Naturally, as the griffin flew beneath the humble light of the moon and distant stars, there would be very little for the pa.s.sengers to view of the landscape as they soared overhead and that is when the clouds were not creating a distinct separation between earth and heavens. So it was that the greater majority of its pa.s.sengers would sleep throughout the flight and if not, they might cultivate.This far into the year and being not far away from Winter"s midpoint, the nights in the north stretched on greatly and the sun chose to begin its climb after lazily peering above the horizon late into the morning. And it was a little more than an hour after dawn had cast its hazy colours over the previously dark sky than when the city of Cenapar appeared in the distance. At this point in time, Jin Li and Leon were awake and bickering softly;
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"So where is this Lord"s morning kiss?"
"J-Jin Li, we"re in p-public!"
"So? Tch. Then this Lord expects you to make it up to me later."
Leon refused to ask just how.
"What is for breakfast?"
"You ate it, last n-night."
There was a slight pause in the conversation. "You expect this Lord to go without sustenance?"
"I only h-have one steamed b-bun left! Hey!" Leon fought with Jin Li over his inters.p.a.cial bag, but due to his lack of strength, naturally he lost the fight and had to watch as the breakfast he had painstakingly hidden for himself was s.n.a.t.c.hed away. He pouted as the springy bread entered the mouth of the bottomless pit lying beneath him. Half, a small half, was torn off and offered back to him, which he could only accept with reluctant grat.i.tude.
Sun had long since tired of wearing out his eyes seeing the two youths play and had wandered out onto the deck that wrapped around the bottom carriage and was protected by magic from the rushing winds, insects and dust. He watched as a myriad of green shades flowed into the distance beneath them. These low hills and plans were occasionally intersected by skinny, rambling yellow roads and split in two by a wide winding river. And ahead of them, in between the huge forelegs of the gliding griffin, was Cenapar.
The heart of Cenapar was built upon an island surrounded by the meeting of the rivers that served it. The eastern kings palaces could mostly be found here, as well as the palaces of many important clans stationed here. The city then stretched via a series of bridges to other lands around it, the rivers themselves creating distinct borders between merchants, lords and commoners, between places of commerce, places of stunning beauty and the hidden slums, between several branches of local Sects and the mortals who could only dream of immortality. Bridges connected the segments, arching over the wide rivers and covering newly built ca.n.a.ls that intersected those rivers in various locations, bridges even hopping over natural streams that did the same. Any land between water had been tamed, for use as property or garden, park or road, none escaped the city"s sights. And even then, the city continued to sprawl outwards as new palaces were built, new market shops and commoner housing and new walls to indicate its current boundaries.
A griffin this size could only land in one of these border areas, just inside the lowest built wall, that seemed to have been thrown up without concern of bandits nor wild beasts destroying it. This griffin nest was home to five ma.s.sive beasts, all of which could journey to other cities or notable towns. There were also some smaller adults and cubs for more local flights.
Of course, the griffins were not the only way to travel, many cities had long ranged transport portals and it was said that those in the largest cities could even transport one to another realm. However, it was highly expensive and far reaching portals tended to leave a mark on mortals, making them feel dizzy and nauseous amongst other symptoms. Spiritual energies could abate these in the long run, so mostly Cultivators, n.o.bles or messengers with urgent news would spend the money to use them and the latter would purchase special talismans to weaken the side effects. It was a moot point for the youths; there were no portals located in Julip town.
Sun, Jin Li and Leon left the undercarriage in an unhurried manner, due to the fact that the former was dragging his feet and the other two and their beasts could only follow. By the time they had left the range of the griffin nest, most of the pa.s.sengers had dispersed, either on carriages sent by their families, by wagon or on foot. The paved street was actually relatively empty at this point in time.
Sun gritted his teeth and swallowed some bitterness. His family knew he was returning this morning, he"d sent a letter ahead, and yet despite their home being quite the distance away from the griffin nests, not a carriage was not in sight. He didn"t a.s.sume this was on purpose, he knew full well it was. This was one of the many reasons he hadn"t wanted to come back here!
"Um," Sun looked over at his friends and chuckled despondently. "Let"s look for a public carriage over there."
Fortunately, where one could find one travellers, one could find transport willing to shorten their journey"s for a price and Sun handed over two silver pieces without question to the carriage driver, who ushered them in the plain wooden vehicle before leading his two horses up the street. Li Ming lie at Leon"s feet, purring heavily as its human scratched the fur beneath its ears. Wu Ye padded along side the carriage, content to stretch its legs.
"What"s your h-home like?" Leon asked Sun in pa.s.sing conversation.
"Oh, you know," he replied, offhandedly. "It"s pretty much like any house. Wall, floors, a roof. It"s a small courtyard... really." At least his was, anyway. He had three rooms in all, not including the servant rooms and small kitchen. One of those rooms, he used to use as his study, before replacing most of the books and shelves with swords. It happened to also contain a small cot bed and he"d asked his big brother if he could add a second cot in there so his friends could stay over. He didn"t receive a reply, but his big brother was a reliable sort. They didn"t get on well, but that didn"t mean his brother would do him wrong either. The missing carriage, for example, would not have anything to do with him.
"Oh," Leon scratched his head for something else to say. "H-how about your family?"
"Normal... normal..." Sun said quickly. "There"s my father and my mother and big brother... older sisters... though they"ve all married out now. And there"s my grandparents, some uncles and aunties... cousins too." Sun"s voice seemed to be becoming quieter with each word and his face looked a little pale and green. He tugged at Leon"s sleeve, suddenly, almost setting off the fury of the alchemist"s big husband, but given pause as Sun whispered; "Thank you for accompanying me."
Leon was startled at Sun"s lack of spirit and demure att.i.tude, while Jin Li"s eyes narrowed in contemplation. Although Sun had never mentioned anything to him, though he likely wouldn"t have been listening even if he had, he knew of some of the inner workings of a wealthy, influential family. While indeed Sun was a Young Master and had the temperament of one, did not mean that he was happy existing in a flight of dragons and phoenixes. Jin Li had witnessed the schemes of his many, many aunts and his numerous cousins both di and shu and the fall out of those battles. Thankfully, he rather got on well with his own older brothers and while they were also arrogant, they were not insufferably so.
Still Jin Li was not completely about to let Sun off for touching his small alchemist and grabbed Leon about the waist to pull him into his lap, claiming ownership.