The next day…
The sun had already reached its highest peak in the sky. Within a small clearing near a large waterfall, the broken carriage had finally come to a stop hours ago. The beast horde seemed not to have reached this specific vicinity. The Long Feng and Lan Xue duo decided to stop to rest here after that blood boiling, near death chase in the evening.
Long Feng himself, was busily fixing the damages to the carriage by himself. Apart from being a great fighter, he was also a great woodworker and excellent mechanic. Lan Xue on the other hand was seated on a rock beside the waterfall, barefooted with her fair long legs splashing within the water, with a small smile on her face.
Within a small tent, a figure slowly stirred awake. "Ughh.." He let out a soft exhale, and simply stared at the ceiling of the tent, sprawled out on a small sleeping mat. Qingxuan remained silent and kept staring at the ceiling for a good while, wondering if he made the right decision, by choosing to save those fellows last night.
He could've just allowed them to die from the beast horde, then swoop in for their belongings and take the map for himself. His humanity got the better of him at that time, causing him to charge in recklessly. What if there had more than one Grade Three beast during the chase?
Would've have been able to take them in battle? Or would he have lost his life? He didnt know.
'I'll surely rethink my actions through when I'm faced with such a situation next time.." He slowly sat up, but a migraine made him scrunch up his brows in discomfort. And that was when he realised something. He wasn't wearing his straw hat. This meant…
He touched his upper face and calmed himself when he saw his blindfold still intact. He actually didn't mind them seeing his face. It was his divine eyes he was trying to hide after all.
He saw the hat lying beside him, along with his katana. He came out of his tent, strapped his blade onto his lower back and wore the straw hat, tying the straps under his chin.
"You're leaving?" He heard footsteps but didn't turn around until the person spoke out. Lan Xue stood there, holding her soaked robes with one hand, an unreadable expression on her face.
Qingxuan didn't know why he said yes, but he did. After having saved them, this was the most optimal time to ask to join their group in search of the sacred ruins. But Qingxuan ultimately didn't need to join them, when he could just tail them.
"At least tell me your name?" Lan Xue sighed. Her expression downcast. Qingxuan paused and then sent her a gaze. "It's Xuan.." He spoke calmly then began to walk off into the distance.
However he didn't get far, when he was once again interrupted by another person. This time it was none other than Long Feng himself. His face held what looked like a small smile as he stared at Qingxuan.
"Junior Brother Xuan, you should at least stay for a meal.. Wouldn't want to be labelled as ungrateful after allowing our benefactor to leave without even a meal.." He smiled and nodded.
Qingxuan's mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he could only sigh and nod.
"Hahaha. That's more like it.." Long Feng laughed and then patted Qingxuan only the shoulder which only drew looks of discomfort from the youth. And then he signalled secretly towards Lan Xue.
Qingxuan untied the straps of his hat under his chin and fixed them around the collars of the Yin Shadow Cloak, allowing the hat to rest seamlessly at his back. His neck length black and white hair flowed, as he took a seat in front of his tenth and closed his eyes to cultivate and recover his strength.
It didn't take long, Lan Xue walked out of her tent with a jug of tea and porcelain cups and set them beside him.
"Junior Brother Xuan. In case you feel thirsty, I've brought you some tea.." She smiled sweetly.
"Mmn. That's was unnecessary… but thank you." He didn't smile back, but he nodded as thanks and watched her walk away with a smile, before sighing. People skills were one of the things he struggled with back in his previous world and even here.
He wasn't necessarily introverted or edgy for that matter, neither was he trying to be cold to the people around him for no reason, but two lifetimes of solitude tends to bring out the introvert in you, matter how outgoing you were or used to be. He'd rather just spend all day talking to himself or meditating, than go spend time with friends or something else, not that he had friends anyway.
He sighed again. Companionship had always been a headache for him. So far, the only person whom he shared close ties with was Aunt Lin and with her, he didn't even like being around her all the time. Just once a while was okay for him. But, the thought of that made his skin crawl.
"Am I losing my emotions?" Qingxuan couldn't even cultivate anymore. He didn't want to admit it, but the thought of becoming an emotionless human scared him. Hidden underneath the solitude and the nonchalance was a gentle soul who truly detested loneliness. Was he even ever going to befriend someone or worse was he ever going to find love?
Was the fact that he had embraced solitude and loneliness, what he hated the most in this life turning him into some kind of emotionless monster?
He shook his head and laid back down on the grass. No wonder he never liked bringing up the topic of emotions. They always came with uncomfortable truths that were sometimes too difficult to bear even for him.
He fell asleep several minutes later, forgetting everything and just drifting off into slumber.
*
He woke up couple of hours later to the wonderful smell of roasted meat, and food, that got his tummy rumbling. He sat up rubbed his forehead and finished off the jug of tea that had gone cold in one go.
Qingxuan spotted Lan Xue and Long Feng taking turns to grill what looked like a huge warthog. Oils sizzled from the flesh of the beast, and a marvelous aroma entered his nostrils.
Qingxuan only cleared his throat and sat cross legged to meditate. "Inner peace, Inner peace.." He whispered inwardly, trying to calm his mind, but the temptation was just too strong. His body couldn't resist. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak.
His stomach let out rumbling sounds like the stampede of a beast horde, which made him rub his neck in embarrassment.
Lan Xue walked up to him, catching his embarrassment from the corner of her eyes, but refused to comment on it and simply smiled at him.
"Junior Brother.. we've made you wait for long.. Let's go eat.." She spoke calmly. Qingxuan coughed lightly in embarrassment and cleared his throat to speak. "I…" The moment the first word came out, his brows scrunched up, as he tried to force his stomach from growling in front of the lady.
"I.. I'll be right there." Cold sweat dripped down his face as he pushed his body up and followed her.
Lan Xue led him to a well set dining table, filled with several mouthwatering dishes. Qingxuan swallowed uncontrollably and sat down after her, beside her, then poured him a cup of tea. Qingxuan clearly was still feeling slight discomfort at how she was serving him fondly but said nothing of it and simply drank the tea she served.
"Hahaha! The meat is ready!" Long Feng laughed and skewered the huge warthog meat from the fire and dropped it onto a large plate in the middle of the dining table.
"Hahaha! I hope the meals are up to your taste, young brother!" Long Feng patted him heavily on the shoulder.
And then he pulled out a jug of wine and poured some for himself and then to Qingxuan.
"Ah, sorry, I-I don't drink.." Qingxuan tried to refuse, but the man practically forced it down his throat. "What kind of man doesn't drink wine?!!" Long Feng bellowed.
"Long Feng come on! He doesn't drink.." Lang Xue tried to protest, but the man clearly wasn't taking no for an answer. Qingxuan practically forced the sweet and sour burning liquid down his throat and coughed.
"That's more like it!!" The man laughed out loud and picked out his chopsticks. "Let's eat!!" He roared and dug into the food, pulling out the thigh of the warthog and munching on it.
Qingxuan holding himself back from digging in like a mad man was clearly taking all of his willpower. Instead, he tasted some of the dumplings, the rice and even the soup. His lips pursed. Everything tasted too good.
Long Feng laughed again, sending food and wine spilling out of his mouth.
"You should thank Lan Xue, apart from the meat, every other dish here is her handiwork. Isn't she the best?" He made her feel embarrassed as she lowered her head and whimpered.
Qingxuan tasted another dumpling, and a piece of the meat and closed his eyes in marvel. "Miss Lan, your cooking skills are really good.." He turned to her after a while and nodded with a simple compliment.
Lan Xue was stunned. Her dumbfounded gaze stared right at Qingxuan for a couple of moments, before she cleared her throat and drank the tea from her porcelain cup.
"Junior brother Xuan! Eat a lot!" Long Feng bellowed once more.
Qingxuan nodded. The sides of his mouth curved upward slightly. He looked at the laughing Long Feng, and the embarrassed Lan Xue. They were strangers alright, but for the first time, he felt the warmth of companionship. It strangely left a funny feeling in his heart.
A while after the dinner, while Lan Xue was busy packing up and cleaning, Long Feng was seated on a patch of grass, beside the waterfall, holding a porcelain cup filled with wine, and Qingxuan was surprisingly seated next to him, drinking from another cup, as both of them stared into the night sky.
"So tell me, Junior Brother, what prestigious clan was able to birth a monstrous talent such as yourself?"
Long Feng broke the silence with a question and turned to him. Qingxuan scoffed lightly, and the edges of his lips curled up with a soft depreciating smile, but he didn't give an answer.
Long Feng finished the wine in his cup and poured himself another. "Normally, I'm a very good judge of character and my perception of people is quite high. My guess about you is, you're an outcast like us.. That made more sense compared to the other theories I had about you. And considering your blindness.."
Qingxuan smiled at the man's attempt to break the mystery around him, but Long Feng was really blunt with his words.
"What I really want to know is what you plan on doing with the hidden treasures in the Sacred Ruins once you get your hands on them.." Long Feng chuckled lightly.
This time, Qingxuan sent him a glance then withdrew it.
"That's the thing about you mystery types. You never do things without a reason. And unless you were sent here to assassinate, or spy, on us, I don't see any reason why you saved us from that beast horde.." Long Feng laughed, like some evil mastermind which made Qingxuan roll his eyes underneath the blindfold.
"You don't think it's because my humanity would not have allowed me to watch those beasts tear you apart?" For the first time in this conversation, Qingxuan opened his mouth. His words flowed with a calm whisper.
"Hahaha! Not a chance.." Long Feng laughed. He actually found it hilarious, meanwhile Qingxuan scoffed. "You really think so low of me.." He spoke in a low tone.
"Forgive us, but we've learnt not to trust blindly.." Long Feng smiled calmly.
"Trust eh? Interesting.." Qingxuan drank his wine. He didn't even remember the last time he heard that word from someone's lips.
"Aren't you going to tell me, what you intend to find in the Sacred Ruins?" Long Feng asked again, but Qingxuan remained silent for a while, and the responded with a counter question.
"Rather than hear my uninteresting reason, why don't you tell me what drives a man like you, with your companions to risk your lives to enter the Sacred Ruins?"