Bit of Wit 2

The first part in the plan to get to the Bit of Wit that Xiao Fan only knew to be somewhere there, it was a rough area; nevertheless, the first part was to craft planks from the trees.

To get planks? Well, they were both cultivators and Xiao Fan having brought a cutting tool the Rising Ruler was it easy to cut down trees and use the blade of the sword to make something that resembled planks. The quality was of no issue since they only needed them to not sink into the swamp.

Working on this part, Xiao Fan could only praise Zhuan An and her commitment to his plan, since even, he, himself might have, at this point, questioned the person making this type of a plan, but she hadn't shown a hint of distrust, her faith in him was strong as her faith in the Rising Fox Sect was hopefully, he thought, as that indicated she would trust him before anything else.

¨Okay give me one more plank, and then we should be close¨ Xiao Fan, who had taken a look at the end of the pathway that by now consisted of around two dozen planks snaking into the swamp spoke.

¨Catch¨ She threw a plank that she just made to Xiao Fan, who caught it with no problem and walked back into the swamp.

Walking this pathway was easy for a person like him and thanks to nothing unusual happening there had been zero swimming so far as he got to the end of the pathway.

'There, it should be there' His eyes again took a look at that small yet old tree that was near him. Having his eyes locked on it, he slowly lowered the plank so that it found a place for itself in the swamp. When it was so, he carefully tested the plank for any surprises, but it containing none, he walked onto it.

What closer he was getting to that spot, the more confident he was in that it holds the herb he was looking for. The First Steps to Medicine book wouldn't lie to him, it never had, and the pages in the book told him this would be the spot where one would grow.

Finally, next to the tree, he dropped onto his knees and dirtied his hands in the mud and hassocks that surrounded the small tree.

His hands in there it took a minute, nearing two, however, when his hands came out of the swamp inside his hands that were filled with mud, there was something, something which he began to look for by dropping all the material his hand had brought up onto the plank next to him, and starting a closer search.

Zhuan An looking from the beach could see that Xiao Fan was fiddling with mud, yet again, she didn't think this as crazy, she knew better, she knew that he wouldn't do something like this without reason. And at least for now, she was right since moments later Xiao Fan raised his head to look towards her while his hand showed her a bit of something brown, no it was the Bit of Wit! Her hubby had actually found something priceless in an hour after beginning his search 'He's the best!' She spoke to herself, yet she couldn't hold her interest and so took the plank path to get closer.

¨Show me, Show me closer¨ She said when she was one plank way from Xiao Fan only now getting slowly up from his knees.

¨Just hold yourself on that plank, and I'll come to the edge of this one to show you¨ Xiao Fan spoke, reminding her not to jump onto his plank, which she didn't when hearing him say so.

¨Look it's like a small cone¨ He described to her, his open hand showing her the Bit of Wit.

¨Ugly colour, everything else nice, effect very nice¨ She gave the evaluation, though still after calling it ugly she tried to nab it from him.

¨Trying to secure your portion?¨ He laughingly asked as he moved his hand away so that it was impossible for her to get if she wouldn't want to fall into the swamp.

¨Of course. Now that I apparently have my own wants, I say that I want that!¨ She spoke looking at Xiao Fan, who had taken her prize away.

¨Pfft¨ Xiao Fan held his laughter seeing her or what should be a demanding face ¨You'll have the next one we get¨ He said, putting the Bit of Wit currently in his hand into his pocket.

¨Better be mine, and more importantly wherefrom are you going to find it for me?¨ If that Bit of Wit wasn't hers, she would focus on this next one that would be hers.

¨I haven't taken a look for another one yet. But one thing is for sure; we're going to need more planks, a lot more¨ He stated the obvious while gazing into the swamp if he could see any hints.

¨Can you see anything?¨ She asked, her tone hoping.

¨It's so hard to see from the swamp's level. It might be better if I get back to the beach to have a look¨ He could see a few spots, but being sure of them with the amount of information he had?

¨No need, just jump to my plank¨ If he wanted height, she would give him height.

Seeing her be so confident in saying this, he listened, agreed by nodding, and jumped behind her on the plank from where he watched what she was doing.

What she was doing was taking the plank that had lead to the small tree, lifting it up and then pushing in into the swamp but in the opposite way of the rest.

¨Now climb up there¨ She told him while she was holding onto the plank she had now drilled into the swamp so that it would stay like that.

Getting her idea, he moved past her on the plank by taking support from her waist, then the tree itself was a little tricker seeing as the other side which onto he needed to get a grip on was wet, but then he remembered 'Why do I need to take a grip?'

He was a cultivator, not a mortal, so if he wanted to take a grip, he could simply crush the wood and make spots for his hand and feet using brute force, like punching the tree with a fist and so creating an excellent step for his hand or feet.

It wasn't beautiful nor impressive, but it sure was easy and quick if one wanted to climb safely to the top, as with this only balance was a difficulty, however, if you had a fellow cultivator doing that? Well, in that case, it was like climbing up a ladder.

When Xiao Fan was up there standing on the plank, he could see much better, into the far distance of this swamp, and more importantly for him, he could now see which spots should hold a Bit of Wit and thank god for that since he needed a lot of them.

One for, Zhuan An, one for him, one for Fei Sun, one for Du Lan, one for Qian Ki, and lastly Meng Chin. And why did he need to get one, for example, Du Lan and Qian Ki? Simply because the reason that the dynasties were separating them wasn't an excuse not to, and he knew that they wouldn't like not getting one. Then what about Meng Chin? She didn't need one; moreover, she was well past the Body Activation realm? Well, in her case, Xiao Fan wanted to give her one, that was all. She was his Master and a woman.

So in total, he needed six Bit of Wits to make everyone happy, which thankfully wasn't too hard considering there were many of them in this swamp, more than six for sure since no one else knew where to get them. On the side, he realised that the amount of material he was beginning to need was huge. And while with things like this, he could still manage, what about something later on something much rarer? How would things be split?

Not getting far into that problem was his thought cut off ¨You see anything up there Captain!¨ Since Zhuan An seemed to be playful again.

¨Yarr, there is Bit's of Wit all around us deckhand. We'll build our ship towards that way!¨ Xiao Fan then looked down at the woman and moved his hands towards a particular direction.

Small giggling later she responded ¨Aye aye Captain, building the ship now¨ And what did she mean with building the ship? She meant dropping the plank into the water, the very plank that Xiao Fan was on top of.

¨That is mutiny! You better run the plank!¨ Xiao Fan still kept speaking in his best pirate accent while also trying his best to run down the falling blank so that he wouldn't fall into the water.

Then when that had been completed successfully, he chased after his mutinying crew member, who had taken his advice of running the blanks ¨Get back here! The sharks in the water are waiting for their meal¨ Their conversation went on until the two got to land.

¨I'll surrender just spare me Captain! You knew better!¨ When on it she spoke this and made a pleading look at him.

Xiao Fan tried to do an evil pirate laugh before speaking ¨I'll take you back, but there will be consequences for your disobedience!¨

¨Anything, anything¨ She agreed.

¨Good. First of all, get back to work!¨ He speaking this ended their act for now, though it quickly came back when they were on the pathway that they called a ship.

Still, despite their fooling around, they did find those Bit's of Wit at a good pace, and before long they had already gathered five more and were getting near the sixth one.

However, what they didn't know was that their constant working, placing of wood, and bantering on the swamp was gaining the notice of a singular character living in this swamp, for something had hit one of its arms, which had then prompted it to come over. And what did it find on the spot that it had had an alarm system ringing? Meat, some meat had decided to come to its turf.

Xiao Fan and Zhuan An still bantering on the surface were oblivious to this danger creeping upon them, so they continued as normal, building their ship towards the sixth Bit of Wit, letting the being come close as it could.

¨What do you think? Will, the stories of these, hold any truth?¨ Xiao Fan spoke around the time they were one plank away from getting to the spot that should hold the sixth one.

¨I hope so since I don't think they could be lowballing anything¨ She said looking at him and then sometimes the Bit of Wit that was hers to enjoy soon.

¨Me too¨ Xiao Fan agreed when he got onto his knee and put his hands into the spot that should hold it. By now, this didn't take a minute as trying to find it he knew what kind of a ball of weeds it would be hiding in. So not a minute later he was again fiddling the ball of mud that held the Bit of Wit.

¨Found it! We can get going now¨ Xiao Fan stated as he was getting up and placing the last Bit of Wit into his pocked.

¨Good, this place is so ugly, I don't want to spend a second more here, god knows what abominations live in here¨ She very much so jinxed this.

For when she said so, both of them felt how the whole dam swamp around them moved.

Feeling this tremor happen, neither of them said anything, both of them knew very much so that whatever was happening wasn't good for them and so they took what their legs could give them in terms of speed and left.