Book 4: Chapter 60: Actions and Consequences
Sen made sure that he kept a neutral expression as he walked through the Golden Phoenix sect compound. He didn’t imagine for one minute that anyone in the place was ignorant of how he’d spent his time there. Still, he thought sauntering around was bad form. Plus, it seemed likely to trigger an act of violence from at least one of the dozens of angry, heartbroken men and women who glared at him as the matriarch of their sect escorted him to the gate. While Sen was working hard to not offend people he’d rather not fight, the matriarch looked positively smug about the whole thing. When Sen had asked about it in a hushed tone, she’d just smiled at him.
“What are they going to do about it? As you said, I’m a nascent soul cultivator. They can’t make me do anything. All they can do is talk about me, and that will only happen once.”
“Yeah, that’s fine for you, but they might attack me in a murderous rage.”
She let out a light laugh. “No. They’ll think about it. A few of them will fantasize about it, but none of them will actually do it.”
“Why is that?”
“Because none of them want to find out what I might do about it. Not everyone is as cavalier as you are about nascent soul cultivators.”
Sen nodded. She probably had a point. Not that he was actually cavalier about them. After all, Sen worked very hard to not get seen anytime he invaded the territory of the of one who wanted him dead. He doubted he’d be in any more of a rush to tempt the anger of someone who was the absolute final authority in his own organization if he was part of one at any rate.
“That makes sense,” he agreed.
“Then why do you look nervous.”
“I just know what’s waiting for me. There’s going to be yelling. I might get hit a few dozen times by my friend.”
“Not much of a friend.”
“She truly is,” said Sen. “She’s just very protective about my general health and well-being, and I’ve been going off and doing dangerous things by myself a lot lately. She wasn’t happy before I disappeared for the five days.”
“A lover?” asked Lai Dongmei in a too-casual tone.
“Would it matter if she were?” Sen asked, just as casually.
The matriarch’s expression soured briefly before she huffed a little sigh. “No. I don’t suppose it would matter if she were.”
“I don’t know if all those ridiculous stories about me cover this ground, but I don’t take many lovers.”Explore the labyrinthine roots of this substance at Nøv€lß¡n
Lai Dongmei glanced at him before she shook her head. “None of the stories I heard mentioned it one way or the other. Fawning, unrequited adoration comes up a lot, but nothing about you actually doing anything about it.”
“I’m sure you of all people understand exactly how off-putting that kind of attention can be.”
“Pity,” said Shi Ping.
It was a little surreal for Sen to see those two as a united front, but he supposed that stranger things had probably happened...at some point...maybe.
“Not dead,” Sen agreed. “Do you two want to tell me all the things you have to say together or take turns.”
“I want to know what in the hells you’ve been doing for the last five days at the Golden Phoenix sect,” said Shi Ping.
Sen looked at the man and shook his head. “You really don’t.”
Shi Ping didn’t pick up on it, but Lo Meifeng did. This time, it was her eyes that lit up with fury.
“Unbelievable. You just wandered off without a word for five days so that you could have sex?”
Shi Ping’s head whipped around to look at Lo Meifeng. “Wait. What? He was off having sex? With who?”
“Yes, Sen, do tell? Who was so intriguing that you decided that it was fine to abandon us in the middle of everything that’s going on?”
“That’s not an appropriate question,” said Sen.
“If you didn’t want inappropriate questions,” said Shi Ping, “maybe you shouldn’t have acted like an ass. I want to know, too.”
Sen thought about digging his heels in, but he supposed it was going to end up being an open secret, if not public knowledge, very soon. Sighing, he lifted his hands in surrender.
“Lai Dongmei.”
Sen watched as that information reached their minds and slowly sank in. Shi Ping’s mouth sort of fell open, and the man stared at Sen like he was some kind of strange, mythical animal that appeared in front of him. Lo Meifeng’s reaction was less amusing, but probably more appropriate. She buried her face in her hands for a moment before she gave Sen a look of defeated weariness.
“I just wish that I thought you were lying,” she said, before turning and walking away.
Sen could hear her muttering under breath and he was sure he heard her say ridiculous, impossible, and pain in my ass at least three times each. Sen looked at Shi Ping who had recovered from his initial shock. The man was shaking his head and clenching his jaw.
“I just,” started Shi Ping. “You. It wasn’t enough that you had beautiful women chasing after you and helping you. No, that wasn’t good enough for the great Judgment’s Gale. You decided that you needed to go out and find the literal most beautiful woman alive and go to bed with her?”
Sen tilted his head to one side. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
“I hate you so much.”
