Good conversation with Mildew

"Would you look at that!" shouted Qiu, the little girl. Lai Yiteng was still not used to her name being…that simplistic, horrible, pet-like name of 'Qiu'.

But Lai Yiteng could also recognize the crow as the one that persistently followed him and Xian Wu around over Deathly Howling Mountain because of the rust color on the tips of its wings.

"LOOK!" Qiu shouted. 

Lai Yiteng's eyebrow twitched as he took a palm and slapped her on the head.

"Quiet your tone."

Qiu blinked. She didn't seem too bothered. "Looook…" she whispered.

"I can see it perfectly without you saying so."

Lai Yiteng was resigned. His anger toward this girl was half abated because she DID give back his knife without any struggle. She could have used his exhaustion earlier as an opportunity to get away, but didn't.

He merely asked, "Do you know of that crow, as well?" 

"Of course I do! That's Mildew…Master Song's demonic beast."

Lai Yiteng's lips downturned faintly. So this was the case, he was not very surprised. If there was a crow following, then it made sense how Xian Wu's lackey had found them, and why Xian Wu was not opposed to traveling 'alone' with him. Yet another one of Xian Wu's tricks…

"Everyone knows Mildew, cause' just like me, Mildew likes to steal shiny objects from people around the sect. Hehe, you could say Mildew and I are sworn brothers."

But…

Qiu was a girl. Or at least Lai Yiteng thought she was. And Mildew is a crow. What is this nonsense about sworn brothers? Did she even know what that phrase meant? This was the first time in a long while that Lai Yiteng was the one who was confounded by someone else's words. Usually he was the one confusing other people with his convoluted logic.

"Mil-dew?" Lai Yiteng had a hard time pronouncing it. The word was not from their language, but foreign. "What does that even mean?"

Qiu waved her hands wildly. "Who cares! What matters is that Mildew has been missing, and now is falling-" the girl's feet began to hop until she took off running toward where Mildew fell. "I gotta see!"

…Lai Yiteng sort of liked that crow, and he was compelled to have a look as well. If he couldn't practice the martial arts right now, there was nothing much else to do besides mope in his room. 

Still, Lai Yiteng reasoned that many were used to Qiu stirring up trouble because none of the guards he'd passed by before seemed alarmed by the drawn-out chase scene they'd made. He would still keep his guard up just in case people from the sect to follow. But, for now, he didn't feel any immediate danger and followed after Qiu at a decent pace.

As fall set in, trees were turning color. The forest surrounding Graceful Dragon Sect was made up of beeches, conifers, and maple trees, making for gorgeous scenery of yellows, reds, and deep greens. Lai Yiteng carefully stepped through the brush, leaves crunching under his feet, until he saw Qiu crouching down underneath a tree.

Mildew was a foot away from her, sitting on the ground, feathered puffed as though cold. The crow's eyes did not have their usual gleam. 

"Waaah…" whimpered Qiu. She was sitting in a way that made her clothes floof out, giving her the legendary 'ball' shape that she was so renowned for. "Poor Mildew! She never sits on the ground. What should we do?"

Lai Yiteng shrugged. "Just bring Mildew back to Master Song? If it's their beast, perhaps they know how to help it."

Qiu shook her head like a rattle. "I can't!"

"Why?" He knew for a fact that she wasn't doing anything important besides pestering him.

"I just can't!"

"…" Lai Yiteng frowned. He had a hunch that this wild child would get punished for stealing his things if she went back. That was why she wasn't willing to bring the crow back right now.

"It's not like I will bring Mildew back for you," said Lai Yiteng coldly.

"Huh?" Qiu seemed confused, as though she'd been expecting him to. "Why can't you? You're an honored guest! Not to mention that you're an adult, and so you should be more responsible than me, a young girl."

Lai Yiteng narrowed his eyes. This girl sounded like the making of another Xian Wu, full of lies and sly words. "I have to preserve my identity as much as possible. Moreover, who knows what kind of person is waiting to strike within the sect…I cannot be doing random tasks that increase my risk for no reason."

"I…" Qiu was entirely baffled. "I have no idea what you're saying? Someone is after you in Graceful Dragon Sect? W-Who?"

"One never knows. It could be anybody. That's why I am not going to wander over and meet this Master Song, or whoever it is," answered Lai Yiteng, fully serious. He continued with a dangerous aura, "Speaking of which, you better not tell a single person that I am a man. And if you sneak into my living quarters again…"

Even the childish Qiu sensed the danger, a cold sweat forming on her back.

"I won't! I won't do it again, and um, I won't tell anyone you're a cross-dresser either. …But, I'm curious, does Sect Master Xian prefer that you cross-"

"Shut up." 

Qiu cut off her next words. She was still confused, unable to understand that Lai Yiteng was paranoid. Eventually she just put a pout over her lips. Basically, didn't this mean that Lai Yiteng only came to watch, and wasn't going to help out with Mildew at all?

What a heartless person!

Between getting in trouble and Mildew being sick…the bird was probably more important. She was Master Song's disciple, after all. She couldn't let her master's bird die! Qiu decided that she was going to carry Mildew back into the sect...

Little did either of them know that it was Mildew who was the most fed up by this situation.

Mildew had been hunkered down on the ground, trying to get a bit comfortable from the terrible churning in her stomach, when she had to hear one child and one man bickering.

With an angry ruffle of feathers, Mildew stood up and cawed angrily at Lai Yiteng and Qiu.

"Caw! Caw, caw!"

"Oh, is that so?" said Lai Yiteng. "I have nothing against you, personally. I blame all the lies on Xian Wu."

Qiu had been watching Mildew, but now was staring at Lai Yiteng like she didn't know what to think. Still, Mildew had more to say.

"Caw. Caw…"

Once again, Lai Yiteng responded, "How unfortunate. If you want to complain, go ahead."

Qiu's eyes had gone bigger, her eyelashes trembling. She might only be eleven years old, but she wasn't dumb, she knew something was off. This…this guy that Xian Wu took in isn't just a little prickly, personality wise…but totally psychotic.

He's actually talking to a crow!

For some reason, Qiu felt that Lai Yiteng was even more dangerous than before (being crazy and all) and didn't dare speak up again.

On the other side of things, Lai Yiteng had assumed that because Mildew wasn't a normal crow, but some kind of creature he'd never heard of before, it must be that everyone could understand when the bird spoke. 

All that mattered was that he could clearly hear what Mildew was saying to him. 

Yes, he could understand the crow, while others couldn't.

No one had commented on it so far, who knows how long he'd look like a crazy person from talking with it. Although, he was a little crazy anyway, so did whether he spoke to animals or not really matter?

…anyway, this time Mildew's cawing continued for at least 30 seconds. Mildew was ranting about everything that had gone wrong lately.

Lai Yiteng nodded in understanding.

Apparently Mildew's stomach had been getting worse and worse, ever since she ate a certain thing. At first the crow thought it would be a delicious treat, just the kind it liked, but then it realized that it was something noxious and unpalatable.

There was a long pause afterwards. 

"What was it that you ate?" asked Lai Yiteng.