I've never been one for flying - not in planes, at least. I didn't like the way the pressure change messed with my ears, hated all the noise, going through customs… flying in this world is so much better.

"Don't lean too far," Zhou Cheng comments idly, "You might fall out."

"Senior will just have to catch me if that happens," I counter lightly, too busy enjoying the feel of the wind rushing past. Besides, I'm not leaning that far.

We were traveling on one of the Sect's 'Cloud Boats' - a small one, and one we were technically renting. It was in the style of a 'Junk' ship, with the characteristic battened sails and I'm pretty sure this one technically functioned as more of a pleasure boat than anything else? I really had to question how expensive it was to rent it the way we did, but then again, the Sect had a lot of ships.

At least there was room for everyone. I did my best to hide my little glance over to where Tian Mingfei was talking animatedly with Shan Guojin whilst the latter steered the ship with a hand on the tiller. I could see Song Ren meditating in the middle of the deck - apparently not much of a fan of flying - whilst Kong Meiling calmly fans herself under a parasol with the air of an esteemed courtesan. I can understand why they're here, but a part of me is still a touch annoyed.

Can't be seen around me, but you'll join along on the vacation will you?

Well, it's not like I'm the one who rented this boat, so I can hardly complain whose on it. I do, however, reserve the right to complain if they dominate this trip. So long as I'm not being dragged around by everyone for once, I'll be satisfied.

"Have you ever been to Plum Town, Lian-er?" Zhou Cheng asks, finally joining me to partake in the exquisite view. He doesn't seem as impressed as I am, the little shit. We're skimming across the clouds! Come on, this is impressive isn't it?! Stop acting like this is a Tuesday for you!

I shake my head in response to his question though. "I did not travel before coming to the Sect." My parents were merchants, and their parents before them, and their parents before them - but we weren't the traveling kind. We were the buy and sell in bulk in a single city kind. Or they were, at least. I was too young to really participate, and I'm definitely not participating now.

He makes a small noise of agreement, peering down at the Forest as it whizzes past. I had no idea how fast we were going exactly, only that it was much faster than we possibly could've gone on foot.

"Plum Town is quite a wonderful place!" Tian Mingfei declares, joining us at the side with a carefree grin on her face, "It has been some time since I visited, but it was a marvelous sight indeed!"

We both turn to face her, polite curiousity on our faces.

"I was just a young girl then," she continues, sounding wistful, "And my mother brought me from place to place with her on her travels. We never stayed in one place for very long - perhaps a few days, for most, but we did spend two weeks in Plum Town."

"What does your mother do that she traveled so much?" I ask, more out of politeness than any real interest. It's not that I don't care, it's just… well, I don't care. Unless Tian Mingfei's mother is someone I expect to deal with in future, what she does is none of my business and really, I'm unlikely to remember.

At that, Tian Mingfei pauses, as though the idea that her mother might have an occupation has only just occurred to her. "I do not think she ever mentioned what she was doing to me - and I was just a young girl, so I cannot say that I would've remembered if she had. But in retrospect, I think she was a Cultivator."

A Cultivator? I can't say that's too surprising.

"Was?" Zhou Cheng asks, with all the tact of a drunk goose. "Is she no longer one?"

If Tian Mingfei is bothered by that question, she shows none of it, just replying with a carefree shrug. "I have not seen her in many years. One day she just disappeared. Perhaps she is still alive?" She lets that hang in the air for a beat, and then with a suddenness that almost seems calculated, she points. "Look! A flock of Cloud Nesting Swallows!"

That seems like a diversion as much as anything did, but I certainly wasn't going to push. Whatever issues she had from her mother disappearing one day - and to be fair, who wouldn't - were her own unless she wanted to talk about them.

"Bring us in closer," she calls back to Shan Guojin, "And someone grab a net!"

With the promise of a bounty, everyone else buzzes into action. We don't have any actual nets or anything, but that hardly matters.

Kong Meiling snaps her fans open, and begins directing gentle currents of Snow Qi as we approach, aided along by Zhou Cheng's Breath, driving the Swallows away from their nests. The birds themselves aren't much bigger than regular Swallows might be, and although they're clearly upset, they have enough survival instincts to realise the big ship full of cultivators isn't something they can fight.

A fine current of Wind, carefully directed by Zhou Cheng, guides the nests towards the ship - true to their name, Cloud Nesting Swallows nest in clouds. I'm not sure of the exact mechanics of it, but they use something to draw the clouds into threads, weaving them into nests that then float along with the clouds themselves. The birds themselves aren't that prized - delicious, but otherwise fairly easy to catch as although they nest in the clouds, they still come down to feed.

The nests on the other hand are considered a delicacy. I can't say I've ever had them, but I have heard they're prized for a delicate, sweet flavour that comes out best when boiled into a soup - although I have also heard that some people boil it into more of a candy syrup, which seems a bit much, but who am I to say such things?

We end up using a spare sheet and a little coordination to scoop it up, ending with a small pile of the nests, and everyone pored over them. The nests kind of looked like candy floss, if I were absolutely honest, in an array of sky blues or sunset pinks.

"They're not as rich in Qi as I would've thought," Kong Meiling notes, almost disappointed as she inspects them, "For such a rare delicacy, I hoped they would be better."

"They're easy enough to harvest, just difficult to reach. If the nests were rich in Qi, then the Swallows would be much stronger." It naturally followed that things that were rich in Qi were harder to collect - fruits and minerals that did not fight back would be monopolized by Spirit Beasts if not Cultivators outright, and the stronger the Spirit Beast, the greater the core.

That said, the fact they were so difficult to reach essentially made it so that only cultivators could harvest them. There was nothing stopping a rich or powerful mortal from obtaining a Cloud Boat, and arguably running it didn't even need the use of Qi, but if you were that rich and powerful, you could probably just pay a Sect to bring you some.

For all our talk of Heavens and Immortals and looking down on the people below, money still makes the world go round. A Sect like ours probably could go around and just take what it wanted from people, but I imagine that would lead to a bunch of other Sects bringing us down. I'm sure there's more reasons the whole place isn't overrun with assholes waving their swords around and declaring themselves Emperor's as well, but frankly, I'm not interested in them beyond the fact that they keep everyone from running rampant.

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"What do you think, Lian-er? Soup?"

I crack a small smile. "Soup," I agree.

Before long, everything is melting down in a pot with a few chunks of rock sugar, cinnamon, and some heavy cream. The nest's retain their gelatinous structure for the most part even as they soften, which creates a jelly-like texture. It's a little too soupy to be jelly, but a little too jiggly to be pure soup. It's fairly quick and easy, but it makes for a delicious dessert.

"Have we given much thought for what we'll do in Plum Town?" Kong Meiling asks after we're all sitting down on the deck, enjoying our meal.

"Do we need a plan? It's a vacation."

She sniffs quietly. "It is always best to have a plan no matter the situation," she declares haughtily, peering over the edge of her fan.

"Plum Town is most known for its teahouses," Shan Guojin adds, "And I've heard there is an exquisite theatre present."

Tian Mingfei folds her arms with a scoff. "Bah! Who travels to a distant town just for the theatre? We should explore the local area! Hunt the spirit beasts there!"

This is supposed to be a vacation! Why do I have to go on a hunt again?!

Kong Meiling comes in to save me, as my unlikely heroine. "I'm sure there's no reason we cannot split up and do separate things," she says calmly, "But knowing where everyone will be ahead of time will help in case of… unexpected situations." At that, she pins Tian Mingfei with a look.

Tian Mingfei does not appear the tiniest bit bothered, only grinning back.

I've decided already - whatever she's doing, I'm not going with her. I don't want to be caught up in her craziness.

"Well, I intend to look around the markets," I announce, "Maybe visit some teahouses. An inn. Just relax, really." Really, I'm looking forward to it, even if nobody other than Zhou Cheng seems that interested in coming with me.

----------------------------------------

There is a small tower in Plum Town reserved for docking Cloud Boats and other flying vessels although it looks like we're the only ones currently pulling in. It doesn't have much room for them, to be fair, and the guard on duty looks surprised to even see anyone coming.

Shan Guojin, as the oldest, fills out the paperwork and hands over the modest fee whilst the rest of us finish the docking procedures. I've never really been on a sailboat or anything like that before, so it's interesting to go through everything.

Before we head down the stairs - no elevator here, alas - I stop to ask the man some questions.

"Excuse me Uncle," I begin politely, "I've never been to Plum Town before - is there anything of note a visitor should see or go to?"

He bows to me, seeming a little nervous. He seems a bit young - being the guard here is probably a bit of a useless posting. It doesn't seem like they get a lot of visitors at all, and being a regular mortal, even someone like me is frightening. "A-ah, Honoured Immortal… there is the um, the Plum Blossom Markets - many things of worth are traded there. The Golden Garden Pavilion o-oversees the Town, and the Jade Wings Company has an Auction House present."

I nod carefully. Absolutely none of that really means anything to me. The Plum Blossom Markets should be an interesting thing to visit, at least, and that Pavilion sounds like a Sect. Hopefully they're not the kind of assholes to pick fights… and hopefully Tian Mingfei doesn't go around picking them either. Or anyone else for that matter. And an Auction House… yeah, nah, I don't have the money for anything there. It might be interesting to see what they sell, maybe even just watch rich people bid on things.

"For your troubles," I offer, handing him a few gold coins. For Cultivators, the main currency were spirit stones of course, but for mortals, regular coinage was necessary - although I believed once you were rich enough, you'd use spirit stones anyway.

I was aware that I probably overpaid him by a vast margin, but I wasn't bothered. Even someone as lowly as me was wealthy by mortal standards, and well… I didn't actually care for money, only for the happiness it could bring. And bringing happiness to others was my happiness. Some believed that doing good for selfish reasons ruined the 'goodness' of the act.

I believed that being kind felt good, and so I was going to do it regardless of whether it got me karma points or not.

Our unlikely band of six descends down, and immediately after stepping out of the tower, we're assaulted by a throng of curious gazes and muttering. I suppose it was too much to ask for our arrival to be understated and unnoticed.

Everyone holds their heads high, and so I try my best to model that confidence. Privately, I can't help but feel we look a little ridiculous - our little procession of six Disciples, none of us older than sixteen at the latest, striding through the main thoroughfare like a bunch of ducklings.

Fortunately, the interest isn't so thick that everyone is staring and once they get the size of us, most people start to lose interest. We're interesting, but we're not that interesting thankfully. I'm not sure I could stand it if we were the talk of the town.

I'm not really sure where we're going, but Zhou Cheng seems confident enough - although our destination becomes much clearer once we all step inside the building he led us to.

I probably should've guessed our first stop would be an inn. It only makes sense that we'd stay in the same place together. The Innkeeper seems like a sturdy old man with a serious countenance - or what would've been one, if it lasted for longer than a few seconds before he was bowing before us with a frankly exaggerated smile on his face.

"Honoured Cultivators," he greets, "Welcome to the Dragon's Pearl. I shall have rooms prepared for you at once!" He scanned over us quietly, and I could see a hint of tension creeping into his eyes. "Please forgive this lowly servant but I'm afraid we only have five rooms available."

He looks like he expects Zhou Cheng to bite his head off. "That is more than suitable," he says instead of anything venomous or outraged, "So long as we are allowed to use the kitchens."

That seems to surprise him although I can't tell if it's the fact that Zhou Cheng doesn't care about the limited space or the request for the kitchens. "O-of course, Honoured Cultivators. Please, let me show you to your rooms…"

He shows up a flight of stairs into the second level, and then down to a wing of rooms - true to form, there's five of them. After Zhou Cheng hands him a small handful of coins, he presents us with the keys and then makes his retreat.

"Hei Lian and I will share a room," Zhou Cheng declares, turning to face everyone else, "So you may all claim one for yourselves."

Ah? Don't I get a say in this, Senior Brother? Although in saying that, it's not like I object - nor does anyone else, it seems. If anything, everyone seems to take this as apropos. And to be fair, I kind of assumed this is how it would shake down in one way or another - although I wasn't entirely sure I'd be sharing with Zhou Cheng or maybe Song Ren.

I'd briefly entertained the idea that Kong Meiling and Tian Mingfei would share a room, but I'm pretty sure a fight would break out. They seem to get along fine as is, but they very clearly operate on different wavelengths and haven't so much as spoken to each other on this entire trip.

Given all of us are carrying some form of spatial storage - spatial rings, qiankun pouches or sleeves - none of us really need to offload anything. It's a simple matter of declaring which room they'll take and accepting a key from Zhou Cheng.

"Right!" Tian Mingfei declares, grinning broadly, "I shall be off to see what beasts roam the local area. Care to join me, Shan Guojin?"

He just shakes his head. "Forgive me, Sister, but I've already made up my mind to see the theatres."

"I'll go with you!" Song Ren offers, a little too quickly and a little too eagerly. I can see I'm not the only one who picked up on it, as one of Kong Meiling's delicate and beautiful eyebrows arch in a perfectly demure way.

Tian Mingfei only laughs. "Excellent, excellent! Your spear will come in very handy!" She slaps him on the back a little, hard enough to make him stumble. "Zhou Cheng! Kong Meiling! Will you not join me?"

"I must decline," Kong Meiling replies, twirling her fan in one hand, "I have made other plans."

"I'll be staying with Lian-er," Zhou Cheng adds, "But have fun without us."

Tian Mingfei glances in my direction, and for a moment, I almost worry she'll ask me. But all she does is grin. "Then enjoy your vacation, my friends. Come Song Ren!" With that boisterous declaration, she marches off, Song Ren pausing only long enough to bow farewell before chasing after her like a puppy.

Good luck, Senior Song. You'll need it.

"I will see you tonight then," Shan Guojin offers, bowing slightly as well before leaving.

And then there were three. I give Kong Meiling a discreet glance, waiting to see if she'll declare where she's going before she leaves - and in a way, she does.

She snaps her fan open and fans herself twice. "Well then, Hei Lian. Shall we go to the Markets?"

Ah? Senior Sister is coming with us? I really hope she's just coming for the markets, because I stand by what I said.

I will burn this city to the ground before I third wheel.