-- Chapter 11:
The sun stood at its peak, masking the forest in a comfortable warmth.
Hui had his branches folded behind his “head” as he laid peacefully beside the bird’s carcass. He was still in mild disbelief over the sheer might of ‘Silver Leaf’. He stretched out a branch and picked up one of the inch-thick feathers that had fallen loose and tapped it, eliciting a metallic clang. The feathers seemed to be harder than steel, but they had torn apart as easily as paper before the mesmerizing silver energy. Hui held up one his branches before where he imagined his face to be and tightened it.
‘I must master this skill!’
Brimming with determination, Hui set out for his second life’s first taste of chicken. As he fashioned his branches into makeshift dining utensils, he thought back to the peculiar state he had been in earlier.
At that time, It was as if nothing mattered besides the life and death of his enemy. In his past life Hui had never experienced that sort of confrontation nor the bloodlust that he had felt in that state. Truthfully, the only battles he had been interested in doing were the not safe for children type. Puzzled, Hui murmured to himself, ‘Have I discovered another facet of my personality? Perhaps I’m destined to become Asura?’
As Hui’s ego reached a level invincible under the heavens, the tall grass nearby rustled. Before he could react, a figure leaped forwards and slammed into him.
‘Shit!’
Hui was knocked backwards several meters. Though he was caught off guard, he had managed to shield himself with his pliable branches, dampening a majority of the force. Hui steadied himself and prepared for the follow up.
‘Hm?’
Beyond Hui’s expectations, the shadow ignored him and seized his bird instead, bounding off into the forest. When Hui recovered from the initial shock, the thief was almost out of sight.
A blood vessel throbbed violently on the sapling’s forehead as it realized it had been deceived.
‘Bastard! You dare eat without paying?!’
Hui shrugged off his exhaustion and rapidly pursued his meal. Though it was only a glimpse, Hui had seen the identity of the shadow: a wolf cub.
From the moment of contact earlier, Hui believed that he was more than capable of handling the mutt despite his current consumption. As he closed the distance between them, Hui was surprised by cub’s speed. Compared to the strength it had displayed, its agility was far greater. However, it was weighed down by the bulk of the bird and Hui gradually caught up.
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The duo burst out of forest into a circular clearing. When he reached his branch forwards to snare the cub and mercilessly beat it, his sense of danger flared and he reflexively stopped and retreated.
A blur passed by where he had stood and tore a meter long opening on the ground.
Hui’s complexion darkened as he slowly moved backwards towards the forest.
The cub had dropped its burden and was sitting relaxed while yipping proudly. In front of it was a pack of fully grown wolves, larger than the ones Hui had seen in his previous life, and with far more aggressive eyes.
Hui retreated, hoping that the mischievous hellspawn’s pack saw no benefit in a meatless sapling. When he was almost to the line of trees, a hideously scarred wolf signaled and the pack shot towards him.
Silently cursing the beast that could have been a war veteran, Hui turned around and fled. As Hui was hunted down for the second time today, he could only sob to himself at the lack of a movement technique.
Fleeing with a pack of wolves biting at his heels, Hui daydreamed of soaring among the skies with a legendary Kunpeng step as he raided sects and kidnapped beauties.
Hui aimlessly barreled through the woods, trying futilely to shake off his trackers. Regretting till his intestines were blue for his recklessness in following the "lone" cub, Hui suffered countless injuries as he ran only managing to stay barely ahead, and alive, because of his maneuverability.
Battered and bruised till he was almost wood pulp, Hui arrived above a waterfall.
Looking back helplessly at gleaming fangs and razor claws, Hui flung himself from the cliff into the roaring torrent, sighing at fickleness of karma as he plummeted.
--
A silhouette strolled along alone in the wilderness with slow steps forward. Each step taken was perfectly even, and seemed to skip over space, covering a great distance. It paused in front of a tree, before walking forwards and appearing above a disorderly nest. Finding familiarity in the scene of energy depletion, it softly exclaimed, “This feeling, have I crossed its path again?”
A ray of moonlight fell between the leaves landing on the figure, revealing a youthful girl with her face covered by a veil. Her limpid eyes shone with curiosity as she thought to herself for a moment before disappearing.