Book 2: Chapter 8: A Needle (2/2)

“...how did you get this all over you?!” Meiling asked, aghast. There was wasp-paper, honey and bits of bug strewn throughout Tigu’s fur.

“After her failures yesterday, she asked me to accompany her. She mistook wasps for bees, again, and raided a yellow lance nest head-on.” Xiulan muttered. “Then she tried to dig out a bee nest that was underground. She dug it up too fiercely and ended up in the honey. In the confusion, the queen escaped.”

Tigu turned, absolutely scandalized, and hissed at Xiulan. She struggled for a moment like she wanted to get at the woman, but Meiling simply gripped her by the scruff and the cat went limp.

“You are going nowhere until I clean you.” Meiling stated bluntly. Tigu let out a few token grumbles, but remained limp. The little beast even started purring when her fingers went to work, cleaning the silken fur.

Meiling watched Xiulan out of the corner of her eye. The woman was morose, hugging her knees to her chest, sitting on one of the benches.

“...and you?” Meiling asked. Xiulan looked for a moment like she wasn’t going to say anything, before she deflated.

“I made a mistake, and pushed too hard, too fast. Again.” Xiulan explained. She winced, then rubbed her forehead again.

“Did whatever happened hurt you?” Meiling asked, concerned.

Xiulan paused and took stock of herself.

“...only my pride, I think.” She whispered. “And my forehead. Like hitting stone.”

Meiling shrugged. “Then there is little problem in trying again, but slower this time, no?”

Xiulan sighed, a tired smile coming to her face. “You are right, Senior Sister. This was a light rebuke. I shall try again. Slower this time.”

Meiling nodded. She ran her fingers through Tigu’s fur one last time and turned to the other woman.

“Grab a towel, and lay on your front, Xiulan. You look like you could use some relaxation.”

Xiulan’s eyes focused on the acupuncture needles, her body tensing further, before she abruptly relaxed.

“I entrust my body to you, Senior Sister.” Xiulan said, her voice soft. Meiling coughed at the phrasing.

Meiling set Tigu aside, the cat mewling softly as her fingers left.

Xiulan’s skin was impossibly soft and smooth. Every time Meiling touched it she wanted to just run her hands up and down the other woman’s body for the pure tactile sensation. Not in any sexual sense. It just felt so interesting.

But it was a veneer. The smooth, soft skin ended abruptly, and gave way to unyielding flesh that was like metal chords. Especially when Xiulan was this tense.

Meiling frowned. She knew mortal acupuncture, but not cultivator acupuncture. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t hurt the other woman, but she would just focus on the muscles, just in case.

The first needle refused to penetrate flesh, instead just bending.

Meiling took a calming breath and got out another needle. This one was carefully reinforced with Qi

She took her time, observing every reaction, as she placed the needles carefully into the muscles. It took a strange amount of effort to put the needles in. She placed each one precisely, like she did for Elder Che when father could not do it.

When she placed the last needle, Xiulan’s body abruptly relaxed, and the other woman let out a groan of pleasure that turned Meiling’s ears pink. Seriously, this woman! Meiling shook her head. She would need to either ask Jin, or Xiulan herself, for more scrolls on acupuncture. They were all cultivators, so that meant she would need better arts to adjust their bodies properly.

Or so she thought. Maybe she didn’t? It never hurt to learn.

A paw batted at her arm, and Tigu stared entranced at the needles.

“Okay, fine, yes, you too.” Meiling sighed.

She soon had an utterly relaxed cat, and a puddle of a woman, steaming in the water.

...She would have to see if Jin wanted to learn acupuncture. It just wasn’t the same to do it to yourself.

Yet all good things come to an end. The other girls staggered out of the bath and into the evening air. Well, Xiulan staggered. Tigu just curled up in Meiling’s arms. Jin was sitting with his back against the house. He had the bee that Bi De collected in the palm of his hand and was carefully feeding it some maple syrup The rooster was looking on, interested at the little, surprisingly docile insect. While the young queen could feed herself, and make a new hive by her lonesome, it was best that she didn’t work too much, especially after being separated from her swarm.

He raised an eyebrow and gestured towards Xiulan. Meiling shrugged. She didn’t know what was bothering the other woman, but she was in a bit better mood now.

There was a commotion as Chun Ke, Pi Pa, and Gou Ren exited the forest. Chun Ke had a thick branch in his mouth with a hive upon it, but the bees were nowhere to be found. Gou Ren raised a hand to Jin.

“We’ve got more!” he shouted, patting a box on his back. “A whole hive, thanks to these two!”