Beware Of Chicken Chapter Volume 2 87: Dawn

Xianghua felt hollow.

She always did after a fight. Like her insides had been scooped out and her emotions were more muted than normal. This time, she couldn’t even muster the energy for her act. She hadn’t raised her voice once, since Master Rou had arrived.

So, she worked.

Xiulan had been in poor condition when Tigu’s Master had brought her back. She’d had a horrible fever, her body was littered with angry burns, and a thousand other, smaller wounds.

She looked like she was about to die.

Xianghua had been frozen in place, staring at the enormity of the damage… until the little Doctor Ri Zu began squeaking angry orders that had them all racing off the street and into the Verdant Blade Sect’s manor. Ri Zu had recruited both herself and An Ran to assist her, while Gou Ren and his brother aided Tie Delun. They both swung into action at Ri Zu’s squeak, immediately cataloging wounds—but they had been taught differently than Xianghua had. They focused on more minor injuries cultivators were largely taught to ignore, as their bodies could handle the strain.

Xiulan, at Ri Zu’s command, was placed into a water bath, so as to begin cooling some of the heat raging in her body. The water had immediately warmed to the temperature of a hot bath and so An Ran, her arm in a sling, was sent to fetch more.

Poultices of herbs were produced from the bag that Tigu’s Master Rou had given to Ri Zu. Four of them, which revealed the extent of the damage. Xianghua had used only one and it had fully healed her after the bout with Tigu.

Ri Zu delegated this task to Xianghua, her larger hands able to spread the mashed spiritual herbs more easily, while the rat brought out a piece of chalk, and referenced a tiny notebook.

‘’ Ri Zu muttered as she drew out a circle. ‘’

Xianghua nodded. It was only right. So her hands were placed on Xiulan’s stomach and little Ri Zu guided her Qi while An Ran hovered nervously nearby, her eyes upon her Young Mistress.

It was rather amazing how swiftly Xiulan’s face went from an angry red colour to its normal one. Really, this rat was better at medicine than every spiritual doctor Xianghua had paid for! What sort of master was powerful enough to teach a rat such powerful formations and healing techniques?! “Senior Sister Meiling” was truly a woman worthy of awe and fear.

Xianghua imagined two of those mountains, and shuddered. Her lips quirked in pleasure as she imagined what was happening to the Shrouded Mountain Sect right now.

Xianghua and An Ran waited in silence while Ri Zu worked. The occasional groan drifted into the room from one of the other men as they too were administered to. There was a knock on the door. A female sect servant entered with a basket, and gasped upon seeing the Young Mistress. Xianghua took the towels and bandages from the woman.

“Get some bedding ready for the wounded. They will need space to recover. Inform any messengers that the sect is closed for the evening. I want no rumours, understand? Have the uninjured disciples take command of the watch. The elders will sort it out when they return ” She commanded. Orders she had no authority to give, but the shaken woman bowed her head and departed immediately.

It was around an hour, when Ri Zu paused and placed her fingers on Xiulan’s pulse. She was standing on the edge of the tub, her fur wet from when she dove into the tub to check on the other wounds.

‘’

An Ran’s face fell and tears gathered in the corners of the young woman’s eyes. Indeed, the ignition of a member of the Verdant Blade Sect’s cultivation was the thing they feared the most. A normal cultivator in the Azure Hills had no real hope of accomplishing the feat. But one from the Shrouded Mountain, in the higher ranks of the Profound Realm, could manage it.

Xainghua grimaced.

“Young Mistress—Xiulan.” An Ran whispered. Her eyes unfocused and her face twisted. Xianghua carefully studied the expression, the… grief? Rage? A tricky, twisty thing that overtook An Ran’s face. “Those Shrouded Mountain Bastards.—”

Little paws clapped together, and An Ran jolted as if she had been slapped. Her eyes refocused on Ri Zu who was at her feet.

’ Her voice was soft and full of gentle prodding.

“Ah.. um.. Yes.” An Ran said, placing a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart. Her snarl was gone and replaced with something small and lost, as she stared at her teacher. She hesitated for a moment, then started to carefully tend to Xiulan.

Her arm was still in a sling though, so her ability to assist the rat was limited.

Xianghua sighed and picked up the slack. She never thought in her life she would have to help Cai Xiulan into her robes.

They carried her up the stairs into the room that had been set aside for her. Xianghua looked around it, curious, after they pulled the covers over the woman. She was fast asleep. Her pained grimace had smoothed out to gentle breaths.

The room was largely empty. A bed, and a pack in the corner of the room. But one thing stood out. One of Yun Ren’s images, cast onto a piece of rock. Xiulan smiling with Gou Ren, Yun Ren, Master Rou, and a woman Xianghua didn’t recognise. All of them making stupid, childish faces.

She looked so blindingly happy and unguarded. Xianghua smiled at the image, and after An Ran finished brushing a few errant strands of hair out of Xiulan’s face, Ri Zu spoke.

An Ran looked like she was about to protest and just stay. She glanced at the floor, as if considering sleeping at the foot of her Young Mistress’ bed.

Xianghua rolled her eyes, and caught An Ran’s arm, pulling the girl out of the room. They marched back down the stairs. The sky was slowly lightening, dispelling the darkness. It would be dawn soon, and Xianghua needed at least some sleep.

They entered the main room of the manor. The servants had done her bidding, getting in blankets and bedding for them to rest on. It was a large room, and could easily accommodate them all… but instead, everybody seemed to collect into little piles, cramming themselves together. Tie Delun, Rags, and Loud Boy, the most injured of them, were in a neat row off to the side.

Tigu had slumped over in between Gou Ren and Yun Ren, clinging to the rabbit and snake that had arrived with her.

It looked like quite a comfortable position.

An Ran stared at Gou Ren, flushed slightly, and went instead to rest with her fellow disciples.

Xainghua felt no such hesitation. The Heavens gave to the bold. It was foolish to give up an opportunity such as this. She marched over to where her Gou Ren was laying down, and gently pulled his bandaged arm up and away, careful not to aggravate any wounds, and planted herself beside him.

An eye cracked open and she smirked at him. He snorted and put an arm around her back, pulling her closer. Her eyes soon drifted shut.

She slept contentedly, waking only once in the night when the door opened and a servant came in to check on them. They paused in the doorway, and remained as quiet as they could so as not to disturb them unduly.

A warm summer breeze came in from the open door.

There was no feeling of threat. Only... she felt oddly safe.

=============

Xianghua awoke to Gou Ren shuffling around and the sounds of chopping from outside the room.

She cracked open an eye. She was laying on Gou Ren’s chest. He had shifted to lay on his back during the night. He looked peaceful while he slept, his features calm, instead of twisted with anger.

Xianghua sat up. The room was bright, the sun long since risen. She directed a bit of Qi flowed around her hair, taking hold of the moisture in the air and giving her frizzed out hair a bit of dampness. She ran her fingers through it, flattening it back out. She glanced down at Gou Ren. His eyes were screwed up and he was stirring. His brother was awake and leaning against the wall with a cup of tea in his hands, his eyes closed tight and a sword in his lap, clearly meditating early in the morning as all cultivators should. Tigu was gone and she could hear the sound of someone moving outside the room. The scent of some kind of unfamiliar tea in the air.

Gou Ren shuffled slightly, turning again, and buried his face in her thigh. He groaned and pulled at the bandages on his arm, revealing unblemished flesh. The angry red lines and scars from last night were gone.

She returned to her study of his face.

Xianghua absently reached out and brushed a finger through his hair. Only roused to violence and anger when those he loved were in danger. He was, like she had said in the beginning, such a fool.

And her heart was beating faster again. His eyes cracked open and he leaned into her touch. They stared at each other smiling in the morning light. The moment was broken when the door opened again to admit someone, she heard soft shuffling footsteps.

There was a hoot from beside her. Xianghua turned her head to the servant interrupting, and paused.

It was a short, toddler sized creature. Its face was bright, pale blue, and its fur was muted gold. It had a necklace with a crystal on a string around its neck and a cup of tea in each hand.

A monkey.

Xianghua closed her eyes, rubbed them, and opened them again.

The monkey was still there. It hooted again, cocking its head to the side.

Gou reached around from behind her and took one of the cups.

“Thanks.” He said, nodding his head. Xianghua tentatively took the other cup. Not different than a medical rat, she supposed. “What's your name, buddy? I’m Gou Ren.”

The creature nodded its head and chattered.

“Nice to meetcha, Huo Ten. Thanks for the tea.” He said with a smile, raising his cup to the monkey. The monkey bowed and retreated.

Xianghua stared after it.

She heard Gou take a drink from behind her and make an appreciative noise.

She absently raised her cup and took a sip.

It was like nothing she had ever tasted before. Oddly earthy, with the undercurrent of lemongrass. It wasn’t bad, but she was more used to finer teas. It was delicious though.

Xinghua took another sip. She turned to Gou Ren.

“You understood that?” She asked curiously.

Gou Ren nodded. “He's got a bit of a strange accent, but yeah. You didn’t?”

She shook her head.

“Wonder why…” he muttered, trailing off.

“It's just cause they're both monkeys.” Yun Ren croaked out from beside them, cracking open his eyes to smirk at them.

Gou rolled his eyes, while Xianghua’s face went blank at the insult. She couldn’t measure the severity of the words yet, and the brothers seemed to like each other…. But she hadn’t figured out the fox-faced boy well enough to tell yet.

“And you’ve got a fox, so we’re even,” Gou said bluntly. “Where is that… anyway?”

“Said he would need to rest and recover his strength,” Yun Ren replied. His sword rattled. Yun Ren glared at it and grumbled. “Shaddup. It still makes no sense when you explain it. I’ll have to go out and practise.”

“You speak sword now too?” Gou Ren asked. Yun Ren shrugged and drew the sword. The pale grey of iron turned to purest white, the sword vibrating with Qi.

“It followed me home.” he snarked. The sword rattled a second time.

Gou Ren stared at the sword, then turned to his own hands. He sighed and leaned back.

“....you holding up okay?” He asked, his voice full of concern for his brother. Yun Ren sheathed the sword, and considered the question. Xianghua kept silent. A moment between siblings was to be respected. So instead she just closed her eyes, and enjoyed the feeling of Gou Ren’s arm around her waist.

Gou Ren’s brother sighed. “Dunno. But I Jin and Meimei were onto something about this cultivation stuff. Bastards.”

They lapsed into silence at his declaration.

“Not everything about cultivation is bad.” Gou Ren muttered. Xianghua opened her eyes, to catch Gou Ren staring at her.

“Oh, this Xianghua is just , is she?” She asked.

Goiu Ren’s eyes went from lidded to panicked—before he realised she was teasing him. He pulled her closer to him, and turned her so that she was leaning against him. She allowed it, for she was a kind and generous Young Mistress—and his blush was quite fetching.

“Where is Tigu?” Gou Ren asked, searching the room for the orange haired young woman.

“Outside with Jin, Miantiao, and Yin. Dunno where Bi De is, though.”

Gou Ren nodded. They all lapsed into silence, simply sitting together in the stillness of the late morning.

Some of the hollowness in Xainghua’s chest faded as she sipped her tea.

Slowly, the room roused to wakefulness. Xiulan’s students stirred one at a time, with An Ran in the lead. The smaller woman pulled off her sling and flexed her arm. Satisfied the break was healed she immediately stood, marching up the stairs to check on Xiulan. The rest of the Petals followed one at a time. They nodded to herself and the brothers, but their distraction was clear, as they rid themselves of bandages and slings, and in the green haired one’s case, an eyepatch.

Loud Boy woke soon after, grumbling and groaning before suddenly shooting bolt upright and clutching at his stomach.

His face fell and his eyes teared up—but he shook it away and went to check on Rags and Tie Delun.

For a brief moment, her brother’s face etched itself over the young, crippled cultivator’s. Xianghua closed her eyes. If Master Rou did not take him, Xianghua would offer the child a place in the Misty Lake Sect. Such loyalty and dedication should always be rewarded.

But there was still one problem. Just where were all the Elders? They had all, according to the snippets Xianghua had heard last night, departed for the Dueling Peaks and stayed inside the entire time. Had something gone wrong? Was the Earthly Arena rising into the air the omen of something worse?

Xianghua kept her thoughts to herself and finished her tea. The servants came in and cleared most of the bedding. The wounded were checked over, at the edge of the room. They put in a large table and set down plates and chopsticks. The Petals soon returned with Ri Zu to report on Xiulan.

The rat reported. Xiulan’s students brightened, and Xianghua herself sighed in relief.

The smell of food from outside got stronger. It would probably be ready soon.

They seated themselves around the table. The Petals sat together, while Gou Ren sat with Loud boy, clapping him on the shoulder. Xianghua set herself beside him, while Yun Ren put away his sword. The monkey, Huo Ten, handed out more tea.

The back door opened and the smell of herbs, eggs, and meat intensified. Xianghua turned her head, her stomach rumbling, and froze.

For it was no servant bringing in the food, .

His face was calm. His terrifying Qi was absent, and such was his power that she could not feel a scrap of his strength. His control had to be something extraordinary to manage such a thing. He held a large wok, full to the brim in one hand, and a pot of rice in the other.

He was wearing .

Completing the image was an orange mop of hair resting on his shoulder. Tigu was riding upon her Master’s back, her arms and legs locked to keep her in place. Her eyes were closed in contentment.

“Good morning, everybody.” He said as he strode over to the table and set down the food. There was… Realization? On An Ran’s face, while Loud Boy just stared, his jaw open.

Xianghua breathed in and put the absurdity of such a powerful expert cooking them food out of her mind to observe the proper protocols.

Xianghua’s hands came together in a salute, as she rose bowing her head. “This Xianghua pays her respects to Master Rou.” She declared as gracefully as she could. Her Gou’s Master raised an eyebrow, as the others chimed in after her, scrambling up to greet the man. He shuffled in place.

“Oh, right. Sorry for not introducing myself properly last night, but you needed your rest.” He cleared his throat and returned their respect. “This one is Rou Jin. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Just.call me Jin, okay?”

‘’ A silver rabbit hopped up onto the table and nodded to the room. She looked at them all with what seemed to be curiosity. Now that Master Rou’s power was no longer overwhelming everything, Xainghua reached out, truly trying to feel the rabbit’s strength. It was not trying to hide. It blazed forth like the sun above at the fourth stage of the Initiate’s Realm.

Xianghua took a deep breath. A medical rat was one thing. But the way Tigu smiled and scooped the little beast up to snuggle made it look like Tigu’s had the same cultivation as she did.

She raised an eyebrow at ‘Miantiao’, the snake bowing politely. Xianghua returned it, of course. While the rabbit burned, the snake was reflective. She had a hard time feeling it, but it was weaker than the rabbit, of that she was sure.

The table was silent after the introductions finished. Master Jin took a seat at the head of the table, which had remained vacant.

“Jin… uh, what's going on, with… everything?” Gou Ren ended lamely, breaking the silence.

Master Rou— sighed. “After everybody finishes eating, we’ll get to the heavy stuff, okay?”

The rest of the table agreed with the Master’s proclamation.

It was surreal. A tiger had tucked in his claws, and was pretending to be a house-cat. A tiger that was serving them all food and pouring their drinks like he was their junior.

He was an excellent cook