Chapter 609 – Crashed
They sailed high up in the sky slowly. Nightmare Aiko was not really in a hurry and was testing things for Moon Aiko.
The main test was about consumption and whether the speed required linear or exponential consumption of Qi.
This small vessel had barriers around it to block the wind, but that didn't mean those barriers didn't slow it down.
The barrier was quite wide, unnecessarily so, so Moon Aiko was thinking about adjusting the flight speed depending on the consumption.
The plan was 'perpetual' flight.
But that was easier said than done. Nightmare Aiko was able to keep up the concealment around the ship, which allowed her to stealthily sail even during the day.
However, there was a problem with consumption and steering the ship.
The concealment naturally consumed more during the day than during the night. In turn, the ship also consumed more if there were turbulent winds around it.
This was a lot for Nightmare Aiko to take in, but she didn't need to calculate anything. Her only job was to take in the information and share it with Moon Aiko, who would do the maths.
Danji came behind Aiko, hugging her and tenderly kissing her exposed shoulder.
"How are you holding up?" Danji would be willing to share energy with Aiko whenever she needed.
"It's fine, the tests are advancing smoothly, but how about you? Any nausea or anything?" Nightmare Aiko was concerned that Danji would have nausea from her chaotic sailing.
"It's fine, the flight is smooth, unlike when sailing the ocean." Danji chuckled.
"You have sailed the ocean?" Nightmare Aiko blinked at her with curiosity.
"I wouldn't call it long sailing, but we went to capture some deep fish for my parents' advancements." Danji smiled bitterly. "My brother will need those fish in the future too, but it's difficult to get..."
"Once we visit the ocean, I will see what we can do." Nightmare Aiko didn't believe it would be that difficult.
Danji smiled, kissing Aiko's shoulder again. "You are too nice for me. What if I take you away?"
"Is that even possible?" Nightmare Aiko shook her head. At times, even Danji was a bit foolish.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Danji raised her eyebrow, indulging in her imagination.
"Every star will lose its lustre once you capture it." Nightmare Aiko chuckled.
"..." Danji was slightly upset. Upset at the fact, she couldn't refute this.
She knew damn too well how her shining parents ended up once they joined that Clan. Her parents told her so many colourful stories, which faded over time as they became more and more jaded.
"Don't try to restrict something you like, since from the start you liked how it looked when it was unrestrained." Nightmare Aiko smiled, making Danji even more upset for suggesting it.
"You have your way with your tongue." Danji pouted at Aiko.
"Oh, this tongue can do more than just talk." Nightmare Aiko gave a sweet peck on Danji's lips.
"I suppose I should learn from you, in order to please that pretty little flower." Danji moved her hands slightly downward with a suggestive squeeze.
"I will be looking forward to that~" Nightmare Aiko hummed. "But that's for later, I have too much stuff to do."
"I feel like an abandoned concubine." Danji said, slightly speechless.
"You might be horny, but we are not in a safe place." Nightmare Aiko felt speechless too.
"Should I remind you about how we ended up?" Danji raised her eyebrow. She felt like Aiko had forgotten their 'happy' time.
Nightmare Aiko rolled her eyes. "How could I forget? But that's when the ship was slow and steady, not fast and turbulent." She couldn't help but retort.
"That might be true, but you are good at multitasking." Danji was slithering with her words.
"So I should consider you as an afterthought when we are doing it?" Nightmare Aiko was startled.
"That's not-" Danji felt frustrated that Nightmare Aiko was actually denying her advances.
"We will get on with our private time later. We should focus now, as the Fox Village is not safe." Nightmare Aiko soothed Danji by pinning her against the nearby wall.
"You say that, Mistress... but I can already feel your thigh between my legs." Danji teasingly pressed her body against Aiko's.
"Aren't you a mischievous one? I wonder how many rounds you will last?" Nightmare Aiko wouldn't be outdone when teasing, so she even moved her leg.
This, in turn, caused a sweet moan to escape Danji's lips.
Just when the situation turned in her favour, the barrier screeched as it scraped against something.
Both Nightmare Aiko and Danji went on alert, separating and bursting outside of the room.
"Cave?" Danji was the first one startled by the abnormality.
"Did we get caught in something?" Nightmare Aiko was startled, too. They were very high up in the sky, so it was impossible to encounter a cave, even a huge mountain wouldn't be easily flown over with their altitude!
Danji sniffed a few times. "The Qi is not normal. This reminds me of a Secret Realm."
"Seriously?" Nightmare Aiko was more and more confused, but luckily, the concealment was still working as expected.
"Should I reverse it?" Nightmare Aiko pondered on this and voiced her thoughts out loud.
"Should we explore this place? It might be dangerous, but it doesn't seem like anyone visited this place." Danji tilted her head cutely, her ears kept twitching and moving, like she was trying to find out something.
"How do you know it was not visited?" Nightmare Aiko was interested in these things, so she wanted to have this ability too.
"The air. It doesn't have any kind of foreign scent, not to mention the air itself was too stale for there to be anything living." Danji concluded and explained to Aiko.
"But how about Ghosts and the undead?" Nightmare Aiko didn't believe that there necessarily needed to be living beings inside the Secret Realm.
"It's possible." Danji nodded her head.
"But seriously..." Nightmare Aiko looked around, still speechless. "A cave?! Out of all things?!"
"Do you dislike caves?" Danji didn't understand her sudden outburst.
"If it's so high up in the sky, we should get floating islands!" Nightmare Aiko complained to no one in particular.
"Floating islands would be difficult to create." Danji shook her head.
"Yeah, yeah, since you would have to create rules around it." Nightmare Aiko waved her hand.
"Not just that, Secret Realms are unable to harm you just by stepping inside them." Danji suddenly explained.
"?" Nightmare Aiko was confused about that statement.
"When you are crossing space into Secret or Sacred Realms, then that said realm can't hurt you." Danji frowned. She didn't know how to properly explain this.
"Let's take the floating island as an example. When it comes to the sky, it should be found floating around alone. That means you would need some kind of ship to get inside, but there is a problem. Most Human Cultivators don't have ships, so they would just fall to their death." Danji kept going with her explanation.
"And that's where the main issue lies, since that would be 'unjustified' death, which would incur negative Karma." Danji nodded her head. "So you have to have a small window where you are not attacked or threatened during the crossing. You usually need to step on solid, 'unmoving' ground, which wouldn't trigger any traps."
"So, crossing kills are not allowed, but what about ambushes?" Nightmare Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"Those are valid as long as they don't try to fight you the exact moment you are crossing, but usually a few breaths later, and they can do whatever they want." Danji shrugged like it was not that uncommon.
"That's... wild." Nightmare Aiko felt like this could be abused if used correctly, like when she was ambushed in the Secret Realm.
'How troublesome.' Nightmare Aiko suddenly paused. "Wait, how do you know all that?"
"The inheritance has some information about many things, and they come in waves, probably to not burden the mind." Danji smiled gently.
"Inheritance?" Nightmare Aiko tilted her head.
"The huge black tablet." Danji giggled.
"Ah..." Nightmare Aiko nodded her head. That would make a lot of sense.
"So... do we explore, or do we not?" Danji turned towards Aiko.
Nightmare Aiko turned into Moon Aiko, and she used her special Treasure.
"Yong Zhiqiang scout!" Moon Aiko shouted as she held the paper lantern.
"Yes!" Yong Zhiqiang was confused about where they were, but he immediately obliged.
This would be the first time that Fox would make use of him outside of creating things out of Ghost Qi.
He was already intoxicated by their new home and the ability to walk under bright sun, so he was more than happy to fulfil any request!
"Mistress..." Yong Zhiqiang paused. "There are a lot of dangerous Ghosts around..." He pursed his lips before getting close to the paper lantern.
"Hm?" Moon Aiko was confused since she didn't feel anything. The concealment also vanished, so it was not like they couldn't see them.
"They are scared of you." Yong Zhiqiang said proudly.
"???" Moon Aiko felt like this had happened many times before, but the reason was still unknown. 'Or maybe I forgot it.' She hummed without care in the world, since that was not important information.
"Is there anything of value?" Moon Aiko tilted her head.
"It's impossible to say, since I would be ripped apart if I went outside of this protected space." Yong Zhiqiang shook his head. While he was more than willing to fulfil all kinds of requests, it would be pointless if he lost his 'life'...
"That's too bad." Moon Aiko was not really all that interested in looting this place, so she was ready to leave if needed.
"But I think it's still worth the time." Yong Zhiqiang smirked. "If there are any stupid Ghosts willing to offend you, we can just munch on them once you capture them!" He rubbed his hands like this was a sealed deal.
"So I have to do all the work while you will just eat happily?!" Moon Aiko was flabbergasted by that reasoning.
"Aren't you just describing yourself, Mistress?" Yong Zhiqiang tilted his head, but Aiko drop-kicked him.
"You dare to accuse me of that kind of blasphemy?!" Moon Aiko cried out like she was unwilling to accept that kind of truth.
Yong Zhiqiang cried inside his mind that women were too hard to deal with...