Soaring the Heavens

’Wait and see?’ Miao Yi was a little dejected as he knew that there was no way he could defy the higher-ups’ commands. After making his way to the courtyard, he immediately wrote Traversing Water Palace a letter stating that he had successfully completed his mission. Once again, he requested that they allow him to return.

Once he released the spirit eagle, he made his way to the courtyard’s exit; but just as he was about to step outside the door, he stopped and pulled his foot back. Where was he supposed to go now?! There was a chance that a killer was out there just waiting to take his life!

Initially, he thought that the people in-charge here would let him walk away after he had completed the mission. That way, he wouldn’t have to ask Traversing Water Palace to take him back; he could just return immediately. However, now the other party was saying that the mission was still not over. As a result, there was no way he could just pack up and leave. Not without first getting Traversing Water Palace’s approval. Thus, he needed to find a place to stay and wait for their response.

’Should I go to Tempest Tavern?’ Miao Yi was clenching his teeth in frustration just thinking about it. ’Better not. My life will be at risk again if I stay there.’

After mulling it over for a while, he ultimately decided to just head back to Tempest Tavern. This was still the safest place in Flowing Clouds Dune Sea. It wasn’t as if he was short on money anyway.

He released the Blue-Feathered Swallow and hopped on, then promptly flew off. Shortly after, he landed right in Tempest Tavern’s mud-walled courtyard. It wasn’t too far off from the actual building itself.

He jumped off the Blue-Feathered Swallow and tucked it away. As he made his way to the tavern’s front door, he was suddenly greeted with a familiar fragrance.

There would be no stories without coincidences. It just so happened to be around the time of day when the Lady Boss would head out for her daily rounds. As such, she bumped into Miao Yi right as she was heading out. The two of them stared at one another, with one person standing just outside the door, and the other standing on the inside.

At that moment, Miao Yi’s appearance was wretched beyond words. First, he had that ’major scuffle’ with the twins. After that, he was dunked in seawater for quite a length of time. It was hard to describe the stench about his body right now. His clothes were also in complete tatters, and his hair was a disheveled mess.

Miao Yi forced out a smile and chuckled, "Mornin’, Lady Boss!"

The Lady Boss raised an eyebrow, thinking back to how this arrogant bastard had left her tavern a year ago. Back then, she couldn’t do anything to him, but now that the ball was in her court... She pinched her nose and frowned, asking, "Where is this fishy smell coming from? Do we know each other?"

Miao Yi knew that payback would be coming for him. He laughed drily and said, "Lady Boss, you sure are forgetful. It’s me, Niu Er! We drank together before! Do you remember?"

"Oh! If it isn’t Niu Er! You’re still alive?" The Lady Boss continued to pinch her nose as though there was a really repulsive stench, and asked, "Which hole did you crawl out from? Why are you so smelly? You’d better not scare all my guests away. If you don’t have any business here, then leave. Don’t just stand in front of my tavern."

The scholar was leaning over the counter, giggling as he watched the scene unfold.

Miao Yi paid her words no heed. He hurriedly moved aside and said, "No need to worry about me. Feel free to continue on your rounds. I’m just here to check-in to the tavern. See, I do have business here."

"Oh you are, are you?" The Lady Boss sized him up, then let go of her nose and folded her arms before her chest. Then, swaying her hips to one side, she turned her head back to wink at the scholar as she said, "Innkeeper, do we still have any more rooms?"

Behind the counter, the scholar immediately tilted his head to one side and replied, "Lady Boss, we don’t have any more rooms. It’s a full house."

The Lady Boss then turned back and smiled. "Apologies, Niu Er. We’re full. You should find somewhere else to stay." She lifted her chin up arrogantly, then strutted past Miao Yi dismissively.

’Damn it! You’re obviously screwing with me here. If I had anywhere else to stay, why would I come here and suffer this humiliation from you?’ Miao Yi’s expression twisted. He hurriedly stepped in front of the Lady Boss and cupped his fists. "Lady Boss, please forgive me for my insolence. I know you still have rooms available. Please don’t let yourself stoop to my level of ignorance."

The Lady Boss then curiously asked, "Who do you think you are? Why would I even need to be so petty with you? The Innkeeper just said that we don’t have any more rooms. Go and ask him yourself if you don’t believe me."

Miao Yi was lost for words. ’If you don’t give him the go-ahead, then no matter how much I ask, that sadistic piece of shit will still definitely say that the tavern is full.’

He immediately cupped his fists again. "Lady Boss, out of respect for Yun Feiyang, please just forgive me already."

"Does he even have anything to do with me? I’ve already been exiled out of the Yun family. You should know this as well." The Lady Boss scornfully said as she circled around him.

Miao Yi quickly stopped her again. "Lady Boss, I was wrong. Can you tell me what I need to do for you to let me stay here?"

How difficult it must be for him to say such a thing. During his stay here, he was beaten up by the other party twice. And now, he even had to admit that he was the one in the wrong. Miao Yi now finally understood why so many people would just let themselves be taken advantage of by this woman right here.

The Lady Boss narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "Are you begging me right now?"

Miao Yi nodded repeatedly. "Yes, I’m begging you. Please help me, Lady Boss."

"In that case..." The Lady Boss paused to think for a while, then turned back and shouted, "Innkeeper, come here for a bit."

"Ma’am!" The scholar cheerfully walked out and asked, "Lady Boss, what can I do for you?"

The Lady Boss pursed her lips at Miao Yi Miao Yi and said, "He is one of our regulars after all. We should try to help him out if we can. Do we have any rooms we can vacate at the moment?"

The scholar shrugged. "We really don’t."

The Lady Boss put on a troubled face. Then, as Miao Yi continued to stare blankly at her, she acted as if she had just come to a huge decision. "Well, if I clear out the storeroom that’s under my room, I think we can make some space for you to stay in. But I’m afraid that’s no place to host a guest..." She turned to Miao Yi and added, "I simply can’t have you stay in the storeroom. Why don’t you wait outside for a couple more days? Once we have a vacancy, we’ll make sure to keep it for you."

"No. Don’t! I’m a simple man. A storeroom is more than enough." Miao Yi forced a smile and said, "I’ll stay in the storeroom then."

The scholar then said in a troubled tone, "Lady Boss, how are we going to charge... for the storeroom?"

"You’re right!" The Lady Boss folded her arms over those seductive mounds of hers and looked up at the sky as though mulling over the problem.

Miao Yi was grinding his teeth in frustration. ’These two assholes are clearly making this shit up just to screw with me. I’ll let you two have this satisfaction for now. If I ever get the chance, I’ll make sure to burn this damned tavern to the ground.’

It wasn’t worth it to throw his life away just to save some face. Miao Yi lied through his teeth with utmost sincerity and cheerfully said, "No need to worry so much about it. You can just charge me the usual rate!"

Deep down, he grumbled, ’It’s not like your normal rooms are that fancy anyway. It’s pretty much just an empty room with a few chunks of wood slapped together. How is it any different from a storeroom? My Raincloud Manor on the other hand, is like heaven on earth. Even the simplest of rooms there is better than your most luxurious one here.’

"Haa.." The Lady Boss sighed helplessly, then said to the scholar, "Since he is being this insistent about it, then out of respect for his sincerity, let’s empty out the storeroom and have him stay there for the time being. If it isn’t to his liking... we’ll just see how it goes for now."

The meaning behind her words were clear—’If you’re obedient enough, then you can continue staying. Else, we’ll use " the storeroom isn’t good enough for a guest" as an excuse to send you packing.’

"Yes, Ma’am!" The scholar was all smiles as he turned and walked away.

Miao Yi wished he could just sell this woman off to a brothel. However, for appearance’s sake, he still cupped his fists repeatedly. "Thank you, Lady Boss! Thank you!"

"No need to thank me. It’s my duty to make sure my guests are well-cared for. Well, I’m off to my duties now. If you don’t like the living conditions, just tell the Innkeeper. Oh, I feel so terrible at having to make a guest stay in the storeroom!" As the Lady Boss said this, she intentionally flicked her hair and walked off proudly. The moment her back was turned to Miao Yi, she quickly bit on her lip, trying to stifle her laughter. This payback was too simply satisfying.

"Take care, Lady Boss!" Miao Yi didn’t forget to kiss up to her as she left, before entering the tavern. He didn’t have any other choice. The other party could just find any excuse to kick him out if he pissed her off.

"How many days will you be staying?" Behind the counter, the scholar asked in a cheery tone.

"Ten days for now." Miao Yi said with a forced smile, then took out a hundred thousand Gold Crystals and placed them on the counter.

After the scholar tallied everything, he nodded and said, "Just bear with it for now. Once we have vacant rooms, I’ll change it for you."

"Sorry to trouble you." Miao Yi politely said with a chuckle.

"You can sit here and wait for a moment." The scholar turned to one of the employees and said, "Go clean up the storeroom upstairs and throw in a bed."

Right as the storeroom was readied, the Lady Boss just returned from her daily patrols. She said, "Since it’s on the way for me as well, Niu Er, come have a look with me."

Besides ’yes’, what else could Miao Yi say? What ticked him off the most was that this woman had to pinch her nose as she walked up the stairs, as though he had just climbed out of a garbage heap.

Surprisingly, the storeroom was rather wide; it was almost as big as three normal guest rooms in the tavern. It was possible that the Lady Boss staying right upstairs had something to do with such a large space being turned into a storeroom.

All the random bits and bobs had already been cleared aside, and the bed was also prepared. It was easy to tell that the room had been kept rather clean all this while. Perhaps it had something to do with the Lady Boss’s habit of keeping things neat and tidy. Besides which, the vacated space was also much larger than that of a normal guest room. Miao Yi was quite satisfied with the result. The only thing he didn’t like was that the Lady Boss would be staying right above his head.

"What is the smell that is coming off of you? It’s gross!" Before the Lady Boss walked out the room, she said to the employee that had accompanied them upstairs, "Get him some water to clean himself. Try not to let my room catch his stench too."

Miao Yi forced a smile and said, "Okay okay, I’ll wash myself right away."

It was indeed about time for him to take a nice bath. The employee took out a giant bathing basin and filled it with clean water. Then, after disrobing himself, Miao Yi dipped himself comfortably into the water and slowly closed his eyes. He was in absolute bliss.

He had been roaming around the desert for over a year, and was forced to always remain vigilant of his surroundings. He could finally relax.

Just as he was about to finish with his bath, a loud thump suddenly came from above, and clumps of dirt immediately rained down on him.

The ceiling was entirely constructed of wood, with a layer of mud laid right above it to stabilize the structure. Naturally, the dirt had dropped down from the gaps in between the wood. Miao Yi didn’t know what manner of heavy lifting must be going on upstairs for such a large pile of dirt to be raining down on him.

Miao Yi quickly activated his transcendence energy and avoided the falling dirt. Then hurriedly put on his clothes on and bolted out into the alleyway. It was safe to say that he had barely escaped by the skin of his teeth. After all, he had only just finished his bath!

Looking back into the room, he saw that it was now completely filled with dirt. The Great Manor Head Miao slowly gazed up at the ceiling. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the bitch upstairs was intentionally messing with him again.

Now that he was living under another person’s roof, he had to lower his head. After all, he was staying here on the other party’s ’benevolence’! He walked to the door and spread out his palm, opening the window with his transcendence energy. He then repeatedly swung his arms about, blowing away all the dust out through the window.

After some difficulty, he was finally managed to get his room clean again. Miao Yi shut the window and sighed as he laid down on his wooden bed. Just as he was thinking about how to return to Raincloud Manor, another loud thump came from above him, followed by another cascading pile of dirt.

Miao Yi immediately shot up and rushed out of his room. He looked back at the dusty room, then moved his gaze up to the ceiling, cursing at a certain someone’s family deep down.

Meanwhile up above, the Lady Boss was already lying on her own bed, holding a hand up to her mouth. She was laughing so hard it almost hurt to even chuckle.

"Do you really think I’m so easily bullied? Fine. If you’re taking it this far, then I won’t just sit still either!" Miao Yi scoffed. He beat a temporary retreat to the other end of the alleyway, sat down cross-legged on the floor, and didn’t return to his room for the rest of the day.

The following morning, the Lady Boss walked down from her room with all her womanly charms. When she saw Miao Yi seated down in the alleyway outside his room, as if unable to hold her curiosity, she asked, "Niu Er, just what are you sitting there for?"

Miao Yi immediately walked over and greeted her. As he followed her down the steps, he also asked back curiously, "Lady Boss, why does dirt keep falling down from the ceiling in my room?"

The Lady Boss sighed. "The ceiling is quite old and worn out. It hasn’t been repaired for many years, which is why I turned it into a storeroom. If it’s not to your liking, then I think we should just forget about it. Why don’t you..."

Miao Yi immediately flashed a smile and waved his hands. "No matter. It’s a small issue. I can get used to it."