Sage resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Such childish antics were a far cry from the harsh woman he’d seen terrifying those Xiyi faction members into silence. She must have had a harsh life.
To Xiezi’s displeasure, Sage merely crossed his legs and sat down atop the scorpion’s back. The lack of jealousy or asking for more furniture from her made her somewhat annoyed, but then she realized what she was thinking. She put aside her childish impulses and brought out more chairs for the other two. Sage didn’t really care about such a small matter, but Tujiu glared at her. Oh no.
Just as he’d imagined, her teasing of Sage had been like punching a cloud, but Tujiu’s hot blooded nature shone through. The two of them bickered back and forth for the next few days, gradually getting more and more ridiculous in the pranks they played on each other. Especially since they were all confined to an area with no walls and only the scenery around them changing. Thankfully, Uncle Zhuo, the giant scorpion, would break up their battling from time to time when he decided to act as a tour guide. Whenever there was something interesting in the scenery, he seemed to know a story about it. He told them how a crevice on the side of a mountain was formed by the battle between two experts. A single sword slash had cleaved a canyon. Then they’d walk along the edge of a cliff and he’d tell of how a young child was once chased to that cliff and leaped into the river below. Somehow he’d survived and decades later he returned for vengeance.
The stories were all so fantastical they sounded like they came from a storyteller, bard, or some other form of fiction, but Uncle Zhuo insisted they were all true. Sage’s curiosity got the better of him, “Who told you all these stories?”
At the moment, Xiezi and Tujiu were balancing on top of the giant scorpion’s tail and trying to push each other off. Xiezi was distracted so she didn’t have time to interrupt. Uncle Zhuo seemed to think nothing of it, answering immediately, “Oh, because my brother told me!”
Xiezi caught on and jumped down, “Wait, Uncle Zhuo, stop!”
The scorpion didn’t seem to hear her, already starting to talk, “My brother was a great man. He raised me from when I was as big as your fingernail, so he was also a father to me. We saw so many places and did so many things. He told me so many wonderful stories.”
The scorpion began to speak of ‘his brother’ in great detail and Xiezi began to tear up. She sat down and couldn’t help herself, laying down on the scorpion’s back like she was hugging the floor while crying her eyes out. Sage felt a little awkward, and leapt up to join Tujiu on the top of the tail. There were no private rooms, but the distance of a few dozen feet at least added some space. A few hours later, Sage learned the truth. Uncle Zhuo was the linked scorpion of Xiezi’s deceased father. He also learned a secret, that little Scarlet Winged Scorpion Xiezi had would also someday grow up to be a behemoth just like this Uncle Zhuo. The Xie Faction was said to have two types of scorpion, the Scarlet Winged Scorpion and the Purple Backed Giant Scorpion, but they were in fact the same species. Once they matured enough, their wings fell and they grew rapidly, turning a darker color and developing great intelligence.
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So, they must have a more advanced version of the Mature technique.
Sage had the true Insect Immortal Index, but he’d never used the mature technique to such an extent because of the time and energy expenditure involved. He’d always chosen to keep switching to new linked bugs and just matured them to about the third rank or so, because going any further than that required a very large amount of power. He was immediately tempted upon seeing the depth of Uncle Zhuo’s intellect. While the giant scorpion was a bit clumsy, he was still a Spirit Insect. Sage simply wasn’t sure if this was a special trait of this breed or scorpion, or the long term use of Mutate. Either way, it raised his interest in finding a powerful partner, one that would be worthy of such investment.
It was always something he wanted to try, but he’d always somewhat held back both because of the difficulty of Merging with a powerful beast, and also because of reservations over essentially enslaving another being to his will. He had no qualms with making mindless insects into his puppets, but what if those puppets later developed full minds and senses of self? Seeing Uncle Zhuo, he realized that it might be possible to be friends and partners with a linked insect and not just a master and puppet. That also reminded him of his failed experiment with the ‘Lionheart Immortal’, the little Dragoon that had experienced a hundred lives burning in the Samsara Flame.
With the difficulty of progressing his own strength directly by understanding the laws, Sage spent his time pondering this other path. Time flew by and before he knew it, the giant scorpion pushed a tree down and cleared a view over the hill to see a city in the distance, “We’ve arrived.”
Sage took a closer look and the place felt familiar. After a few moments he realized where they were. He hadn’t been paying attention during the voyage, and only now recognized their destination, “Plum Lantern City.”
Then he turned over towards Xiezi, “Why are we here? Could it be because of…”
He trailed off and she nodded, “Indeed. The Zhu Clan.”
“What? Why?”
He was a little taken back and almost asked a question that would give away his personal relationship, but Xiezi only smiled. She laughed, “Do you think your dealings with the Zhu Clan are a secret? I don’t know the story exactly, but years ago there were people from the Chong Clan that went to the Dou Capital, and also were sent to investigate at the Zhu Clan. A few months later, there was a gag order issued and a few of the Clan members involved disappeared. Unsurprisingly, Chong Wuyang is involved.”
Then she realized something and quickly added, “Chong Wuyang is the grandfather of that kid who brought a group to annoy you. He’s also the one responsible for that kill squad. He is just one step below the three Elders of the Wu Faction. He lost the third seat in a duel to Wugou a few decades ago and has always been eager to prove his worth since then. The both of them are still stuck at the peak of Core Formation. Since neither can break through to Nascent Soul, he wants to compete with achievements instead.”
Sage nodded, finally having a name for the man who’d caused him such trouble. It seems he’d found his true enemy among the Chong. One of them at least. Then he waved towards the town, “What does that have to do with the Zhu Clan?”
She laughed, “Oh, right! Nobody really remembers that incident because it was so carefully silenced, but when you reappeared the Clan put its effort into digging up information on you. The Jinxi are quite adept at that sort of thing. Anyway, the higher ups uncovered your betrothal to the Zhu and it was said the Patriarch was not pleased. My Great Elder doesn’t know why the Patriarch was so upset, but since it makes him upset, then the Great Elder is more eager to pursue it. We’re here to pursue an alliance with the Zhu Clan, and since you have a few connections with them, Great Elder told me to bring you along. She’s busy trying to obstruct the Jinxi as they work to pull the Jie Branch over to his side.”
Sage thought back to that petite and gentle looking woman who also had a violently explosive and belligerent side to her. Why was it that he kept getting involved with such fierce women? Was it because he couldn’t avoid them, or was it something else?