Chapter 23: Kidnapping? Kidnapping!

"He…"

Kiana stared at the newly bathed Shi Tian. He sat on the bedside across the couch. She could see some similarities from the previous him, but growing up by two years in a single night is still shocking.

He no longer looked like a kid. His height almost caught up to hers. His peaceful look held a specific charm. His mental age matched up his physical age better.

"He grew up."

That wasn't her main point.

She thought of Shi Tian's explanation. Immortal cultivation (or so he puts it) helps you progress into your optimal state. It will cause your body to grow in advance.

She interpreted that as being more beautiful. It sounded very awesome in her ears, and as such, she wanted it.

The other thing she noticed was his current strength. She vaguely felt some sort of intimidating aura from him. It was similar to the 'threat' honkai energy gives off, but not quite.

It's more of knowing he is strong by simply looking.

Kiana did not know what to do. Her lazy bum made her sit on the couch. She then realized something.

'Couch?'

She blinked her eyes. She remembered she slept on the bed last night. Shi Tian slept on the couch.

She woke up on the couch.

Meaning, she sleepwalked again.

"..!"

A hint of panic appeared inwardly. She saw the strange hotel slippers on the couch. Although intellectually challenged and often reckless, she can still put two and two together.

She slept with Shi Tian.

Again.

Her position indicated she stepped on his face. 

Again.

A mixture of guilt and shame emerged. Kiana traveled all by herself the past two years. She did not have to worry about something like this.

Now that she's not alone, she has to worry about it.

"...He wouldn't… bring… yes…"

She headed to her escape route—her phone. Kiana tried to entertain herself with social media. It did not work.

It is always embarrassing for such a thing to happen.

This carried on until Shi Tian finished his cultivation session. The last twenty minutes had been pure torture for Kiana.

He stood up from the bedside and saw her scrolling through a social media platform.

"Where do you want to eat? I scrolled through some breakfast places last night."

"Oh? Um… You choose."

She did not look at him. She intently focused on the phone.

Shi Tian felt strange. Kiana was usually the one who chose the places they went. If she did not do it, something's abnormal.

"I saw a place that sells all sorts of pie. It looks good."

"Um. Let's go there."

Seeing her stand up and head to the bathroom, Shi Tian tried to meet her gaze. On the instance he did so, she looked away immediately.

"What did I do..?"

*****

One breakfast was all it took to bring Kiana back to normal. The place we went to had all sorts of pies. There are also different sandwiches. We ordered several varieties to bless our stomachs.

The blessing was great.

I can still eat a few pies but chose not to. Kiana, on the other hand, demolished a whole apple pie. She ate other pies after that, and then a small sandwich.

I have to say that she eats cleanly. It's not the type who will use forks on sandwiches. She's very skilled when it comes to eating with hands. That's all I can say.

"Fua… It's good."

"Yeah."

It's painfully obvious.

It did not take long for Kiana to ask something.

"Did you reach the next level?"

"Level? Yeah."

I briefly explained my breakthrough.

"I can use spells now."

"Can't you do it before?"

"I can. But it's too weak. See how I didn't use it much?"

The early stage is the opening of Jing dantian. It mainly strengthened my body. The middle stage, on the other hand, opened up the Qi dantian. It focuses on strengthening meridians and the quality/quantity of spiritual qi.

In short, the early stage increases the physical stats; the middle stage increases the mana stat; the late stage increases wisdom and intelligence stats.

"Once you finish your stage, you should grow a few centimeters tall too. You can also start learning new techniques."

"Aren't they difficult to learn?"

"We'll make it easier."

It took a round of coaxing to convince her to learn a new technique. She only knew a cultivation technique, the [Taixu True Spirit Art] (lit. Supreme Void True Spirit Art) , and the [Cloud Seeking Steps].

Unlike my prior expectations, cultivation techniques only contained cultivation techniques—nothing more, nothing less. 

I thought it would include some spells and artifact blueprints. I had to create them by myself.

Meh, it's not like we can create those artifacts now. I don't have a clue on [Two Phase Art]'s upgrade. With no materials, it is simply a castle in the sky.

"Hm..?"

My eyesight has become extremely sharp since my breakthrough this morning. I swiftly reacted at a familiar appearance in the opposite street. The cafe's glass did not serve to hinder my vision.

The first thing that greeted me is the rows of homeless people. You can immediately feel how bad things are in this place. One would think of it as a third-world country.

Siberia is in a semi-isolated state from the rest of Russia. No planes flew over here. There are also a lot of honkai-related incidents that occur in some places. Even, there are places that are strictly off-limits by the military.

So far, there are only five cities open for public visits. The rest are off-limits, including the roads going to these restricted places.

I won't be surprised if I see a Valkyrie somewhere here. 

Thankfully, we did not need to take much action. Being low profile is the key.

"Siberia…"

Siberia, Russia.

Date, March 17 2012.

This explains the salted duck I saw just now. She is being accompanied by a blue-haired girl… someone I also know.

They walked past the street opposite ours. A strange feeling appeared on them. They have something in them that gives off a heavy feeling. It is similar to honkai energy.

I think it's something else…

Just then, I saw the silver-haired girl looking in my direction. I snapped out of my stupor and avoided her gaze.

"Something strange?"

Kiana looked outside.

"It's nothing. I remembered something."

"Oh…"

It's strange to greet them from afar. It's also strange to initiate a conversation with total strangers. Nevertheless, part of me wanted to talk to the others in the game.

Just like this Tuna in front of me. I learned a lot of things I did not see on the screen.

I don't know. It made me happy learning more about her.

Speaking of Bronya and Seele…

Seele has a split personality.

When exactly did she appear?

*****

Irkutsk, Siberia.

We decided on this place a few days back. If there are people who knew Siegfried's location, it would be those dealers. We went through ten cities but to no avail. Sometimes, there are honkai dealers.

Sometimes, there are none.

Their commonality is that their clues are one year outdated. Kiana ended up wanting to go to Siberia, out of all places. She might not know about it, but I do.

We can't be as carefree as the time in North America. If a minor honkai eruption occurs, it's best to save others while being lowkey. You know, using masks and the likes.

Anyways, our predicament led to me using the [Two Phase Art] intermittently to detect these hidden guys. We might look like we are strolling the streets. In actuality, we are looking for these 'hidden places'.

Since I am turning the technique 'off' within three seconds, people did not notice much.

"Hm?!"

Just now, I cast it within my three kilometer radius. A new 'thing' appeared. It felt like spiritual qi.

…

It's not just spiritual qi. There's something more to it. 

I looked at the pillar of smoke and saw numerous changes of nature. It left a vague and indelible mark on my mind.

It's like I am about to sneeze. I am on the verge of understanding something, only to fail.

I think I saw it somewhere in the techniques...

That's right.

Middle grade spiritual qi!

Low grade spiritual qi only contains energy. The ones above it contains a hint of Dao Rhyme. It is the requirement for cultivators above Foundation Establishment!

I stared blankly at its source. It was a speeding blue van.

Speeding…

I briefly saw the people beyond the tinted glass. There are six men inside the van. Three of them had masks. They did not give off a strange feeling. That pillar of cloud… they didn't cause it.

Masks…

Masks..?

I had a bad feeling.

My eyes never left the speeding van. 

I looked upwards and scanned for any form of surveillance camera.

I overthought.

There's none.

Siberia is as desolate as it is. It's not even as good as the town we went to before. There are no stoplights nor visible cameras.

"There might be a kidnapping case."

"Hm?! Where?!"

"The blue van."

I completed the circulation of my [Cloud Seeking Steps]. I am currently wearing a black hoodie and cargo pants. My current cultivation allowed me to be impervious to cold.

I pulled up the hood to my head. I tied its laces tightly to my face to ensure they would not come off while running.

Whatever I am doing next, it's not related to Shi Tian.

"I will go first. Follow me from a distance."

"Ah?!"

Not minding her exclamation, my feet began moving. I moved to the left side of the sidewalks. Once I accumulated enough speed, I began running on the main road.

Swoosh-!

"Huh?!"

"@^%%^@!!!"

"This…"

"...running…"

I heard occasional exclamations on the sides. Even I will be shocked once I see someone running as fast as a car.

Swoosh-!

Swoosh-!

…

Some of the cars behind me took the initiative to move away. My feet stepped on the broken lines dividing the road.

Some cars that were about to overtake stopped. 

In such a chaotic situation, I kept my calm. My blood circulation became faster. The familiar calmness was accompanied by increased concentration.

My acceleration kept going up. I went beyond the limits of humans.

"Heh."

The suspicious black van is now in front of me.