Chapter 417: The Best Laid Plans of Cultivators and Men

As far as Omilaena was concerned, the two people exploring alongside her were more interesting than the city itself. Floodisle City was big, sure, but it was another cultivator city with cultivator ranks and cultivator rules. These two would be beside her long after she'd harvested the city for whatever it was worth and left it behind.

Zin Nim took to the city immediately, treating everything granted by her rank as a right. It was convenient, such as when she deduced that the flying rickshaws were free for anyone above the tenth rank, and sometimes fun, such as when a salesperson started to bother them and Zin Nim stared at him so intensely he looked like he almost pissed his pants. The only thing that left Omilaena a little unsettled was how much Zin Nim adapted to it, reminding her a little too much of the worst women in the Pureflower sect.

By contrast, Kai was clearly out of his element, treated as an obstacle or servant. Omilaena didn't have a single comforting instinct in her body, but she felt a bit bad for him, so she made sure to counteract that. She pressed up against his side more than necessary, whispered promises into his ear, and generally tried to make sure he was too horny to feel bad about anything.

First they visited one of the cultivator markets, where they were immediately ushered to the higher class section. The Pureflower sect had given them plenty of qi pills among their supplies, but Omilaena purchased a few more items, just in case things went bad. She could use more metals as well, even if they weren't particularly impressive.

While Zin Nim examined local flying swords, which she said were superior, Omilaena sidled over to where Kai was looking through a stall of assorted items. She ducked under his arm and hung off him while he looked, pleased by how automatically he grabbed her hip.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"I was hoping they'd sell monster cores, but there isn't a lot of that here," he said. "I asked earlier and they implied there was a wet market in the lower city, if anywhere. That's probably not going to be good enough for me."

"Not a lot of monster hunting in these parts." Omilaena patted his side apologetically.

"Not a lot of imports in general. Not like Rosemount."

"Well, Cloudspire has always had a stick up its ass about not needing anything from the other continents. I think you could make some chakra progress, though."

"Really? I've seen some chakras, but they don't seem to value it as much..."

"You just need to use them a little more adventurously." Omilaena plucked a glass bottle from the stand, which was covered in warning symbols, and held it up for him. "See, this says that it will increase your power, but drive you mad and reduce your lifespan."

"What a great deal."

"No, but think about it. The ingredients can't just have an arbitrary 'decreases lifespan' quality - that's silly. What it has is a material effect, likely flooding power through your body in a way that harms it. Which means that the negative effect is conditional - I'm willing to bet your Behemoth's Heart can just consume most things like that without skipping a beat."

"Huh." Kai nodded and began to look through the stands with new eyes. Simple as it was, Omilaena was glad to have someone who really listened and understood.

Before she could decide how much to tease him, Zin Nim returned to them and gestured with a nod. "I've been given access to a store with highly restricted goods," she said. "Let's go see if they have anything we need."

The "store" was basically a tower, complete with its own guards, qi shielding, and balconies where cultivators sipped tea. Since that sort of ostentation usually meant strength on Cloudspire, Omilaena was curious to see what it held. She'd found absolutely no poisons so far and could only hope that those were kept in restricted areas.

When they approached the door, the guards shuffled nervously, and a woman in an official's robes looked them over. Omilaena was ready to show her jade slip, as she'd needed to do many times already, but the woman seemed focused on Kai.

"The two of you may enter, but he cannot," the official said.

"He is with us." Zin Nim delivered her usual glower, but the official's sanctimoniousness was impervious.

"We have certain requirements for our clientele, and I fear your servant does not meet them. We would welcome you and your companion, but we cannot allow you to disturb the other clients."

Zin Nim looked like she was considering murdering the woman, while Kai just sighed. Definitely time for her to take action. Omilaena slipped between them, taking Zin Nim's arm before she could kill anyone, and took over the conversation.

"Of course, we understand." She bumped her ass against Kai and gave him a smirk over her shoulder, then escorted Zin Nim inside.

Within, the air was immediately cooler and filled with qi. All the walls were covered in elegant hangings, but Omilaena was more interested in how the floors seemed to be divided into different levels based on rank. The first one started at rank 6 and the servants inside quickly hastened to urge them upward. It seemed like the second to last floor was rank 10, with a special rank 11+ floor beyond.

The materials began feeling powerful enough starting on the 9th floor, so they stopped there. Omilaena immediately discovered where all the poisons were hiding and eagerly went to go investigate. She was surprised that Zin Nim went along with her, holding her arm affectionately.

"Do the poisons need to be Sky Soul tier?" Zin Nim asked. "I'll help you look."

"I don't just need intensity, my Heart of Poison can also grow with variety," Omilaena said, selecting one of the jars. "See, this isn't so different from a Rosemount poison, despite its strength, but this one... some sort of meridian poison, is it?"

"Yes, I think that would be different. Let us see..."

That was reassuring in a way Omilaena hadn't realized earlier: Zin Nim might be at home here, but she hadn't reverted to her old self. She might look like a perfect cultivator maiden, but she would kill to defend either of them. Which was nice, even if Omilaena didn't particularly need that right now.

While they moved through the poisons, Omilaena also examined the other customers. There were some powerful Earth Souls, yes, but also women purchasing beauty products and men buying silk robes who didn't seem to be cultivators. Unsurprising that the ranking system allowed for factors other than strength, though she took a perverse pleasure in going all the way to the top on power alone.

After they made a few good purchases, they moved on to what Zin Nim was interested in... which seemed to be dual cultivation products, which were held in a screened off area. Omilaena slid up beside her, teasing half as much as she did with Kai, which was about all Zin Nim could take.

"And just what are you looking for?"

"It isn't fair to leave him outside," Zin Nim said with determination. "I... want to make sure we get something for him. As recompense for the insults."

"I don't think we need to buy anything to thank him for putting up with us." Omilaena got a little bolder, her arm snaking around the other woman's waist so her hand could flatten against her stomach. "Pretty sure the two of us can reward him just fine."

"No, I want to find something." She held up a white jar and sniffed the contents. "I like the qi in this, but what is it? The smell is... do you eat it? That seems like it would be repulsive."

Omilaena had to restrain her chuckle. "That's a cream, dear. You don't put it in your mouth, not unless you're feeling adventurous."

"I... I see..." Zin Nim flushed, but didn't break until Omilaena slid her hand further down. "Omi! Don't be vulgar!"

"What? You weren't complaining last night."

"Enjoying m-marital congress is not vulgar! Displaying what should be private, for anyone to see... that is what is inappropriate."

"Ah." Omilaena's eyebrows rose as she understood something about the other woman for the first time.

She was a possessive little thing, actually. Where Omilaena was happy to show off herself or others, Zin Nim wanted to keep it all to herself. Quite a cultivator's attitude, now that she thought about it, but Omilaena just found herself fondly amused. Fine, she could play along with that game too.

"Alright, I'll behave myself and we'll see what we can find..."

.

..

.

Finally, after so many disasters and inconveniences, everything was going right. Zin Nim floated through the city like she was a lotus petal herself.

The creams seemed like they would burn a hole in her spatial bracelet, even though they were cool to the touch, because she couldn't help thinking about her plans for later. She knew that Kai didn't have an ego like so many of the men she knew, but it just wasn't fair. He should be able to stride the streets and have others cower before him, not be treated like a peasant. Later, she would make sure he understood how much she appreciated him.

Her real surprise was Omilaena, who had behaved herself the entire day after their conversation. The other woman took so much delight in being improper, but the instant she had really understood, she changed. Zae Zin Nim intended to thank her wife for that later too.

But for now, she was simply glad to have reached this point with both of them. They were back in civilization with proper credentials and no undue attention. Their goals in the Southern Rivers seemed distant priorities compared to just enjoying being together without any obligations.

"I know where I want to go tonight," Zae Zin Nim told them as they rode another rickshaw. "With no disrespect to Kai's cooking, you haven't seen the true cuisine of the Southern Rivers. I've heard about a restaurant that's supposed to be one of the four most prestigious in the city, which is not only delicious, but the food allegedly boosts your Physique. Maybe it won't make a difference, but..."

"But it's worth a try," Kai said. "Why not?"

Omilaena raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you know much about Southern Rivers cuisine? I thought this wasn't your area."

"I am still familiar with the customs of its strongest sects," Zae Zin Nim explained. "I may have had difficulties at home, but I ate the finest dishes from across Cloudspire. But even I never got the opportunity to go to a restaurant like this."

So they headed out together, though first they changed Kai into a nicer robe... or rather, they fed a nicer robe to the Beggar King's Robes, which was rather strange. Fortunately, there were more men in a restaurant like this seeking to enhance their Physique, so he didn't stand out as much and wasn't turned away. Which meant all three of them could enter and she could finally relax with her spouses.

Since they had more than enough money, Zae Zin Nim paid for the most expensive table and the full course. They were escorted to the top of the entire restaurant and given a glorious balcony seat that was shielded from the rest of the city by tree boughs, instead offering a look at the beautiful gardens below. Once this sort of luxury had been her everyday life, and she had spent years scrounging in wastelands... all those travels had brought her these two partners, and with them the luxury was a joy instead of a prison.

As the restaurant brought them dish after dish, they talked about everything and nothing. Eventually they would need to have a serious conversation about their next moves, but that didn't hang over the evening because she knew that she would enjoy that too.

Soon enough Zae Zin Nim had eaten all she could and sat back in satisfaction. Omilaena squeezed her thigh surreptitiously under the table, but it was just affectionate, not teasing. Meanwhile, Kai continued to consume an enormous quantity of food, since he could apparently eat anything. Either he had become more polite since they met or his manners no longer bothered her, because she was just glad to see him eating his fill.

"Thank you for putting up with everything," Zae Zin Nim said. She leaned against his side and smiled up at him when he looked at her. "It's ridiculous that they can't see your value."

"I expected it." Kai shrugged as he spoke, but she thought she was a bit of relief in his eyes. "People treated me strangely in the Bloodcoral sect, too. I knew once we got away from the Manticore tribe that I'd have to deal with this again."

"You are... not what men are expected to be, here."

"But we appreciate your qualities." Omilaena slid around the table to press against Kai's other side, putting her hand on his inner thigh. Zae Zin Nim had thought she was being forward with her own maneuver and now flushed. It was under the table, though, and that was just who Omilaena was, so she decided not to complain when her wife had already been so accommodating.

"You don't need to do this, really." Kai squeezed Omilaena's shoulders and planted a kiss on top of Zae Zin Nim's head. "I'd do a lot worse for your sake than play servant for a while. I only care what you two think about me, and I'm not worried about that."

Zae Zin Nim smiled and cuddled in beside him. She was trying to decide if it would be too forward to bring up what she had purchased, or if Omilaena would make fun of her for the clumsy attempt at seduction. Even that might not feel bad, not in their little group of three. For a few moments, she was purely happy.

"Excuse me, this table is needed."

The disruption shattered Zae Zin Nim's illusion of perfection. She sat upright, ready to castigate the servant who now bowed in front of them for interrupting, but her instincts told her that something else was wrong. Too late, she saw a young man in cultivator's robes walking toward them, with half a dozen young men in tow.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded. "First I find out my favorite table is taken, then I find this?"

"Apologies, my lord." The servant bowed desperately while being pushed out of the way. "They'll be gone soon, I assure you, and then-"

"What kind of place has this become?" the young master demanded. "I come here for a fine meal, not to see... some filthy ape groping two fine maidens."

At first Zae Zin Nim had been searching the faces for someone she knew, fearing that it would be a Brightwind ally, but all of these faces were unfamiliar. None of them were anyone they had met during the city or had any vendetta with. Her scalp went cold as she realized that this had nothing to do with any of their actions, it was just bad luck.

This couldn't be chalked up to Kai's cursed fate... this one was hers, for forgetting where she was.