Lin Songmei, for once in her life, was starting to understand why violence sometimes was the answer. Turns out, the original destination given to them by Wang Taigang and Han Youhong was... not correct.

Yan Mingqing, with her out-of-this-world body enhancement technique and just general better cardio abilities, had arrived at the courtyard first. Catching up with Mingqing just a few moments later, Songmei had just an inkling of a feeling—they were in the wrong place.

The entire courtyard, with barely any space leftover, was filled with what Songmei could only describe as an ocean of old people. As one of the auxiliary courtyards in the area, the courtyard wasn’t what Songmei would consider an obnoxious size, but it still could house a decent number of people.

Sweeping her eyes across the courtyard, Songmei gave up on counting, instead trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Each person had a dark-blue, foam-like mat beneath them. Raising an eyebrow as the music shifted to a more traditional style, Songmei made eye contact with Mingqing as the old people began what seemed to be a fusion between jazzercise and Tai Ji Quan.

“I’m pretty sure this is the wrong place...” Songmei murmured, pulling out her terminal to double check the address.

Swiveling her head, Mingqing had to agree. “I’m pretty sure it’s the right place, but it’s worth double checking. Though I did see that there were a number of other courtyards in the area, so we can just go around checking those after. I wouldn’t be surprised if Youhong and Taigang gaslit us though...”

With her terminal open and a quick glance to the courtyard’s address, Songmei opened her mouth to confirm they were indeed at the wrong address, before being interrupted by a middle-aged, balding man in some semi-formal wear.

“Hello, hello, I assume you’re here for the guarding mission? Yes?” The man asked as he surprised Songmei and Mingqing. “I’m Yang Tianshu, just a member of the caravan, but I’m here to pick up people who came to this courtyard.”

Getting a pair of confused glances from Mingqing and Songmei, Yang Tianshu continued with a sheepish laugh. “These courtyards aren’t bookable, yeah? We planned on using this one, but found out when we got here this morning that it was already taken with... this.”

Motioning for Mingqing and Songmei to follow him, Yang Tianshu continued with a shrug. “Therefore, we just moved to a different, unoccupied courtyard. However, that leaves me with the job of ushering all the cultivators showing up to the wrong courtyard. Anyway, thank you for your understanding, we’re in the courtyard just up ahead, I’ll just stand guard here at this courtyard.”

“Al...right,” Mingqing answered with a half-cold, half-awkward murmur and confused look. “Thank you.”

With her hand interlaced with Mingqing’s fingers as they walked, Songmei took a few interested peeks into the other courtyards people were entering and exiting from as they made their way to the designated courtyard pointed out to them. Using a moment of their walk to also update Taigang and Youhong of the destination change, Songmei let out a quiet sigh before wrapping herself around Mingqing’s arm. “Mingqing, your hand is soft, did you know that?”

“I do, in fact, know that,” Mingqing laughed, a little surprised at the burst of affection, “You watch me lotion my hands every morning and every night, what did you think?”

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“Well, you use a sword, and you train like there’s no tomorrow with your sword,” Songmei pursed her lips, “And there’s a stereotype of having calloused hands if you use a sword.”

Tapping her chin and murmuring a “hmm,” Mingqing mulled it over for a moment before relenting, “You do have a point... I think I had more calloused hands in the past to be honest, before I started cultivating. I think cultivating helped a lot with just... fixing stuff like that?”

With Songmei shrugging and saying “I don’t know either,” Mingqing mulled it over for another few moments, the feeling she was missing something nagging at the back of her mind. Songmei, on the other hand, not opposed to falling into a lull of comfortable silence, swiveled her head while letting Mingqing do her thinking. Songmei was content to just continue her idle people watching as they came and went.

Entering the courtyard Yang Tianshu had mentioned earlier, Songmei looked around for a moment before Mingqing facepalmed and swore “how in the heavens did I forget that?” under her breath. Quiet, as to not grab the attention of the few other people in the entrance area, Mingqing and Songmei walked to a secluded corner of the courtyard, sitting down on a metal, paint-chipped bench.

“No, no, I think I know another big reason my hands aren’t calloused,” Mingqing recounted with a nod, “I don’t know how I forgot about it earlier, but it’s the skincare products my mother makes me use. Both my brother and I, when we turned ten, were forced to begin using all these types of fancy, mystical, cultivation skincare products. I have no clue what was in them, but I’m willing to bet they're a little overboard. My mother’s... kinda like that after all.”

“Yeah... I remember the stories,” Songmei laughed, leaning her head against Mingqing’s shoulder, “I guess when people are literally reforming their bodies to ascend to heaven, or whatever is up there, the classical stereotypes probably don’t matter...”

“I think so,” Mingqing murmured in agreement, returning Songmei’s affection, “You know, you’ve been a little more touchy-feely lately... I mean, I’m not opposed, heavens no, but I just wanted to comment on it...”

“I-... yeah, I don’t know,” Songmei coughed with an awkward stammer, “Well, I’ll just chalk it up to the... you know... girlfriend stuff...”

Laughing and squeezing Songmei’s hand, Mingqing reassured Songmei, “It’s fine it’s fine, you made me open up so much, so if anything, I have to thank you...”

With the conversation continuing with her just exchanging quiet, affectionate murmurs with Mingqing, Songmei scanned the courtyard. It was large, for sure, not as large as the last one, but still spacious. Ignoring how fast cultivators could move when they tried, just walking across the courtyard might take a minute or so.

Planting a kiss on the back of Mingqing hand because... why not? Songmei continued her little visual journey—maybe she’d see someone she recognized!

Along the back wall, back as in facing the entryway, was a line of what Songmei could only describe as futuristic carriages. They were all linked together train carriages, but, obviously, there weren’t any rails to run along; yet, they didn’t seem to have wheels either. Each carriage was long, sleek, and metallic, equipped with lights, pulsing with at what seemed to be their own rhythm.

Ignoring the fact she didn’t find a single door, Songmei continued on, looking through the rest of the courtyard. The side walls were all shaded, having overhangs jutting out from the top of the walls. Beneath these overhangs were benches, similar to the one that she and Mingqing had now claimed as their own.

Back at the entrance, on the other hand, was where most of the people stayed. For now, Songmei wasn’t surprised at the number of people. She and Mingqing had left and arrived with way too much extra time, so the few other early birds were just now arriving and chatting near the entryway.

However, given the fact the courtyard was smaller, and given the fact the carriage seemed to have... so, so many cars, Songmei began mentally preparing herself—the courtyard was about to become more jammed with people than Youhong’s spatial storage ring was with lychee jelly.