Book 2: Chapter 41: Sleepy Eyes |
It didn’t take long after Zhong Da and Wu Xui left their group for the rest of the party to gather their things and head out. They had been stuck in one spot for too long now. Though it had only been nothing more than a week or two at most, it felt like months overall with all they had seen and experienced so far. Even Shui and the energetic hatchlings found some sort of comfort in the fact they would be making progress again.
Yin Hu made sure they went around the crater that held whatever remained of the First Calamity after Da Ruis finished with it.
In a very roundabout path that took them into the forest before crossing the general area without being able to see it directly from the thick foliage around them. Then they headed back toward where their original path had been based on Jun’s little compass. She’d close her eyes, supposedly instill her Qi within it, and imagine the closest current Righteous Bloc major city to them. The compass did the rest.
Not only was it difficult to scale and traverse to go up the steep, sharp edges, it would likely hold some more troubles for them. It was closer to a magnet of trouble than anything else. He could already feel the itch of another ghost or some fool just waiting for a passerby to make the mistake of exploring this deep into the Bleak Forests that weren’t actually bleak at all.
Pushing past it had been a quiet affair, much to Yin Hu's pleasure.
It helped that he sent Rong out as a scouting party alone. The powerful Spirit made sure that nothing bothered them, accosted them in any way, or even happened to be on their path when the party crossed the area. A lone vanguard worth every effort it would have taken to make him a full time disciple and inner court member of Yin Hu's Hu Clan.
That had been one of the smartest moves he made so far.
Rong’s versatility and power made him perfect for almost any task that didn’t deal with difficult intrapersonal relationships. Kill a monster? Clear the forest? Watch over Jun’s manic focus? Keep Shui entertained? Scare off any potential threats?
Everything was taken care of as soon as Yin Hu asked.
Headaches that couldn’t be prevented.
Primarily, it was Jun and Shui struggling mightily trying to keep the fragile dragon hatchlings out of danger.
They had an unbelievable affinity and propensity for finding creative ways to kill themselves at all opportune moments when they weren't being attended to for even a fraction of a second. It boggled the mind and kept Yin Hu and everyone else, including the ever grumpy Da Ruis, at attention and focused on keeping them alive. For all they knew, they might have missed multiple chances for more exploration, sightseeing, or worse, potential enemies.
All while babysitting little hatchlings.
Yin Hu himself had saved one of the dragons from strangling itself with vines on three different occasions, two from trying to tilt giant boulders and sneak under them, and one that had gotten stuck between two thick branches and was trying to rip itself in half to escape its self-made prison.
That wasn’t mentioning all the times Jun and Shui had done the hasty and harrowing saves.
Thankfully, there were no predators within the Bleak Forests to prey on them. Each one of the six hatchlings would have marched right into the maw of a waiting, hungry carnivore without a single thought in their heads. He had to count it as a great blessing considering the thousands of ways anyone could die in a cultivation world that was as dark as this one.
Yet, no matter how much trouble they caused, Yin Hu refused to stop pushing forward.
The group had a destination they needed to reach.
Procrastinating and exploring had run their course and now all of them had gotten sick of it all. Living in the wilderness was all nice and dandy, but after this long without being in civilization, it had driven the girls stir crazy. Yin Hu didn’t really mind, but he wouldn’t be a good person to ask about the subject considering he had his loneliness limiter shattered by being stuffed in the isolated, floating island for so long.
Yet, even with everything, there were other things they needed to worry about as Yin Hu forced the group to continue forward.
There was no indication who had been on their trail or what bounty hunter would be looking for them as they lollygagged around. Each attacker they’d faced had been able to locate them with relative ease, and it was likely the only reason they haven’t had to deal with all of the fake ones bothering them was because of the Bleak Forests’ reputation.
Who knew what hidden bounty hunter master was currently on their trail right now.
Or worse, the Demonic Cultivator sect Cai Xeufang had come from might be mobilizing their troops as they wasted days doing nothing.
Black Door House? I could never remember what he called the sect he claimed.
It wasn’t until nearly four days later did he stop pushing them to their very limits. No rest in day, night, rain, or any other condition. Not until Shui could no longer keep going forward and needed time to sleep and recover from the intense pace to get out of the forest earlier than estimations.
Yin Hu came to learn more truths. Setting up camp was… different now that the couple were gone.
They had always taken care of it. Set up the campfire, found applicable kindling, cleaned up the ground of anything, brewed his tea, and cooked his rice for him.
Not having them left a large gap that was obvious to see.
Yin Hu sighed as he finished his small bowl of rice and pushed it away. Food and tea didn’t taste the same when he made it compared to when others made it for him. None of the ingredients changed, not even the process, yet it seemed like it was completely different and for worse.
Jun and Rong had worked together to do everything else except the food and his refreshments. He refused to let them touch either as much as he wanted otherwise.
They ate and headed to sleep, joining Shui in the large pavilion.
Yin Hu waved his hand and sent the bowl back into his rice bag then pulled out the Spirit Demonic Tree.
It preened knowing exactly what was about to happen.
He waved his hand again and two cups appeared on the table. “Red Dragon Jasmine Leaves this time. I know you like the mint version better, but I’ve had a desire for this one for the past few days.”
The tree trembled as though it was responding to him.
A laugh escaped Yin Hu as he poured himself a cup and then the tree. It was quiet moments like these that kept him balanced.
Life kept being hectic, and their constant rushing made everything feel distant and quick to be forgotten.
The tree trembled again as it took a light sip of its own cup, matching him one for one.
He let out a contented and satisfied sigh.
“Oh?” Yin Hu perked up as he saw the six dragon hatchlings float out of the pavilion and head toward him. “What do we have here? Looking for more trouble?”
All six floated lazily, and clearly half asleep past the campfire and around the table. They should have been wrapped into a tight ball with Shui in the center of it like usual.
They landed on his lap in a bundle of five with the final one wrapping around his shoulders. They grumbled and circled around each other to find their perfect little spots. Each one let out a cute yawn that made their whiskers shake, blinked their wide eyes at him slowly and then sank into comfortable sleep. Not a single word was shared between them other than the desire to knock out cold.
Yin Hu sat there frozen with his arms raised.
W-What do I do? Can I move? Or will they wake up?
He looked back at the Spirit Demonic Tree… only for it to shift away from him.
“You bastard!”