Family Stealing System: your wife, mother, sister, all mine now!

Kian stepped deeper into the room, the last fog of wine burning off his thoughts. He was interested.

"What did you find?"

Feimei turned the map toward him, her finger pausing on the dried blood circle. "This map is not dangerous to me at all. It’s just a doorway into a place, I tried entering it as well. It’s not a dangerous place either, it’s a simple island."

Kian’s jaw tightened. "Damn, you are too reckless."

"I wanted to enter the place anyway, I was just waiting for you to nod. Since I had the permission, might as well try. There was no need to be overly cautious."

Kian went upto her and gave a smack on her head. "I was planning to send a corpse soldier or something in to test it. So stupid."

She rubbed her head, looking up at him. "Baby, it’s fine. I was too curious, there is no need to be that cautious with everything."

That didn’t sound like a good advice at all.

Feimei pulled the map closer, her red eyes bright as live coals.

"Once I stepped through, I saw black sand stretching to a big area. It called to me, baby, but I didn’t stay long."

"Can we check it together?"

"Yeah. Want to go in?"

Kian nodded.

Kian stepped into the map with Feimei’s hand locked in his.

It was not as complicated as he expected.

The world folded once, soundless and cold, and then his boots sank into black sand. One moment, he was holding the map and looking at Feimei back in the city, next, he stood here.

"Wow," he muttered.

The black beach stretched far under a blue sky and burning sun.

Ahead, a low cliff rose like a shelf of dark stone, cutting off the horizon. Kian stopped in place. Other than the cliff, there was nothing around them.

Looking back, he could see that they were in a beach (a big one) and if he walked for a while, he would reach the sea. But more than the sea, the cliff took Kian’s attention.

"That cliff is what is calling me," Feimei said. "I didn’t go check what’s there, but it’s very safe here. Should we go check it out?"

"What if it’s dangerous?" Kian asked, a bit hesitant.

Feimei glanced back at him, her red eyes calm. "We can leave with a thought. The door is tied to my bloodline. Just think of the room we came from and we will be back, so it’s not as dangerous as you think."

Kian felt his pulse settle.

If they could leave that easily, there was no reason to keep his feet on the ground. Indeed, he could feel a calling from back home: with a thought, he should be able to leave.

"Let’s scout for now," he said.

Kian scooped Feimei up against his chest and Wind Step carried them up the slope.

The black sand fell away, and the cliff’s edge came fast.

"You are fast," she commented, impressed.

Kian kept flying upwards, wondering what was above the cliff.

This entire map, teleportation mechanic, and all was too advanced. He had never seen any cultivator of this level in his backwater place.

What was here?

Who built this?

What level of cultivation were they?

They saw the end of the cliff.

"We are here."

They landed on the top together, and the world opened.

Kian set Feimei down and forgot to breathe.

In front of them, a valley rolled out like a painting no one else had ever seen. A wide stream cut through it, white water flashing over black stones.

Green hills folded into each other on both sides.

And tucked against the base of one hill sat a small hut, its roof of dried grass and its door shut.

Without a word, Kian grabbed Feimei’s hand again and launched higher.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Let’s go to the sky and look down."

She nodded.

The valley shrank before them. The stream became a silver thread. The hills became smaller.

Then he saw it.

The entire place was an island.

A large cliff island, sitting on top of a black beach island of its own.

Kian then noticed the sea around the island.

The sea was extremely chaotic, full of crazy waves. If a ship tried to move through, he was sure it would be crushed and sunken.

Kian hovered there, Feimei’s hand tight in his, and stared down at the churning sea.

"This place doesn’t seem that dangerous," he said. "But who knows what’s hiding. Is that hut what’s calling you?"

"Yeah."

The island was green and quiet at the center, and the singular hut stood without any dangerous signs.

He said nothing, but his grip on Feimei turned to iron.

"Come, we are leaving."

"Yeah," Feimei did not say otherwise.

Immediately, both of them closed their eyes and opened in back in their room.

Whoosh!

"I can’t get used to this no matter how many times I do it!" Feimei said, gasping.

Kian nodded, frowning.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "That place is too quiet. Quiet places hide the worst things."

Feimei smoothed her rumpled sleeve, brows drawn. "But we can leave with a thought. You felt it too. If something moves, we can simply pull out. I feel like we are too worried..."

"Unless it doesn’t let us think once we’re inside the hut." He met her eyes. "You said the hut calls to you, but you know what else calls? A bait, a trap. What if it’s a hook for someone to posses you? I wouldn’t be surprised."

Feimei was shocked at the words.

Indeed!

He added: "That’s enough reason to be careful. I won’t walk my mother in law into a death room because looks friendly."

"Then should we just let it be?"

Kian went on, voice low. "We need a test rat. Something that can walk through that door first and tell us if it’s still breathing afterward."

"How?"

"I know a puppet technique. And I still have two puppets from the outer sect who wouldn’t mind becoming test rats. They don’t get a vote."

Feimei’s breath caught. Puppets? Did he mean humans?

"Kian—that’s cruel."

Her red eyes searched his face. "Turning living men into puppets just to pull a door handle..."

Kian closed the space between their faces. He caught her chin, tilted her face up, and kissed her before she could finish the thought.

The kiss was unhurried but greatly placed to have her raise her neck. When he pulled back, he kept his hands wrapped around her neck.

"They’re bad people, Feimei. In our stead, they wouldn’t mind using us as lab rats. Or worse. So don’t mind it."

Feimei blinked, but didn’t speak. She pressed her lips together and frowned.

"Don’t worry, we are probably just being too cautious. If that’s the case, no one gets hurt."

Then, she finally nodded.

Stepping back, Kian stretched until his shoulders popped, and the last fog of wine finally cleared from his skull.

"Now let me go check on Xiao Cui, that girl is probably still finding her pace."

He left the room without looking back. The corridor still smelled of osmanthus wine and Jia’s tantrum. Somewhere deeper in the house, Mia’s chuckles could be heard.

His body remembered the couch, Jiao Yin’s warmth, Jia’s wild accusations, the fruit and the tree and the way she laughed against his mouth.

The hangover was fading, but the weight of everything else wasn’t.

He pulled up his status window while walking. The reward from Jia’s favorability still waited there—improve Twin Heart or unlock a new Grey ability—gold-edged and untouched.

First, it was time to handle that.

But before that, he had to find Xiao Cui to hug.

Kian felt great as he walked around.

He checked the bedrooms first.

Jiao Yin was folding linens, and Jia had burrowed into the covers with one foot hanging off the bed.

Her eyes looked mad.

Kian coughed.

No Xiao Cui there.

The faint sound of water drew him to the attached bathroom beside the kitchen. The door stood closed, sadly.

"Who is inside?" he muttered.

In the kitchen, Mia stood at the worn wooden board, slicing pale strips of melon.

The knife moved in steady, practiced strokes. He came up behind her without a sound and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Mia didn’t startle. She leaned back against him, and the corner of her mouth curved. "Someone is finally awake for good."

She lifted a slice of melon over her shoulder. He opened his mouth. The fruit was cold and sweet, and her fingers brushed his lips.

"What fruit do you like?" she asked. "You ate that thing on the tree without even checking, idiot. Thank god you two weren’t poisoned to death."

Kian chewed slowly, watching the knife move skillfully.

Fruit, huh?

He defenitely loved Mia’s boobs.

Without answering her, he simply hugged her and closed his eyes.

The system window pulsed in the edge of his vision.

Improve Twin Heart, or unlock a new Grey ability.

He hugged Mia tighter, buried his face in the curve of her neck, and let the warmth of her skin anchor him. Then he thought at the panel once.

Improve Twin Heart.

Who knew what he would get?

And he definitely did not want to lose out on upgrading such a massive power.

The gold light unwound behind his eyelids.

A hot thread pulled through his chest, then divided. Twin Heart deepened.

He felt the shape of the technique settle into something sharper, like two rivers learning to merge mid-current.

Mia must have felt the change because she paused mid-slice. "Kian, what fruit do you like?"

He kissed the back of her neck and smiled against her skin. "I like the pear."

"A sexual innuendo~." Mia rolled her eyes. "Don’t throw those at me thinking I won’t notice. I read a lot of books, so I am good at that stuff."

She set the knife down and turned in his arms, hands coming up to frame his face. "And stop looking at my chest like it owes you rent and go wash up, I’ll cook you something nice."

"Thanks!"

As Kian stepped back from Mia, the system chimed inside his skull, clean and sharp.

[Ding! Twin Heart upgrade successful.]