SHI AU Chapter 20: Grand Plans

As always, unedited.

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“We’re approaching the wards now, Senchou, continue upon this course.” Seiyu’s calm, quiet voice seared us in the right direction, and into a patch of unassuming-looking sky. Or rather, unassuming looking for me. Ningjing overlaid what she saw over my eyes, and I could see the distortions in the air, characters in a circle that formed an access point, as well as a faint, almost invisible bubble that covered the entire city.

A ward over the City, like Crimson Crucible City had. I still remembered the thing flaring, when the attack came from Demon’s Grave Ravine, burning with all the colours of the rainbow.

“What happens if we don’t use this access point?” I asked, curious.

“We get boarded.” Bailu stated matter of factly. “And then yelled at by the guards, and have to do paperwork. It's why when we fly solo we normally just come through the main gate!” I nodded at her explanation, and then she suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh! And keep your speed below four knots! Otherwise we go splat! Its not fun!”

She clapped her hands together to indicate the abrupt stop.

It reacted to velocity too? That was interesting.

“Learn that the hard way did you? I asked, intending for it to just be a joke, but both of my Storm Wings flushed.

“...we were really eager to patrol. It was our first guard flight.” Bailu mumbled.

“Elder Minyan got the entirety of the midships up on deck to laugh at us.” Seiyu complained.

I carefully turned away so they wouldn’t see my lips twitching at the mental image of them sliding down the barrier like a pane of glass, squeaking all the way.

We entered into the passageway through the wards, and I paused at the tingly feeling. Ningjing whistled curiously.

“That feels really weird.” I muttered.

“Yeah, the wards always do feel a bit tingly!” Bailu replied, clearly unbothered.

We were now officially in the city—and the temperature changed again. It went from warm, nearing hot, to the perfect temperature—some kind of city wide climate control as well. Big D clucked with wonder, his eyes fixed on the air currents in front of us, stunned by just how… well, nuts this place was. Seriously!

I had a smile on my face as we headed in the direction Seiyu had indicated went to the airship docks. Bailu started humming again, a pleasant song that only buoyed my mood, and Seiyu had a smile as well. Both of them had been a big help today already, and it had been really, really fun exploring with them.

I was really glad they had decided to come along. I stared absently out over the city’s teeming streets as we went.

“Man, this place is huge.” I said, before shaking my head. It was so big we had to plan! “This the right course still, Seiyu?”

“Aye, Senchou.” She replied.

“Then let's gather around! Crew meeting!” I called.

“Yes!” my Storm Wings cheered. Ningjing locked her rudder and kept her leisurely pace as we all gathered around a barrel. Part of Ningjing’s deck rose for us to use as a bench, and I brought out a scroll.

I cleared my throat pompously. “The captain calls this meeting to order! Bailu, Seiyu, you’ve been here before! Where shall we go first to have some fun?”

I grinned at their bright faces, and both of them immediately shot their hands up—Bailu slightly faster than Seiyu.

“Bosun Bailu!” I called her name, and Seiyu wilted slightly.

“Yes! Our first stop should be Chao Baozi! The all you can drink and all you can eat special!” Bailu declared, and Seiyu instantly went from sulking to pleased. Bailu held out her fist and Seiyu bumped it, both women nodding at each other.

I paused. “Chao Baozi?” I asked. The name was…  kind of familiar?

“Captain, you've never had Chao Baozi?” Seiyu asked, sounding horrified.

“Uhhh I may have seen some advertisements?” I hedged. I did kind of remember seeing an advertisement in Crimson Crucible City for it—but that was super far away. “Maybe Gramps may have gotten it for me one time? I was… kinda too poor to afford it. But those were in Crimson Crucible City. Do they have one here as well?”

Man, Xianxia places had a long reach.

My Storm Wings looked at each other.

“Senchou! Chao Baozi is an institution! It's in every central Plaza in the Empire! Look!” Seiyu said, puling out a scroll—one that was filled with locations and… ratings?

….there was a gods damned continent-wide franchise in this world. What the hells? It was just so absurd, even with the flying swords and cultivation that it struck me dumb for a moment.

“Seiyu and I normally stop off every time we enter a new province and rate their location! And the one in the Capital is the best! Miss Chao Ling, descendant of Lady Chao herself heads this branch! Its served the Emperor!” Bailu continued, nodding her head.

“We can even add your rating!” Seiyu said enthusiastically.

I was… honestly touched by the simple gesture. It was something so small… and yet, it hit me all the same.

“I would be honoured to add to this legendary manual.” I declared. “And look, we can even go back and give these a second rating. See if it's up to snuff, eh?” I asked.

I got beaming smiles in return.

“Now, what else? We have Chao Baozi. Seiyu, your turn!”

“The spice market! I know you like to cook yourself, Senchou, so we can get everything from all over the world!” Seiyu said.

“Great idea!”

“New clothes! These are good Captain, but you need your own style!” Bailu nodded, one finger in the air.

“The Grand Gardens!”

“The Great Forge!”

“We’ll have to check which puppet shows are on!”

“Wine! We need lots of it!”

They went back and forth, shooting out more and more ideas that swiftly filed the page. From restaurants, to the biggest buildings—one of which was the Grand Archive. I remembered the Archives, which was another neat thing. The Archives were basically a prototype public library, and I kind of wanted to poke around.

Everything they suggested was something I would enjoy—they had really been paying attention to the things I liked—but then, out came the more fantastical things.

“We need to decide what auctions to go to.” Seiyu mused. “The Resplendent Stallion always has the good stuff—it's the only location suitable for our Young Master!”

I raised an eyebrow as Seiyu slipped back to referring to me like that.

“Eh? The Lucky Gold ones are so much more fun though.” Bailu whined. 

“Lucky Gold is completely random! A good auction displays skill and domineering presence to force your bid through!”

I added both to the list.

“Oh! And you should join a tournament, Young—Captain!” Bailu exclaimed, and I froze.

A tournament?

“Indeed! Debuting in the capital—it would be a wonderful place to begin your legend!” Seiyu agreed.

Some part of me… some part of me felt fear. Some part of me wanted to politely decline that one.

And yet…. I was in a Xianxia world. I was on a wonderful ship, taking me to the furthest horizons, determined to experience new things.

The arts of the Wandering Deer danced through my head. The rush of combat, and the blood pumping in my veins.

I was a cultivator. I was trained by Tianzhe Minyan herself. Maybe… maybe this was the way.

“...I’ll think about it.” I said, yet even to me, my tone of voice… well. I had as good as accepted that already.

. I would have to still be careful, but… Honestly? I was actually kind of looking forwards to it. The tournament in Soaring Heaven’s Isle had been remarkably restrained, and far less bloody than I imagined. There had been no blood fueds, and the defeated were often seen drinking with the ones who had broken bones not hours earlier.

“Our Captain is going to kick everybody’s asses!” Bailu exclaimed, her eyes burning.

“Their natural place is beneath our Lord’s feet.” Seiyu intoned, a smirk on her face.

…Okay this amount of glazing would definitely give me a big head

I let out a breath. And Glanced at our full itinerary.

My girls had been really helpful, and really on the ball today—it had been wonderfully peaceful, and I could definitely get used to this.

I turned back to the bow of the ship, and to the tower we were approaching.

“So how does this dock work, anyway?” I asked after a moment. “How much money does it take to berth a skyship, and how good are the guards?”

“Pay?” Seiyu asked, confused.

Bailu laughed. “It's the sect, we don’t have to pay! The girls will take good care of our Ningjing!”

“...Its the Sect’s?” I asked, feeling a headache coming on.

“...yes?” Seiyu asked.

I paused. I opened my mouth, and closed it again. I grabbed the bridge of my nose.

“…the sect we were exiled from?” I asked, glancing back up at them.

Bailu’s smile froze on her face, and her eyes bugged out comically. Seiyu’s own little grin similarly became strained, her eyes wide as they processed in her head. 

“Ah…ahha…” Seiyu said, starting to look panicked.

“...do either of you two know any other skyship docks…?” I ventured.

“Um! They probably haven't been told yet…?” Bailu asked, her eyes shifting around, and looking anywhere but at me. “Worst we can do is ask?”

We were nearly at the tower. I swallowed.

“Worst we can do is ask… and get ready to bail?” I returned.

Welp. In for a penny, in for a pound. We did need somewhere safe for our ship. My fingers crossed. Maybe Minyan hadn’t sent out a general notification…?”

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To our great luck, Elder Minyan hadn’t sent out a message.

We docked with ease, Ningjing sliding into an unused berth. I was a little sad to have to leave her behind, but I got a feeling of.. Well, joy and mischievousness, like a toddler that had a surprise for me.

Ningjing’s mast shifted and groaned… and then out from it popped a little wooden doll that looked remarkably like a little leaf-shaped man from a legend about a princess.

It was small, not even coming up to my knee, and it had a leaf-shaped mask on its face.

Or rather her face. Bailu and Seiyu were instantly smitten. Picking up and cuddling the little thing, much to Ningjing’s amusement.

I grinned at my second shoulder companion as she settled in on the other side of Big D.

“Remember, if anybody sees you, you have to say “nyahaha! You found me!”” I whispered to Ningjing.

A cheerful whistle met my instructions, and a tiny limb with no fingers thrust forwards.

We set off into the City—first stop, Chao Baozi!

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“Reporting to the Elders. The Wings and Antlers have arrived.” The Captain of the Skytower, Soaring Heaven’s Isle’s dock in the capital intoned.

“The boy. His cultivation?” Elder Minyan was first, her tone calm and cold.

“Fourth Stage of the Profound.”

There was a pause on the other end of the transmission stone, before there was a pleased sound.

“The ship?” Elder Lili asked next, her tone full of curiosity.

“Slightly bigger than the original drawing sent, Elder Lili. Very healthy looking..And She radiates… something. It's hard to describe, but the girls all report feeling at peace, like they found something that was lost.” The captain trailed off, questions on her tongue, and the Elders caught on to her hesitation. “Do the previous orders still stand?”

“Yes. No overt help. They are invisible to you, and are average members of our sect. The ship? it is merely a small skyskiff in our fleet, and on the last day, make a scene of chasing them out, like you’ve finally found out about their “exile,” Elder Song’s voice was blunt and direct. Not a rebuke, but an order. “However… if they do require assistance, then I expect every daughter of Soaring Heaven to do their duty.”

“Yes, Elder Song.” The Captain did not need to know more. Her duty had been given to her. “We shall carry out your orders without fail.”

“Good.” Elder Song said. “Return to your duties.”

“And do tell us what they end up doing. It's sure to be amusing.” Elder Lili said.

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