Chapter 233: The Home |
My "dear" fiancé had a remarkable talent for crying, a skill she exerted constantly during the days it took us to reach Liu Clan's city. It was annoying, but I got used to it.
It took us days to reach the city and our home, and for the first time in a while, I let myself relax while dealing with certain things absentmindedly. Liu Bo was there to help me along the way. After a while, I kind of let him deal with everything.
After settling the injured into the healer's chambers and taking care of everything that needed immediate attention, I walked with her toward my house. We were alone along the way for the first time in days.
The moment we were out of sight, Fu Yating stopped crying. Her tears vanished as quickly as they had appeared, wiped away with the sleeve of her robe.
Before she could speak, I cut her off. "Were you about to laugh as soon as you woke up? To anyone with half a brain, that could have blown our cover."
"That was days ago. Are you still grumpy about that?" Fu Yating sighed, exasperated. "Also, did you have to squeeze my lungs so hard just to stop me from laughing?"
When she'd woken up, smiling while I carried her in a princess carry, I squeezed her torso to stop her from making any reckless comments.
"If I had it my way, I would have crushed your rib cage," I grumbled.
Letting Fu Yating's cultivation be crushed wasn't that bad. It secured my safety and satisfied the clan. It worked for me too. But there was still the matter of face and a reputation to uphold. If people thought I was a pushover, I'd be forced to deal with fools testing my patience.
Tedious work. But necessary. Otherwise every John, Jack, and Jason would be looking for trouble with me.
After all the trouble I went through, even spouting all that cringe-worthy nonsense about her being my wife...
"Well," Fu Yating said, "I'll admit, I thought there was a good chance I wouldn't wake up after your grandfather broke my cultivation. You could have easily killed me and written it off as an accident. It would've made things easier for you."
"It would have been a strange move after all the effort I went through to save you," I replied. "Only for you to ruin it all with a smile."
"Can't a girl just smile and be happy?" she said. "Not everyone has the emotional range of a puppet, like you."
That was an odd way to frame things.
Fu Yating had her uses and was part of a piece in a future scheme, but that didn't mean I trusted her. Not fully... Not at all, really.
"You know your being here means your family is dead, right?" I stated.
Fu Yating stopped in her tracks. She turned to me and held my gaze without flinching.
"I don't care," she said, shrugging. "Well, I do care, but it doesn't matter. I have my own problems to deal with. Crying over people who saw me as nothing more than a womb to give away? I'm not that stupid."
Did something happen with her family to sour that relationship? That worked very well for me, and it was convenient. Almost too convenient.
Just when I should be worried that grief might drive her to stab me in my sleep, she no longer cared for her family. I didn't believe in people enough to say everyone loved their family. But convenient things like that? I trusted them even less.
“By the way, how is your clan doing?” she asked.
“Why would you need to know something like that?”
“Just worried about the future. As you said, after so much effort it would be a shame if everything went down the well. After all, the Liu Clan is weakened, and if some other force came and killed us all…” She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Do you guys even have any plans?”
“I have no idea what the Clan Head has planned,” I said. “Though I have my own plan if something like that happens.”
She nodded as we reached the gate of my house and stepped inside the snowy yard. Everything looked as I had left it, and Speedy was still sleeping.
“This is your house?” Fu Yating asked, staring at the large two-story building.
“Yes. Why?” I inquired as we approached the front door.
“I don’t know… It seems kind of small,” she said.
Wow. I hadn’t expected her to reveal her spoiled, clan-head-daughter tendencies like this.
“I mean, you’re clearly a focal point of the Liu Clan. Both in a literal sense and a strategic one,” she continued. “You having such a small house just seems… I don’t know…”
“A bigger house would serve no purpose,” I shrugged and knocked on the door.
Footsteps echoed from inside, followed by the door opening to reveal my mother and father. My father smiled when he saw me, and my mother did the same before tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged me tightly.
“My boy. My baby boy is alive!” she breathed out, holding me with all the strength she could muster.
“Mother, Father, I’m back,” I smiled. “As you can see, without even a scratch on me.”
My father’s smile widened, and he turned toward Fu Yating. “Welcome back, son. It seems you’ve brought a friend.”
“Her name is Fu Yating, and she’s my fiancée,” I introduced her.
My father winced, already guessing the circumstances behind such a situation. My mother, on the other hand, seemed purely happy.
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“Oh, dear, she’s pale as a ghost,” my mother said, releasing me and moving toward Fu Yating. She fussed over her immediately. “You should eat more. You’re so thin.”
Fu Yating offered a radiant smile and bowed her head slightly. “Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, thank you for having me. I apologize for any inconvenience–”
“No worry, dear. You’re not an inconvenience,” my mother reassured her. “You’re to be my son’s wife. I’ve always wanted a daughter to spoil!”
“Come in. Don’t stay out in the cold,” my father beckoned us inside.
As we walked in, I turned around to close the door. At the same time, Fu Yating “coincidentally” also turned, and our hands touched. Fu Yating immediately withdrew her hand and blushed like a tomato.
My parents saw the whole exchange and smiled knowingly.
Well, at least Fu Yating knew how to act.
But as she backed off, I leaned in and whispered to her, “If anything happens to them, you won’t have a pretty death.”
Usually, I avoided blatant threats, especially around cultivators with keen hearing. But my parents were just regular people.
Even with my threat, Fu Yating kept her radiant, dreamy smile, blushing like an innocent maiden. If I hadn’t known better, I might have believed her act.
She gave a brief nod, acknowledging that she’d heard and understood. Her smile didn’t falter as my mother continued fussing over her.
Meanwhile, my father nudged me with his elbow. “You have to marry her soon, son. Girls like that are rare nowadays. You might be handsome but with your martial-muscled brain…”
He shook his head, sighing as he finished his sentence.
Well, that was encouraging.
As we walked through the hallways, Wu Yan came down the stairs. She was still wearing her porcelain mask, and unlike my parents, she didn't seem so worried. She simply nodded my way.
At least someone in this house believed in my ability to survive. Wu Yan and I had traveled together for a while, and she knew I wouldn't die so easily. I would simply retreat if it looked like I stood no chance in a fight.
"Wu Yan, how have you been? How has your training been going?" I asked.
She nodded, and I turned around to introduce Fu Yating. “This is Fu Yating, my fiancée. Fu Yating, this is Wu Yan, my… sister.”
Fu Yating nodded and offered polite, courteous greetings in line with the persona she was building.
I leaned in and whispered to Wu Yan, "Be careful around my so-called fiancée. She's a master schemer and manipulator."
Wu Yan nodded. Then, with a few gestures, she indicated she wanted to show me the results of her training, or at least that's what I thought she meant. With our parents around, she couldn't generate a mouth on her throat to speak.
The rest of the day passed calmly, a welcome break from the tedious traveling and fighting we'd been enduring. Fu Yating and my mother talked endlessly while I focused more on Wu Yan and her training. Her progress seemed about as expected.
...
As evening settled in, I lay on my bed in a meditative position, cultivating. The flow of Qi through my spiritual roots was steady, distilling around the stem and gathering at my dantian below my stomach. The sensation was soothing, like drinking ice-cold water on a scorching day, feeling the coolness spread through my body.
After days spent traveling the cold roads in the snow, resting in a proper bed in a familiar home felt good. Arrays made traveling more convenient, but they couldn't replace the comfort of home.
As I was settling into this peaceful rhythm, my door opened. I immediately stopped cultivating and turned my attention to the intruder, someone I might regret saving if she continued to be such a nuisance.
Fu Yating stood there with a radiant smile plastered on her face. It was the same smile she'd worn while charming my mother, seemingly glued in place. My fiancée was many things, but she certainly knew how to win over in-laws and act the part of a proper, polite bride.
"My mother should have prepared a guest room for you," I said, my tone flat.
Her smile didn't waver as she responded, "We are husband and wife. We should at least sleep in the same bed. After all, I have to act out the part of the loving bride."
"No, thanks," I told her.
While I intended to make her stay here comfortable, I wasn't about to disturb my rest for her sake. A good night's sleep was crucial for long-term relaxation and happiness, and having Fu Yating in the same room would ruin that quiet, restful period.
"Why?" she asked, the smile slipping off her face as she looked at the ground, all sad, like a kicked puppy.
"I wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably with you too close by," I explained.
"Wow, do you have to be so blunt?" she sighed, dropping the act. "I would be crying right now if I hadn't wasted all my tears weeping for days to sell the part that I was angry about. Do you know how uncomfortable that was? I had wet spots on my face in the cold weather all the time, and since I'm no longer a cultivator, the cold hurts!"
While she was complaining, Fu Yating took some liberties, stepping past the door and into my room.
I just stared at her with an indifferent look. She was a bright girl and should read the situation. If she couldn't, well, she wasn't smart enough, which made her useless to me, meaning I had no reason to keep her alive.
She was about to take a second step when a brittle smile appeared on her face.
"It seems like being pushy isn't going to work," she said. Then she walked back and stood just outside the door. "I've seen a lot of wives and husbands bend over backward for their significant other. But it seems like you don't fit the norm."
There was a joke there about her wording, but she might have taken it the wrong way and interpreted it as flirting if I pointed it out.
Our relationship was one of mutual benefits, and she knew that was all it would ever be.
After a long silence, Fu Yating stared at me as I was about to cultivate. Finally, she asked, "What do you think when you look at me?"
Her body shifted, and she blushed, glancing around as if embarrassed. It was picture-perfect behavior for someone feigning awkwardness.
"I think whether threatening you to go away would be the best move right now," I said.
"Wow, you really have a way with words," she said.
"I know. I have my charms too," I shrugged.
"Okay, I won't bother you anymore," she said, closing the door to my bedroom and walking away while humming some local traditional song. As her footsteps faded into the distance, I returned to cultivating.
I had helped her survive because we had made a deal, and she was useful in her own way. But ever since then, I'd been pondering if it was the best decision.
Did I subconsciously have a thing for keeping around women who were a headache?
Well, Song Song was right about one thing: with a fiancée like Fu Yating around, she would make sure I never lost my edge.
I closed my eyes and began cultivating, reflecting on her body language and how she lied. It was flawless. A part of me was jealous and wanted a skill like that.
...
It was almost midnight after finishing my cultivation session, and I felt the strain on my spiritual roots. A dull numbness settled at the back of my neck, and a fullness lingered in my stomach.
In the quiet of my bedroom, I knelt by the bed and traced the first array onto the wooden floor. The dim light of the lantern flickered as my Qi flowed into the symbols, the faint glow of the barrier spreading through the room.
I quickly added a detection array, its lines precise and pulsing softly as it activated, a subtle hum settling into the air. Finally, I etched a reinforcement array beneath the bed, its glow barely visible but enough to strengthen the others.
Satisfied, I slipped under the blankets. The room's warmth and the arrays' faint hum brought a sense of calm. As my eyes closed, the gentle glow of the protections faded into the background.