47

Midnight saw the couple flying over the sea between Japan and Korea at high speeds. They had left quite a bit later than they intended, simply because Yu Wu was insatiable. After Onari had fucked her brains out (and gotten his brains fucked out in return), they showered again; packed; charted their route on a map; said their goodbyes to Yasaka, Kunou and Amaterasu; and got on the 'road'.

Of course, the road in this case was the clouds, and the 'car' was Onari and Yu Wu's flying swords. They had only been flying for around an hour, but they were already nearing Korea's shores.

They were taking this trip at a leisurely pace. If they wanted to, Onari and Yu Wu could have been in China within the hour. But that wasn't the point of this road trip. This trip was about giving Yu Wu time to process her feelings for her mother just as much as it was about delivering Yu Long's body to NTR.

So, as Yu Wu laid back on her sword, watching the starry sky and clouds that obscured the moon above, she thought. The meeting with Yu Long ran through her head. Other than the explanation of Yu Long's reasoning and backstory, the key thing Yu Wu took from meeting Yu Long was that her mother was a coward.

Yu Long might not have always been a coward, but the birth of Yu Wu had fundamentally changed something in the self-built older cultivator. Yu Wu could not imagine the woman she met reaching the heights of cultivation she must have reached to start a sect unless she wasn't always that way. Cowards do not get far when they walk the path of cultivation. This is especially true for cultivators who don't have help with their heavenly path.

But that was the case with Yu Long. She had achieved enough power to establish an organization, a sect. She had achieved enough power to help those that were less fortunate than her, those who didn't stumble upon a secret method of cultivation by pure heavenly luck.

Anyone who strived against the heavens alone could not have always been a coward. The idea that she had made her mother like this made Yu Wu cringe. She knew better than to take the blame for the actions of others, even her mother, but she did believe her birth was the catalyst for Yu Long's slow descent into cowardice.

But that was Yu Long's problem, not Yu Wu's. Yu Wu couldn't, wouldn't blame herself for being born. Her birth may have been the catalyst, but Yu Long was the one who allowed her situation to devolve so far. Ultimately, Yu Wu decided that her mother and the Heart Demon that ate away at her heart for so long were responsible for most of Yu Long's poor decisions.

She still didn't know how to feel about her biological mother, but Yu Wu knew she wouldn't be stressing herself out over unnecessary self-loathing any longer. Considering her Heart Demon, Yu Long may not have been completely in control of the actions she took to abandon Yu Wu, but she still had to take responsibility for them. And the fact that Yu Long made moves to watch over Yu Wu despite Da Shuizhi's isolation told Yu Wu that there was still some part of the 'real' Yu Long lurking beneath that cowardly shell.

"Right," Yu Wu said, sitting up on her sword. "What's the next step of our trip?"

Onari had felt Yu Wu's internal storm of contemplation and turmoil through their bond, and had purposefully allowed her the silence and space to figure things out herself. Even if it wasn't full closure, he smiled at the feeling of her reaching some sort of conclusion.

"I was thinking we'd stop in Seoul for a late dinner."

"Wonderful! I'm craving chicken."

Onari chuckled, "I'm sure fried chicken won't be hard to find in Seoul."

Their flight continued at an uneventful pace. They soon hit land again and began to zoom across the Korean landscape. Cutting across the country on a direct path to Seoul, the pair soon found themselves approaching the capital of Korea.

The halo of light pollution around the city made Seoul stand out from miles away. It was like a second moon was rising from the land as Onari and Yu Wu grew closer and closer. The local Qi began to feel richer, older, and more active.

The city's Qi felt like a unique combination of Tokyo and Kyoto to Onari's senses. It carried the 'hustle and bustle/forever awake' feeling of the most modern, populated cities like Tokyo. But it also retained the ancient and spiritual feeling of old cities like Kyoto. It felt like the center of a land and people that had grown with the times to become the flourishing metropolis it was today.

Their swords slowed as they circled the city. They descended until they were flying just above the Han River that ran through the center of Seoul. Onari's illusions easily concealed them as they simply enjoyed the foreign scenery. From the suburbs to the neon-lit streets to the high-rise skyscrapers, Seoul was a beautiful city to see from the air.

"Welcome to Seoul…" Onari said as they glided up and onto the river's banks.