Feng Huling wondered where Ku Lo was again. 

When the answer came, she got even more downcast. Of course, he’d be with his actual woman, not her.

What was the difference between her and the one he’d chosen? Who was Ku Lo’s woman even? Was it Rin Tin Tin? No, she couldn’t be, yet it was obvious there was something between the two. Someone else from their class? No… he was always staring at Deacon Dai during class. 

She sighed and gazed into the sky. The first time she’d met Ku Lo had been by this railing. They’d stared into the far off distance back then too. 

Inside her head, something snapped. What had come to her? What had made her turn to him? In less than a week, she was head over heels for him?

All these questions made her want to scream! 

…

About to sell your body to another girl, are you? 

Good profit, good girl, good everything. 

Morals? You have become a gigolo. This isn’t you! 

Maybe I don’t need the old me here? Ku Lo ended the exchange he had with himself. Not because he couldn’t win the moral argument with his old self, of course, but because he was at the motel. His eyes could perceive Feng Huling waiting for him by the railing in front of his room. 

A k-pop idol, Ku Lo looked at Feng Huling, who gazed into the distance with eyes filled with hope and lips curled upwards. What always struck him with her was that her body wasn’t an extreme body type. Dai Meifen had her sliders all wonky between her chest, torso, and hips which resulted in an unnatural hourglass while other girls he’d seen were thin as planks. Feng Huling was the most normal, human-like woman inside the Yin and Yang Sect.

She’s a good person. He continued towards the motel with spring under his steps. As he went, he passed a group of older guys shouting and drinking like there was no tomorrow. 

He passed them without worry and began ascending the stairs.

With a meandering pace, he moved up the two first floors. Yet, he stopped on the third floor’s stairs.

Why are you beating and twisting so hard? he questioned his heart and stomach. The two were throwing a fit. It’s just a deal, a contract. I’m not going to ask her to be my girlfriend, not yet. Maybe at a later date, he would. Who knew? Well, he did. 

Calm down. Calm down. It took a minute or two to soothe his boiling emotions. The last thing he wanted was to appear weird. 

Calmed? Good. Let’s go. Few steps more and he saw her side profile. The pounding heart rate returned.

Whatever, he thought and called for her. “Fairy Feng, I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long!” 

Feng Huling turned towards him, her smile widening. One of the four surrounding planets was right behind her, producing a perfect halo effect. It created a scene where her skin and the planet were separated by a veil of jet-black hair. 

“Ku Lo, you made it!” 

“I said I would come!” he replied with the same level of excitement as she had, almost stumbling on the last stair because his mind was locked in the scene she unknowingly created.

They didn’t talk more before Ku Lo strode next to her. His mind wondered about how beautiful she was the whole time. 

Her fingers fidgeted like crazy before she asked, “Well… what’s your decision?” 

“I’ll be glad to take the job,” he responded without keeping her waiting. “From now on, as long as others are concerned, we’re dating.” 

Those last words might’ve been all the heat she could take. “g-good,” she stammered, her stare escaping from his. Also, she pretended to lean against the railing as if nothing had happened. 

Heh, he chuckled to himself. I could’ve teased her forever. His physical actions imitated hers in hopes of not making the situation too awkward. “What now? Do you have a contract for this or is this a verbal agreement?” he asked, leaning onto the railing too. “And when will I be paid?” 

“A-at the end of every week. There will be a delivery sent by Feng Family.” Feng Huling chose the easy topic. 

“Do I have control over what the delivery contains? As in, the arrangement had a single Vile Dome yet hundreds of Dark Seeds. Is this taken into account?” He talked about the topic in length since it was not a fragile one. She’s grown a crush on me? 

“I’ll see what can be done there.” 

“Thank you-” The eyes he’d kept in a forward gaze shifted to peek at her next reaction. “Oh, and by the way, two others will live in the same courtyard. Is that okay?”  

Her finger tapped the railing. “N-no pr-problem. The four-person courtyard will have much more space than the three-person. Two buildings, if I remember right.” 

“Yes, that means you can live in your own house.” 

She reacted with a sad hum. 

Ku Lo quickly realised saying that was a grave mistake. “It’s pretty late already, so I’ll hit the—.” 

Her head spun. “Are you leaving?” 

“I guess not.” He halted his movements and leaned against the railing again. 

Him staying didn’t magically start any conversations, of course. The two of them remained there, eyes gazing into the far off distance. Guess I need to carry this convo. At this point, the sole producer of noise was the group of drunkards who had arrived somewhere below them.

“I cultivate to save my sister and to secure my future,” he opened. “Why do you cultivate?”

“Why do I cultivate?” 

“Yes, what’s your cause?” he repeated, watching her mind arrive at an impasse. “Do you fight for yourself? Your family? For a better world?” 

Her face reseted to factory defaults. 

“Think about it as long as you want, I’ll wait,” he said before thinking, She’s never sat down to determine why she’s devoting her life to cultivation? Does philosophy exist on Terra? The latter idea was a shot into the darkness for sure, but why not? If no one pondered why they did something they didn’t, simple as that. Life would for sure be easy. 

After ten minutes of silence, she said, “I don’t know.”

“Do you remember the first time you trained?” 

“Yes.” 

“What did you feel back then? Excited, downtrodden, or indifferent?” 

“Excited, I was so excited to begin my path of cultivation.” 

She had no problem in saying this, so Ku Lo continued with, “Were you excited since it meant you’d become stronger?” 

“no…?” she said with great uncertainty. 

“Did you want to learn something new?” 

“Maybe?” Her head tilted.

“Do you like challenges?”  

“I do like to crush expectations.” 

“That could be the reason why you cultivate?” He noted before the ruckus which had been loudening gained his irritation. “Who are those drunkards? They are spoiling everything.” 

“Drunkards?” She nudged her head over the railing, her long hair fluttering in the wind.

He leaned over the railing to see. “To me, it’s just a bunch of random youths having fun. Asking them to quiet things down would make things worse. Sure is annoying but what can you do.” Second thought took place when he came out of the lean and looked at Feng Huling. 

“You know them?” he repeated his earlier question as she looked distressed. 

“No-” She shook her head. “But what I can tell you is that they shouldn’t be here.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, yet didn’t bother to lean over a second time. 

“Their robes have inner sect markings.” 

“So what? They’re drunk and have waddled themselves here from the Inner Sect? Why are you so nervous?” 

“Don’t you remember, Ku Lo? The inner and outer sect disciples aren’t allowed to meet one another for a few more days, and these are hard rules.” 

His eyebrows rose. “Trouble?” 

“Yes!” she exclaimed, her hand pointing down at them. “They’re climbing the stairs now. I think I heard one of them say my name!” 

“What?” He zapped into an alert state. “Go wake Bo!”