NOVEL NEXT 163: Performance Day Nerves
Having enjoyed their night, all the party-goers slipped back into Westriver late into the night. With the masters being as flashy as possible with their return, they tried to hide everything to do with the disciples.
Getting back to their apartment late into the night, Lin Songmei and Yan Mingqing bid goodnight to their friends, slipping into their room to knock out for a good night’s rest.
Taking the next day to digest their gains just a little more and solidify their ability to fight with their new foundation establishment level abilities, Songmei and Mingqing acted as if nothing was out of the norm. Going through the motions of a normal day, Songmei and Mingqing played the part to the letter as they even went on a bonus date.
They were definitely, absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, going on the date to play the part—not all because they just felt like going out on a date and having some alone time.
Getting the most out of their relaxation day, Songmei and Mingqing met back up with Han Youhong, Wang Taigang, and Zhao Liying to gear up for their final offensive push. Gao Kunshan, now, might as well have been dirt on the side of the road when it came to how much of a threat he posed.
Well, it was still a bit of an exaggeration. As the mayor, Gao Kunshan, with all his supporters, cards up his sleeve, and other mysterious benefactors, still deserved caution. Gao Kunshan covered his tracks like no one else. Any trace of his mysterious benefactors were gone long before anyone could figure out who they were.
Though, because of their anecdotal evidence—getting stabbed in various places from an Avarice sneak attack—Songmei and the others were almost sure it was the demons. They just couldn’t prove it.
Because they had fallen into a stalemate, time, in theory, was on their side. However, it was beginning to look like they had underestimated the mayor. Gao Kunshan, with his... charismatic receding hairline... had managed to rally the people to remain in a semi-quarantine and it looked like they were content to remain in the semi-quarantine until the conflict ended.
Therefore, Songmei, Mingqing, Youhong, Taigang, and Liying, had devised a bit of a gamble. They’d split off into two groups, Songmei and Mingqing in one with the other three in the other.
Songmei and Mingqing would try to occupy the mayor and—if they were lucky—bait out some sort of demon transformation. In the meantime, Youhong, Taigang, and Liying would cooperate with the other direct disciples to raid the mayor’s head office along with the mayor’s private warehouses.
Pretty much, they were committing crimes! Woohoo!
In reality, it was not a “Woohoo” moment though. If the mayor let himself be captured and the others didn’t find anything, there was a pretty good chance they’d all go to jail. Going to jail, if it wasn’t obvious, was not on Songmei’s to-do list either. She’d just rather avoid jail if possible.
A little risky, but everyone agreed it was a good idea. It had already been a while and the sects were beginning to pressure them just a touch. Moreover, Liu Xueli had admitted it wasn’t a realistic choice for her to leave Songmei and Mingqing in Westriver for too long. The sect wanted to advertise their two new stars and didn’t want their cultivation to stagnate by staying in Westriver for too long.
“Why today of all days though...” Youhong asked from his collapsed position on the couch. “I’m kinda just... apprehensive.”
“Because you have to lead people for once? Too much of a chicken, Youhong?” Liying poked Youhong in the cheek while espousing her... own, unique style of encouragement. “Not used to leading because you’ve been mooching off Taigang and I for too long?”
Popping a vein, Youhong pushed himself up while trying to poke Liying back. “No, that’s not my issue! You know... I’m just apprehensive for my leading role to be on a criminal mission.”
“Well, you’re energetic now,” Liying shrugged, walking off towards the bathroom. “Now hurry up and get changed, we’re leaving in a couple minutes.”
Looking around for a closet, bathroom, or other secluded space, Youhong’s face fell as he realized the only space still open was the upstairs bathroom. With a light jog, Youhong leapt over the railing for the stairs and made his way up.
Taking a moment to go through his outfits, Youhong made a quick choice before throwing on the new outfit. For someone as advanced as Youhong, he could make an outfit decision in seconds. Ninety percent of his wardrobe being black helped a lot with making the decision easy, of course.
Rushing through his changing process, Youhong burst back out of the bathroom. Scaring the heavens out of Taigang, Youhong rushed forward, catching his stumbling friend. “Whoa, whoa, sorry. You okay?”
“... Y... Yeah. I’m fine,” Taigang breathed with heavy breaths, putting a hand to his chest as he steadied himself. “Let’s just go downstairs. The others are waiting.”
Giving a thumbs-up, Youhong leapt down the stairs, landing on the ground below with a light crouch. With Taigang electing to take the stairs instead, Youhong’s gaze was interrupted as Liying pat him on the back. “Impressive stuff, Youhong. This is why you’re the stealth leader. You’re able to jump off ledges and land without a squeak.”
“It doesn’t matter...” Youhong shook his head, already apprehensive of the mission up ahead.
Everyone, though, was decked out from head-to-toe in unusual outfits, new for the occasion—they wanted to use the sect money somehow after all.
Youhong, Taigang, and Liying were all dressed in more mundane, low-key outfits. Decked from head-to-toe in close to skin-tight all-black outfits, there wasn’t much to note. Youhong had a couple belts in random places, with one line of throwing knives running across his chest.
Taigang, without too much hair to speak of, put on a beanie provided by Youhong to hide his blond hair. Liying, on the other hand, had tied her flaming-red hair back in a bun, hiding it under a hood to keep the attention off herself.
Songmei and Mingqing were dressed in fancier outfits though. Prepared for a drawn out battle against the mayor, they both elected to have some skin showing. Not collapsing from heat exhaustion would be ideal after all.
Mingqing, being the front line combatant, had a pair of navy high boots on. The boots were—for obvious reasons—without a heel as well. Wearing some skin-tight pants to keep her mobility high, Mingqing’s upper body was covered with a white, flowy shirt tucked into her pants.
With the shirt exposing her shoulders, Mingqing had a short, half-shoulder cape on to provide a little protection. In all honesty, though, her skin was the actual protector in the equation. The cape wasn’t going to do much other than protect her from... surprise rain maybe.
Mingqing did have a cloth greave on one forearm, though. Not for any great reason, she just wanted to match with the one Songmei was wearing.
Songmei, without a front-line combat role, could afford an outfit with a little less mobility and a little more protection. Having commissioned a low-shin length coat made out a material which could withstand... maybe a couple of hits, Songmei’s outfit was dominated by the coat. It was black with a few dark blue splashes to match Mingqing.
Under her coat, Songmei was wearing a pair of boots similar to Mingqing, but her legs were covered only with a pair of thigh-high tights and short-shorts. Without custom-made pants, anything covering her legs would make absolutely no difference in the face of a Qi blade. Therefore, Songmei decided to show a little skin for the sake of fashion.
It was as the novels said! The cooler one looked, the better one’s defense was. If Songmei fought hard, but looked good while doing it as well, she’d be infallible! It was a tried and true strategy.
