Small amounts of clarity comes back to the boy as his eyes lose the glazed over look. He looks at Haiyang and smiles. It was a weak, kind smile. He sits down using the wall for support. His back leans against the wall as he takes a few laboured breaths. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.
Haiyang was stunned as he stood there for a minute. He soon came back to his senses after the boy closed his eyes to take some deep breaths. So Haiyang shook his head and ran to the back to the entrance of the cave to retrieve his rabbit. Once that was done he returned back to the boy with the rabbit in his mouth.
He dropped the rabbit next the boy and started to nibble on a leg. He did this till he got the other leg and only stopped because the boy’s eyes opened and stared down at him.
“May I have some,” the boy asked after his stomach growled.
Haiyang nodded and nudged the rabbit towards the boy and walked to the wall opposite of the boy. He laid down and started to cultivate. He refined his blood vessels deepening the color at a barely noticeable rate.
“WAIT! Are you the one that healed my wounds,” the boy exclaimed. He stared wide eyed at Haiyang.
Haiyang just nodded and stared back. He was curious to know how the boy knew it was him.
“Wait...how...why...uhh thank you,” the boy said not knowing how the reply.
Again Haiyang just nodded.
“So this remnants of yin qi on my wounds is yours?”
Haiyang just nods. In his he yells in surprise. He didn’t know that his qi let behind remnants. He noted this for later uses.
“Very strange,” the boy rambled on.
Haiyang found his reaction confusing as healing should be a normal thing, right? It could be that a fox did it and that’s why it might be strange? Haiyang didn’t know and probably won’t find out anytime soon.
“Why would a wild demonic beast heal my wounds,” the boy says to Haiyang or he’s just thinking out.
‘I stand corrected,’ Haiyang thinks to himself.
“Would you like to come back with me,” the boy says this time clearly to Haiyang.
Haiyang nods his face not portraying the surprise going on in his mind.
“Ok then. We can move as soon as I’m done with this,” he says as he points towards the rabbit.
The boy soons finishes the rabbit after cooking on a small fire of random sticks found throughout the cave. The smell of the rabbit smelled good to Haiyag, but for some reason he still prefered the smell of raw meat.
The boy soon finishes the rabbit that was left. He and Haiyang left the cave and walked in the direction that Haiyang was heading.
Their trip took four days till they could see a city’s walls. The trip was uneventful, but informative. Such as Haiyang learned that the boy was also a cultivator. A cultivator much stronger than Haiyang himself. During this trip Haiyang’s moon imprints on his blood vessels came to their final stages, and needed nothing more than a little push to finish.
The afternoon of fifth day is when they made it to the city gate. The walls that they had seen on the fourth day were actually 8 meters tall, and made of stone.
The gate was a stone archway with dark brown wooden doors. The gate could easily allow two carriages side by side to pass through at once. There were a two sets of guards standing outside the gate along the dirt road.
The first set of guards had two men. Both wearing brown leather tunics and strapped similar swords to their sides. Their swords were a little under a meter long and in a bright brown, wooden sheath. Their faces were calm, and their eyes studied the face of every person that crossed the gate.
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The second set of guards also had two men. These men though wore a set of bulky, metal armour similar to knights ust minus the helmets. They held a spear, slightly taller than them, in the hand that was away from the gate. The spears had their butt to the ground and the metal heads pointing to towards the sky. These men stood straight up, their faces held frowns and furrowed brows. They glared at everyone that passed.
The boy didn’t even break stride and nodded towards the first set of men. When he did the men turned surprised, but didn’t leave their spot. Soon Haiyang and the boy passed through the gate where a large mob of people stood.
All the people looked well dressed. Some wore traditional robes, some leather tunics, and a few wore black uniforms. All of the people had a few similarities. One, all of them had a badge depicting a lion of different colors, with most being blue while some red. Two, all the people wore worried or anxious expressions.
“It’s the Young Master! He’s back!” one of the people yelled.
Soon Haiyang and the boy were mobbed and surrounded. Haiyang was astounded that the hurt boy he met was a young master. It was strange because, if his novels taught him anything, usually the young master is protected heavily.
The boy simple nodded towards the people that tried to ask questions, but his face showed he was not pleased.
A middle-aged man wearing a robe made his way through the crowd. He grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “Young Master Lan you’ve returned,” he yelled!
“Qishi can you bring me to my father?” he asked in a lighter tone.
“Of course Young Master!” he tried to pull the boy along, but he didn’t budge.
“I need a minute,” he said as he squatted down Haiyang’s level with outstretched arms, “come here. I can take you back to my home.”
Haiyang was surprised that the boy still remembered that he was here. Haiyang didn’t think about it and hopped into the boy’s arms even if unwilling.
The boy then stood up and said, “Now we can go.”
“Of course Young Master,” the man named Qishi said without a question or look of confusion.
Qishi lead the boy holding a fox through a busy city. Soon they arrived at mansion size of a building. They entered and passed through a corridor and arrived at a set of large double doors. The walked through into a large room.
The room was made of a red wood material and had many stone columns. The ground was made a blue carpet of intricate patterns. At the end of the room was a throne of sorts that rest on a platform of wood, and had a few wooden stairs leading up to it. In the throne there was a man.
This man had many features to the boy called Young Master Lan. The difference was the man’s features were sharper, and his eyes looked as if there was a universe behind them. He gave off a slight pressure that made Haiyang have a slightly harder time breathing. The man sat with his head resting in his hands and elbows resting on his knees. He looked towards the ceiling with furrowed brows. He looked down when he heard the doors open.
The man’s furrowed brow relaxed and he smiled. His smile was faint but showed he was happy. “Qishi leave,” the man’s steady and low voice said.
Qishi bowed and nodded quickly leaving the room, and shutting the doors behind him.
The man’s faint smile soon turned into a big, bright smile that stretched ear to ear. “Shizi your back! What happened to you?” the man now had a unsteady voice that was slightly higher than before. The pressure the man released before was gone, and replaced with an aura that was light.
“Father ,” Shizi began, “I had a run in with the Bào clan Young Master. He called other clan members to help him fight me. I was injured, but was able to escape. While escaping I was able to injure the Young Master. I soon passed out in a cave. This fox here helped me recover, and possibly saved me from the Bào Clan. I brought him back and hope to help him as repayment.”
When the man heard that Shizi was attacked his aura went from light to pure killing intent. His intent was so strong that Haiyang felt as if his life could be reaped away any moment. He quickly withdrew his killing intent when he saw Haiyang Shivering.
“Fox thank you for saving Shizi’s life. My clan’s knowledge and resources are open to you,” the man said to Haiyang then he looked towards Shizi, “Shizi take this friend of our’s to your house to rest.”
“Of course Father,” Shizi said with a bow before walking out the door.
Shizi took Haiyang to his house. His house was fairly big and quite facey with a nice little courtyard. They walked into the house and set Haiyang down before walking towards a back room.
Haiyang climbed onto a couch and passed out almost immediately. His mental energy was drained after facing the man’s killing intent.
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Back in the throne room of sorts Shizi’s father stares at the door with his head on his hands, and elbows resting on his knees.
‘How interesting. How interesting indeed. A wild demonic beast that saved a human, and even knew how to use qi to heal others. It’s so rare that I’ve only heard a two stories of such things. That fox’s eyes to. They had a glimmer of intelligence, but he couldn’t be anywhere near qi condensation. He could be good for the clan. He could grow so much. He could help protect Shizi. Now though he needs time...time his a hard thing to have these days.’ Shizo’s father thinks to himself before sighing and gets up and leaves the room.