030 Unexpected Companions

After settling matters with Zhen Ai by the lake, I brought her back to my camp to introduce her to the others. The forest was calm as ever, leaves swaying gently as if nothing in the world could possibly go wrong. It was almost convincing enough to forget the looming trouble she carried with her.

Almost.

When we arrived, Li Ming and Guo Yimu were already there, tending to their usual tasks. Namely, chopping wood and sweeping the leaves. Zhen Ai had decided to wear one of the robes from the storage ring, a flowing blue garment that clung to her form with a kind of effortless elegance. It wasn’t something I paid much attention to at first, but judging by the reactions, apparently it mattered.

“It looks beautiful on her. I knew my eyes for feminine fashion are the best,” Guo Yimu declared.

I blinked at him.

The baldy was hunched over slightly, eyes wide, mouth half-open, and… was he drooling? I stared at him for a second longer than necessary, trying to process what exactly I was witnessing. Dude… what was your problem?

Before I could say anything, Li Ming stepped in and smacked him at the back of the head. “Please, stop. It’s just annoying at this point.”

Guo Yimu straightened abruptly, clearing his throat as if trying to recover some dignity. “Amitabha… the heart must remain still like a tranquil lake, unmoved by fleeting beauty. This humble one merely observed with pure intentions—”

Smack.

“You are not even a monk, Yimu! Just stop!” Li Ming snapped.

I winced slightly at the second hit. Poor guy. I glanced at him, then looked away with a quiet sigh. I felt sorry for Guo Yimu, but at the same time… yeah, no, I didn’t think I could fix whatever was wrong with him.

Clearing my throat, I decided to move things along before this turned into something even stranger.

“This is Zhen Ai,” I said, gesturing toward her. “She’s the local dragon guest of the forest.”

Zhen Ai gave a small nod, her expression composed. “Please take care of me. I am residing by the lake, so if you require fish, I can provide them.”

A thought popped into my head out of nowhere. I had talked to birds and all manner of animals, even the occasional overly talkative squirrel, but… fish? I hadn’t actually tried that before. Could I? Would they respond? I made a mental note to test that out later.

“Oh my, where do I even begin?” Li Ming stepped forward, her eyes practically sparkling as she circled Zhen Ai. “Your hair is absolutely gorgeous, so long and smooth. And this shade of blue, it complements you perfectly. Honestly, everything about you just feels so refined.”

Zhen Ai seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden barrage of compliments, though she handled it better than I expected.

Meanwhile, Guo Yimu had gone a little too quiet.

I glanced at him and noticed his eyes were wide again, though this time there was something different in them. Less drooling, more… alarm?

“Whoa… she’s got a strong presence…” he muttered, his tone shifting. Then, hesitantly, “Erm… Senior, what’s your cultivation?”

Li Ming immediately shot him a glare. “You really have no tact, baldy.”

To my surprise, Zhen Ai answered anyway, her voice calm. “I am at the Nascent Soul realm. Early stage.”

There was a brief pause.

Then both Li Ming and Guo Yimu reacted at the same time.

“Nascent Soul?!” Li Ming exclaimed.

“Early stage Nascent Soul?!” Guo Yimu echoed, his voice rising an octave.

I scratched my cheek, glancing between them and Zhen Ai. Huh.

Now that I thought about it… yeah, that did sound like a big deal.

Guo Yimu remarked with absolutely no tact, “Shit, she’s more of a big shot than gramps or that Sword Frenzy guy.”

Before I could say anything, Willow fluttered down and landed on one of the wooden beams above us, her wings settling neatly at her sides. “That’s just the way things are,” she remarked. “Apparently, our continent is considered a backwater place. To them, someone at the Nascent Soul realm might not even be worth mentioning.”

Li Ming’s expression shifted quickly. The admiration from earlier vanished, replaced by tension. She straightened, her posture tightening as her eyes locked onto Zhen Ai. “Are you from a different continent?” she asked, her voice carrying a cautious edge. “Wait… do you know about the Dark Order?”

I glanced at her, feeling a small sense of relief. At least she wasn’t completely in the dark anymore. Her grandmother must have told her something after everything that happened. Good. That meant I didn’t have to be the one awkwardly explaining things or I have to walk in eggshells around her.

Zhen Ai looked genuinely puzzled. “No, I’m not from the Dark Order. What even is the Dark Order?”

She glanced at me briefly, probably remembering that I had asked the exact same question not too long ago. Fair enough.

Li Ming exhaled slowly, her shoulders dropping just a little. “Apparently, they’re bad people who want to go after me because of some mysterious lineage,” she said. “They want to keep me, harvest me… things like that. They attacked my village before. If it weren’t for Senior Wo Li here, my village would’ve probably been annihilated.”

She paused, her expression dimming slightly.

“According to grandmother, they were willing to take me back even if it cost me my life. That’s how valuable my body is to them.”

Zhen Ai’s gaze softened as she listened. “I am sorry you had to endure such a fate,” she said quietly. “No one should be treated as a mere resource.”

I watched the two of them for a moment, the connection between their experiences becoming painfully obvious. Different places, different circumstances, same outcome. Or at least… it would have been the same outcome if I hadn’t stepped in for Li Ming back then.

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It made me think.

Cultivators really were something else. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Why were they so ready to trample over someone else’s life just to advance their own? I understood ambition, I understood survival, but this… this felt excessive.

I could have blamed it on culture, but that didn’t sit right with me. There were plenty of mortals living normal lives without turning into monsters. No, this wasn’t just culture. This was something deeper, something twisted in the way power was pursued.

“Man… I really dodged an arrow there,” Guo Yimu suddenly said, breaking the mood entirely. He let out a breath and scratched his bald head. “Good thing Xing Ning happened when she did. Otherwise, who knows what kind of mess I’d be in right now.”

Li Ming slowly turned her head toward him, her expression utterly flabbergasted. I could practically see the disbelief written all over her face. Not too long ago, this same guy had been trying to woo her with the subtlety of a charging bull.

She picked up a piece of wood and brought her hand down with a sharp chop, splitting it cleanly in half. “Remember that,” she said flatly. “It could’ve been you.”

Guo Yimu smirked, completely unfazed. “What? You mean you wanna slay my wood or something?” he shot back. Then, with a grin that spelled trouble, he added, “My morning wood’s tough work, you know?”

Li Ming’s face flushed red instantly.

I sighed.

Yeah… this guy was hopeless.

Zhen Ai tilted her head slightly, confusion evident in her expression. “What is a morning wood?” she asked, her tone genuinely curious.

Willow perked up at once, clearly eager to contribute. “Hmm,” she began thoughtfully, “it might be a type of tree that’s related to the morning. Or perhaps a species that only grows at dawn… though I might be wrong.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah… that sounds about right.”

Honestly, I couldn’t blame Willow for this one. Wisdom and knowledge were two entirely different beasts, and sometimes… it really showed.

I glanced at Li Ming after the conversation settled, remembering something I had meant to ask earlier. “How is your grandma doing?”

Her entire expression lit up instantly, like someone had just opened a window to let sunlight in. “She’s doing much better,” she said, almost too quickly. Then she hesitated, shifting slightly. “Actually… I was hoping to ask for permission to leave the forest for a bit. I received word that she should be in town right now.”

I nodded without hesitation. This was perfect timing.

“Then lead the way,” I said. I turned slightly, gesturing to the others. “Zhen Ai, Willow, you’re coming with us. Guo Yimu, you stay.”