FantasyLi

Chapter 99: Continous Mission IX

Chapter 99: Continous Mission IX


Tian Lei followed at a measured pace, the very picture of composure—if one ignored the faint, almost imperceptible softening at the corner of his mouth each time Yuxin made an undignified sound of delight.


She spun back toward him, cheeks faintly dusted with sugar. "Taste this."


"No."


"It tastes like a purple sunset having an identity crisis."


"...No."


She stuck the half-eaten violet puff directly under his nose. "Mission protocol requires the captain to verify unusual findings in the field."


There was a long, heroic pause.


Then Tian Lei took a small bite.


His expression remained perfectly neutral... though Yuxin could swear the world slowed down just a little around him, like his soul was filing a very polite celebratory memo.


"Acceptable," he declared at last.


"Ha!" Yuxin twirled triumphantly. "Emotional breakthrough achieved. Next stop: total dessert enlightenment."


They drifted from stall to stall like errant fireflies, Yuxin collecting small mountains of paper-wrapped sweets while Tian Lei occasionally—very occasionally—accepted something skewered, sugared, or roasted if it was handed to him without warning. The sun sagged lower and lower, pouring molten gold across the rooftops, until lanterns began to bloom overhead like hovering blossoms of light.


By the time they finally climbed back toward the sect quarters, Yuxin’s arms were laden with snacks like a dragon’s hoard and her steps had taken on a lazy, sugar-slow sway.


"See," she said through a mouthful of candied lotus, "this is what spiritual balance looks like. I feel... centered. Enlightened. Possibly caramelized."


"Also loud," Tian Lei noted.


"Joyful," she corrected primly.


They reached the quiet inner courtyard just as the first stars were threading themselves into the deep blue sky. The air had cooled, carrying the faint perfume of moon-blooming flowers from the temple gardens. For a moment, the sect grounds felt like an island floating far above the world, peaceful and untouched.


Yuxin paused by her door, balancing her armful of sweets with practiced ease. "If you hear suspicious rustling later, it’s not rats. It’s me defending my snack stash."


Tian Lei inclined his head slightly. "Understood."


"Night, Captain." She flashed him a drowsy grin, veil slipping loose around her shoulders like moonlight. "Dream of flowers and zero murder-worms."


He watched her disappear inside, the door sliding shut behind her with a soft click. For a moment, the courtyard was still. Then he turned toward his own room, the faintest echo of a smile lingering at the edge of his mouth.


The lanterns swayed gently in the night breeze as Cloudveil City settled into slumber—quiet, serene, and blissfully unremarkable... for now.


At dawn, the serenity cracked like thin ice.


A sharp rap at Tian Lei’s door fractured the lingering hush of early morning. He was already awake—he always was—and opened it to find a junior disciple bowing low, scroll trembling in his hands.


"Senior Disciple Tian. Urgent missive from the Elder Council."


Tian Lei accepted it with a nod. The wax seal bore the Sect’s crest, the ink still fresh. One smooth flick of his thumb opened it.


—Bandit activity sighted northeast of Cloudveil City.


Attacking supply caravans.


Relocate, neutralize, and secure the route.


Minimal collateral advised.


He closed the scroll, slid it into his sleeve, and stepped into the cold air without another word.


"Whaaat—" Yuxin’s muffled voice floated out as she cracked her door open, hair a loose constellation around her face, still half in dreamland. "We just had snacks. There can’t be evil yet."


"Evil does not follow your meal schedule," Tian Lei replied evenly. "Bandits. Nearby village. Immediate deployment."


"Ugh." She faceplanted into her pillow for exactly three dramatic seconds before springing upright. "Fine. Bandits. We’ll vaporize them quickly so I can get back to my post-dessert nap."


Ten minutes later they were gliding across the forest canopy, Yuxin’s veil snapping in the wind behind her while Tian Lei moved in perfect silence at her side. The sun was still crawling up the horizon, staining the mist gold.


By the time the village came into view—a cluster of thatched roofs huddled between rice paddies—the sounds of chaos were already drifting up. Smoke curled from an overturned cart. Shouts, the clang of steel, a child’s crying.


Yuxin’s eyes narrowed.


"Alright," she murmured, cracking her knuckles. "Let’s do some community service."


Tian Lei’s gaze swept the scene in one cold arc.


"Swiftly."


They dropped from the treeline like twin shadows.


The first bandit never saw them coming. A sharp flick of Tian Lei’s palm, and his Soulforce burst outward in a razor-edged wave—silent, invisible. The man crumpled before he could even shout.


Yuxin twirled past another, veil coiling like liquid moonlight, and kicked him squarely in the jaw. "Hi! Consider a career change to not dying horribly!"


Within moments, the chaos collapsed into panic. The remaining bandits broke ranks, screaming as Tian Lei advanced like a glacier—unhurried, unstoppable—while Yuxin danced through them like a sugar-high comet. Steel clattered to the ground. Men fled. Silence fell.


The villagers peeked out from behind doors and broken fences, eyes wide.


Tian Lei sheathed his blade in a single smooth motion.


"Route secured."


Yuxin planted her hands on her hips, beaming. "And zero snack casualties. Mission accomplished."


The breeze rippled through the paddies. Peace seeped back into the village like sunlight through mist.


The village elder shuffled forward at last, bent and trembling, eyes wide with something between terror and hope. He sank to his knees, forehead nearly touching the dirt.


"Sir Immortal... thank you. They’ve raided us three times this month. Took food, tools... even the healer’s herbs."


Yuxin crouched to right a toppled basket of radishes, her expression softening. "Jerks," she muttered, then louder and brighter, "Do you know where they came from?"


The elder lifted a shaking hand, pointing toward the forested hills. "An old hunter’s lodge. East ridge. They use it as their den now."


Tian Lei’s gaze followed the direction, eyes narrowing by the smallest margin—as if calculating exactly how far away closure stood.


"Understood."


He turned on his heel. "We’ll remove the root, not just the weeds."


"Translation," Yuxin announced cheerfully, scooping up an abandoned spear and spinning it like a baton, "we’re doing an encore performance."


They left the village as quietly as they had arrived—like phantoms fading back into the mist.


By mid-morning, the forest canopy had swallowed them whole. Shafts of pale light knifed through the leaves, glinting off the edge of Tian Lei’s blade as he pushed aside a curtain of vines.


They moved like shadows, silent but for the faint crunch of moss underfoot. Yuxin, for once, wasn’t chattering—her veil drawn up, eyes sharp and focused.


The lodge emerged through the fog like a scar: old timbers sagging under their own weight, smoke curling from a cracked chimney. Around it sprawled a camp of rough tents, half-hidden among the rocks. Bandits lounged by the firepit, laughing, sharpening blades, blissfully unaware their mortality rate was about to spike.


Yuxin’s lips curved. "They look... extremely unready for justice."


"Maintain silence," Tian Lei murmured, already mapping their positions in his mind.


"Silent justice," she whispered back. "My favorite flavor."


Then they moved.


Tian Lei dropped from the canopy like a falling star, Soulforce exploding outward in a silent shockwave that flattened the firepit and sent bandits tumbling like dry leaves.


Yuxin swept through the chaos with a delighted whirl, veil snapping like moonlit ribbons. She struck like a dancer with too much caffeine—kicking one man into a tent, flipping another neatly into the stewpot.


It lasted less than a breath.


When the dust settled, groaning bodies lay strewn across the clearing like discarded puppets. The lodge door sagged open, its dark interior now utterly still.


Tian Lei wiped his blade with the same calm he might use to tidy a desk.


"Base neutralized."


"Inventory acquired," Yuxin declared, holding up a small chest she’d liberated from inside. It jingled with the merry chime of ill-gotten gains.


"Evidence," Tian Lei corrected.


"Potential dessert fund," she countered.


By noon, they were airborne again, the forest shrinking below them. The wind tore through the last threads of smoke from the ruined camp, scattering them like bad dreams.


Yuxin leaned back in the saddle, the chest perched on her knees. "See? Swift. Efficient. Minimal trauma. I’m proud of us."


Tian Lei gave a single nod, eyes on the horizon.


"Acceptable operational outcome."


"Aw," she said, grinning, "that’s basically a rave review coming from you."


The crane’s wings carved arcs through the afternoon light, carrying them over rolling foothills mottled with gold and shadow. The horizon was a hazy watercolor of distant peaks, their ridgelines curling like sleeping dragons.


Yuxin tilted her head back, letting the wind stream through her hair beneath the veil. "Next stop, spa day? My heroic muscles require nurturing."


"Next stop," Tian Lei said without looking at her, "is delivery to the Mission Hall."


She slumped theatrically against the saddle rail. "So... not a spa."


"Correct."


"Cold-blooded," she sighed. "Tragic, really, how beauty and valor are so underappreciated."


The crane banked toward Cloudveil City, its ivory feathers catching the sun like blades of light. As they approached, the familiar terraces rose from the cliffs in graceful steps, waterfalls spilling through mossy arches. Bronze windchimes glittered atop tiled roofs, singing in the high breeze.