For the first time I was eating breakfast with my wife. It was a surprise for me because I usually only saw her when I visited her and Feng for dinner. However, today after training and taking a bath, I found her waiting at my usual table in the dining room.
My confusion only lasted a few seconds before I realized why she was here. It had been about a week since the exam results went out.
According to Cao Peng, he arranged them to show up today. Maybe Meng Mei decided to join me and walk to the newly built meeting room with me?
With my thoughts in order, I quickly walked over and took my place across the table from her.
"Good morning, Meng Mei."
"Mmm," she replied with a nod. She then snapped her fingers.
I was confused for a brief second before Maid Shi entered the room carrying what seemed to be breakfast.
"Good morning, Lord and Lady Meng." She greeted professionally. She then placed the bamboo basket in front of us, bowed, and then excused herself from the room.
The basket gave off steam and was quite warm to the touch. I lifted the lid on the basket and saw something that I loved in my old life.
"Baozi?" (Steamed Buns)
I felt my mouth grow into a genuine smile as I looked at the food in front of me. Steamed buns were a guilty pleasure of mine, as they were easy to make, eat, and store for later. Grabbing one, I took a bite, not caring how I looked.
As I bit into it, my taste buds exploded with flavor. The meat was tender and broke apart easily. The spices added a bit of heat, but it was cut by a small amount of sweetness. By the time I regained awareness, I had inhaled over half of the buns in the container. Wiping my mouth with a napkin, I started to feel guilty.
'That was selfish of me.'
"I apologize, Meng Mei. The food was so good I couldn't help myself. I have to figure out what the chef is adding to my food. It is simply the best thing I have ever eaten," I said apologetically.
"It's fine. You can have the rest; I am not that hungry anyway," she replied. Surprised, I looked up to see her expression. Her face was still mostly placid, but her eyes were ever so slightly squinted, and I thought I could see an upward curve of her lips, but when I blinked, it was gone.
"Are you sure?" I was slightly confused. If she wasn't hungry, then why did she come here?"
"I'm sure. Go ahead." Saying so, she pushed the basket containing the rest of the buns towards me. Her eyes seemed filled with some undescribable intent.
I shrugged my shoulders and began eating again, this time ensuring that I took my time and savored it. While I was eating, I noticed her looking at me again. The look she gave me felt like she was looking at something amusing and endearing. Not like looking at a lover but more like looking at a child? No, maybe like a dog eating a treat?
'I am overthinking things again.'
I quickly discarded that train of thought and finished eating the steamed buns. Suddenly I heard knocking on the door.
"Lord Meng, Lady Meng, it is time for the monthly report. I will be waiting to greet the council and lead them to the meeting room. Could you please meet me in the meeting room when you are finished eating?" The voice of Cao Peng came from the door.
"Sure, no problem, we will meet you there." I replied to him and rose to my feet. Looking over at Meng Mei, I could see that she had risen as well.
"Ready for work?" I asked with a grin on my face.
Perhaps a bit more awake, she actually replied this time.
"Sure."
We then walked to the meeting room in a comfortable silence.
{A Few Hours Later}
"This month we have earned...."
"The bounty for the rogue cultivators has been increased to 100 spirit stones if taken in alive."
"There are still people claiming unemployment as a reason not to pay taxes."
"The neighboring city to the north has..."
"A few hunters have fallen off the cliff in the southern forest."
...
As Cao Peng rattled off this month's report, I couldn't help but admire my own genius. Before hearing all this would have given me a headache. I looked at the stack of papers on my desk that was at least tall as my head. Then I looked at the desks in the other part of the room that were at least twice as large.
Seeing the faces on my new councilor, marshal, and spymaster scrunched up in annoyance, I couldn't help but feel vindicated.
'I guess misery really loves company.'
At first when my council had arrived, other than Fu Yun, who seemed at home, the rest appeared stiff and unsure. However, after the first hour, they had started suggesting solutions, which sparked discussion. While all their ideas were not feasible, having others to bounce ideas off of makes it much easier to come up with solutions.
The only one who was completely at ease was Meng Mei. She sat there composed, reading each and every sheet of paper she was given and chimed in at the perfect moments. Honestly, this was a load off my mind.
After a few more hours the report was done, and every report had been acknowledged and either had been addressed or will be worked on in the coming days.
"That ends the monthly report. Is there any other topic that anyone would like to be addressed? Cao Peng asked the room.
Looking around, I could see that most of them were drained and wanted nothing more than to go home. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was beginning to set and briefly considered calling it a day.
'Better do it now so I wont have to later.'
"Ehhemm." I cleared my throat and got everyone's attention.
"In order to better deal with our growing population, I intend to establish a system for recording everyone in the city's personal identity and require them to keep proof of their identity on them at all times."
Originally I wanted to also propose getting the roads paved and establishing plumbing in the city. However, I feel that will cost a sizable amount of time and money. Better to start slow.
After hearing me speak, most of them look confused at the idea. All except Meng Mei, who seemed surprised I would suggest this.
"My Lord, do you mean something similar to the identification tokens used by sects?" Cao Peng asked, looking just as intrigued.
"I guess so. They need to record name, age, and birth date, as well as personal identifiers such as physical appearance. Doing this will allow us to keep better tabs on our population and who is who."
Listening further, the rest of the council became more interested in my idea, and the discussion continued.
The first meeting ended with the sunset, and as everyone left the meeting hall one by one, I couldn't help but smile.
'Achievement unlocked: First Meeting 'Complete,' I thought to myself while chuckling.
{Unknown}
(??? POV)
"They have to be here somewhere! Keep checking!" The deep voice echoed around the forest that had seen battle. The ground was scorched, and parts of the surrounding trees had traces of frost on them.
"Yes, Boss!" Shouted several armed men with varying levels of injuries.
There were already a few already on the ground barely breathing and several more that couldn't even do that.
Sweat dripped down my face as I held my companion's hand while hiding behind a boulder. I felt a pulse of cold qi travel from her hand up my arm and flow into my dantian. I felt a sense of power as if I could take over the world. Quickly shattering this illusion, I let the qi circulate before sending it back.
My companion shook slightly before I felt her aura grow slightly. A few seconds later another, stronger, cold qi entered my body. We repeated this action several times until both of our dantians were shaking from the strain. Hearing a whistling noise growing closer, we quickly divided the last bit of Qi between us, and our hands broke apart.
I dashed from the boulder; I could feel my companion do the same.
*Crash*
The boulder we had been hiding behind had shattered, and the wind blew my hood back from my head.
"Finally the two rats have come out to play." The man speaking was at least two meters tall and held a curved sword across his shoulder, matching his height. He lowered the blade, and through my heightened senses, I could feel qi coming off him.
'At least 7th level Qi Condensation.' I took note without changing my expression. Silently I gathered 80% of my qi in my left arm.
"The Five Element sect is paying 100 spirit stones if we drag you and your lady friend back alive. So why don't you just surrender?" The man boasted while subtly gesturing to his subordinates. His subordinates, seeing the signal, began to slowly try and surround me.
I said nothing and stayed in place despite my instincts telling me to run.
"What cat got your tongue?" he mocked. Seeing me not responding, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed before quickly relaxing.
"I see what it is. You are trying to buy some time for your friend to escape, aren't you?"
My face, no longer hidden by my hood, twitched. Judging by the look on the bounty hunter's face, he saw it.
"What a shame. Oh well, they still are offering 50 spirit stones for both of your heads, so that's good enough!" The bounty hunter rushed in along with his group.
As they closed in, I started to feel a bit worried.
'Did she run?'
'Can I trust her?'
I shook those thoughts off and focused on maintaining the art concentrated in my left arm. Suddenly, I heard whistling through the air, and a smile spread across my face.
Seeing me, the bounty hunter must have sensed something because he immediately threw his body to the ground. That move saved his life. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about his companions.
"Ahhh!" "What the F#$k!" "Boss sav-"
Spears of ice pierced each of their bodies. Some through their legs and arms, disabling them and leaving them screaming on the ground. While some more unlucky ones were stabbed through the chest or face and had their lives extinguished immediately.
As soon as the first body hit the ground, I was already moving towards the bounty hunters' boss, who, at the center of the group, managed to dodge the two spears aimed at him.
"You bastard! I'll bury you with my brothers! " The man shouted, climbed to his feet, and rushed towards me with surprising speed.
His blade swung out, cutting through the air towards my face. I waited until the last minute before sliding between his legs, reversing our original position. In front of me was my partner who was running towards me.
My attention was grabbed by the boss turning around with a slash that almost took my head off. I jumped back just in the nick of time, only suffering a gash to my face instead of my neck.
"You are dead!" The man's eyes were deep red with rage. He completely lost his rationality.
'Perfect.'
The pressure in my arm was starting to build more and more, and it felt like it would explode any second. Just then I felt a chilling aura next to me, and I knew that she had arrived. Her right hand locked fingers with my left, and when our qi met this time, it gave off an unbelievable pressure.
The bounty hunter who had just been ready to charge forward froze. His anger disappeared as he felt the aura coming off us.
"I-Impossible! The bounty poster said you both were at most at the 5th level!" He shouted while stepping back step by step.
Our aura continued to grow more and more as we pointed our joined hands at the bounty hunter in front of us.
"So why... Why do I feel the aura of foundation establishment!?" His rationality completely left him.
Ignoring him, our index finger pointed at the man as the aura finally hit its peak.
Sensing danger, the man threw his blade at us while running away in a zigzag pattern.
"Useless." "Useless." My partner's and my voices overlapped and carried the same cadence. We released the cap on our qi from our fingers, and the concentrated qi, finally sensing an opening, was unleashed.
"Ying-Yang Cannon!" "Ying-Yang Cannon!"
The ground shook from the technique, and the shockwave tore apart the surrounding earth. The huge blast of blazing hot qi mixed with freezing cold qi shot towards the general direction of the bounty hunter at incredible speed. He turned and saw it moving towards him, and before he would say a word...
He was gone. No body, bones, blood, or even clothes. There was nothing left.
The blast continued carving a path of destruction through the forest. Tearing through both trees and terrain. Feeling the qi leaving me, I swayed on my feet before being steadied by my partner.
"We need to clean up and move on." She said. Her voice sounds just as weak as I feel.
"Haah. You are right." I said while gulping as much air as possible into my lungs. After regaining my composure, we killed the disabled bounty hunters and looted them for all they had.
'Just a little longer. A few more months until we can find the treasure. Then we can get revenge with our own hands.'
I felt my face grow fierce before I felt my partners linking hands with me. I looked at her and saw a tired smile. I allowed my face to relax and returned a shaky smile.
'For now. Let's just find somewhere to rest.'
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How is it going, guys? This was originally going to be two chapters but figured that I would treat you guys and gals to a extra chunky chapter.
If you see any errors or something doesn't sound right, let me know. It's one of my goals to give you guys the best reading experience possible.
Let me know what you liked! Let me know what you hated!
'll see you all next time. Stay tuned!