Page 8: Guarded Fortune
Merchant City has been more bustling after the announcement given by the Six Star Sect. It has been a week and the five large families have mobilized a portion of their forces in hunting beasts to collect resources while merchants come and go in the city to present their merchandise. Around the market, members from different families are busy eyeing for quality goods.
During these events, Long Bai just came back from venturing the forest and head straight to his hut. There, he found the rest of the group waiting. At the entrance, Yue was waving hello with a warm smile of welcome.
A day ago, after going alone into the outer region of the forest, there he found a group of a Purple-Maine cat. If Long Bai's to describe them, he would definitely say they saw a smaller version of a tiger that has been dyed purple. These animals are ferocious however they're in the same category as the cloud rats. In terms of strength, An individual purple cat may overpower a cloud rat but a gang of cloud rat would make a purple cat run with its tail behind.
Long Bai trailed their destination and found himself amused by what he saw. Five Purple-Maine cats have just hunted two cloud rats and brought it into their cave. At first glance, the entrance can't be noticed since it is covered by bushes. Only by forcing your way in will allow you to see the entrance. If by any chance there are more of those purple cats inside, there's a good chance that a few of those developed an essence shard. Long Bai waited almost an hour before the five purple cats exited the cave.
'Hmm? Were they stacking food? It might be but since it's like this, this is my chance to check the interior of the cave. There must be something.' Long Bai thought as he crawled under the bushed to enter the cave.
The cave has a U-shaped facade and surprisingly it was not entirely dark.
'How come it's not dark inside. Is there another entrance aside from here?' Long Bai carefully approached the deeper area. Along the way, there were bones of what was eaten for quite some time. Some have already turn into dust while most are still decomposing. At the end of the cave, he discovered the reason for the cave's luminescence.
Shiny rocks of different colors are embedded on the walls of the cave giving off a caleidoscope of faint light. If they were ordinary gems, they shouldn't emit light so Long Bai speculated they must be of importance. As he is supposed to near one of those stones, a sound resembling a snore came from the side. Long Bai remembered this feeling. The feeling of being close to a large animal with the prospect of being eaten. Recalling back his past, Long Bai had once visited a zoo that offers a close encounter with tigers. That was the experience except now, no safety cage separates him with the large animal.
Little by little, Long Bai retreated and observed from a distance.
'This one must be the leader of the pact as it seems a little larger than the rest. Hmm?' Long Bai's eyes caught something.
At the corner of the cave, there it was, a plant that Bai had not seen in his entire life. It was a glowing mushroom the size of an adult's fist. The plant was giving off a faint white light similar to a moon beam which adds to the scenic view inside, except the presence of the animal. This plant could not be more ordinary as evaluated by Long Bai.
Since there was nothing Long Bai can do, for the time being, only making a retreat is there to do. Unsure if he could take down the animal with his current strength, considering the rest of the pact may return sooner giving him no chance of escape in case, returning to base was his best option.
"I need a weapon. If I need to kill, making an efficient move is needed. Stick and stone may break their bones but it can't give a sure kill compared to a knife or a sword. I must ask Ling Tian for a weapon since he wields one.
"Brother Bai, you told us you would return earlier. Did something happen at the cloud rat nest?
"Brother Ling Tian, I was just engrossed with observing the cloud rats. Bai replied. Although he went out to check on the nest, encountering the purple cats was another and he can't just reveal them. His opportunity to access the system was far more important than anything right now. If there is something Bai would like to do, maybe after reaping the benefits of this friendship that he would repay them.
"Brother Ling Tian, by chance, do you have any way of getting me a weapon? Maybe a sturdy knife just like yours. Our hunting will be more efficient if I can have one."
"This might be difficult. I was able to procure this knife using an essence stone. Right now, we have 3 essence shards and we're just lacking one for the group. If we can take down the last ones of the cloud rat, I'm sure we would be able to complete our entrance fee. On the other hand, it was because of you that we were able to collect two more shards."
"I just thought that we will have more opportunities with efficient hunting materials. Although there is no assurance, we still have more than four months. I believe that's plenty of time for us to hunt more "
"Well, if everyone would agree to use one of our shards to have another knife, I'll go with it. What do you think?"
" Yue agrees!"
"Ah Mu has no problem either."
Looking at their firm response, Ling Tian had no choice but to agree to it. "Alright, since it's like this, I'll go with it. I'll go to the market and look for a knife. It might take me more than an hour before I can return. Wait here till then. Our hunt can wait."
Ling Tian went straight to the market after Long Bai gave his thanks. Ah Mu and Yue on the other hand were sitting on his hay bed smiling to the extent that Bai feels awkward.
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"Ah Mu's going to take a nap. Wake me up when Brother Ling Tian arrives."
Yue who was beside stood up as her space was taken by Ah Mu's large physique. With no one to converse with, Yue went out of the hut to approach Long Bai.
"Little Bai, play with me! Are you also going to sleep under the tree?" With a fast pace, Bai was pulled up from laying down.
"Careful sister Yue, what do you play then?"
"Let's play swords. I want to wield a sword one day! I want to become strong! Only Brother Ling Tian plays with me. Ah Mu just gets beaten whenever we do it."
"Alright then, give me one your sticks. Let's play. You attack and I'll be on defense."
Long Bai was holding the stick with a form Yue has never seen. Back then on Earth, Long Bai was forced to study at least one defense martial art sports for PE class. Since he doesn't want to be hurled (Judo) or kicked (Taekwondo), he chose to learn Arnis. It was an old fighting style developed in South East Asia. Its main form is for defense however its thrusting and slashing forms are no joke either.
"Come!"
Since Long Bai had the experience of an adult, he can't help but see Yue's movements to be crude just like an untrained child who just swings stick to anyone in front.
"I won't go easy, sister Yue!" Long Bai readied to parry and disarm Yue with faster speed. Since Arnis utilizes the speed of the wielder and combined with its style, hitting or parrying would be more successful.
"Eh?"
Yue's bewildered reaction was amusing to look at while Long Bai was swinging two sticks playfully in front of her. Starting that day, Long Bai became a teacher.