Chapter 148 - A Quiet Evening

Thankfully, the concoction that Ao Wen needed to prepare for Zhang Bai and Tang Jin didn't take too much effort and she had all of the ingredients she needed in her cosmos sack. The concoction itself, however, was incredibly foul in both odor and flavor. Jin and Bai looked incredibly pained when presented with a soup bowl full of noxious orange liquid that had the consistency of thick syrup. 

"You're doing this deliberately aren't you?" Tang Jin said as he stared at the pungent elixir in an attempt to gain enough courage to drink it down. "I'm sorry, I'll never risk anything dangerous without talking to you first, I promise," he said. 

"Jin, your wounds and the pain you've suffered is already punishment enough. I don't need to make this any more foul than it already is to drive home the point," Ao Wen said, flatly denying that she had done anything to make the concoction worse than it already was. "Now drink, I haven't had dinner yet and I can't until you and Bai are taken care of."

"Look, it's not that bad," Zhang Bai said, still staring at his own bowl of elixir dubiously before closing his eyes and drinking down the noxious liquid like he was chugging a jug of cheap ale. The scent assailed his nose like a combination of rotten fish and fresh cut onions bringing tears to his eyes as he persisted in swallowing down the thick liquid. More than once, his stomach churned, clenched, and attempted to expel the elixir but Zhang Bai hardened his resolve and forced the liquid back down when it tried to surge back up his throat. Finally, after what felt like an eternity but had actually been less than ten breaths of time, he finished the foul brew and looked at Tang Jin with puffy, reddened eyes. "See? Nothing to it," he lied. "Your turn."

"Now, strip to the waist, let me get a good look at your wounds." Ao Wen said, conjuring a ball of flickering emerald flame as she prepared to purge the dangerous energy from Zhang Bai's body. Fortunately for the eldest member of their group, it seemed that the wounds he suffered to sustain the barrier truly did leave less of the deadly energy behind, and the cleansing, while painful, didn't rise to a level that ripped screams from his throat the way using this technique on her father had. 

When it came to Tang Jin's turn, Ao Wen gave him a leather-wrapped wooden rod to bite down on as she burned away the lingering nether energy. Following her instructions, Tang JIn did everything he could to prevent his energy from flowing into his hands and conjuring the increasingly familiar red-golden claws he'd become able to manifest since consuming the elixir Ao Wen concocted from the hearts and beast cores of Blood Rage Cougars. Instead, as his body responded with a fierce desire to fight back against pain, his teeth began to change, gaining fierce fangs that bit deeply into the leather-wrapped rod as he bit down. Fortunately, the treatment ended and the pain receded before he managed to snap the rod though the teeth marks in the leather were impressively deep. 

"Okay, both of you, go collect your volunteer nursemaids and get some rest," Ao Wen teased. "I've left a bit of lingering flame energy circulating through your bodies to cleanse any nether energy that's managed to take hold but you should already be feeling a bit over-warm. In the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn you'll be sweating and feverish so it would be best if you're laying down by then with a cool cloth on your head." 

"Thank you," Zhang Bai said. "Without you, today's blunder would have been fatal."

"It's not that bad," Ao Wen said with a shake of her head. "Alchemist Ma Xiaohua is fairly capable and she could have concocted a Nether Purge Pill that would have had a similar effect, it just would have been incredibly expensive, at least a thousand spirit crystals each. My healing skills let me do with techniques what other alchemists would do with pills but my skills aren't so exaggerated as to cure things that other alchemists couldn't. At best, tonight I saved everyone some money," she said humbly. 

"Still, thank you," Zhang Bai said from the doorway. "Come on Brother Jin, let's give them the space to enjoy dinner and get to our beds before we collapse on the way there. I'm sure Lingling is waiting eagerly in your room to tend to you tonight."

Once the two young men had left, Feng Xi retrieved several dishes from the kitchen and set out a small feast on the table in the room she shared with Ao Wen. "You're always working hard to care for everyone my love," Feng Xi said, wrapping her arms around Ao Wen and speaking softly as she stared into Ao Wen's amber eyes. "You aren't straining yourself are you?"

"No, this much is fine," Ao Wen said genuinely while she returned Feng Xi's hug. "I promise, I'll tell you if it's too much." 

"Good," Feng Xi said with a warm smile, taking her seat and beginning to pile several of Ao Wen's favorite dishes on a plate for her. "So tell me how your day went. You mentioned that Alchemist Ma Xiaohua is fairly capable, does that mean you were successful in reaching an agreement with her?"

Slowly, over the course of their meal, Ao Wen recounted her successful arrangement with Alchemist Ma along with her less successful arrangement with Understudy Lau. When Ao Wen described the fees that Understudy Lau wanted to collect, Feng Xi's eyes went wide in shock. 

"Five hundred spirit crystals, just for the deposit?" Feng Xi said in shock. "That's more expensive than the most expensive property listing we examined today. You could purchase a riverside manor fit for a family of fifty cultivators and hundreds of mortal servants for that kind of money!"

"His craftsmanship really is that good Xi, and I'm asking him for a weapon that no one else in Lantern City can forge," Ao Wen said with slightly defeated acceptance. "He can charge a premium and people will pay it. I'm also realizing that everything here is a little more expensive than it might be elsewhere because of the spirit crystal mines. When the customer can afford to pay more, merchants will charge more."

"Well, I'm glad we focused on the lower end of the housing options," Feng Xi said. She knew that as long as Ao Wen was able to sell her services as a healer the money wouldn't be a problem even if it might take her several weeks to earn the astronomical sum that Understudy Lau demanded. "Between the two that we looked at on the south side, do you have an opinion on which we should choose?" With Tang Jin's idea of cleansing the haunted house now firmly off the table, they were left with the abandoned and run-down villa higher up in the valley that Zhang Bai preferred or the more centrally located smaller property that Feng Xi had selected. 

"Honestly, I'm inclined to accept Zhang Bai's argument in favor of the run-down villa," Ao Wen said, setting down her chopsticks and soaking in the feeling of contentment that came from sharing a good meal with just her and Feng Xi. "Or, maybe it's better to say that I think he deserves to have the opportunity that the villa presents."

"You're talking about his plan to place defensive formations during the reconstruction? Did you know he'd awoken an additional path as a Scholar?" Feng Xi asked. 

"I was there when he reawakened," Ao Wen said with a nod. "It was one of the things his father asked for my help with before we left. Patriarch Zheng believes that Zhang Bai may have the talent required to study techniques where the paths of swords and formations intersect so he wanted Bai to start studying the foundations of formations. Bai will have to become at least a Champion as well as a Formation Master like his father before he can start practicing Sword Formations but if he can truly learn Sword Formations then he'll have a level of power that's more than twice what his father can currently wield," Ao Wen explained. "Besides, when we set out for Lantern City, we knew that the best training opportunities here were aligned with my needs and yours, with a smaller number of opportunities for Tang Jin but barely any for Zhang Bai. Even if it means more work from us to help get the villa into shape, we all owe Zhang Bai a chance to seize this opportunity for his own advancement."

"When you put it that way," Feng Xi said, "it's hard to argue against it. Tomorrow, I'll bring you out there and we can make the arrangements with the Lord Mayor's office to receive the deed. What do you think of Shuli's offer of becoming the manager of our staff?" 

"I don't have any opinions about her personally," Ao Wen said. "You're the Artist. If you think she's dangerous or has intentions to harm us then we should reject her out of hand and put distance between her and Bai as soon as possible. Otherwise, I think it's a good idea to have some help while we focus on our cultivation. I'm fine paying her in alchemy services, if she's like almost every Spirit Folk I've examined since living as Cong Daiyu then she has hidden ailments from mixed bloodlines that impede her cultivation. I don't even need to concoct to remedy most of those ailments, acupuncture is more than enough for that sort of thing which means we'd gain her help for a small amount of my time," Ao Wen concluded. "I think that's worthwhile."

"I didn't get the sense that she wanted to harm us in any way," Feng Xi said honestly. "I think she's keenly focused on finding a way into Brother Bai's heart, or maybe just his bed, but I don't think she intends anything nefarious."

"Bai can handle that himself," Ao Wen said, reaching into her cosmos sack to pull out the scarf she'd purchased for Feng Xi. "Just like I'll handle matters of the heart myself. This is for you," she said, unfolding the warm black scarf and wrapping it around Feng Xi's shoulders to pull the other woman close. "It's made of Shadow Step Rabbit fur and it should help you blend with shadows when you're practicing your Tempest Heron Archery Method but even if it didn't, I'd have bought it for you anyway. It's getting colder outside," she said, gazing up into Feng Xi's emerald eyes that brimmed with affection. "When I can't wrap my arms around you to keep you warm, I can at least wrap you in something else soft and warm to keep away the cold."

"Wen," Feng Xi said, relishing in the soft warmth of the scarf and the pure tone of Ao Wen's affection. "I love it," said, leaning down to brush her lips over Ao Wen's before whispering directly into Ao Wen's ear. "And I love you," she added, pulling Ao Wen into an embrace before tugging on her shorter lover's hand and pulling her in the direction of the room's large bed. "Come keep me warm tonight," she said with a warm smile. "Everything else can wait till morning."