Everyone's faces stiffened in horror.
The males stared at Hikaru in utter disbelief, several of them with their mouths wide-open.
The girls blushed or turned their heads in vicarious embarrassment.
Spitting had always been considered a vulgar action that women would avoid performing in public, but Hikaru had taken it a step further and done the unfathomable, the unthinkable, the unmentionable…
She gargled!
It was only Hanabi who stared at Hikaru with a clueless expression as she had yet to learn of the vulgarity or meaning of spitting and other such actions.
After gargling a mouthful of saliva for five whole seconds, Hikaru spat on the First Elder's floor.
Such an action was completely out of place with her demeanor that even several of the elders could not reconcile her current appearance with the one moments ago.
Witnessing such vulgar and fearless rudeness, the elders wondered what had happened to the polite, little girl who spoke so humbly.
Kondo, Gao Diao, and Ariyoshi Miji peeked at their First Brother whose face was just stepped on brutally by the most junior of junior disciples. Sweat trickled down their backs nervously as they regretted not stepping in earlier to prevent this disaster from occurring.
After insulting an elder of the sect to this extent and blatantly disrespecting the sacred authority he held, it was too difficult to step forward and protect Hikaru from their brother's wrath.
First Elder Kaitou Daiki had an ugly expression on his face with one eye bulging madly at the girl who dared to spit on his floor and face.
He was already outraged with her indirect remarks, but after witnessing her powerful charming technique, he decided to let her off with only a heavy punishment. Yet, she flagrantly spit on his floor as a "thank you" to him.
No one would blame him for exterminating this repugnant vixen. Even his Fifth Sister would be forced to swallow her words.
Just as he was about to erase her existence, a cleaning towel appeared in Hikaru's hand.
He stayed his hand to see what she would do. If she happened to dig her grave deeper, it would make explaining things to Fifth Sister easier.
Hikaru got on her knees and began mixing the blood still dripping from her nose with the extra-large loogie she had just expelled from her mouth. Periodically, she would spit again as if disrespecting him just once was not enough.
"Big sister, what are you doing?"
Hanabi's eyes blazed with curiosity as they looked at Hikaru focused on scrubbing the floor.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm thanking the First Elder for his valuable lesson by cleaning his floor! It's important to show our elders respect and gratitude for taking care of us."
The Tributaries cringed at Hikaru's explanation.
She was smearing an even mixture of blood and spit across the floor using a towel.
This was obviously the opposite of cleaning…
"Now, are you going to just keep watching your big sister clean alone, or are you going to help me?"
Hikaru took out a second towel and tossed it to Hanabi.
Hanabi disliked the First Elder for his previous mocking and for targeting them with his killing intent, but she had already accepted Hirai Hikaru as her big sister in her heart. Thus, she decided she would follow Hikaru's lead faithfully.
Additionally, she had never cleaned anything before as it was an activity unfitting for a princess. Only the palace maids and servants would do the cleaning, so she was excited to experience something new.
She nodded her head and kneeled on the floor, positioning herself next to Hikaru.
"Big sister, don't we need water for cleaning?"
Hikaru shook her head in denial.
"Little sister is truly young and inexperienced. You don't always have water available, so you have to improvise. That's where this comes in handy," he paused to spit on the floor as an example, "Just like that. Now, you try."
"Un. That does make some sense," she nodded her head in understanding before pulling her veil down. Her red brows furrowed cutely, focusing on the floor, before pursing her light pink lips to spit on the floor.
PTU...
She pouted in disappointment at her work.
"The amount is so small compared to yours, big sister! Why is that?"
Hikaru stopped scrubbing to place a hand on her chin and evaluate the princess's spit closely, "Hmmm, don't worry. This was not bad for your first time. Look closely, and copy me."
Hikaru tilted her head upwards to gargle her saliva for ten full seconds.
Once again, the younger males cringed at the sight, and the girls were desperate to stop Hikaru from continuing the horrific act. Unfortunately, the elders' auras had enveloped everyone aside from Hikaru and Hanabi, warning all not to intervene.
PTOOOOEY
Hikaru released an even larger amount of spittle than the first time.
"Got it? Now, it's your turn."
Determined to succeed, she tilted her head up and began gargling her saliva for fifteen seconds. Her veil slid off her head, allowing her crimson hair to cascade down the back of her head.
PTUUU...
Hikaru nodded at the result in satisfaction.
"See? It worked!"
Hanabi sighed aloud, still unsatisfied with her performance, "Big sister is truly big sister. I did it for much longer, yet yours is still two times bigger."
"I used to work as a shoeshiner when I was small. After running out of water, I would continue while using spit. That's what it means to be a professional!"
Hikaru tilted her bleeding nose upwards in pride, causing Hanabi's eyes to sparkle in admiration. Blood continued to drip onto the ground, but the professional did not make any effort to stop it.
"Big sister, you must show me how to shoeshine later. I want to be as good as yo—"
"Enough!"
Kaitou Daiki had had enough.
The air around Hikaru and Hanabi thickened, freezing them in place and making it difficult to breathe.
"Trash must be burned clean."
With a wave of his hand, two white bolts shot out from the First Elder aimed at the two Qi Flourishing spit moppers.
The temperature in the room skyrocketed instantly.
Although the projectiles traveled at a speed faster than Kenja could see, time itself seemed to slow down as a feeling of death encroached him.
He knew, somehow, with absolute certainty, that his life was about to end.
The feeling felt hundreds—no, thousands of times worse than the killing intent he had felt earlier.
With this, there was no hope of salvation, no chance to escape.
An unlimited feeling of helplessness and weakness swallowed him.
His hairs stood on end, his stomach churned, and his heart raced as if every part of his body wanted to deny the absolute end that was upon him.
Kenja closed his eyes in resignation.
CRAACKLE