Time went on. All in silence. Each of us occupied ourselves with some kind of work to stay distracted, to keep our minds from dwelling on our situation. Jian went to look for and organize the food supply for the trip. Qinyue went to look for anything sharp. Mei kept crying for a while, but eventually came to terms with the whole thing and just sat down staring into the distance. Liangyu kept pacing back and forth, probably thinking of ways to impress his new "master." I just wandered around, examining the ship, taking in every detail, looking for weaknesses or for opportunities.
After a whole day of this, night time finally arrived. Longwei slept inside the cabin, and all of us held a meeting on the deck. We stood around in a circle, staring at each other in the moonlight until Jian finally spoke up, "So... that happened."
"What's the plan?" Qinyue asked directly.
"What plan? There's no plan. We can't do shit," I replied, the hopelessness evident in my voice.
"And you call yourself the leader?"
"I don't. At least... not anymore."
Silence fell for a few moments. We'd had a whole day to take in what happened to us, but it was still kind of hard to digest. The reality hadn't fully sunk in yet.
"I think we should just do what he says," Mei said softly. "Sure, our reputation will be ruined, but it's not like it already isn't. As long as he doesn't order us to outright kill someone innocent or anything of such sorts, I say we obey. We obey every order, every task, every mission, and we get stronger during the process. Maybe we can't oppose him now, but with brother Ziyang's smarts, maybe someday we'll find a way out. The whole of Ironbell was almost choking under the influence of the Sixth Supreme Being himself, but you managed to save us all, and especially my grandfather. Something which I will forever be thankful for. I trust in this team. I trust in us. Together, I believe we can overcome any obstacle. We can do it."
"Wow," I rapidly blinked my eyes in succession, genuinely moved. "Really... that was... wow... that was very wholesome, Mei. I really wasn't expecting you to say that, given how quiet and reserved you seemed to be the whole day. Thank you for your words. They mean more than you know."
"Yeah, I was starting to think you weren't capable of saying more than one sentence at a time," said Jian.
Qinyue elbowed him hard in the ribs.
"Actually," I said, "I don't think we've properly talked to Mei and officially welcomed her into our sect, so, Mei, welcome. I'm sure you've caught on to each of our names by now. And, well, I'm sorry this couldn't happen under 'normal' circumstances."
Mei gave me a little smile, warm despite everything. "I-"
"Um," Liangyu cut in unhelpfully, "actually, I think we're supposed to welcome her into the 'cult,' not the sect."
"You want me to knock your teeth out, Liangyu?"
"What? Master Longwei said we gotta get used to it!"
"There he goes, giving him respect again! Well, maybe I should go tell 'Master' Longwei to kick you out because two earth cultivators are, quote unquote, redundant!"
"Well, maybe I should ask him to kick out the 'leader' then, because he's clearly been replaced by a literal powerhouse!"
"Shut up!" Qinyue said, stepping in between us. "Both of you! Quit hoarding Mei's spotlight! Mei, you were saying something?"
"I was just saying you don't have to apologize, brother Ziyang," said Mei gently. "I'm just happy to be a part of such a lively group."
"You can just call me Ziyang," I said. "We're like, the same age. No need for any formalities."
"It's alright. I didn't really have any friends growing up. And I just like respecting my peers. I'm just more comfortable that way, if you don't mind."
"Well," Qinyue threw her arm around Mei warmly, "in that case, let's make sure to compensate for all those years of loneliness! Welcome to the gang, Mei!"
"Welcome!" We all echoed in smiles, genuine this time.
"You know what, guys," I said, feeling a spark of determination. "We didn't plan on any of this, but we're here now. And since we are, why should we sulk in sadness? I mean, Longwei's having a ton of fun and he's insisting that we do too. So why not? Let's have fun. You found anything sharp, Qinyue?"
She smiled maliciously as she took out four blades from her pocket, made from Mingchen Tie, each one gleaming in the moonlight.
All of us mimicked her smile in unison and then spent the whole night planning and brainstorming various ideas. Look, it's not like we believed we were capable of succeeding, but it was fun to try. And who knows? Maybe we'd get lucky.
Get ready folks, because here are the string of murder attempts we've... well, attempted.
The next morning, Longwei woke up and got on the deck. He yawned widely, stretched out his arms, and took in the morning breeze like he didn't have a care in the world.
Qinyue rushed behind him with lightning speed and stabbed him with one of those blades. It crumpled like paper against his skin.
Liangyu reluctantly cooked up some poison using his knowledge of earth cultivation and mixed it into any liquid Longwei would use throughout the day. Longwei drank it, gargled it, did a mouthwash with it, a facewash, took a full-blown bath with it. Nothing happened. Not even a cough. We checked its potency by pouring a single drop into the ocean. Nearly two hundred fish floated above, dead. And a whale. The blood of those poor animals is on Liangyu's hands, don't ask me.
Jian tried manipulating the wind around Longwei so he couldn't breathe, creating a vacuum around his head. He did it for almost a whole day before Jian passed out due to sheer exhaustion.
Mei got in front of Longwei and got into several stances using her healing arts to target a few key meridians of the body, which apparently is supposed to block certain pathways of cell regeneration and kill him slowly. After a few awkwardly long minutes, Longwei thought of it more as a dance ritual than a murder attempt and started clapping and applauding for her enthusiastically, saying her grandfather must be very proud of her many talents.
As for me, I came up with a few ideas, elaborate traps, misdirection tactics, ways to manipulate the environment, but no surprise there, I failed at every single one of them.
Longwei finally gathered us all on deck and announced with a knowing smile, "If you guys are done having your fun, I'd like to say that we'll be reaching Linhai in a day or two. I suggest you all be prepared for your first mission." He looked at each of us in turn. "And maybe try to actually kill me next time? These attempts were honestly kind of adorable."