Heavenly Soul

In the middle of the room was a set of comfortable divans and plush chairs. They were distributed evenly around an ornate table carved out of a luxurious gold colored wood. On the table was a half-finished bowl of oranges that was being consumed at a brisk rate.

Sitting on one of the divans, Wei Xiang was methodically peeling an orange, dropping the occasional slice into the mouth of his lazy lover.

Qinghe was lying down with his head on Wei Xiang"s lap, facing upward so that he could be more conveniently fed. His body laid lax and indolent as he waited eagerly for the next slice to fall into his mouth.

This morning, they had asked to reserve use of a room to meet a guest and were kindly provided one. Qinghe had then promptly cast a sound barrier around the room after verifying that no spies or eavesdroppers lurked within.

And as they waited for their guest to arrive, Qinghe had happily settled his head down on Wei Xiang"s lap while being fed.

He felt that his life in the imperial palace was really too comfortable. Not only did he not have to fix the junior disciples" messes or give them pointers on cultivation, he also didn"t have to do any of his master"s paperwork or run between the various sects on important business. Ah, such bliss.

Meanwhile, Wei Xiang uncomplainingly indulged his little lover as he gave him the last slice of the orange. But before he could take away his hand to choose another orange to peel, Qinghe clamped his lips onto Wei Xiang"s fingers, not letting them leave his mouth. With his moist tongue, he began licking clean the little bit of orange juice that had gotten onto his lover"s fingers.

His eyes darkening with rapidly rising l.u.s.t, Wei Xiang tried to retrieve his hand, but to no avail.

"Qinghe, not here," he chided gently.

Puffing his cheeks and pouting, Qinghe released his lover"s orange-flavored fingers. "You never let me have any fun," he grumped.

Chuckling, Wei Xiang retorted, "Oh? Does that mean you"re saying you didn"t have any fun last night?"

Qinghe"s cheeks turned pink, but he still tried to maintain his glare.

Relenting, Wei Xiang bent down to give his pouty lips a quick kiss. "You are the one who called him over, so you should at least show him some courtesy, hm?"

Sighing, Qinghe agreed, "Yes, yes. Fine, I"ll behave."

But waiting was really boring and his lover was right here, but too bad he had been forbidden from having fun.

Just as Qinghe was beginning to get grouchy, the sound of the door opening was heard. Footsteps neared the divan and went past as the guest seated himself opposite to the couple.

"Feng Qinghe, is that your true face?" Master Kai inquired with scrunched brows.

He"d heard that this young cultivator often bought large quant.i.ties of appearance changing talismans, seemingly as if for daily use, so it hadn"t been that difficult for Master Kai to guess that Qinghe hid his appearance almost always. But he couldn"t have guessed that it was actually because his appearance was so…extraordinary.

Hearing Master Kai"s question, Qinghe blinked perplexedly. "Yes, why?"

Master Kai simply shook his head, deciding to get used to this new face quickly.

Shrugging, Qinghe ate another slice of orange before offering, "Master Kai, feel free to have an orange. Ah, but I won"t be lending you my orange peeler. He belongs exclusively to me."

Before their guest could reply, the aforementioned orange peeler Wei Xiang spoke flirtily, "Yes, I do. And as your exclusive peeler, when we get back, there"s something I"d really like to peel off of you."

Qinghe raised an eyebrow curiously. "I hope you don"t mean my skin. I still need it."

Both Wei Xiang and Master Kai"s mouths twitched. Was that really the conclusion someone would normally arrive at after hearing that?!

Wei Xiang finally managed to respond as he said, "The direction of your thoughts is…disturbing. But no, my love, I meant your clothes."

Blinking slowly, Qinghe asked, "My…clothes?"

Chuckling to himself about how adorably befuddled his little lover looked, Wei Xiang replied mischievously, "Yes. Isn"t it similar to the concept of how fruit peeling works? You let the fruit ripen, then peel off the outer layers before eating up what"s inside."

Then bending down, Wei Xiang continued with a wicked glint in his eyes, "Slowly, thoroughly, enjoying it until every single drop of fruit juice is completely squeezed out."

Qinghe swallowed, then whispered back, "Fruit juice? In this context, I hope you don"t mean―"

Suddenly knowing what his beloved was about to say, Wei Xiang clamped a hand over that tempting little mouth. Qinghe obediently shut up, looking up at his lover with expectant eyes.

Removing his hand, Wei Xiang sighed wryly before answering the implied question, "No, I don"t mean blood."

Qinghe squinted his eyes in confusion. "Oh?"

If it wasn"t blood, then what other liquid would you squeeze out―?

Qinghe"s eyes widened in sudden realization as his cheeks flushed. "Oh!"

Wei Xiang could only sigh again, his lips involuntarily curving up. His eyes as he looked at Qinghe practically overflowed with exasperation and affection.

From the side, Master Kai finally cut in, "Are you both done? As amusing as it is to see your unique way of flirting, I would like to get down to business. I"m a busy man after all."

Finally turning his gaze away from his lover, Qinghe agreed easily, "Alright then."

Getting up and sitting properly, Qinghe patted his lap and looked at Wei Xiang. "It"s your turn now."

His eyes sparkling with mirth, Wei Xiang obediently lied down, his head placed on Qinghe"s lap, his boot-clad feet hanging over the edge because of his height.

Qinghe took the orange from his lover"s hand and began peeling it the rest of the way before carefully bringing a slice to Wei Xiang"s lips. With amus.e.m.e.nt, Wei Xiang happily opened his mouth to receive it.

After he retrieved his hand, Qinghe"s fingers continued to gracefully work on the orange. Then he began at last, "Master Kai, I have a request to make of you."

Raising a thick eyebrow, Master Kai spoke, "I gathered as much. What do you need?"

Qinghe asked without reservations, "A list of sensible and influential courtiers that the imperial family is currently targeting."

Master Kai blinked, his eyebrows furrowing doubtfully. "What makes you think that I have something like that? I am merely a simple trader, I do not dabble in politics."

Chuckling, Qinghe refuted, "A trader you might be, but you are far from simple. And I am already aware that you also happen to trade in information."

Making a complicated expression, Master Kai looked at Qinghe. Did he even want to know how this man had managed to find out yet another of his secrets?

"Fine, so you know. That does not mean that I"ll give the information away just because you ask me to, at least not unless I understand why you want it," the merchant said, holding his ground.

Feeding his lover yet another slice, Qinghe asked, "Why do you need to know?"

With a stubborn expression, Master Kai explained, "Because I am responsible for whatever problems providing you that information might cause. I do not want it to end up burdening my conscience."

Hearing this, Qinghe paused in surprise. A conscientious businessman was a rare sight indeed in any age.

With a light chuckle, Qinghe finally relented, "Very well. I merely wish to recruit these people under a certain lord"s banner. I promise that any trouble that may arise will only be temporary. What I am about to do needs to be done for this empire to continue its prosperity."

Master Kai narrowed his eyes in thought as he tried to understand the hidden implication. But when the meaning finally sunk in, his eyes grew wide.

"You can"t be serious. That is…" he trailed off, unable to complete his sentence.

Qinghe merely nodded as he continued peeling. "Yes, it"s probably as you think."

Silence descended in the room.

Remaining unbothered, Qinghe continued to carefully remove the seeds from the last slice of the orange before feeding it to his lover, then continued peeling yet another one.

Slowly, the agonized expression on Master Kai"s face cleared. Rubbing his forehead with his fingers in tiredness, he spoke in a voice laden with gravity, "This country is so rotten that it is barely being held together by delicate threads. Which strings are to be snapped must be chosen carefully, lest the whole country comes crashing down."

"I know. I understand," Qinghe replied. Though he looked casual, the deepness in his eyes belied seriousness.

Sighing, Master Kai nodded. "I know you do. But…are you sure? For a cultivator to interfere in politics to this extent, I"m afraid there will be consequences."

Qinghe smiled. "That is why I"m recruiting these people under another person"s name. The traces will not lead to me, I can at least make sure of that."

Master Kai really didn"t know what to feel. He"d never thought that the Feng Qinghe he knew would ever do something so…outrageously daring. But then again, maybe this man had already done many things as brash as this before and had simply hidden his tracks well. If that were truly the case, then it wouldn"t surprise him one bit.

Sighing heavily, Master Kai asked, "So you need the names of people who are valuable and targeted by the imperial family. I will get them to you, but what will you give me in return?"

Qinghe blinked his eyes, a smile visible in their depths as he countered with another question, "Oh, I forgot to ask. How is it going with your wife, Master Kai? Are you still running from her?"

The merchant stiffened, apprehension clearly visible on his face. "…Let"s talk about the compensation you will give me instead."

Seeing his uneasy expression, Qinghe chuckled merrily. "It"s going that badly, huh?"

Master Kai gritted his teeth. "Feng Qinghe, what do you want to say? Just spit it out and be done with it."

Qinghe had to suppress his laughter before he could speak again. "In return for the information, I can provide you a safe place that I guarantee won"t be found by the Queen of the Seas for at least a month. Not a bad deal, is it?"

Blinking in surprise, Master Kai asked disbelievingly, "Is that even possible?!"

Because he more than anyone knew his wife"s might. How much he loved her was how much he respected her. As for what she saw in him, only she knew.

Master Kai"s wife"s name was Hai Liang and she was one of the most feared and revered people in the current world. But what was surprising was that Hai Liang wasn"t even a cultivator, yet she managed to not only gain the undying loyalty of many powerful people, both mortals and cultivators alike, but she also built a fearsome reputation for herself within a scant few decades.

If Master Kai could be said to be the most influential and powerful merchant on land, then Hai Liang was a step above him, crowned as the undisputable Queen of the Seas.

Her story began when the coastal area she lived in was besieged with pirates. They would pillage and plunder the towns and villages scattered across the coast since they were easy to target. By the time the Sentinels were notified, it was often too late. The pirate ships would have already retreated into the sea with their loot.

Then they made the mistake of kidnapping Hai Liang.

Hai Liang was by all means a simple village girl who maybe enjoyed watching swordfights a bit too much. Whenever she saw the martial artists in her village practicing the sword, Hai Liang would eagerly watch every move with shining eyes, imprinting all those graceful and powerful maneuvers into her heart.

So when she was suddenly dragged away into a pirate ship, rather than panicking or screaming for help, Hai Liang wrested away a sword from one of her captors and confidently challenged the pirate captain of the ship to a duel…and won.

But to no one"s surprise, the pirates refused to admit defeat, so she singlehandedly fought a whole ship"s worth of pirates…and won again.

After beating them all into a miserable, b.l.o.o.d.y pulp, Hai Ling then began persuading them to follow her. Equal parts charmed and frightened by this strange woman, the pirates agreed.

Hai Liang then continued on to acquire several other pirate ships until she had enough to create her own fleet. She waged a war against the remaining pirates and decimated them all.

Thus, peace was restored to the coast.

After this, Hai Liang acc.u.mulated t.i.tles such as Terror of the Seas, Pirate Queen, Ocean"s Wrath, and other similar names. Her fame spread far and wide, her name eliciting both fear and respect in the hearts of the people.

One day, when Hai Liang rescued a certain merchant ship from a fledgling group of wannabe pirates, she met Master Kai. During their journey while heading towards the coast, Master Kai and Hai Liang got close, and Hai Liang inevitably fell in love with the stalwart Master Kai.

Since her nature was brash and straightforward, she directly proposed to the man she loved, asking him to stay with her forever on her ship, promising to be faithful to him and provide him with everything he could ever wish for.

And in reply, Master Kai promptly ran away the second the ship touched sh.o.r.e.

He was someone who had many businesses to run and various responsibilities to fulfill. There was no way he"d spend his entire life on a ship! But more importantly, how could he stay with a woman who asked him to stay forever in a ship while she b.l.o.o.d.y well knew that he got seasick?! Was that really the care and concern of someone who loved him? He refused to believe it!

Thus started the thrilling game of tag between Master Kai and Hai Liang.

Hai Liang eventually managed to capture Master Kai on land and agreed to let him stay there since he was truly uncomfortable at sea. Master Kai also relented and blushingly confessed his love. Everything was wrapping up happily, the couple heading towards their happily ever after…

…And then Hai Liang had the brilliant idea of holding their wedding on her ship.

Master Kai ran again. Hai Liang captured her lover once again. Then they got married on land.

After their delightful wedding night, Hai Liang snuck the exhaustedly sleeping Master Kai into her ship to "continue the festivities in the place I call home", as she put it.

And so, after waking up, Master Kai ran yet again…

In this way, whenever Hai Liang tried to unreasonably get her husband aboard her ship, Master Kai would flee for a few days or weeks before being captured by his wife. Then they would make up with each other and lead a few months of uneventful life full of marital bliss, only for the run and chase to begin all over again.

But despite this continuously repeating cycle, the both of them seemed content with things as they were, though neither of them showed it on the surface.

Qinghe naturally knew all this, so he used it as a bargaining chip.

"Yes," he rea.s.sured Master Kai, "I really do have such a place ready. No matter how influential the Queen of the Seas is, even she will not have her claws this deep in matters of land. You can rest for one month in peace in the place I"ve prepared."

Master Kai reluctantly chose to believe him.

And so the deal was struck.

From his sleeve, Qinghe took out a delicately wrought copper key and handed it to the merchant. Then he gave him detailed directions on how to reach the safe house.

After promising that he"d have the list ready and send it over in a few days, Master Kai left, a vaguely disbelieving look still on his face.

Looking amusedly in the direction Master Kai left, Wei Xiang smiled and asked his lover, "Qinghe, tell me, why do you think the wife always insists on dragging her husband to her ship despite knowing about his seasickness while the husband never takes medicine for that very same seasickness so that he can be with his wife?"

Qinghe blinked confusedly. "Are you saying…that they"re both doing it on purpose?"

Laughing, Wei Xiang spoke uncaringly, "Who knows?"

But Qinghe"s mind was already roiling with speculations. Then shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Qinghe fed the last slice of yet another orange to his lover before rummaging for something in his spatial storage. When he found what he was looking for, Qinghe cupped his hands and brought out the item.

It was a small, silvery fish made entirely of light. Its length was smaller than a finger and it was covered in a palm-sized transparent bubble of spiritual energy.

Lowering his head, Qinghe carefully blew a breath over the little fish and the fish immediately came to life, its body undulating gracefully as it hovered in the air, its tiny tail moving side-to-side in fast motions.

In a gentle voice, Qinghe whispered a message to the fish and the fish"s motions became even more vigorous. Then using his spiritual power to imprint the time and location at which the message should be delivered, Qinghe set the fish free.

The silvery little fish ensconced in its bubble swam smoothly in the air, heading towards the window and floating away.

Having just heard the message Qinghe had whispered, Wei Xiang felt stunned. In a curious voice, he asked, "Who did you just send that message to?"

Qinghe replied as if it were natural, "The Pirate Queen, of course."

Wei Xiang sat up, a look of rarely seen stupefaction on his face. "But…that message just now contained the location of the safe house you sent the merchant to."

Smiling widely, Qinghe affirmed, "Yes, it did."

"…"

To be fair, Wei Xiang did not doubt his little lover"s intelligence, but that didn"t mean he could fathom the strange routes Qinghe"s thoughts usually took either.

"I don"t understand," Wei Xiang finally admitted.

Laughing lightly, Qinghe, explained, "Though I did send the message to the Queen of the Seas, she will only receive it one month later. And when she uses the information I provided to capture Master Kai, she will have to owe me a favor."

For a second, Wei Xiang could only stare at his cunning lover.

That…was too devious.

By the time Hai Liang got the message with Master Kai"s location, it would have already been a month, and Qinghe had only promised that the safe house would shelter the merchant for one month. Technically, he wasn"t breaking the agreement and was in fact adhering to it very closely.

By the end of this, both Master Kai and Hai Liang would owe him, neither knowing that the other had also received help from Qinghe. And there was no way either of them would share the secret, since they would want Qinghe to help them again the next time they played their game of run and chase.

It really was too devious.

Lying his head back down on his lover"s lap, Wei Xiang praised, "I"m impressed. Qinghe, even after knowing you for so long, you still keep surprising me."

Qinghe smiled happily as he took another orange from the almost empty bowl and began peeling. Since his beloved praised him so much, he naturally deserved a reward.

Settling himself comfortably, Wei Xiang patiently waited to be fed.

And after all the oranges were peeled and eaten, Wei Xiang took Qinghe back to their room to do a different sort of peeling and eating, making enough noise that Jing Shui had to put up a sound barrier around his room to block them out.