"Are you okay, Brother Luanyuan?" Yuxin asked softly after a few monts of silence. She did her best to keep her voice steady, though there was a slight tremble of fear behind her words.
Yuan glanced at her with an indifferent look. But then, unexpectedly, that aloof expression softened into a warm and gentle smile.
"Yes," he said calmly, his voice even and reassuring. "Everything is fine. I'm not injured."
The sudden shift in his deanor stunned them. Just monts ago, he had been a cold and ruthless fighter drenched in blood. Now, he looked and sounded like a completely different person.
"I–If that's the case, then… that's good," Yuxin stamred before quickly looking away. She was still young and unaccustod to such a grueso scene, Yuan surrounded by the corpses of beasts, his clothes soaked in blood. None of them could handle the sight well; it was simply too brutal.
Noticing their uneasy expressions, Yuan looked around, confused. Nothing seed out of the ordinary. But when he glanced down, realization struck him.
He was completely covered in blood.
His eyes widened slightly in understanding. "Ah… they're not used to seeing this. Of course, they're still just kids thrown into their first real battle."
He froze for a mont, eyes still wide, then slowly relaxed. He realized he'd been acting out of character.
"I got too caught up in the killing…" he thought, suddenly anxious. "I need to be more careful from now on."
With a deep breath, he cald himself and let out a bitter chuckle.
The sound drew everyone's attention. They looked at him, confused as to why he would laugh in a situation like this.
"Disgusting," Yuan muttered to himself. Then, with a flick of his hand, he threw the bloodied fang to the ground, trying to rid himself of the sticky sensation. But his hands were still stained red, slick with blood.
Clicking his tongue in frustration, he glanced around the cave, but the darkness made it difficult to see. Only the faint glow of spiritual essence let him trace the cave's outline through his Sight Spiritual Sense. Without that ability, he wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.
"Does anyone have water? Or maybe a spare change of clothes?" Yuan asked, his tone calm again.
The others blinked and snapped back to their senses. They all sighed in quiet relief at the normality in his voice and shook their heads, though they couldn't clearly see his face in the dim cave light. Still, they could hear in his voice how uncomfortable he was, how much he wanted to get the blood off.
Even Yuan, so composed and skilled, hadn't co out of the slaughter untouched.
Seeing all of them shake their heads, Yuan let out a long sigh. He wasn't quite sure what to do next, but he felt a wave of relief as he realized they had already moved past his earlier mont of unease. That slip in his composure, it seed, had been forgotten.
Trying to keep the conversation going and steer their thoughts elsewhere, he began asking questions as he approached the group.
"Did anyone get injured further? Has it started raining yet?" Yuan asked, his voice light but curious, hoping their answers would fully shift their focus away from him.
"No one got hurt. You took care of everything," Haoran answered imdiately. Even in the darkness of the cave, his pale face still stood out. Yuan couldn't quite tell whether Haoran's condition had improved or worsened.
"It did start to rain," ilan added. "But just as it got heavy, we all entered the cave. Only our clothes got a little wet and even that wasn't too bad."
Yuan nodded. "Good. The last thing we need is soone falling ill." His voice held a warm tone, and it subtly lifted the mood.
The tension that had hung in the air, thick with the scent of blood and the weight of death, began to fade. Though the corpses still lay around them, the atmosphere returned to sothing resembling normal.
After so more light conversation, the group settled down to rest on the cold ground. But while they waited for the rain outside to pass, Yuan decided it was ti to prepare sothing to eat. With the abundance of beast corpses around them, all they needed was fire to roast the at.
There were no objections.
Yuan stood up and took one of the many smaller tunnels that branched out from the main cave. As the strongest among them, it was his job to scout ahead, just like he had done when first entering the cave.
This ti, however, he wasn't searching for safety or shelter.
He was looking for firewood.
Although Yuan could have tried to climb back up through the entrance they had originally used to enter the cave, it was no longer an option. The rain had begun to fall, and the dirt and rock near the upper parts of the tunnel were now soft and slippery.
Climbing up would be dangerous, if not impossible.
But Yuan wasn't just looking for firewood.
He also wanted to find another exit, just in case they were forced to flee the cave early.
He continued walking through the winding tunnel. Nothing significant happened, except that the path he had chosen seed unusually long, but eventually, he found sothing: a hidden entrance leading into the sa cavern they were currently using as shelter.
Yuan's face darkened as he examined it.
The entrance wasn't well concealed. Just a few trees and so dangling vines covered the mouth of the cave. The vines, clearly worn and flexible from being passed through countless tis, were barely enough to serve as camouflage.
He let out a heavy sigh.
This must have been the cave's main entrance, Yuan realized. The one the beasts had been using all along. Still, he stepped outside to investigate further, only to be greeted by the deafening roar of rain.
It was so loud it drowned out the sound of the wind, and even hurt his ears.
Deciding not to waste ti, Yuan quickly gathered a few nearby branches he was lucky enough to find lying close. He stepped out into the rain just long enough to grab them, getting wet in the process, but only slightly. The rain was cold, but bearable.
"Should I search for more… or go back now?" he asked himself silently.
After a brief thought, he decided not to push his luck. What he had gathered would be just enough for a small fire to grill their at.
With the branches in hand, he made his way back.
As he walked, he tried rubbing the branches together and against his clothing to dry them off a bit. Five minutes later, he reached the main cavern again and was imdiately greeted by a troubling sight.
Tianyu was slumped against the stone wall, breathing heavily. His clothes had been torn and wrapped around his midsection as a makeshift bandage. Near him lay the corpse of a beast, a fang embedded deep into its neck.
It was already dead.
Just from the scene alone, Yuan could piece together what had happened.
"Everything alright?" Yuan asked with concern as he rushed over to Tianyu. Yuxin, who was sitting beside him, answered on his behalf.
"A beast ca just a few minutes after you left. Brother Tianyu tried to handle it alone, but he couldn't keep up with all of its movents. It managed to land a hit, but at least he killed it in the end. I've already bandaged the wound, it's not too serious. He's just terrible at handling pain."
"Hey!" Tianyu barked back, clearly embarrassed by the last part. Yuxin just chuckled, amused by his reaction.
Yuan sighed and shook his head, unsure whether to scold or smile.
"Good thing it wasn't anything serious. But seriously, how would you all survive here without ?" he teased lightly. "Anyway, I brought back the branches. Let's get a fire going and cook sothing to eat. Hopefully the rain won't last much longer."
Everyone nodded and got to work. While Yuan began preparing the fire, the others chatted to lighten the mood. Though the branches were damp, they managed to dry them using strips of spare clothing.
With a bit of effort and patience, the fire finally caught and began to burn steadily.
Yuan set the fire near the cave's entrance for ventilation, none of them wanted to risk suffocating on smoke. But once the fire was ready, a new problem erged: how to cut the at?
They had no knives, no proper tools. Only the fangs they had collected from the beasts. With no better option, ilan and Yuxin tried to tear a chunk of at from one of the corpses. Yuan joined them shortly after and, with combined effort, they managed to pull off a sizable piece.
As they did, blood spilled from the at, dark and thick. Yuan didn't flinch. Without turning away, he carefully placed it over the fire, his eyes fixed on the at to ensure it didn't overcook, or undercook.
They waited in silence as the fire crackled and burned, but the flas were small. Eventually, the branches were reduced to glowing embers, and the fire faded, leaving them with only a half cooked piece of at.
It wasn't ideal.
Though disappointnt was written on everyone's face, Yuan smiled and picked up a bit of the at using a beast's fang. After so effort, he tore off a piece and took a bite without hesitation.
"Good!" he declared with satisfaction.
Encouraged by his reaction, the others followed suit, and soon, they were all eating quietly, tired, cold, but grateful for the warmth and food.
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