Chapter 398: Birds and the Bees

stella sat on the couch of her home while diana let out an exasperated sigh. "you got it so wrong it might as well be backward."

"so you're telling me it's not a type of wrestling?" stella retorted.

"yes, that is exactly what i'm telling you. where did you even get that idea?" diana pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

stella shrugged, "the brothel? they gave me a list of opponents to choose from."

diana gave her a look of disbelief.

"look for yourself," stella picked up and showed diana the binder she had shown her earlier, "they have the person's measurements and even a detailed diagram of their form. weirdly, there's nothing about cultivation realms, but i suppose that makes sense since this brothel caters to mortals." stella paused as she got an idea, "what if we started a brothel, but for cultivators—"

"stella, the ashfallen sect is not moving into that industry."

"why not? my human pet's establishment seemed quite profitable if the golden crowns i stole from his storage room were anything to go by."

diana chucked the open binder onto the coffee table and fell into a nearby seat. while nursing her head, she looked at stella through her fingers.

stella returned a grin, which only made diana roll her eyes.

"fiiine, we won't open a brothel." stella crossed her arms. "but i'm still confused. why were elaine and morrigan laughing when you dragged me away? what's the big deal?"

"because it's not a hobby, sport, or a business opportunity." diana drew her hand away and looked into her eyes, "the intense cuddling, as you call it, has an official name. it's called sex, and it's an activity done to create children."

"what does sex stand for?"

diana tilted her head, "what do you mean?"

"it's an acronym for something, right? maybe swift, efficient, and..."

diana snorted.

"what's so funny?" stella frowned.

"no, it's nothing. continue." diana waved her off, "what does x stand for?"

"mhm..." stella thought for a while but drew up a blank, "okay, fine. not an acronym. so sex is just the name of the sport."

"not a sport."

"it seemed quite exhausting."

"talking to you is exhausting," diana slumped back in her chair, "does that make it a sport?"

stella tapped her chin in thought.

"don't answer that," diana sighed and looked at her. "here's a question. you said it seemed quite exhausting, meaning you watched people in the act, right? did you feel anything unusual while watching? maybe a tingling."

"a tingling?" stella frowned and thought back, "was i supposed to?"

diana raised the two binders, one with women and another with men. "what about when you look at these?"

stella glanced between them and then at her body. after a moment, she shrugged, "no?"

"interesting," diana left them open on the table and drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair while she muttered to herself. "she isn't interested in either? has her childhood affected her to this extent, or has the influence of heaven turned her impotent?"

"i can hear you." stella protested. she wasn't sure what diana said, but it didn't sound very kind.

"stella, do you love anyone?"

"yes, of course." stella paused, "i love ash and also you."

diana's eyes widened a little.

"you two are family to me," stella added, and diana's excitement died a little.

"i see," diana mused, "wait, you're half-tree, right?"

stella nodded, "my mother is likely the world tree."

"and you were raised by a tree."

"yup."

"can you be pollinated by a bee?"

stella tilted her head as she tried to understand diana's question.

"ignore me. that was a dumb question." diana's voice dropped to a whisper. "or was it?"

"diana, i'll be honest, i'm even more confused now than before." stella grumbled, "you aren't very good at explaining things."

"i promise you, i'm not the problem here." diana insisted.

"uh-huh. if you say so." stella crossed her arms, "so this sex thing can create children. how does that work."

"now we are getting somewhere!" diana perked up. "if you have sex with a guy, there's a chance you can get pregnant, and then a few months later, you will give birth to a child. wait—do you have any interest in having children?"

"mhm..." stella pondered for a while and then remembered jasmine. "yeah, i want one. they can be rather useful. how long until they can attend meetings and cultivate?"

"you know what? let's shelve the child idea for now."

"ryker is already at the star core realm, and he's what, five? that's quite a long time, but i'm sure my child will be even more exceptional. star core realm by three years old at the latest."

"i can't believe what i'm hearing." diana groaned.

stella glanced at diana, "his new desolation qi can annihilate other qi types so long as he knows the dao behind them. after learning this, i had an idea."

"let me guess, you want him to use desolation qi to annihilate vincent?" diana frowned. "that won't work. not only is vincent's qi stronger than ashlock's, but he also has three affinities."

stella shook her head, "it's not vincent i'm after."

"then who..."

"vincent has to control his blood clones somehow. what if desolation qi came in contact with the links between his clones and his main body?"

diana's eyes widened, "you want to cut off his escape routes."

stella nodded, "exactly. find and eliminate the heads, and all that's left is the body. the fight with vincent will be a big and bloody one, and i want to ensure that once he's dead, he's dead for good."

"this is a good plan." diana nodded approvingly.

"of course it is," stella smirked, "i'm the one who came up with it."

diana exchanged a look with jasmine, and they both rolled their eyes.

"you two are such haters. anyway, i'm off." stella vanished in a flash of aether before either of them could say goodbye. ashlock's all-encompassing presence also shifted away, leaving jasmine alone with diana.

"what are you looking at, jaz?" diana said as she sluggishly got up from the chair and ran a hand through her long black hair.

"you and master weren't fighting, were you?"

diana raised a brow, "how did you know?"

jasmine tapped her forehead, "my link with my master. she finds fighting frustrating and enraging, but she was having fun."

"oh heavens," diana suddenly looked horrified, "i forgot about your link!"

***

stella sat opposite sullivan the following day. she didn't want to admit it, but it had taken her a few hours to locate the man. she foolishly hadn't thought of a way to track his whereabouts or instructed anyone to watch him. luckily, the man had returned to his brothel, where they were now.

the man's office was quite spacious, though disorderly. compared to his well-tailored suit and neat hair, the room showed his wild side.

mhm, no tingling feeling. i still don't know what diana was talking about. i didn't feel it even while she showed me what to do in my room. stella mused while she leaned back in sullivan's large armchair. the giant of a man was sitting opposite her on a small stool that looked comically small compared to his statue. however, i did find it really fun. maybe because it was something so new? while sullivan offered to assist with those activities, i still don't believe he would survive. also, does he really have a sword down there? i find that hard to believe.

whatever the case, this isn't what she had come to the brothel for.

"where is that woman that was working with you? kaelith, i think, was her name?"

sullivan bowed, "reporting to the mistress. lord flamehunt urgently called kaelith back to the main residence."

"oh?" stella leaned on her palm, "why was that?"

"i don't know for certain, but i have a theory, mistress. if you're willing to hear it." sullivan tensed up as guppy shifted behind him. stella had let her pet out of the aether for a short walk and to intimidate her human pet a little, of course.

"go ahead," stella gestured for him to continue.

sullivan gulped, "erm, well, you see, before she left, kaelith received a concerning notice from the eyepatch group." reaching into his suit pocket, he withdrew a piece of paper and slit it across the table.

stella lazily used telekinesis to raise the paper, unfurl it, and read the contents.

it seems they have drastically increased blood pill production? ten crates of blood pills will be delivered hourly, and all are expected to be distributed to the mortals of darklight and ashfallen city. that seems like a lot. does that mean they have expanded operations to ashfallen city? i don't remember any mention of them being there before. mhm, and it says here to get rid of the pills by any means necessary. put them in food and even in the water supply. the boss also wants members to swap out pills from the all-seeing eye gift boxes for blood pills and give them to friends and family? each crate comes with a spirit stone payment, and those who don't manage to distribute all the pills given will be killed.

stella looked around the floating paper at sullivan, "when did this start?"

"last night," sullivan replied. "i don't think the boss cares about lying low anymore. he's gone crazy. he even sent me many boxes of pills despite exiling me."

"did you distribute them?"

"of course not. i stored them in the basement."

stella stood, "wait here. i'll be right back." dropping down through the aether, she arrived in the basement. sure enough, it was overflowing with crates in such a short time. sullivan was still alive, meaning the killing of those who failed to distribute the pills was a lie.

vincent doesn't have the manpower or care to carry out that empty threat, but the members of the eyepatch group don't know that. this is totally unsustainable. where the hell is he getting this much blood to make these pills from anyway? just how far has his reach spread...

stella stepped through the aether again and arrived at the bakery across the road. she caught the pot-bellied baker red-handed. the man had a crate of blood pills in the corner of his kitchen and was manically stuffing the pills into a loaf of bread.

before the man noticed her presence, she was already gone and returned to the office.

that baker had no idea what was happening a few days ago but had grown sick. i think sullivan put blood pills in the water supply that he had been drinking from. it's terrifying how, in such a short time, he went from confused citizen to shoving blood pills in the bread that he sells.

"this is more serious than i thought," stella said, and sullivan nodded.

"i couldn't agree more. i fear the night of reckoning could be as early as tonight."

"the night of reckoning..." stella drummed her fingers as she thought about what vincent could possibly be up to. wait. if he uses blood qi to control his blood clones from afar, what's to say he can't control everyone whose spirit roots are clogged up with his blood qi?

"say sullivan, when i pretended to be interested in joining the eyepatch group, you said the effect of the blood pills was temporary. you have to keep taking them, correct?"

"that is right, mistress."

"do you know where these pills are being made?"

such a sharp increase in production would need vincent physically present. even if we can't kill vincent, i need to find the source of these pills and cut them off.

"i believe the largest facility is under the flamehunt's residence," sullivan said, stroking his chin. "there's a prison nearby managed by the flamehunt family, and i heard they were using the inmates in the production process."

"perfect." stella stood once more and ensured her pendant hung securely around her neck. "let's go find us a bloodsucker."