Aimless Ascension

Gale woke up and groaned. A strained headache pricked his head as he rolled to sit up. His trusted companion was nowhere to be seen. Opening a window, Gale found the reason for that. The sun has been up for a while now, and by a while, he meant five or six hours.

Gale missed the meditation session again. He was truly growing lazy these days.

What happened last night? Gale wondered. How much had he drunk for his memory to be cloudy? His body, though to the demerits of suppression, still had a gold resilient, he shouldn't be having a hangover. Unless . . .

With a thought, his consciousness drifted into the vast space of his void lock. As he thought, he was missing two bottles of spirit wine.

That explained the hangover. Cycling all the Qi he could, Gale went to the washroom. After refreshing himself, he got out into the hall, only to find more than a couple of workers giving him a weird look and muffled laughs.

"What the hell happened?" he muttered.

He found Wang Li in her usual position, bored and exhausted after the party last night. She lifted her head to look at him. Something was wrong with the look she gave him, bringing his anticipation to a new height.

I haven't done anything weird, have I?

"Morning," he said and sat across from her.

"Well, you look . . . Awake."

"I have better days." Gale stretched quietly as far as the seat would allow him. Cramping noises came as an attendant girl served him tea. Gale took a sip as some refreshing current surged through his body. "I haven't done anything too embarrassing, have I?"

Wang Li perked an eyebrow. "You don't remember?" she asked. "I guess that's for the best. You almost broke Xiaolin's heart."

"You're creating confusion for nothing." Well, his memories would clear up, mostly. It would just take a few more minutes, though he was unsure if that would be a good thing.

People tend to do crazy stuff when they are drunk. That couldn't be more true in his case. Vale always kept him in check, but the hound probably left him free, or he hadn't listened to him last night. Probably the latter.

"Don't worry, you have done nothing drastic," Wang Li said, still with a knowing smirk on her lips. She continued, counting her fingers, "Other than singing something in a foreign language loudly, dancing atop a table and breaking it while on top of it. Also, you almost got into a fistfight with my husband."

Gale blinked. He sighed inwardly, finding no annoyance or offence in her eyes. Still, for politeness, he asked, "I haven't gone too far, have I?"

"Grandma was there. She calmed both of you up before you took it too far." She paused, finding Sun Ziang coming into the room, equally drudged with a hangover, if not more. A wicked smile crept onto her lips. "Oh, Sun Ziang helped too."

The elegant youth glanced at them, hearing his name come up. "I helped?"

pαпdα Йᴏνê|,сòМ Wang Li nodded. "By the way, cousin, you lost in a drinking contest. You owe Gale one."

"I do?" Sun Ziang looked equally lost as how Gale felt.

Both of them exchanged glances as Gale remembered wagering in a drinking contest with him and Wang Li's husband, who he hadn't been properly introduced to. It was mostly a result of an argument. In the end, he came victorious for all it's worth, as the handsome dude hardly was any challenge.

As bits of memory came back to Gale, Xiaolin came up with a plate of hot tea. Gale helped himself with another cup as suddenly his face became red. He remembered his embarrassing dance, which hardly goes into any school of dancing of both worlds. He moved as he pleased, eventually breaking the table.

But that wasn't the end of it. The most embarrassing part was when he admitted he might have doubts about his sexuality if he had met Sun Ziang in his early teenage years.

"Fuck," Gale groaned.

It was not really his fault. He had literally drunk more than a bottle of spirit wine, which hardly lost out to ambrosia. On top of that, this dude who was sitting next to him had that kind of face that would have that effect. Gale would never admit something like that in his right mind.

Maidenless as he might be right now, he was a perfectly straight man.

"Why are you glowering at me?" Sun Ziang asked. A frown perked up his brows as he regarded Gale, completely oblivious to what was going on inside Gale's head.

Before Gale could answer, Wang Li crackled into a giggle. "You . . . You remember?"

Even Xiaolin, who was a good distance away, hid her face, unable to stop her giggle. Eventually, she departed, muffling her mouth with her palm. Laughing at two seniors was a bad virtue as far as she was concerned.

"I wish I can erase memory," Gale muttered.

"I'm still lost," Sun Ziang responded.

"That's for the best." Gale coughed. Wang Li agreed too. "I'll offer you another cup of hot chocolate to totally forget about it."

"Five," Wang Li didn't waste time in haggling.

"Three."

"Alright, deal," Wang Li agreed after a moment. "What about Xiaolin? She drank nothing. Everything is still vivid in her mind."

"I'll find something to bribe her." The chocolate wouldn't be good for her health as her constitution is merely better than a mortal. Then again, he probably wouldn't need anything to bribe her. Xiaolin was a polite, sweet girl. Gale was certain, simply with good talk, he would have her word not to disclose this matter.

As he was musing, the lass came back into the hall again, guiding two middle-aged men, clad in traditional robes with the emblem of the Artisans Guild.

"Senior," Xiaolin called, "they are from the guild and looking for you."

Gale regarded the newcomers. He did ask for a meeting with some free artisans and a master craftsman on his visit to the guild, but he didn't think they would be so fast about it. Artisans were everything but timely. Gale knew it. Artisans were a bunch of miserable wretches who detested socialising even more than getting things done in time.

Well, perhaps the Fate-lock core he had provided them for checking was enough reason to persuade them. Also, he provided them with a good commission, which hardly occurs in a town like this.

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