can guarantee us at least a few days, more if we’re lucky. After all, although I have met quite a few people in my short life, I haven’t had the chance to forge exceptionally deep bonds with most.”

“Yan Taijun… have I heard of her before?”

“Why would I – or either of us, even – know?” the kitsune shrugged, “What you can and cannot remember is quite the curious thing no matter the subject, honey. Regardless, she’s a relatively new figure on the eastern stage, and considering the conflict that will soon be unleashed in full… well, I don’t expect the best results, let’s just put it that way.”

“Will she get caught in the crossfire?”

“Crossfire… interesting term, but yes, a suitable one. This part of the Heartlands is close by to both the Exarch and Long Shiyi, and therefore will be of strategic significance. Even if neither faction wanted anything here, the city would be a good stronghold with some fortification, and even if they didn’t care for that, the Dancer’s Abode would still be likely to get caught in the fighting. Their business would suffer, their customers would be afraid to visit, and most of the people there would have to flee even if not a single clash happened in the area.”

“So… crossfire.”

“Yep.”

Silence, albeit a brief one, followed for a while. What broke it wasn’t some conversational bout, but instead Song Ming’s skin starting to glow all of a sudden, as was somewhat usual by this point. Her physique had flared up enough times for Bianca to recognise it, though it was this familiarity that led her to hesitate to pull her into a hug and circulate their energy, as was established to be the most effective approach… sex aside, that is.

However, since the last time she had seen the young woman’s energy flare up, it seemed to have changed somewhat. It was darker, more… familiar, and most importantly in that moment, it was less hostile to Song Ming’s body.

It still burned, rather obviously so, but the darker light, the vibrant blue mixed with an equal part of white and green, resulting in a very curious shade, seemed to get along with Song Ming’s body far more so than before. Although Bianca hadn’t seen a single cultivator with a proper physique so far – so far as she knew or remembered, anyway – this was closer to what she imagined a physique was supposed to be.

“Um, Xue Yaling?”

“This…”

 

‘This confirms my suspicions about the degree to which Bianca’s energy can change someone’s body or energy… Ancestors, this is quite the terrifying property. It managed to affect both Song Ming and her physique to such an extent that they are now closer in nature to one another, meaning that the degree of stress it applies to her frail body is lessened…’ the kitsune marvelled, though she didn’t forget to eventually reply, “Yes, this appears to be a certain change to her physique. Perhaps due to some contribution of your energy, or maybe because of other factors, the Crusader’s Runes have grown less… volatile. This is, overall, good.”

“Overall. It doesn’t look especially good, though, I’m pretty sure it did look like this a while ago…” Bianca muttered, “It feels a bit like my energy.”

“Not surprising. Your energy is rather influential on people, and since we have been mitigating this problem by mixing your energy with that of Song Ming… it’s not odd at all,” she nodded, since she wasn’t about to divulge the full extent of her suppositions to either of them, “Nonetheless, as I – and likely many others at this point – have said before, the nature of your energy isn’t intrinsically bad, and neither is its influence upon Song Ming’s physique.”

“I suppose… Still, I’d prefer not to be slowly ruining her light. Feels wrong.”

“Oh, trust me, just because something is vibrant and bright, doesn’t mean it’s in any way positive for you or for anyone else. Trust me on that, for the moment. I’d rather be sharing more intricate stories once we have a nice place to sit, relax and share in some of the local deserts. There’s plenty to enjoy.”

“Hm…”

“Besides, Song Ming should be safe this time, so it isn’t an urgent matter,” the kitsune waved the matter away, ‘If she figured something out from this, I would be tempted to just admit it. However…’

“Well, guess I can wait that long. We’re going to be there by the end of the day, right?”

“Mhm,” Xue Yaling nodded, looking back towards the cooking meat, ‘Not surprising that she didn’t notice… Perhaps she will one of these days. I almost hope that she does, since for all the freedom I currently have in doing whatever I want, there is some… dissatisfaction in being able to control her quite so easily. No real challenge, I suppose.’

That being said – or thought, in this case – she wasn’t about to ruin things for herself until she had more certainty about the situation.

“Say… who do you know in that place?”

 

“Halt, please state the purpose of your visit,” one of the guards at the gates requested, and Xue Yaling stepped forward to reply while Bianca took in her surroundings, and the place that they had arrived at.

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The Dancer’s Abode was positioned on an elevated part of the land, with forests to the north and relatively flat land in the region to the west that they had come from. As such, Bianca didn’t have a chance to examine the entire city, but she could tell that it was an uneven shape, with wooden walls supported by the occasional pillar seemingly grown from bark. These pillars appeared to be guard towers, since she could see several people at the top of them, but she didn’t have the slightest guess regarding how these things actually worked.

From her position, she could see only one set of gates, but as these were rather shabby and small, she guessed that there was at least one more entrance elsewhere, with a proper road and passage for carts or whatever this world had. There were probably at least one more, though she couldn’t tell quite how large the city was.

Perhaps she was seeing a good chunk of it, or perhaps these walls were naught but 1% of the whole perimeter.

Either way, the walls weren’t especially tall, so they were unlikely to be a proper means of defence. Most likely, they were used more to mark the boundaries of the town and dissuade needless skirmishes… or that was what Bianca had understood from the kitsune’s various stories, anyway.

“Same as most, I’d imagine,” Xue Yaling replied, “Though I am also visiting a friend. Yan Taijun.”

“Y-Yan? Lady Yan?” the guard froze, looking at the other guard with shock before collecting himself, “Well, without any proof, we can’t act on this, but I could send a message ahead. Your name?”

“Xue Yaling. The kitsune that taught your leader the way to surpass the second realm.”

That shocked them even more, though such a seemingly absurd statement – likely not helped by the kitsune’s low realm relative to their Lady Yan – did help give her some validity and authority. If she dared to proclaim such a thing, she was either insane or telling the truth. Thus, the guard eventually stepped aside and somehow communicated to the guards behind the gates, for they were opened a few moments later.

“You may proceed. We’ll pass the message along, so you may visit Lady Yan tomorrow if she approves… and next time, use one of the main gates, please. This place doesn’t often expect visitors.”

“Trust me, I would’ve gone the other way if it was convenient,” the kitsune shrugged, gesturing to Bianca and Song Ming to follow, “Come on, don’t keep this lot waiting. Unless the Dancer’s Abode has been more successful the last few years, I don’t imagine they pay them enough to watch over us all day.”

“You’re damn right… I don’t recall ever seeing you, and I’ve been here for about a decade already…”

“I don’t typically use this entrance,” Xue Yaling said, letting the other two pass through first, “Nor do I usually show my ears. We have a bit of a bad reputation, us kitsune.”

“… Hm. Well, none of my business. Go ahead.”

The kitsune nodded and proceeded through, with the gates shutting behind her as soon as she far was enough in. Bianca was just a little further in, half of her attention spent on listening to the conversation and the rest devoted to looking around.

Although the enormous camp that Long Shiyi had settled in was quite… well, enormous, this was the first true city she had ended up in since arriving onto the Planar Continents. There were homes made of bricks and stone, with wooden shacks or sheds scattered around. This entrance was to a smaller road, with only enough space for about four to five people to come through, but she could see it leading to a wider street with numerous people passing through, some dressed in this world’s version of decent attire and others likely selling their bodies.

Still, it was mostly clean, there were buildings with two and even three floors nearby and some taller ones in the distance, visible above the rooftops of other structures. It was the closest thing to Vardium she had seen in a long, long while, though it was still nothing close. She couldn’t smell the exhaust of cars in the air, nor all the other scents of the modern city.

It was still more familiar than the woods, so she felt more at home… though the woods did probably smell better overall.

“So, how does your first time in a big city feel, Song Ming? And, potentially, Bianca?”

Song Ming looked rather stunned, so the moment Bianca’s name came up, she turned to her and let her answer first. It was ever so slightly unfortunate, given that Bianca didn’t have anything prepared, but she knew something that would work regardless.

“Different, that’s for sure. Though, I have no idea if this is my first time, or the hundredth.”

“Hm, indeed. You do seem comfortable here, more so than in the forests… hope it’s not because you believe this place to be safer, though. Trust me, that’s far from the truth.”

“To be frank, I feel the other way…” Song Ming muttered, looking around nervously, “It’s so… enclosed, and there are so many places that people could emerge from at any moment… Is this what it’s like at larger sects as well?”

“I’ve not been to many, but something like this, yes. They need to make the most of the land they have, so leaving countless wide and empty streets in place would simply be inefficient. Meanwhile, Yan Taijun can’t afford to grab up too much land without encroaching on the territories of the other factions around here, so she too needed to ensure that her people would pack themselves in as tightly as they could.”

“Looks to be working out well. The place looks tidy, clean and organised… so far, anyway,” Bianca noted.

“It is true that I’ve not been here in a while, so I can’t comment on the current state of things, but it was among the nicer places I’ve resided in. The people here understood the value of keeping things working well for one another, so everyone strove to do their best at all times, even to the point of pushing one another too far. Generally, it was understood that it was what it took to remain strong amidst a sea of people far superior, with far more combatants in their ranks,” the kitsune explained, pointing towards the south-east, “The Blooming Orchid Sect there has about… a thousand people in the third realm or above at the very least, possibly ten or fifty times more. Out of those, at least nine out of ten have combat experience and are more than capable of overwhelming the average unaffiliated fighter.

“As such, if they were to desire this territory for themselves, then they could simply charge in with some invented reason, drive everyone out, and… done. Same with the God’s Grave Temple, though they’re more reluctant to go to war, and same with the Exarch or Long Shiyi. Hence, everyone in the Dancer’s Abode has gone above and beyond for their territory.”

“You think very highly of this place, my lady,” a chuckle alerted them to the presence of another, a woman dressed in skimpy clothing that hid only her chest and the region around her waist with opaque cloth, “I suppose I appreciate it.”

The kitsune didn’t seem to be too surprised, but Bianca and Song Ming only found her from her voice, with both gasping a little as they saw her.

She had a darker complexion than most Bianca had seen so far, but her gaze gravitated to her face, not just because her soft lips and gentle features were rather pretty, but because of the blindfold covering her eyes. It wasn’t exceptionally large, so she could see most of her head just fine, but it was notable enough that she couldn’t help but stare.

Behind it, she felt an odd presence, and there seemed to be a glow behind the black cloth, faint enough to seem like a trick of the light.

Bianca tried to stop staring and said, “Uhm, you are…”

“Yu Juan, one of the many dancers here. I had seen the gates open and decided to investigate the people that chose to enter through the least used entrance… heh…” she chuckled to herself.

‘Heh… but wait, how does she…’ Bianca frowned, “But, the blindfold-”

“Ah, that’s just phrasing. I wasn’t always bound by this thing, and I do like to pretend that my vision isn’t… gone, for all intents and purposes…” a sigh preceded a lengthy silence, “Well, instead of standing around here, why don’t I introduce you to the city? None of your auras seem familiar, and I do like being helpful when I can. I’m not working at this moment, either, so it wouldn’t cost you a single coin.”

“Should be okay with me. Xue Yaling?”

The kitsune looked over the dancer for a moment, then shrugged, “I recall the city as it was well enough, but perhaps things have changed since I passed through. We’ll accept your tour then, Yu Juan. Thank you.”

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