Chapter 16: Night of Turbulation
Somehow he had managed to be convinced to come to the night market of Eastsea despite his reservations. He had heard repeatedly that rest would help him so he finally decided to entertain the notion despite thinking it would ultimately be a waste of time.
However, standing in the midst of the market there was only one thought running through his mind as Gu Yuena stood behind him, happily looking over the various items for sale, some better than others.
'How do I relax?' Tang Wulin asked himself quietly. His first instinct would be to copy the actions of his companion however he had already instinctively spread his spiritual energy over the area making such an action useless. He was well and truly lost.
"What's wrong?" Gu Yuena asked, walking over to him from her position at a nearby stall. Her other half had been standing still and looking around for quite some time now so she thought that it would be best to see what was happening to him.
"How do I relax?" Tang Wulin asked her bluntly. He couldn't comprehend what it meant to truly relax. He understood the definition of the world but he had no idea how to accomplish such a feat.
"Hmm… why don't I just show you?" Gu Yuena offered, grabbing his hand and dragging him around from stall to stall, forcing Tang Wulin to experience things with his own two eyes rather than relying purely on his spiritual sense.
As they moved throughout the street both barely paid attention to the sun lowering onto the horizon as they had already received permission to stay out past dark by the school. Instead, both focused on exploring. Or rather, Gu Yuena did while Tang Wulin simply allowed himself to be dragged around.
'What is this warmth?' Tang Wulin questioned himself, the soft warmth in his chest once more returning. Unlike the inferno from a weak ago, it was soft and pleasant rather than powerful and intense. Oddly enough, he didn't hate the warmth.
"What do you think?" Gu Yuena asked him, holding an earring up to her ear to show him, her silver hair tucked by said ear. It was similar to the earring in his own ear though it obviously lacked the incredibly complex and purposefully convoluted circuits.
"It lacks in defensive capabilities." Tang Wulin spoke blandly, Gu Yuena released a sigh and began to return the earring back to the table before pausing, his voice entering her ears once more. "However objectively, I believe it would be classified as attractive." Tang Wulin continued.
"Is that so?" Gu Yuena asked rhetorically, a pleased smile on her face. It was much more than she was expecting to get from him and in a way it was more satisfying to receive than some cheesy response.
"I believe so." Tang Wulin answered her seriously. Giggling quietly she purchased the earring and grasped his wrist more and began to drag him around once again, a pleased smile on her beautiful face that could hardly be described using words alone.
After an hour or so, Tang Wulin couldn't help but be confused though his instincts told him not to ask the question. The entire time they had been window shopping as he believed it was called yet she had only bought a single earring, it was confusing.
"I think it's about time to eat. Do you have any thoughts?" Gu Yuena asked before a frown appeared on her face, a horrible premonition appearing in her mind. "Never mind. I don't trust your food choices." She declared, turning away from him to search the area using the SoulNet. What a helpful invention it was, perhaps the best thing humans had created.
Looking over them all there were plenty of options however few fit her pallet. She had relatively lax requirements, it had to be delicious for her to eat it however very few places met their criteria or she simply didn't want to eat that at the moment.
"Oh! That could be good! What do you think about pot roasted beef?" Gu Yuena asked her companion. She had found an interesting place. It was small and there were barely any reviews however those that did review rated it extremely highly. There wasn't a single rating below 4 stars!
"Ok." Tang Wulin nodded his head in agreement without hesitation. He had no particular feeling toward whatever food she wanted to choose as long it sustained him for quite some time. He would prefer to eat the nutrient rich preserved foods that he has though.
Once more grabbing her other half by the hand to ensure he doesn't fall behind Gu Yuena led him through various streets, stopping by a few stalls along the way, until they finally stood in front of the location.
From the outside, the restaurant seemed fairly normal if slightly run down. It wasn't bad however it wasn't particularly good either however that only increased Gu Yuena's expectations. For such a rundown store to have good reviews means that the food is good.
Her heightened sense of smell proved that point as a mouthwatering scent attacked her sense of smell. It easily rivaled the meals of class A and perhaps even rivaled it. The only downside would be that her spiritual sense revealed that it wasn't particularly helpful to cultivation.
Then again, such a thing couldn't really be expected from a normal restaurant, especially one that appears to be on the brink of closing such as this one. Nutrient rich foods are extremely expensive, such a small restaurant couldn't hope to sell food made with them.
Walking toward the door she paused as a wall exploded in front of her, wooden debris and splinters charging toward her. She could easily teleport away, stop them in place, or even relocate them but she did no such thing. Why would she? She had the strongest shield by her side.
Practically teleporting in front of her Tang Wulin released a punch, the resulting wind turning the debris and wooden splinters into a mere cloud of dust that the wind pushed away from them and back toward where it came.
"See, relaxing is already showing benefits." Gu Yuena said proudly. This wasn't something he was capable of beforehand, at least not with as much control as he just showed. Normally he would have destroyed the oncoming wood but the wind would have destroyed the wall.
However, the walls barely suffered any damage, at least not from his hands. Instead, it was caused by the man inside who looked… strange for lack of a better term. Perhaps disturbing would be better.
It was a man wearing a cow print leather… accessories, if they could even be called such, over an over the top white leather jacket and pants combo. His pale maroon hair was the oddest part of him. It was slicked back heavily and seemed to shine with grease and there was a strange bulge made of hair standing atop his head and jutting forward a few inches.
"What a creep." Gu Yuena muttered, disdain in her eyes.