Giving a pointed stare at Zhao Liying who had just shaken her back into the real world, Lin Songmei pushed herself up with a groan as Yan Mingqing, Han Youhong, Wang Taigang, and the rest of the direct disciples sat around in a circle.
Looking around for where all the enemies had gone, Songmei’s muddled thoughts were interrupted by Youhong giving her a pat on the shoulder. “We have them captured for now. Gluttony, Lust, and Sloth are looking over them. We don’t have great restraints for them though, so we’re thinking of calling up some of the masters.”
“Do you think they’ll just say to figure it out ourselves?” Songmei sighed as the urge to curl up and sleep was stronger than ever.
“Well, I hope not.” Youhong shrugged, pulling out his terminal as the conversation Taigang was holding with the rest of the disciples began to fade. “We all, especially you and Mingqing, have put in a lot of work. This last bit is just like... mundane, kinda painful, and not really teaching us much, I guess?”
“Why are you all here, anyway?” Songmei looked around again, just counting again to see if it was all of them. “How did your side of the mission go?”
“It was fine, that’s all I can really describe it as. Have you read my update?” Youhong stroked his chin, waving Liying and Taigang over. “I’m just trying to recount how our mission went.”
“Well, we were stuck fighting the mayor’s forces for a while.” Liying mimed with her hands. “I don’t know, there were a lot of them. They were led by the mayor’s two assistants. Did you know? Turns out they both just stepped into foundation establishment. Like you two. They were a lot weaker than expected though. So we could hold them and their forces off.”
“Yeah, we’re not sure why they were weaker, but they were suspicious for... a lot of reasons.” Taigang continued with a confused but wide smile nonetheless. “They were strong, but didn’t seem that strong? They wore masks the whole time and escaped after there was a huge Qi spike around where you all were.”
“We assumed they were coming to back the mayor up, but we wanted to complete our job first.” Youhong apologized, scratching the back of his head. “Our search after the fight went smoothly, and once we found what we were looking for, we rushed over. Turns out, though, they just up and vanished. They didn’t come here, and we never saw them on the way out after searching...”
“I... see.” Mingqing murmured, her attention not at one-hundred percent as she nodded along while holding Songmei’s hand.
Just as Mingqing’s words left her mouth, Songmei’s head snapped up as she saw Liu Xueli appear midair, floating down with a wave before landing right in front of Songmei and Mingqing. With her golden jet now appearing as well, Xueli left it floating midair as she ruffled Youhong’s hair. “You know, now’s a good time to intrude. Going back to your earlier hopes, I must say, I agree with everything. Well, all of us masters did. A few of the others who were watching went off to grab their vehicles. So, they’ll help you with transport.”
Getting a confused look from the other disciples who had also stopped their conversation in surprise and getting asked a “Why are you here then?” by Mingqing, Xueli just crouched down. Turning her head, Xueli just pointed to Songmei and Mingqing. “I’m just here to take my two girls, by the way. You all can continue talking about whatever you young people talk about these days.”
Laughing at her own joke, Xueli clamped her mouth shut and shook her head with a sigh as she overheard Mingqing murmuring “old.”
With everyone still looking at her, Xueli tapped her chin. Nodding, she went and made eye contact with each of the disciples. “Well, I have to say, good job everyone. You all grew tremendously today. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished. You deserve the praise.”
Satisfied with her inspirational master spiel, Xueli hoisted Songmei and Mingqing up, one girl in each arm. “You two are going to have to let go of each other’s hands, okay?”
With the two letting go with reluctant frowns, Xueli kicked off the ground, floating back up to her golden jet. Flicking the door open with her mind, Xueli made her way into the jet and settled the two girls down on the couches inside. “It’s okay, don’t worry about getting blood on the seats. I have an auto-cleaner here anyway. I’ll just be bringing you two to the hospital. You’re not in any immediate danger, of course, but you all have a lot of long gashes and other wounds that need addressing.”
Xueli, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart, watched the two girls groan in pain as they got comfortable. Having watched their whole battle, Xueli had monitored their Qi and physical condition the whole time.
They had really pushed themself. Of course, they still had much more in the tank than they realized, but Xueli felt it was already admirable they could go as far as they did. Taking a seat on a couch facing the two girls, Xueli directed the jet with her mind, setting it to just fly towards the destination she had entered earlier.
Without too much to do, Xueli just spent the flight examining Songmei and Mingqing in detail, combing over them with her own Qi. The two were covered in small wounds to say the least. If they were non-cultivators, Xueli was pretty sure they would’ve died from all the blood loss.
They were lucky though, Xueli hadn’t noticed any wounds as deep as the time they got sneak attacked by Avarice. Sure, there was long gash after long gash, but, for cultivators, most of those types of wounds weren’t a big deal—especially with the new advancements in modern technology.
Coming to a gentle stop in the air above the hospital, Xueli kept her jet hidden as she walked back over to Songmei and Mingqing, hoisting them up once more before leaping down. Touching down on the pavement without a sound, Xueli ignored the random onlookers as she walked into the hospital through the front doors.
Xueli, having talked to the people who ran the hospital a number of times for bureaucratic meetings, just flashed her Qi a little to get everyone in the main room to quiet down. With a few hushed whispers breaking out as people began realizing who she was, Xueli stood there and waited with a stern expression. Getting an attendant running over with nervous bows, Xueli summarized the situation before handing over Songmei and Mingqing. “Call me once you’re done with treatment, they won’t be needing a room to stay overnight.”
“Y... Y-Yes ma’am!” The nurse took Songmei and Mingqing with frantic nods as a mixture of fear and awe seeped into his voice. “They’ll definitely need a couple days of bedrest though judging from how little Qi they have and how hurt they are.”
“Yeah, that’s expected,” Xueli waved off before spinning on her heel and walking back out. “Take care of them, I have some business I need to attend to.”
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Thank you for writing.
they still had much more in the tank than they realized
I wonder what she means by this? It sure seems like they're tapped out...