“So, you want to come with us?” Ku Lo asked.

Huang Qingling nodded, getting off a lean against the courtyard’s wooden, circular gate. “Although us sisters fight a lot, we’re still family, right?” 

“Right!” Huang Gingge agreed without a thought.

“Of course, why not-” Meifen rolled brown her eyes. “I take you’ve packed everything already?” 

Qingling nodded again, a thumb pointing at the leather backpack on her. 

“We have everything ready, except for the Vile Dome in the Dual Cultivation chamber.” He turned to Gingge. “I can get it, but what should I do about the formation?”

“I’ll come along and remove it.” 

Meifen sighed. “We should be moving already, so take care not to fall for any… distractions.” 

“We won’t,” Ku Lo replied. “We won’t.” While walking hand in hand with Gingge towards the dual cultivation chamber. 

“are you sure?” Gingge whispered.

“yes, I’m sure.” He gave a stern look at the woman whose lust had become insatiable. 

“Not even a quickie?” she pleaded as they entered the dual cultivation room. “One last time before we leave the sect? One last memory?” 

“The one we had last night wasn’t it? Nor the one this morning? Nor the one an hour ago while we packed?” Not wanting to dilly dally, he pushed the bed aside and waited for what she’d do.

“Fine.” Gingge approached the Vile Dome. Her hands measured something before pressing a certain spot.

Soon as she did, the lines drawn before surfaced, emitting small amounts of pink mist that a soft breeze blew away.  What remained was unblemished wood.

From the origin point of the mist, she picked up the Vile Dome and held it out towards him.

“Thanks, you’re the best.” He put it in his ring before the two of them returned outside. 

…

The four of them made their way out of the Yin and Yang Sect with a small party that on paper had been named the Seventh Expeditionary Team.

The Expeditionary’s leader, Dai Meifen, wore a uniform proper for war — in the terms of her sect. Her modified white robes switched to a minimal, tight silk dress with her few commemorations showcased right on her left chest mound. 

It was funny to think that the battle gear was lewder than the peace one, yet it wasn’t a senseless or tasteless decision. The robes he wore were constraining, something that her uniform surely wasn’t, and it gave her an Amazonian warrior aura.

Running within a mountainside forest, a person hailed and approached him from behind. “Hey, Ku Lo!” 

“Feng Niu!” Of course, Ku Lo was happy to see Feng Huling’s cousin for many reasons. One of them being that the girl though lacking in bosom was a doll, a precious, frail doll. “What a coincidence, we’re in the same group!” 

“It isn’t actually a coincidence!” They were moving faster and louder than a group of galloping horses, so both of them shouted when chatting. “I came here to repay what you did for my class, and so did my friends here!” 

Two women similar to Feng Niu minus half a point on the attractiveness scale rose to her side. 

“Ku Lo, it’s a pleasure!” 

“You’ve shown a real example for us other Junior Disciples!” 

“I did it for myself too, I’m no hero!” Ku Lo hadn’t been expecting such praise, so he was flattered by the words of the women whose names he didn’t even know. 

“For me you are!” one of Feng Niu’s companions responded with a smile. “You defied all odds with your actions. That’s heroism for me!” 

Okay, now I’m starting to blush. “If you so insist…” Ku Lo was going to shout more, but he saw them lag behind again, leaving Feng Niu alone with him 

“You like my friends or what?!” 

His head shifted back to her pale face. “What kind of man doesn’t love praise?!” 

“Oh, then what about—”

Leaves fell from trees and a dust cloud rose as a new person arrived. He knew who even without turning his head, for Meifen had done this a few times now. 

“Five hours till camp!” First, she shouted time till camp; two-and-a-half hours on Earth time, so five of Terra’s hours. “Ku Lo, I need you at the front!” 

“Got it, Deacon Dai!” Ku Lo replied and accelerated into a sprint to keep up with Meifen for a minute. 

Glancing over his shoulder, he noted Feng Niu left behind with a sorry face. With no options in his hands, all he could offer were a sorry smile and shrug before turning away. 

In a sprint behind Deacon Dai, they passed most of the Seventh Expeditionary Team comprising a dozen Outer Court Disciples and three Inner Court Disciples.

The sight reminded somewhat of Naruto to Ku Lo; however, they leapt instead of running. Their legs cover five meters with a step when at max speed and suitable terrain. Still, the agility and strength of a cultivator could also be seen and heard as a boot left a mark on the ground, while even a steep turn could be navigated with a step. 

It was addicting.

“Slow down or you’ll exhaust your powers!” 

Ku Lo slowed his steps, realising they’d arrived at the front of the group. “It’s my first time running!” he shouted, not attempting to hide the adrenaline-filled smirk. “There’s so much energy flowing through my body!” 

Meifen appeared troubled by his statement, saying, “Promise me that you’ll be watchful. The enemy possesses the same speed, and they are bandits with more experience and less to lose, so don’t get too cocky!”

Like many times before, Meifen’s words were an ice-cold bucket of water poured on his neck. “I wouldn’t dare to die!”

“Also, mind yourself around those girls!” 

This Ku Lo didn’t understand yet nodded, anyway. His mind had become focussed on the earlier point. 

I should be on the lookout at all times. And so he began peering at the forest and the road ahead for any traces left by the High Mountain Bandits known for two things: ambushes and traps. 

…

On their first day of travel, Ku Lo became familiar with the latter. There had been no ambush; not so far away from the High Mountain, explained Meifen. Traps, on the other hand, had introduced themselves around a certain village they passed. 

“Ku Lo, do you think those villagers are in cahoots with the High Mountain Bandits?” Feng Niu asked him, who sat by a campfire in the dead of night 

“I wouldn’t say ‘with’ them, but ‘compliant’ for sure. Otherwise, a villager would’ve informed us about the possibility of traps,” he murmured a response, focussed on roasting a sausage impaled at the end of a stick. 

“Good thinking.” Came a sound from Meifen approaching, causing Feng Niu’s mood to sullen like before. “Though in reality, they don’t mess with the world of cultivators. If they find a trap created by cultivators for cultivators, they mark it for their own yet leave it in the middle of the road.”

Did my body’s family treat the previous Ku Lo differently after he became a cultivator? Will they treat me as an outsider?

“That would be the neutral thing to do,” Feng Niu said as she coveted the barbecue with a glint in her eyes. 

“Feng Niu, you want this?” He shifted his stick out of the campfire, presenting the barbecued sausage to her. “I can cook another one for myself.” 

“Are you sure? We both just came from watch duty.” 

“For sure-” He gave her a knowing look. “I could hear your stomach grumble back there,” he chuckled, swaying the wooden stick.

“Thanks.” 

“Ku Lo, would you barbecue one for me too?” Dai Meifen leaned her body against his. “I’m too tired to do it for myself. And I won’t take a no for an answer.”

“Tyrant,” he joked, putting on two sausages on the stick at the same time. “Will we meet resistance tomorrow?”

“It would be foolish to think not,” she said and snatched the blanket Ku Lo brought with him inside his storage artefact ring. “These clothes don’t handle cold well.” Wrapping them in the blanket.