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 spent her time sharpening anything that looked like it could hold an edge. Mei had finally stopped crying, but the silence she settled into was almost worse. She just sat on a coil of rope, staring into the horizon with eyes that didn't seem to see the ocean at all. 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.
When night finally wrapped the sky, Longwei retreated to the cabin. We gathered on the deck, a circle of silhouettes huddled in the pale moonlight. For a long time, no one spoke. We just looked at each other until Jian finally broke the tension.
"So..." He cleared his throat. "That happened."
"What's the plan?" Qinyue asked directly.
"Plan?" I let out a dry and hollow laugh. "There is no plan, Qinyue. We're stuck. We can't do a damn thing."
"And you call yourself the leader?" she snapped.
"I don't," I replied with the weight of the day settling into my voice. "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. It still felt like a bad dream we hadn't quite woken up from.
"I think we should just do what he says," Mei said softly. We all turned. Her voice was small, but steady. "Our reputations are already in the dirt. As long as he doesn't force us to commit some unspeakable atrocity, we obey. We take every order, every mission, and we use them to get stronger. We might be under his thumb now, but with Ziyang's head for strategy, we'll find a way out eventually. The whole of Ironbell was almost choking under the influence of the Sixth High 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."
"Wow," I rapidly blinked my eyes in succession, genuinely moved. "I… honestly didn't expect that from you, Mei. Especially after the day you've had. Thank you. That means a lot."
"Yeah," Jian chimed in, leaning back. "I was starting to think your limit was one sentence per hour."
Qinyue's elbow found Jian's ribs with a satisfying thud.
"Actually," I said, ignoring Jian's groan of pain, "we never gave you a proper welcome. So, Mei, welcome to the sect. I'm sure you've caught on to each of our names by now. And, well, I'm sorry the orientation involves being kidnapped by a monster."
Mei offered a small, weary smile. "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?" I asked respectfully.
"What? Master Longwei said we gotta get used to it!"
"There he goes with the ass-kissing 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. We didn't actually think we'd succeed, but the sheer spite of trying was the best medicine we had. 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 emerged from the cabin, yawning like a cat. He stretched, soaking in the sea breeze as if he hadn't spent the previous day destroying our lives.
He never saw Qinyue coming. She moved like a lightning strike, driving a blade toward his kidney. It hit his skin and crumpled into a ball of useless metal, as if she'd tried to stab a mountain with a roll of paper.
Next came the poison. Liangyu had spent hours brewing a toxic potion using his knowledge of minerals and earth cultivation. He slipped it into every liquid Longwei touched. Longwei drank it, gargled it, washed his face in it, and, I kid you not, took a leisurely bath in it. He didn't even sneeze. We tested the potency by tossing a drop into the sea. Two hundred fish and a whale floated to the surface instantly. The blood of those poor marine animals is on Liangyu's hands, by the way. Not mine. And he's technically a mass murderer.
Jian tried a more subtle approach. He manipulated the air currents around Longwei's head, creating a localized vacuum. He held it for nearly twelve hours until he finally collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Longwei just looked like he was enjoying a particularly crisp breeze.
Then there was Mei. She 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.
After all of those failed attempts, 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."