Chapter 511: The Brightwind Patriarch's Harem

Of course Omilaena actually did the things she was supposed to do, but at soon as she had done what she judged to be the optimal minimum, she went off to track down Zin Nim.

Not out of any sense of concern, really, mostly being nosy. Or perhaps, since they were married, she was allowed this level of stalking. Omilaena amused herself with that thought while she pursued the other woman through the halls of the Brightwind Pagoda, to see if she would kill anyone. And maybe help out, if appropriate.

When the servants saw Zin Nim they were all shocked, though in a variety of different directions with a broad spectrum of capacities to hide it. Some of them hid their reactions like masters while others left Omilaena baffled how they'd survived this long without some cultivator slapping their head off. Those that looked horrified by Zin Nim's gray skin were risking it in that moment, though thankfully Zin Nim seemed content enough in herself to ignore their reactions.

Instead she simply made her way through the halls of the vast pagoda, ignoring all the wealth as she entered increasingly inner chambers. Ignoring the great hall entirely, Zin Nim pivoted to more private chambers and eventually came to a door that appeared to be sealed. Nothing that they couldn't break, of course... but when Zin Nim touched it, the door opened silently for her.

And on the other side, a chamber as silent as the grave. Omilaena couldn't resist creeping forward to get a better look.

It was a bedroom framed by billowing blue curtains, luxurious in every respect and yet lifeless. Zin Nim moved in slowly, her frown deepening, but apparently found everything as she expected. She moved first to a chest of drawers and began withdrawing gold and jade jewelry, some of which was discarded while others disappeared into her spatial bracelet.

After that she moved to a cabinet and began removing cultivator robes, abandoning all those with Brightwind patterns while keeping several blue and black robes with clouds. While unfolding one set for examination, Zin Nim turned toward the door.

"I know you're following me."

"Of course I am!" Omilaena flounced into the room cheerfully. "And now I'm in the private bedroom of the beloved daughter of the Brightwind Sect, how scandalous!"

"Brightwind matriarch now, I suppose." Zin Nim sighed and set aside the robes she'd been examining. "Propriety doesn't apply when you're powerful enough."

"Well, I am going to snoop around and see if I can find anything embarrassing."

"You won't. I wasn't allowed to be embarrassing."

Omilaena wasn't sure about that because some sections of the room appeared more recently used than others: the bed had a thin layer of dust, for example, while another cabinet appeared to have been moved in recently. While Omilaena looked around, she kept on eye on Zin Nim, watching her go to a table beside a tall mirror and begin to select from her combs and hairpins.

"This... wasn't a happy place." Zin Nim spoke quietly, one hand extended to the mirror. "A comfortable prison, but a prison nonetheless."

"Want to burn it down?" Omilaena asked. She'd have to hold off on investigating the new cabinet.

"That wouldn't accomplish anything. I want to take the worthwhile things and leave this place behind."

"What about the bed?" Omilaena crept closer and slipped both arms around the other woman's waist from behind. "We could break all those unhappy memories, maybe leave the bed itself in shambles. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"That's unnecessary." Zin Nim squirmed a little, but her hand atop Omilaena's only rested there, not pushing her away. "I didn't mean to linger here, I just wanted to check my things. I actually have more important business to do further in."

In that case, Omilaena was running out of time. She approached the cabinet and broke through the weak seal... and discovered one more dress along with a considerable amount of jewelry. Definitely a wedding outfit, though an unusual one: blue fading to purple with golden embroidery. A shining hairpiece with trails of silk and golden beads, rings and armbands, even gold and blue shoes.

"That was to be my wedding outfit." Zin Nim hadn't turned to look, still gazing into the mirror as if she was seeing something else. "When my cultivation stalled, some in the court started to think about marrying me off. They did me up as well as they could, trying to hide my scars, and I realized that I was going to be just another treasure. The despair I felt in that moment... that was when I decided to run away to Deadwaste."

"And look where that brought you!" Omilaena saw there were emotions to be explored there, but thought Zin Nim would be better helped by teasing, so she pulled the dress from its place.

"I know, it's simply... hard to think about how much everything has changed..."

Omilaena whisked the dress across the room, holding it up between Zin Nim and the mirror. "Oh, this would look good on you. But so much cleavage! That doesn't seem like you."

"There are... different traditions about formal clothing." Zin Nim flushed adorably gray as she looked at the dress. "More respectable weddings are very formal and proper, but other times the bride is... put on display."

"Aww, and here I was going to say that we'd like to see you in it. Are you telling me that you wouldn't like that, just the three of us? And if the dress ends up destroyed by the end, no harm done, right?"

Zin Nim squirmed and then shook her head. "I told you, we have more important work to do. I wanted Kai away when we visited the inner courts, but... you can come. We have to decide how to do this."

With a theatrical sigh, Omilaena pretended to put the wedding dress away. As soon as Zin Nim turned away, however, she instead stuffed the outfit into her spatial satchel. Zin Nim was in a mood now, but once she got away from all this, Omilaena was willing to bet they could change her mind.

.

..

.

Even though she had planned to do this herself, Zae Zin Nim was truly glad to have Omilaena walking alongside her as they reached the innermost courts. She felt as though she was floating, yet not under her own power, simply unmoored from reality. After so long, after having experienced so much, she couldn't truly be coming back here.

There had been a time when she had planned bloody vengeance on anyone who had ever done her a wrong turn, but most of those thoughts seemed petty now. The rivals who had cursed her with the Blackblood Physique seemed petty, especially now that she had transformed it into a true gift. Only one thing remained that she absolutely needed to resolve.

They passed through the gates to her father's harem.

The luxury immediately set Zae Zin Nim on edge - despite all the years that had passed, nothing had changed, and the old memories were suffocating. Silks and perfumes everywhere, but the worst of it was the women themselves. Her mother was no longer alive, but the others loomed so large in her history that she was more anxious than when they had fought the Redstorm Sect.

When she found the women, they were all together: arrayed in their best, pretending at nonchalant elegance but hiding anxiousness. Many of the same women she remembered, though a few older women had disappeared and a few younger ones had joined the group. They had no doubt prepared themselves for the Redstorm Sect breaking in, along with many other outcomes, but they stared at Zae Zin Nim in a horror that had nothing to do with her appearance.

"I..." Zae Zin Nim opened her mouth, intending to speak strongly. She hesitated only the briefest moment, which was enough for one of the matrons to speak up.

"Little Nim?" The older woman stepped forward, shaking her head. "I see it's true that you cured yourself, but... this is a very bold choice for you."

Before Zae Zin Nim could waver, she felt Omilaena shift up behind her, hands on her shoulders. "You're speaking to the Brightwind matriarch," her wife said, "shouldn't you show a little more respect?"

From Zae Zin Nim's perspective, her wife felt warm and comforting, but her expression must have been vicious, because the entire harem flinched. Even the matrons bowed and no longer attempted any manipulations. With that support, Zae Zin Nim was able to regain her composure.

She had thought about this moment for so long. As a younger and more emotional woman, she had imagined slaughtering the entire harem, but now she couldn't help but see how many of them were prisoners like her. And yet so many others were vicious backstabbers, almost as oppressive as her father had been...

"The Brightwind Sect no longer has a need for your services," Zae Zin Nim stated. "If you seek the path of cultivation, you may join the inner disciples. If you wish to leave, you may depart. But tomorrow, I will destroy this place and the harem chambers will not be rebuilt."

Her announcement triggered a wave of shock - once she would have been most pleased by those who were furious, but now Zae Zin Nim noted that some of the women looked relieved. Maybe they would build new lives, maybe they would simply become more feuding cultivators, but either way they would no longer loom in her past.

"Wait, please," one of the unfamiliar women said. "Throwing us out would be foolish, not when we can do so much for you. We could be given as bargaining chips to-"

"I will not do what my father did, but I also don't want to look at you any more."

Some began to scurry away, while one of her father's favorites remained stiff. "You're making a mistake. Rumors are that you have a husband now, don't you? Better to give us to him than to let him stray on his ow-"

"I said go." Zae Zin Nim wanted to slap her, even kill her, but instead she spoke in an icy voice.

And in that moment, she saw the other woman show real fear. The matron who had tormented her, who had whispered in her father's ear, who had made the harem into a toxic pit... actually quailed. She didn't protest, didn't even bow, she simply fled. The others scattered as well, taking their things and preparing to leave.

Not so different from Zae Zin Nim herself.

Meanwhile, Omilaena pressed up against her back a little more. "I was tempted to tease," she whispered, "but I suppose this isn't the time."

"No, it isn't. But... thank you."

They remained there together for a while longer, and Zae Zin Nim was uncertain what to say. It was done, and her father's harem would be no more even without her destroying the chambers, yet she didn't know where to go from there. Surprisingly, help came from their distant husband in the form of a cracking sound that shook the entire Brightwind Pagoda.

"Another attack?" Omilaena mused.

"No, Kai must have broken the grand vault." Zae Zin Nim nodded in satisfaction and turned away, leaving the elegant chambers behind her. "We have work to do."