Chapter 118: Something About Muscles 

Paike's first thought was Did Taka know? He couldn't see how, but at the same time, he wouldn't put it past his twin. So what was their plan now? He could take a second to hash something out after this dance, but right now he wasn't going to get any assistance.

"So what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"It was never our intention to trick anyone. How would that even work?" She asked, clearly amused. "But I apologize if we have offended."

"As I said, this is expected." He brushed off her apology. "But how would your plan even work?"

"Well, we would talk and take your measure; if our family and we approved, we would have an elder speak to your father. Then we would go with you to whatever your errand was before back into the empire." Sheng Yue said.

There were a lot of holes in that plan. He wasn't even sure where to start, but there was one thing that caught his attention that wasn't quite clear. "When you mean 'we,' who are you referring to?"

She tilted her head ever so slightly. "Xue, Bai, Gui, and me, of course."

"Some families that would work with, but it's surprising that you don't know more about the Kongs," Paike said.

"What do you mean?" A small furrow appeared between her brows. Paike felt the urge to poke it like he would if Liming had made the same face, but in a very different context. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Many families of the empire practice taking more than one wife in some cases, but since Father and Mother became prominent in the Kong family, we do not," Paike said while trying not to blush. He really hated this sort of thing. Why did he have to do any talking? He would have to figure out how the silent types did it. Just not responding to a question felt far too rude to him, but there had to be a way to talk less when he didn't want to.

"Oh," Sheng Yue said, her face turning thoughtful. She lapsed into silence, and he could see her turning over the problem in her head seriously.

"How old are you actually?" Paike blurted out. It wasn't his intention, but he had been curious, and the silence was uncomfortable.

This seemed to pull her from her thoughts as she blinked up at him. "I am seventeen years of age."

She didn't tease him about it being rude or anything. But there was no need to mention it, and emerald, in seventeen years, was extremely impressive. Liming would do a bit better, but very few talents could match it. Each year, only a few dozen made Topaz in a year. Much fewer would make it to Emerald in the next five years.

Paike smiled in satisfaction.

"What?" She asked, catching his expression.

"Nothing, I just guessed right." He said. A gap of two years wasn't much. And in a few hundred years they would be practically the same age. And as Emerald, she would live at least three hundred years. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was what Father had meant when he said to pick someone who could keep up.

Paike shook his head. What was he doing? They weren't going to get married. This was some sort of trap.

"All of us cousins are the same age," Sheng Yue commented. 

"You are all cousins? I thought some of you might be sisters?" Paike asked. They certainly looked related, and they shared a last name.

"We are each a daughter of one of Sheng Gou's four sons. He only has four children, and they each have only had one daughter." Sheng Yue said. There was a melancholy in her voice. And Paike could understand why that was all exceedingly poor omens.

"I can't imagine what that is like." He said with a shake of his head. "I have hundreds of siblings. I'm pretty sure I've met all of them, but many only once."

"The Kong family is famous for its size. That's why we assumed that your father had more than one wife." Sheng Yue commented ruefully.

"I think Mother is just as famous nowadays, but that hasn't always been the case. But once she reached the sixth realm, it's pretty clear she will eventually reach the seventh. Word began to slowly spread that Father wasn't the only monster," Paike said, unable to contain the pride for his family.

"I am in awe." Sheng Yue said, but she sounded totally genuine rather than mocking or an empty compliment. "How does she manage so many children while still cultivating to such a high level?"

"She says she can't bear to leave Father alone, so she keeps pushing, but she also loves her children and wants as many of us as she can have. It's a balance. Too many children at a time, and she can't cultivate enough to live as long as she wants. It's an optimization problem; she has settled on one every four years or so.

Sheng Yue's mouth hung open in shock. "How have we never heard of her?"

Paike shrugged.

"So you have three younger siblings?" Sheng Yue asked.

"Four if you count Taka," Paike said. "I'm ten minutes older."

She laughed. "I'm the oldest of my cousins. Only by a few months, but in some ways we are like sisters."

"Really, it feels like you are the furthest along in your cultivation as well," Paike said. "It's close, but I think I can feel a slight difference."

"Impressive senses. Yes, I'm most of a stage above the others."

That left a question. If she was the oldest and most advanced, it didn't make sense that she was seated next to him rather than Taka. They were twins, and there was very little else to differentiate them to an outsider besides their cultivation level.

He wanted to know, and she had been honest with him so far, so he just asked. "How did you end up sitting next to me then?"

Sheng Yue's eyes flicked away from his for the first time. They went down and to the right, as a bit of heat entered her cheeks. And she muttered something he didn't quite catch. But it sounded like one of the words was 'muscles.'

Paike cleared his throat, and she met his eyes again. This time she said something that he could tell was only part of the truth. "Some of my cultivation gives me a bit of insight and I got the feeling that you would be a better match for me."

Neither said anything more for a moment. Paike wasn't sure how to respond, and by now she was thoroughly blushing. He probably was, too. It took a second for them to gather themselves.

"Do you have many nieces and nephews?" She asked, and Paike nodded with a smile.

"Most are much older than me, but yes. All my older sisters take after mother with mixed success. My brothers... well, those that survive also have lots of kids. Taking after Father is risky." Paike said.

There was a strange look in her eyes. Paike couldn't tell if it was fear or excitement. There was something there, and he wanted to understand. It was nothing like the reactions when others learned about his family.

Before they could talk more, the dance ended. Paike went and found Taka, ending his own dance. He watched as Sheng Yue gathered her cousins together and started to whisper.

"Apparently they didn't know our family is monogamous," Paike told his twin. Taka blinked in surprise.

"Well, that explains a lot." He muttered.

"Also, they aren't getting pawned off on others. They are apparently only interested in a Kong." Paike added.

"Wow, you certainly learned a lot," Taka commented.

"Anything you want to share?" Paike asked.

"From what I gathered, things are a lot worse here than they seem. They are going to have to move soon if something isn't done. Ten years ago there were twice as many members of the sect and twice as many ten years before that." Taka said with a grim face.

"What is happening to them?" Paike asked.

"Wars, monsters, strange vanishings. But they no longer have the strength to stay as close to the empire as they are. If they move farther away, even the small bits of trade they manage with the outposts will vanish, and the terrain will be harsher and untamed. They might escape their neighbors, but that might not be enough."

"That is terrible," Paike said, and couldn't help but picture Sheng Yue wandering the mountains with her family in the snow.

"Remember, they are exiles, no matter how they seem," Taka said.

Paike wanted to argue. That it was a long time ago and most of these people weren't even alive then. But that didn't matter. The point of a punishment like that was that it applied to one's descendants. To a mortal, that is hard and exceedingly cruel, but from what he knew, that was the only way for lasting punishments to higher realm cultivators who would live thousands of years. He just nodded instead.

"So, what do we do?" He asked.

Taka shook his head. "I don't think we need to do anything. There isn't really anything we can do subtly now, but there is also no cost in just ignoring any advancements they make. There is no real trap as we feared. We just have to say no."

His face told Paike that he didn't think it was that simple.

"Unless you are actually considering one of them?" Paike asked with a raised eyebrow. Taka had served his three years already and could leave the sect at any time. It wasn't uncommon for the young Kongs to stay in the sect for a bit while they felt they were still benefiting, or maybe explore for a long while before coming back home to take part in family affairs.

Taka flinched, and Paike couldn't tell if that was because he was thinking about it and didn't want to admit it, or if he was horrified at the thought. Either way, he found it mildly amusing. Before he could find out which one it was, they were interrupted.

All four of the cousins were heading their way.