Chapter 80 - Hunting for Food

Then both of them became silent. Hazel was figuring out what she had gotten herself into. While Aile sighed, things were becoming more troublesome. From the inherited memories, he had experienced the almost solitary lifestyle.

He had not faced many problems then, and he could cultivate in peace. Now there are so many problems and enemies. Not to mention the possible risk involved with all these connections. But then came the smiling faces of all the people and the happy time he had spent with them. He thought that perhaps life would not be as meaningful without them.

He then remembered something and asked Hazel, "Now you can not lie to me, right?"

She nodded.

"Tell me if there is a way to break the vow."

Aile knew that if there were rumours of people breaking the vow. Then, there was a good chance that it has happened. After all, there is no smoke without a fire. The five major-clans definitely know about it. Since Hazel cannot lie, he can find it out. This can be a solution to get out of an unfair deal in the future. Aile could also know how easy would it be for Hazel and the others to get out of the vow.

She gritted her teeth, then nodded.

"Do tell me how it is done."

"The Nala clan has a formation that requires killing five sixth stage cultivators and many rare materials to break the vow."

This seemed hard and not worth it, finding five-level six cultivators to sacrifice would be impractical.

"Is there another way?"

"No, as far as I know, there is no other way. However, there are rumours that a fortuneteller that roams around the kingdom can remove it."

"Is there a place to find this fortuneteller?"

"No, he randomly has been sited in different places with no pattern."

Well from this Aile was relieved, because he was sure if he will not be betrayed by these new people that have entered his life. But he was also annoyed, it seems that he will not be able to get out of any vow that he takes.

Then Hazel wanted to take a break and meditate to try to heal faster. Although she could not cultivate to increase her power. She could attract the energy outside to her wound to increased the healing rate and also refill her energy. Aile nodded at her, he then shouted, "Leia, Laila, are you ok? Do you need to rest, or should we continue?"

Leia replied, "I can carry on for longer."

Laila replied, "I am fine too, and Miss Sara seems to be better."

"That is good we will be riding for another 2 hours, and then we will have a quick lunch and continue."

Aile then poked Hazel.

"What?"

"Can you use your spiritual sense?"

Hazel was surprised that Aile knew about it, and then she nodded.

"You do not need to concentrate too much to heal yourself, so every couple of minutes check the surrounding and make sure we are safe. After around two hours start searching for a small animal that we can eat and try to find a location we can camp."

"Ok."

Aile then closed his eyes and started to put more focus on healing himself and absorbing the energy. With conscious effort, he could increase the energy intake and healing rate by a little more.

Aile drifted into a sleep-like state as he started to focus just on absorbing the energy and transfer it around his body. Soon he heard the loud call of Hazel that woke him up. Hazel was still weak and could not move her muscles.

"Good, you are finally awake!"

"Sorry, I was too focused."

"No problem, there is a clearing, up ahead, and a suitable place to camp and some foxes east of here."

Then Aile and Leia guided the mounts to the clearing. Aile helped everyone get down.

Then he gathered some plants for the mounts to feed on. After checking the surround and creating an area for everyone to rest, he left and told them to shout for help if they needed it.

After all, Hazel and Sara were fully immobilized. Laila could not see. That left Leia to take care of all of them after Aile was gone to get food. Therefore, Aile was quite worried.

For Leia who has been focusing on riding and guiding the mount, she will not have time to rest. Aile did not want to put so much responsibility on her shoulder, but he really did not have another choice.

Aile left them swiftly so that he could return as quickly. Dashing in the direction that Hazel directed him at, he soon arrived at a location with many trees and dense vegetation. The reason Aile stopped here was he heard foxes. Aile saw around ten foxes play around. There were two very young ones, and the rest were quite chunky. He calculated that two to three of these fluffy orange creatures would be enough to feed all of them. He picked up a few stones and shot them at the foxes.

Swish

Swish

Swish

The foxes scattered soon after. The difference was that now only seven remained of the group of ten, escaping. Aile sighed, this is how the world works. Even if you do nothing, you might attract the ire and greed of someone, and forced into a dead end.

He went and collected the foxes and decided that it would be better if he skinned them away from Leia. As she might lose her appetite if she sees them. He had been getting to know her, and from the little bit of information, he was sure that she would not like to see such a scene.

The issue was that he had not brought his blade with him, and the dagger that was strapped on his hand might still have the hallucinogenic effect so he would not use that to cut open the foxes.

He had decided to take them close to their camp and then get his blade and skin them there without letting Leia see anything. He reached to pick the foxes when he felt a rush of wind and heard the rustling of the leaves behind him.

He quickly dodged and jumped out of the place he was at.

Stampeding a black furry animal that resembled an ox charged to Aile's location.

Its eyes were red, and its body was larger than a camel. The victim of the attack were two of the three foxes Aile killed. They had been crushed and squashed in a meat paste under the hoofs of the ox-like animal.

It angrily glared at Aile and turned its head and body facing Aile again, and in a few seconds the giant black ox rush towards him again. Aile seeing its movement, swiftly dodged again. Aile was at another dilemma. He can use his strapped dagger, but then it would mean that it will no longer be edible due to the poison.

The foxes were squished, and Aile did not know where he could find something else soon. So, he decided that this ox-like animal would be lunch. He could not bring it too close to the camp and use his blade, as most of the people there could not protect themselves.

Aile was not sure if he can kill it with his blade before it could injure them if he goes there. Since he was not willing to take the risk, he decided to stay and fight.

After a few minutes, Aile learned its attack pattern. It would only charge in a straight path after choosing a direction to run at. Aile then stood close to sturdy trees and let the ox-like animal charge towards him, in the last second, he would move away from the tree, making it injure itself from the impact.

In the meantime, he would try to blind it by throwing rocks at it.

Like this, he kept on dodging and throwing rocks for 20 minutes. When the ox fell down. Aile sighed in relief, it was a tough fight. Aile had not been fully restored, and this fight was far more tiring then it should have been. He took a few deep breathes to stabilize himself.

He then picked up a large rock and smashed its head with it. It was a very savage behaviour, but he knew that this was the quickest way to ensure that it died. He was getting worried about everyone in the camp.

Dragging the headless body of the ox and the only fox with an intact body to the camp, he was in a hurried to check if they were ok. He had extended his hearing, and he did not hear any talking or movement and was a bit worried. With so many noises in the forest, he could not focus his hearing to their heartbeat, so he just wanted to hurry back and see them well.

He soon arrived close to the camp and saw everyone resting there. Spotting that they were unharmed, he sighed in relief. Then he went to his mount and took out the blade and promised himself that he would not leave without it again.