The two seven-star Lianqi soon reached a sheer cliff face that blocked their path. It was as if a wall had been carved into the side of a mountain, creating an obstacle that was impassable even for the strongest Lianqi. The wall rose hundreds of cun into the air, and the morning sun was hidden behind the mountainous wall as Ren and Shao reached the path’s end.

At the end of the path was a small lake that couldn’t have been more than thirty paces across. This lake was little more than a pond, yet a large boat floated in the lake’s center. The boat was far larger than the Yang Lin family’s fishing boat, so it seemed immensely strange to Shao that someone would waste it by floating it in such a small pool of water.

As they approached the small lake, Shao could see that cultivators were boarding the boat from a dock built into the lake for some unknown reason. An outer disciple stood by the dock behind a table that held myriad blades, arrows, and other weapons.

As if the outer disciple had already spoken the sentence a hundred times before, he said, “Please leave any poisons, venoms, or other harmful drugs here.”

The outer disciple looked down at Xiahou Ren’s robes and smirked. “I assume you have some things to leave with me.”

“It never hurts to be prepared,” Ren said as he reached into the pouch at his hip and removed several small knives and a few glass vials filled with clear liquid. “What about pills with harmful side effects? Do I have to leave those with you?”

“Do you plan to have Wei Fenhua consume them?”

“No.”

“Then they’re fine.”

Ren and Shao boarded the boat, and Shao was immediately struck by a strange sensation. He was immediately aware that the boat wasn’t actually floating on water. He had spent most of his life on his family’s fishing boat, and he knew what it felt like to float on water. The boat was completely steady and did not rock at all with the shifting weight of its passengers. Shao was convinced that the boat was resting on solid ground underneath the water. He stamped his foot down and felt for any shifting in the boat’s position, but it didn’t move at all.

“Come on, Yang Shao. We need to take our seats.”

Ten other cultivators were sitting on low benches lining the sides of the boat. Shao figured that rowers would typically sit at those benches. The boat didn’t have a sail, after all, so it must have been propelled by oars when out on the open sea.

“Why are we on this boat?” Shao asked as he took a seat on a bench next to Ren. He quickly looked around to make sure that none of the passengers were wearing the robes of the Gao Clan. “It can’t go anywhere. Actually, I don’t think it’s even floating.”

“You’ll see,” Ren said, smirking at Shao’s lack of knowledge. “Please excuse me for a second.”

Ren rotated in his seat and turned toward the other eight cultivators present in the unmoving boat. “Friends! Brothers in arms! We all seem to have a common enemy, and - you know what they say - ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ I have a plan that will let all of us pass through the Southern Gate.”

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Something about the way Ren spoke made Shao want to disregard his words. Ren sounded like one of those traveling charlatans that would occasionally come to town, and, by the time he was gone, several of the villagers would no longer have their life savings. Granny Daiyu always said to completely ignore those charlatans’ words, because even a skeptical mind could be ensorcelled by the best of them.

A voice from a part of the boat that Shao couldn’t see called out. “Everyone is now aboard. We will now begin the second voyage to the Southern Gate promenade. Reminder: passengers are not permitted to fight while aboard the Cloud Ship.”

Cloud Ship?

Steam began to rise from the small lake below, and Shao was suddenly overtaken by the sensation of being engulfed in ki. His hairs stood on end, and Ren exhaled in discomfort from the oppressive feeling.

The steam obscured Shao’s vision, and a pit in his stomach told him that he had begun to move. The movement of the boat was so smooth that he couldn’t determine how it was moving. If he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn that the Cloud Ship was moving upward.

After a few seconds, the mist surrounding the boat cleared, and Shao realized that the ship had flown several dozen paces straight into the air. He had to stop himself from jumping to his feet and peering off the side.

“By the gods, we’re flying!” Shao said like a child seeing fireworks for the first time.

The nine other cultivators tried to seem nonplussed by the flying ship, but it was clear to Shao that most of them were also amazed by their unexpected trip through the air. When Shao carefully looked over the edge of the ship, he saw that a massive bronze-colored cloud had formed underneath them.

Considering the shocked looks of those wearing Wei, Gao, and Shen robes in the boat, Shao figured that the cultivator clans of Haishan didn’t have access to flying ships. Though this was the case, the Shigong Sect could use such a rare treasure to ferry people to their home’s front door.

As Shao enjoyed the ship’s exciting but short journey through the air, Ren continued to speak to the other cultivators present. Shao’s attention was brought back to the conversation around the time that the Cloud Ship approached a small lake on the other side of the sheer cliff face when Xiahou Ren spoke his name.

“...Yang Shao and I will join you in attacking Wei Fenhua, and with the combined strength of five upper-realm Lianqi, we’ll knock her out. Once that’s done, everyone else can just stroll right on through the Southern Gate without resistance.”

Three of the other cultivators held pills in their hands, and they regarded the small orbs with guarded suspicion. One of the cultivators holding the pill, a large man wearing the robes of the Wei Clan, asked, “These pills don’t have any really bad side effects, right? They won’t kill us as soon as we walk through the gate?”

“Those pills are quite powerful, so they naturally have some negative side effects,” Xiahou Ren said with easy charm. “You’ll probably have to sleep for about twenty hours once you’re done, but that’s a small price to pay for a treasure from the Shigong Temple.”

“You have a point there,” the Wei man said thoughtfully. “We’ll go along with it, but don’t think we owe you once this is all done.”

“Of course, of course. You scratch my back; I scratch yours.”

The Cloud Ship docked on the small lake, and the ten cultivators all disembarked. Once their backs were turned, Shao was the only one to see as Xiahou Ren’s charming smile transformed into one filled with malicious glee.