Lost in the woods

Xian Wu made a helpless face as Lai Yiteng stepped past him.

The younger strode out with his wrapped erhu on his back with an excessive amount of sass.

Obnoxiously, this did not stop Xian Wu from following right behind him like some kind of untrained dog. He also carried a bag of luggage over his shoulder.

"Scram!" Lai Yiteng bit off that word as sharply as possible, but in the end he didn't really want to risk fighting Xian Wu, so this threat was a bit baseless.

Xian Wu laughed, unfazed. "You said to move out of the way, not that I couldn't follow."

"Then don't follow, either!"

"Oh, I'm just following the same road as you by coincidence. Don't mind me. Think of me as a traveling buddy, a bro, if you will."

"..."

What a shameless liar! Lai Yiteng had been thinking it for a while now, but this fellow Xian Wu is the sort that acts harmless and dumb but it actually quite glib. Very persistent, too. The issue was that Xian Wu also matched Lai Yiteng's running speed, even with lightness martial technique. How was he supposed to get away from him when it wasn't even physically possible?

Lai Yiteng had remained excessively cold and bitter back at the hut but now he felt foolish for that. After all, Xian Wu was planning to follow behind him all along anyway, so whatever Lai Yiteng tried to say to scare him off earlier was just silly and wasted words on his part.

He could only hope that by the time they made it to the next town or city, Xian Wu would have either lost interest, or perhaps he could lose him amongst the city crowds. The streets were often packed together with bodies, all busy and lost in their own worlds, and even the alleyways were numerous and complex.

Yes, so that was a good idea. He could tolerate him for now and abandon Xian Wu in the city later.

Lai Yiteng walked along a dirt path that led a bamboo forest, hearing soft wind rustling grass leaves. The crows from earlier were perched on some ginkgo tree a way behind them and their cackling cries were drying up faint. There were deep ruts in the path from water's erosion and years of disuse, and even a few larger rocks and weeds covered it in some places. Lai Yiteng had to maneuver himself around it all.

...where the hell had Xian Wu brought him?

No other travelers were in sight, so that old hut he found must have been tucked within a sparsely populated forest. He wondered who had lived in that old, run-down hut before. Perhaps woodcutters? Outcasts?

There were only the sounds of Lai Yiteng's steps and those of Xian Wu behind him.

Lai Yiteng followed the road a while longer, perhaps an hour.

Well, Xian Wu brought him here while he was unconscious, so the truth was that Lai Yiteng had no idea where he was going at all and had been picking paths randomly. Yes, he was leading the way despite that. But he still didn't want to ask Xian Wu! That would mean admitting he accepted his presence, that would be his utter defeat if he relied on him.

However, at this very moment he could be getting himself very, very lost in the middle of nowhere.

Lai Yiteng drug out a map from his bag. He squinted at it a long time, thankful for his hat from blocking the blinding sunlight, and examined the few roads haphazardly marked on the old piece of parchment, but still couldn't tell where he was at all.

That only made sense. If he didn't know where his starting point on the map was, then naturally he couldn't get a handle on something even more precise such as which road he was traveling along in an old bamboo forest.

No signs appeared along the as he walked, either.

Lai Yiteng coughed softly as his throat was still a little itchy and inflamed from his previous fever, frowned, then kept walking.

There was a light chuckle from Xian Wu behind him, airy and amused, the first sound the man had made after they set out. Lai Yiteng almost crumpled that map into dust from anger.

This fucker! How dare he laugh!

Lai Yiteng walked even faster, but soon reach a conundrum.

Simply put, he couldn't keep going headfirst into the unknown forever.

What if he ended up going back towards the city he'd just fled from? Towards danger, rather than away? What if he reached an impassable cliff or river and head to retrace his steps? What if he ended up in a nameless place of demonic creatures and beasts hungering for blood? What if his pursuers caught in off guard out here, tied up his body to hang from a tree until he slowly died from blood loss and dehydration?

He was extremely annoyed because it felt as though he fell right into Xian Wu's trap.

That man had planned this, no? That was why he continued to chuckle behind his back every so often, enjoying Lai Yiteng's obvious confusion at being hopelessly lost.

If only there was a person, any other person, he could ask them directions instead!

But the road was entirely empty and isolated from the world, his own predicament was as unheard as the falling of a lone tree in forest.

Not a single other traveler came by.

Lai Yiteng angrily picked up his bamboo water bottle and took a gulp. If he kept walking maybe he'd happen upon a village...

...Unfortunately, despite all his stubbornness, in the end Lai Yiteng found no one. He clenched his hands to fists under his softly billowing sleeves, turned around, and spoke.

"Xian Wu."

"Yes?" Xian Wu the bastard was beaming with triumph.

Lai Yiteng wanted to beat him black and blue. "Where exactly are we?"

"Geez~ I thought you'd never give up. Hand me the map."

As Lai Yiteng handed it over, for just a heartbeat, his fingers brushed against Xian Wu's. They were surprisingly warm, and Lai Yiteng's hand flinched and shrunk back into his sleeve right away. He didn't like that.

"Let's see…we should be about here by now."

Xian Wu pointed to vast stretch of forest that went on past Yu city. This spot they were at was isolated, without a town in miles, even the few winding roads were not bothered to be added in. They had gone farther than Lai Yiteng expected, and Xian Wu really did bring him to the middle of nowhere.

"Don't worry," continued Xian Wu, "I know the roads here quite well, so we shouldn't get lost. How about we head to Wen Town for today?"

Lai Yiteng immediately questioned that in his head. Why did it have to be Wen town? Logistically speaking, the next city was just as close and much larger. Lai Yiteng was about to rebuke Xian Wu's suggestion but was distracted by a place on the map.

He stared at it a moment, then realization dawned.

"Wen town is only one province away from Graceful Dragon Sect?"

"Mhm." Xian Wu nodded and said, "Speaking of it, what did you want to know about Graceful Dragon martial arts? Didn't you ask about it a while back?"

Lai Yiteng faltered for one step. He was a little stunned, because he did have the idea to ask Xian Wu to tell him about Graceful Dragon Martial arts, but that was only because it had been in a hectic moment and a mere desperate flash across his mind. He forgot all about it until now.

Plus he didn't trust Xian Wu.

But to think that it'd be Xian Wu who brought up the matter himself.

"Well…" Lai Yiteng shuffled his feet.

Now that he already asked for directions, he really had to stoop lower and ask about learning the martial techniques? Lai Yiteng's throat was itchy again and he coughed.

In the meantime, Xian Wu quirked his lips. "Are you going to ask before the sun goes down?"

"I," Lai Yiteng spoke with quiet seriousness, "I wanted to ask how much of the Graceful Dragon arts you've mastered. At the point I left Lotus Sect, my knowledge is truly insufficient from what I aspire, and it's troubling to enter a new school with my current reputation."

"So that's all! I thought you'd ask for something more difficult."

"…huh?"