Daily life of a cultivation judge

The expressions of the two escort supervisors darkened almost imperceptibly. Meanwhile, the lady in blue clenched her teeth, her fury simmering just beneath the surface. It took every ounce of restraint she had to keep herself from leaping over the table, yielding to the tempest of rage swirling within her.

Duan Ting and Liu Ying exchanged glances, seeing the same emotions shared between them. Regret and discomfort flickered in their eyes, but a deeper undercurrent of worry overshadowed both.

After a moment's hesitation and a heavy sigh, Duan Ting finally spoke. "One of our ferries... vanished—along with everyone and everything on board," he admitted, his voice heavy with defeat and his expression clouded with unease.

As the words left his mouth, his gaze flickered toward the lady in blue. Her fiery eyes burned with barely contained fury, like a predator ready to strike.

Duan Ting and Liu Ying, the objects of her smoldering wrath, instinctively averted their eyes. But after a moment, Duan Ting turned back to face her, his expression filled with guilt and remorse, as if silently acknowledging the weight of her anger.

"We are sorry, Miss Ming Wa. We are deeply sorry for this," Duan Ting said softly, his voice burdened with emotion as he cupped his fists and lowered his head slightly in a gesture of apology. Liu Ying followed suit, mirroring his actions.

"Will your apology bring my husband back?" the lady in blue robes asked coldly, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"To you, this might just be another job gone wrong, another loss to tally in your records. But to me..." She paused, lowering her head as her voice wavered.

"If something happened to him... you might as well have killed my entire family," she murmured, her tone barely audible, as though speaking more to herself than to anyone else.

Liu Ying's expression tightened, a retort hovering on the edge of her tongue. But the slight shake of Duan Ting's head stopped her before she could speak.

"So her name is Ming Wa..." Yang Qing mused silently as his gaze shifted to the lady in blue, her head still bowed, hiding the storm of emotions that clearly raged within her.

"Judging by her prior actions and her subtle reaction just now to her name being called, it's likely an alias," he thought, his mind briefly turning over the details before redirecting his focus to the two escort supervisors.

"How about we order something first?" Yang Qing suggested, his tone light and soft, an attempt to dissipate the suffocating tension that hung in the air.

As expected, no reply came from Ming Wa. Duan Ting and Liu Ying, who had already looked uneasy before his suggestion, now seemed even more awkward, shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

Anticipating their reaction based on their earlier behavior, Yang Qing spoke up again, his tone light and reassuring.

"Let me handle it. I'll order for us all. A jar of wine and some sides should suffice," he said, pulling out his token.

Channeling a sliver of his will into it, he activated the menu function embedded within. Scanning through the options with practiced ease, Yang Qing made his selections. He chose the thousand-flower nectar wine, accompanied by fried silver crickets, dried meat strips from pork, beef, and venison, a bowl of roasted peanuts, and spicy fried lotus seeds.

Yang Qing kept the choices simple. Duan Ting and Liu Ying were already on edge simply from being here. Ordering something extravagant might overwhelm them further—not to mention their appetites were likely nonexistent given the tension in the air.

The wine and snacks seemed like the best choice. The thousand-flower nectar wine was one of the more affordable options, but Yang Qing's selection wasn't dictated by price. Its ingredients were mild and harmonized seamlessly to create a wine gentle on the body, with the added benefit of soothing the mind.

As for the snacks, Yang Qing was grateful that Duan Ting and the others wouldn't know their prices since he held the token. If they did, they likely wouldn't dare touch them. Each snack was more expensive than the wine itself.

The wine cost 35 high-grade spirit stones, while the assorted nuts and lotus seeds came to 55, and the meat strips totaled 47. The steep prices were a reflection of the quality of the ingredients. Take the lotus seeds, for example—they came from an ember-flame lotus at the monarch grade, a rare and valuable resource.

Yang Qing hoped the unassuming appearance of the snacks would deceive their minds. As for the taste giving it away, he wasn't overly concerned. The Dreamscape Swallow's Nest was renowned for the exceptional quality of its products and services. Even the cheapest meal was prepared with the same meticulous care as the most expensive dish—a fact Yang Qing had learned firsthand during his infamous cold leek soup incident.

That unwavering attention to quality was a hallmark of the establishment, something Duan Ting and anyone familiar with the Dreamscape Swallow's Nest would already expect.

Having finalized his choices, Yang Qing placed the order. In less than half a minute, a soft glow illuminated the table as a runic circle materialized, delivering the items with seamless precision. The sudden flash startled Ming Wa, who had kept her head lowered until then.

Unperturbed, Yang Qing rose smoothly, slipping into his role as host with the familial ease he had whenever he had guests over at his abode. Taking the wine jar in hand, he poured the azure blue liquid into the four cups on the table, his movements fluid and graceful and the wine's gentle but alluring sweet notes filling the air as he did. It felt like spring had arrived.

"Judge Yang Qing, you really don't have to..." Duan Ting said hastily, his voice tinged with shock as he watched Yang Qing pour wine into their cups.

He wasn't the only one caught off guard. Liu Ying looked equally astonished, her eyes darting between Yang Qing and the wine jar as if trying to make sense of the situation. Even Ming Wa, who had remained stoic throughout, now had her eyes widened in disbelief.

"I'm the host—don't overthink it," Yang Qing replied lightly, his tone casual as he finished pouring the last cup. Without missing a beat, he began dividing up the snacks. Left to their own devices, he had no doubt his three guests would nibble on a single lotus seed all evening, too restrained to partake freely. By dividing the portions himself, he ensured they'd have to eat—or risk offending both him and the prestigious Dreamscape Swallow's Nest by leaving leftovers.

As Yang Qing worked, the three sat in stunned silence, their disbelief palpable. For them, the act was unthinkable. Yang Qing's illustrious background alone placed him far above them, but more than that, he was a palace realm cultivator—a realm higher than their own core formation.

In the cultivation world, seniority wasn't measured by age but by strength. A hundred-year-old qi refinement cultivator would bow their head to a 14-year-old at the peak of foundation establishment, treating them with the same reverence—or more—that they'd reserve for their ancestor.

The world revered the strong and despised the weak. For someone of Yang Qing's status to personally serve them was an act so far removed from their expectations it bordered on the surreal.

Liu Ying, in particular, looked as though she might bolt at any moment, her discomfort evident in the way her gaze kept darting toward the window as though she were calculating the odds of her reaching that window and jumping through it before the others reacted. Ultimately she dismissed the plan. As uncomfortable as she was with a palace realm cultivator and one from the Order to boot, pouring her wine, the consequences of her jumping through the window would be far graver.

Once Yang Qing finished, he clapped his hands cheerily and said, "Enjoy, and please don't hold yourselves back."

After a brief pause, he added with a tone that left no room for argument, "And no leaving leftovers."

The seriousness in his voice sealed the trio's fates. They reluctantly thanked him with forced smiles before reaching for their wine. Yet, as if guided by an unspoken agreement, all three waited for Yang Qing to take the first sip. With a quiet sigh, Yang Qing obliged, lifting his cup to his lips and taking a sip. Only then did the others follow suit, sipping hesitantly as though the act itself required permission.

The atmosphere lightened slightly once they had a little wine and a few bites of the side dishes. Yang Qing took the opportunity to steer the conversation back to the pressing matter.

"What happened to the ferry?" he asked, his tone calm yet probing.

Duan Ting, now feeling steadier from the soothing effects of the thousand-flower nectar wine, responded.

"Two months ago, we planned our trip like we always do," he began, his voice steady but laced with lingering unease. "We accepted contracts and commissions for the transportation of goods and people, created the route plan in accordance with the clients' demands, and commenced the journey once everything was in place."

He paused, sighing heavily as his gaze fell to the wine in his cup. The reflection staring back at him seemed to mirror the weight of his worries.

"We thought it would go smoothly as it always has," Duan Ting added softly before taking another sip. "But it didn't." His tone grew heavier, weighed down by lingering disbelief.

"The trip was handled by our second escort supervisor, which is why we expected everything would be fine. Barring the escort master and founder, Senior Bai Chen, Brother Jiang Hao is the most powerful member of the agency.

With his strength, we assumed the trip would go smoothly as it always did with him," Duan Ting said, his voice a mix of worry and quiet admiration.

From the expressions on the faces of Duan Ting and Liu Ying, Yang Qing could tell they shared a deep respect for the second escort supervisor.

"What was his cultivation realm?" Yang Qing asked, his curiosity piqued.

"He was at the quasi-palace stage and also Master Bai Chen's disciple," Duan Ting replied, reaching for one of the lotus seeds after answering.

"He and the founder were the ones who worked tirelessly to build the agency into what it is today, while we joined after all the dirty work had been done. We've been basking in the glory of their efforts ever since," Liu Ying chimed in, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.

Her words carried a sense of regret and guilt, emotions that were now etched across her face. She had once felt proud when she was promoted from a regular escort agent to a supervisor, believing it was her chance to shoulder the responsibilities of an agency that had given her so much.

But now, when the agency had no one else to rely on but her and Duan Ting, she felt like she had fumbled. The weight of the responsibility, coupled with the current crisis, seemed like a slap of absolute reality to her face, sending the painful message: "She wasn't ready as she thought she was."

The loathing she felt toward herself wore away at any reservations she felt about the restaurant and its food, as she allowed herself some temporary respite by drinking its wine with unreserved sips.

"Did something happen to Bai Chen?" wondered Yang Qing as he examined the reactions of the two escort supervisors.

They wore the demeanor of those whose pillars got shaken.

While it was clear they thought highly of the second supervisor and respected him deeply, Yang Qing couldn't shake the feeling that their distraught state wasn't solely due to his disappearance.