Chapter 186 – Unwelco Reunion
The Misty Mountains remained warm and humid even in winter, and I had to shed a few layers imdiately after I landed. Fortunately, it ant that the forest hadn't changed at all since the last ti we ca, so I had no trouble finding my way to the cave entrance where we saw the bixie. Parting the undergrowth as I walked, I searched the area carefully, looking for signs of the guardian beast and her cub.
I didn't see even a footprint of a beast though. After a long while, I started to wonder how large a guardian's territory was—could it be wide enough that I couldn't possibly search the whole area in the amount of ti I had? I considered it for a mont, then put my outer robes back on and summoned a cooling spell on myself. Bai Ye had ntioned that spiritual power fluctuations attract guardian beasts. Hopefully, this would help lead them to .
I continued forward, using my spiritual power to enhance my hearing as well. All was quiet around for a long stretch of distance. I reached out with my consciousness, probing the surroundings with my power, until finally, I felt a faint but familiar presence drawing close.
My head snapped in that direction. It was the cub! Before I knew it, I had started running. Would they still rember ? I prayed that they did. Bai Ye wasn't here this ti, and I wouldn't be able to explain his condition to them all that well, considering mythical beasts relied on their own ways to figure out a target's energy flow. But if the mother bixie still rembered us, then—
An ear-shattering roar ca into my ears. I halted in my tracks, surprised at the sudden sign of danger that I didn't notice while my thoughts wandered. My hands moved to my swords, and the next mont, a figure leaped at from behind the shrubs next to . I drew the blades at once, but when I saw what it was that bared its teeth in the air, my motion froze.
It was the mother bixie, her fangs glinting and ready to sink into my neck.
"W-Wait!" I shouted, raising my sheath to block her. "It's ! I'm not here to hurt you!"
But she didn't slow. With a guttural growl, she landed on top of , and the montum sent stumbling backward and falling onto the ground. She bit down, and her jaw snapped over my sword hilt.
"Please!" I shouted again, raising the other sword to block her next bite. I turned it backward though, so that the tip of the blade didn't face her—after absorbing the power enhancer, I was strong enough to fight against a bixie by myself now, but I didn't want to act hostilely and let her mistake my intention. "Please, I know you can understand . I was here just a few months ago, and I saw you and your child at—"
The sound of a cub's wl ca into my ears as soon as I ntioned her child. I braved a glance in the direction where the sound ca from. Not far from us, the little fuzzball—now twice the size as before—squeaked at us, as if begging its mother to let go of .
The mother wasn't swayed, however, and she roared at again. This ti, I understood the aning of her words: "I rember you. I also rember telling you to never return, and never co near my child ever again."
Oh … Right, I was the one who forgot about all that in my excitent over the clue. "I-I'm sorry," I apologized, and my heart sank at the turn of events. "I'm sorry … I returned for a reason, and I swear I an you no harm—or your child in that regard. I only ca with a question, and I would be forever indebted to you if you could help ."
I regretted then that I didn't take Bai Ye's advice and think this through before leaving. I should've rembered the bixie's warning … or at least prepared sothing to bargain with. She had no obligations to help , after all, and the chances weren't in my favor given that she already disliked my presence.
The bixie growled again. But before I could make out her words, the cub padded closer to us and stopped by my side. It let out a little growl back at its mother—though it was too cute to sound angry—then rubbed its head against my cheek.
I looked at the cub speechlessly. What had I done to gain so much affection from this adorable thing? Was this my two lifetis of rescuing fuzzy little animals paying back? I resisted the urge to pet the cub's head, knowing that it would only anger the mother more. Instead, I begged her again in the softest, most harmless voice I could manage. "Please … all I need is an answer, and I swear never to trouble you again after this. It's about yazi's venom … If you could tell how to use it—"
"To save the man that ca with you last ti?" The mother hissed, not loosening her claws pinning onto the ground. "You cultivators are the worst of all evil. You ravage my ho, steal my children … I can't be more thrilled to see you perish one by one in the most miserable way, yet you expect to help you?"
I stared at her in disbelief. "Who stole your children?" I asked. No wonder she was so protective of her cub from … But guardian beasts were considered protectors of their area. Who would be so audacious as to steal one of them?
The mother bixie bared her fangs once more. "Don't pretend you are not one of them. Didn't you co with a bait stone yourself? How else would you explain why my child is so drawn to you?"
"…"
Heavens … The bait stone … I widened my eyes, and now I really didn't know how to explain my way out of this anymore.
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