Chapter 64: A Fire Shared
Lei Zhenyu looked up as the three figures approached his small campfire.
For a brief moment, he wondered if Elder Ruan had changed his mind.
Instead, Yun Che stopped a few steps away and held up his wooden bowl.
"Mind if we join you?"
Lei Zhenyu blinked.
The question itself caught him off guard.
No one usually asked.
Most people either avoided him entirely or approached him with an obvious purpose.
A duel.
Advice.
A favor.
Recognition.
Very rarely...
Simple company.
He stared at the three of them for a heartbeat before quickly nodding.
"...I don't mind."
His answer was short, almost stiff.
Still...
It was genuine.
The four sat around the small fire.
For a while, no one spoke.
Only the crackling wood filled the silence.
Eventually, Lin Xia smiled and placed another bowl beside him.
"We brought extra."
Lei looked at it.
"...Thank you."
He accepted it carefully, almost as though afraid he might somehow misuse the gesture.
The stew was simple.
Wild vegetables.
Dried meat.
Fresh bread baked by one of the caravan cooks.
Nothing extravagant.
Yet...
For some reason...
It tasted different tonight.
Jin Wei decided silence had lasted long enough.
"So..."
He leaned forward.
"You really planned on following us all the way to Goldriver City?"
Lei nodded.
"Yes."
"...Just because you lost two duels?"
"I learned from them."
"That seems like a lot of effort."
Lei answered without hesitation.
"Improvement is worth effort."
Jin Wei scratched his head.
"...Fair enough."
Yun Che smiled.
"You already know we're from Mistforge."
Lei nodded.
"You told me yesterday."
"So..."
"Where are you headed?"
"For now..."
Lei looked toward the eastern sky.
"Goldriver City."
"After that..."
"I haven't decided."
"I'm travelling."
"I reached a bottleneck at the sect."
"My elders advised me to remain at the sect until I broke through."
"I requested permission to travel instead."
Lin Xia tilted her head. "They agreed?"
"Eventually."
"How eventually?" Jin Wei asked.
"Three days of discussion."
Jin Wei laughed. "You argued with your elders for three days?"
"I presented my reasoning repeatedly."
"They expect me to return stronger."
Yun Che nodded slowly.
Travelling to broaden one's horizons...
It wasn't so different from his own reason for leaving Mistforge.
"What about you?"
Lei asked.
"What have you seen?"
The conversation gradually shifted.
Yun Che spoke about travelling through the mountains.
Jin Wei exaggerated several merchant stories until even he started laughing at his own version.
Lin Xia described villages, forests, and the strange foods different regions enjoyed.
Lei listened quietly.
Really listened.
Occasionally asking a short question.
Never interrupting.
Never changing the subject.
Eventually...
The conversation drifted toward cultivation.
Jin Wei leaned back comfortably.
"So..."
"What's sect life actually like?"
Lei thought for a moment.
"Structured."
"We train."
"We study."
"We spar."
"We complete missions."
"We cultivate."
"...Then repeat."
Jin Wei blinked.
"...That sounds incredibly boring."
Lei looked genuinely puzzled.
"It isn't."
"You just described one day and told me you repeat it forever."
"Not forever."
"Some missions take several days."
Lin Xia couldn't help laughing.
Jin Wei buried his face in one hand.
"I finally understand why Elder Ruan got annoyed."
Lei frowned.
"...Did I say something wrong?"
"No."
Jin Wei sighed dramatically.
"That's somehow the problem."
For the first time that evening...
Lei looked slightly embarrassed.
Yun Che decided to help.
"What kind of missions?"
That question immediately brightened Lei's expression.
"Hunting dangerous beasts."
"Escorting caravans."
"Investigating ruins."
"Sword competitions."
"Protecting villages."
His answers came much faster now.
He described sect tournaments.
Training beneath waterfalls.
Sword formations.
Lightning cultivation.
Occasional expeditions into monster territory.
Even Jin Wei became interested.
"Now that's more exciting."
Lei nodded.
"It is."
The fire burned lower.
Without realizing it...
The conversation became easier.
Not lively.
Lei wasn't suddenly talkative.
But...
The pauses between his answers grew shorter.
His shoulders gradually relaxed.
As the others laughed over one of Jin Wei's increasingly ridiculous stories, Lei quietly watched the fire.
It had been...
A very long time.
He searched his memories.
There had once been boys his own age.
Children who had trained with wooden swords beside him.
They had competed.
Played.
Argued.
Shared meals.
He remembered laughing.
He remembered calling them friends.
Then...
Years passed.
His talent grew faster than everyone else's.
The distance between them quietly widened.
Some began avoiding him.
Others admired him too much.
Many wanted favors.
Recommendations.
Training.
Support from the elders.
Eventually...
Even simple conversations disappeared.
Whenever he entered a room...
People stood straighter.
Spoke more carefully.
They no longer treated him as Lei Zhenyu.
Only as...
The Number One Disciple.
His elders had noticed.
One of them had once placed a hand upon his shoulder and spoken almost kindly.
"People beneath you cannot truly be your friends."
"That is simply the way of cultivation."
"Only equals understand one another."
Lei had believed those words.
Or...
At least tried to.
But even among equals...
He had rarely found friendship.
Most competitors viewed him as the obstacle standing in front of them.
Some challenged him.
Others envied him.
A few respected him.
Almost none simply wanted to sit together.
Like this.
Sharing an ordinary meal.
"...Lei?"
He looked up.
Yun Che was looking at him.
"You've gone quiet."
"...Sorry."
"I was thinking."
"About what?"
Lei hesitated.
His gaze drifted toward the three people sitting around the fire.
"...This."
Jin Wei blinked.
"...Dinner?"
Lei nodded honestly.
"I haven't eaten with people my own age..."
He paused, searching for the right words.
"...just to eat..."
"...in a very long time."
Silence settled over the fire.
Not an awkward silence.
A thoughtful one.
Jin Wei's usual grin softened.
Lin Xia lowered her eyes slightly.
Even Yun Che understood more than Lei had intended to reveal.
The young swordsman had spent years surrounded by disciples, rivals and elders.
Somehow, he had still ended up eating alone.
For the first time since they had met him, the proud disciple of the Azure Thunder Roc Sect no longer seemed distant or intimidating.
He simply looked...
Lonely.
Jin Wei broke the silence with a smile.
"Well..."
He held up another piece of bread.
"You've got terrible conversation skills."
Lei looked confused.
"...I do?"
"You do."
"They're honestly impressive."
Lin Xia laughed.
"But..."
Jin Wei tossed him the bread.
"...we can work on that."
Lei caught it instinctively.
For a moment...
He simply stared at it.
Then, almost imperceptibly, the corner of his mouth lifted into a small smile.
It wasn't the smile of the Azure Thunder Roc Sect's greatest prodigy.
It was simply the smile of a seventeen-year-old boy who, after a very long time, no longer had to eat dinner alone.
---------------------------------------------
The road gradually descended from the wooded hills.
For most of the morning, the sound reached them long before the city itself.
It wasn't shouting.
Nor the pounding of blacksmiths.
It was something altogether different.
A chorus of bells, creaking timber, splashing water, gull-like spirit birds circling overhead, and hundreds of voices blending into one continuous hum that seemed to roll across the river itself.
Then the forest opened.
Yun Che stopped walking.
"...Whoa."
Before them stretched the largest river he had ever seen.
The narrow mountain river that had accompanied the caravan for days had transformed into a broad waterway nearly a kilometre across at its widest visible point. Countless ships floated upon its surface, their white and brown sails catching the wind while smaller fishing boats darted between them like insects.
Beyond the river rose a sprawling city built upon both banks.
Stone bridges arched gracefully across the water.
Warehouses lined the docks.
Towering cranes lifted enormous cargo crates onto waiting vessels.
Thousands of people filled the streets despite the steady rain that fell from the grey sky.
A weathered wooden sign beside the road read:
Rivergate City
The Gateway of the Eastern Rivers.
Rivergate marked an important turning point for every merchant travelling through the northern provinces.
Above this point, the river remained narrow, fast, filled with rocks, rapids and hidden bends.
Too dangerous.
Too unpredictable.
No sensible merchant trusted expensive cargo to such waters.
Here, however...
Everything changed.
The river widened.
Its current became calmer.
From Rivergate onward, great merchant vessels could safely sail downstream toward Goldriver City.
For traders entering the northern interior...
Rivergate was the first great stop.
For those leaving...
It was the last.
Nearly every major caravan travelling between the northern interior and Goldriver eventually passed through its gates.
The Cangyun Kingdom, known throughout the eastern trade routes as the Land of Clouds.
Its northern mountains gathered moisture from the sea, while cold winds descended from snow-covered peaks.
Storms were frequent.
Rain was common.
Winter lingered longer than in neighboring lands.
The people of the kingdom had long since learned to live with changing weather.
Today was no exception.
Rain fell steadily from dawn.
Not a violent storm.
Simply an endless curtain of silver droplets that washed roofs, streets and ships alike.
To most citizens...
It barely deserved notice.
To Yun Che...
It was fascinating.
In both his lives...
He had never visited a true port city.
His previous life had ended with too many ordinary dreams left unfinished.
Travel.
Seeing famous places.
Standing beside the sea.
Building a family.
Finding someone to share that life with.
Simple wishes.
The sort people always assumed could wait until next year.
Until work became easier.
Until money was saved.
Until there was more time.
There never had been.
Now...
Whenever an opportunity appeared...
He refused to let it slip away.
His second life would not be lived through regrets.
Lin Xia stood beside him with eyes just as wide.
"...It's enormous."
Yun Che nodded absentmindedly.
"I've never seen so many ships."
Neither had she.
Mistforge had mountains.
Forges.
Workshops.
Smoke rising from chimneys.
Rivergate...
Felt like another world entirely.
Lei Zhenyu quietly observed the bustling harbor.
Unlike the others, rain didn't surprise him.
The Azure Thunder Roc Sect trained beneath waterfalls and mountain storms.
Being soaked was practically part of cultivation.
Still...
Even he couldn't help looking around with quiet curiosity.
The harbor alone contained ships larger than several buildings from his sect.
The caravan entered the city.
The air smelled of wet rope, river mud, fish, hot oil, and rain striking old stone.
Almost immediately, Yun Che noticed something strange.
No one seemed bothered by the rain.
Merchants walked calmly through the streets.
Dock workers hauled crates.
Children ran laughing through puddles.
Even the Wolf Brigade appeared perfectly dry.
"...Wait."
Yun Che blinked.
"...Why is everyone dry?"
Lin Xia looked around.
Only then did she realize it as well.
Every member of the caravan had quietly changed clothes during the morning.
Dark travelling cloaks embroidered with faint blue runes shimmered whenever raindrops landed upon them.
Each drop simply rolled away before touching the fabric.
The guards noticed the two staring.
One older escort burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"You forgot your rain gear!"
Another guard pointed at Yun Che and Lin Xia.
"Our famous craftsmen."
"They invent all sorts of strange things..."
"...but forgot the weather."
Soon several merchants were chuckling.
Even Elder Liang hid a smile behind his sleeve.
Yun Che looked down at himself.
His red jacket was completely soaked.
Lin Xia wasn't in much better condition.
She sighed dramatically.
"...This is embarrassing."
"A little."
Yun Che admitted.
The two exchanged a glance.
Without another word...
Ki quietly spread through their bodies.
Warmth circulated beneath their skin.
Steam rose gently from their clothes.
Within seconds...
Every drop of water evaporated.
The guards watched the clouds of steam drift upward.
"...Show-offs."
Another round of laughter spread through the caravan.
Lei Zhenyu watched the others laugh.
For a moment, he hesitated, unsure whether joining in would be rude.
Then Yun Che glanced back and smiled as if laughter needed no permission.
Only then did the corner of his mouth move.
After drying off, Lin Xia's eyes narrowed at the nearest escort's cloak.
"Those runes aren't embroidered on top," she said quietly.
"The thread itself is carrying the pattern."
The older escort grinned.
"Welcome to Rivergate, little tailor."
Jin Wei clapped both of them on the shoulders.
"Come on."
"If we're staying here till tomorrow..."
"...we're giving you the grand tour."
Bao Kun immediately nodded enthusiastically.
"First..."
"The harbor!"
His eyes practically sparkled.
"I love ships."
"I'm definitely becoming a captain someday."
Shen Rui walked beside him without even looking up.
"You should probably learn to stay standing on one first."
Bao's smile faltered.
"...That was one time."
Jin Wei laughed.
"One time?"
"You turned greener than algae."
"I did not."
"You hugged the mast."
"I was studying its construction."
"You begged the sailors to stop the ship."
Bao coughed.
"...That may have happened."
Shen Rui finally looked at him.
"The Immovable Fortress."
He paused.
"...became the Unstable Fortress."
Even Yun Che laughed.
Bao folded his arms stubbornly.
"My Earth techniques rely on stable ground."
"Ships move."
"That's hardly my fault."
"It is slightly your fault."
Lin Xia said with a smile.
Bao grumbled something about "unreasonable oceans."
As the younger members wandered toward the bustling docks, the rest of the Azure Wolf Consortium split into well-practiced groups.
Experienced merchants carried monster materials toward specialized buyers.
Foundation beast claws.
Hides.
Venom sacs.
Bones.
Beast cores.
Everything possessed value.
Other wagons headed toward lumber yards, smithies and supply markets.
Food.
Medicine.
Replacement wagon parts.
Rope.
Runic ink.
Monster leather.
Every long journey demanded preparation before the next stage could begin.
Rivergate was where caravans shed the weight of the wilderness...
...and gathered everything needed before venturing farther into the wider world.
Bao Kun and Shen Rui disappeared toward the docks first, already arguing over whether an earth cultivator could ever become a respectable captain.
Jin Wei followed, promising a tour despite admitting that he had visited Rivergate only twice.
Yun Che and Lin Xia walked more slowly, their attention moving between shipyards, cranes, rain-cloaked citizens and workshops unlike anything found in Mistforge.
Lei Zhenyu remained beside them.
He was still not part of the caravan.
Yet as the six young travellers vanished into Rivergate's rain-soaked streets, he no longer felt entirely separate from it.