Сave

Xia Tao

We all entered the cave as a group, which expanded into a vast plateau inside. Goose suggested that it would be better if he walked at the back. Well, well, I wonder what he did to be called a pervert.

After walking about twenty meters, an interesting scene unfolded before us. On a small rock, sitting in a lotus position, was a woman roughly twice my height. I'm not particularly tall and look like a teenager, but still, she must have been about two and a half, maybe even three meters tall. Damn, that's something.

The giant woman sat before us. Even sitting, she was slightly taller than I was. Damn. Interestingly, she was well-proportioned and didn't look clumsy or awkward. The only striking feature was her green hair, which isn't something you often see around here.

She glanced over our group and said, "What, the pervert was too scared to come alone, so he brought friends? Do you think that will save you?" Turning to me, she asked, "And why did you bring a child here?"

Yeah, this introduction is going great. Ye Chen, apparently without much thought, blurted out, "Hello, giantess, why are you sitting here alone? Let's get acquainted! I'm Ye Chen."

Damn, this guy's EQ is just below zero. Judging by the fact that I can't properly assess her cultivation level, she's definitely stronger than me, and probably stronger than Ye Chen. In the next second, she hit him so hard that he flew out of the cave in an unknown direction.

Goose disappeared along with Ye Chen, probably fearing a similar fate. She turned her gaze to us.

"Hello, I'm Xia Tao, and we came here to cultivate. I hope we won't disturb you" I said.

She looked us over, snorted, and sat back in a lotus position, starting to cultivate.

We exchanged glances and moved a bit further to avoid disturbing each other. We walked another hundred meters away and chose a small group of rocks. Sitting on them, we began to look around. In the center of the cave's space was a lake, emitting such cold that it was impossible to approach it. So, we chose a spot and sat down to cultivate.

Xia Lina asked, "Master, can I get closer to the lake? I feel it would be more beneficial for my cultivation there."

I was a bit surprised but generally said, "Yes, you can, but if it becomes too difficult or you feel it's getting dangerous, move back to us."

"As you say, Master" she replied and moved towards the lake. After covering about half the distance, she glanced back and sat down to cultivate. Yin currents swirled around her, and the movements of spiritual energy even became slightly visible.

"Let's not get distracted either; let's begin" I said, and we sat down to cultivate.

It was very unusual to practice in such conditions. I could barely see any growth in my cultivation, but my spiritual energy was practically surging. I could feel it becoming more aggressive and purer.

After about fifteen hours, I decided it was enough. I opened my eyes and saw a small fire nearby with something bubbling in a pot. Here, they have an invention called an isolating array on a talisman, which prevents the smells of the fire and smoke from spreading around. Convenient, indeed.

Standing up and stretching a bit, I looked around. Lin Qing was sitting by the fire, seemingly studying some papers. Xia Lina was still sitting and cultivating, although she had moved a bit closer to the lake. Li Meiying was sitting next to me, also cultivating.

I sent spiritual messages to Li Meiying and Xia Lina, telling them it was time to take a break and have some food. I approached Lin Qing, who had changed into an interesting outfit. It covered very little of her body and was unusual, somewhat similar to belly dancing costumes on Earth.

"Interesting outfit" I said to her.

"Oh, Master, you noticed? It's specifically to have more contact with spiritual energy. It helps speed up cultivation" she said innocently.

Well, well, as if I don't know how it works. For contact with energy, of course. I though with a smile.

Li Meiying and Xia Lina came over and sat down next to us. I wondered where Ye Chen was. Scanning the area with spiritual energy, I spotted him and Goose near the giant woman, seemingly arguing about something. Ha, everything seems calm for now. What's more intriguing is that five more people appeared in the cave, each settling in different spots. Hmm, I feel Goose is hiding something from us.

I popped a blood-generating pill into my mouth and extended my hand to Xia Lina. "Eat" I told her.

She looked at me, bit into my arm, and started drinking blood. After a while, she stopped and closed her eyes, seemingly relaxing.

"I still can't get used to this sight" said Li Meiying.

"It's nothing unusual. She just needs it for now. And for me, it's a perfectly normal sensation."

As we sat and chatted idly, I pondered how Lin Qing and I would find privacy here, with nowhere to hide. Well, soon it will be night, and we'll see. I was already quite eager.

After some time, we were eating. Then Lin Qing handed out something like sleeping bags to everyone, winked at me, wished us good night, and went to sleep.

What the hell, what's going on? What about... sigh?

I stood there, deeply confused, watching everyone go to sleep. Hmm, seems like tonight isn't my lucky night. Still puzzled, I lay down to sleep, thinking we'll see what happens next.

I had a very pleasant dream involving Lin Qing, Mei, and that short "bimbo." In the middle of the night, I felt someone shaking me. Oh, it seems Lin Qing came to visit. I opened my eyes and saw Ye Chen shaking my shoulder.

"Hey, do you have any food? We didn't think about it and are hungry" asked Ye Chen.

Food? Oh my god, how did they even plan this trip? Goose was standing behind him and added, "Yeah, got anything to eat? We are fucking dying from hunger here!"

"Go catch some wildlife around here and roast it" I decided to brush him off. These idiots woke me up from such a good sleep.

"Goose says we can't go outside right now, so we decided to ask you" continued Ye Chen.

I was curious why we couldn't go outside, but I wanted to go back to sleep more. I pulled a piece of meat and bread from my stash, tossed it to them, and pointed to the fire.

"I'm going back to sleep. Don't wake me up unless it's urgent."