The Forest of the Unforgiven was vast. But not as terrible as how her master interpreted it. She had been here for several months and yet Celes lived safely. Therefore, this new Celes has long considered this place her home and it felt so safe, it was like a walk in the park.
To the people of the capital on the other hand, countless spiritual beasts made it their home. Mass graves were made here as well so that the ones who did not deserve any respect after death were to be thrown and rot in here. Unfortunately the story was not all true.
Whenever Ling Hou left Celes to take care of the dragon, his sloth-like eyes that often looked over her had turned sharp and determined as soon as he turned around. She knew he was not here simply to run away from his enemies but also to seek for something. And then Celes jolted at a dangerous epiphany, 'I have already purified and burned several pits! What if he was looking for a person that was actually in one of those?'
Normally, a person would hesitate yet a psychopath as diagnosed by the doctor she had 'accidentally' incinerated in the basement last time, let the worry off her mind with a shrug of her shoulders. Pragmatically thinking, "What was already done has already happened. Besides they have been long dead. Even spiritual beasts know which is fresh and which isn't," she said.
And much to her surprise, a hand gripped one of her shoulders. Those hands' dug into her skin but not enough to badly try to tear her shoulders off her body. Still, it held Celes as strong as possible and luckily, her body was well at the best tempered state. "Can you repeat what you just said?"
Celes' face grimaced but her voice was the opposite. Tempered or not, it hurt a little as if being pinched. "Ah, master!" She spoke with a jolly tone nevertheless, not intending to take things to a worse turn. "How are you doing?" She knew it was him but did not have any intentions to entertain his curiosity.
'Celes is clearly dismissing it.' Helplessly, he let go of her shoulders as he knew it was useless to threaten crazy brat like this. Nevertheless, he stubbornly continued, "What were you saying?"
She closed her eyes and grinned. "I was counting my pits, previously I had to purify several pits." And so you should thank me. Because of this, the beasts are more amiable.
But to see a smug smile from her, it seemed like there was something she did not include. Ling Hou if he could admit the truth to himself may be a troublemaker back home but at the same time, his tongue was sharp and naively expected everyone to be the same much to Celes' prediction after observing him.
"So you can purify the evil miasma? Why can't my disciple also purify her nasty mind?" He sighed.
"Hmmph!" Arms were then crossed over her chest. "Because I am me."
"Yeah. . . But when you purify, how do you make sure-"
"Ah such an obvious question! To ensure no anger or any negativity lurks around, of course you have to burn the pits! Pray for them. Purify them. Burn them to ashes. Three easy steps," she grinned. And inwardly, Celes felt some relief to actually deliver the truth like this. At least her master would not be too much of a nuisance afterwards.
However his eyes dulled down. "How many did you purify?"
"Honestly or ideally?"
'This brat!' "Seriously?"
So Celes grinned. It was not that she was some unreasonable person all the time, Celes actually even thought to herself about how much of a good person she can be if on her own. Her lonely ventures could justify that! "Okay, just four."
But he raised a brow, unable to believe such meager number. "Is that true?"
"But since you are my master, let's add the smaller pits. Honestly they don't really account for much because logically speaking when calculating for the bigger picture, we usually ignore the latter right?" She explained.
But her reasoning and judgement felt too unsympathetic. His brows knotted in frustration. "What a big potential talent for scamming," was the first thing he thought and entirely slipped through his mind and out of his mouth.
Celes smiled. Those big, almond eyes beamed brightly. Apparently she was a crook. How else could she take over a hospital, remain free and keep getting patients? "Why, thank you!" She did not think her skills back in the modern world were carried over!
"That was sarcasm, mind you."
"How insulting," she said that but the wide, toothy smile on her face could not be wiped off. Anyway, it made her realize and see him in a better light, 'master seemed so brave to confront me like this - Wait, of course he can, he is my new teacher. And he has not seen any of my slips yet! Ah dummy!'
When Ling Hou saw her in a trance with a stupid smile on her face, an urge to pinch her cheeks came. She was not one of the pretty young maidens found in the capital nor was she one of those cute women all around the country. Nevertheless, the brat may be tanned, a little round and had a pretty disturbing personality but those rosy, fat cheeks were too tempting to pinch. So in a matter of seconds, his hands were crossed behind him. "So how many?" He asked with a loud and firm voice.
'Still so stubborn,' she groaned. "Gone, just around hmmm less than 30 if you count in those mini pits."
'Almost thirty? That many? What if-' Ling Hou's fears started to escalate. Celes' cheeks no longer distracted his emotions. 'she If she did so, then the accused have been dead and gone for a long time! But that incident- immediately the image of his uncle being beaten on his lower back with bamboo rods and then shackled replayed in his memories as clear as day.
At that moment, Ling Hou felt lonely, reminding the man about his childhood back in the sect. His mother used to visit him but she was not as strong as cultivators. Her visits ended shortly after four years. But in her place was Uncle Lou. Though much of a useless drunk, he spent his nights talking nonsense then passing out and sleeping on the floor in Ling Hou's room. And as soon as the sun rose, he would be the first one to wake up and drag Ling Hou to exercise and have breakfast later on.
Nostalgia lingered in his misty eyes. Just then, Celes made a slight movement of walking towards a chair and sitting down. Ling Hou followed suit and sat on a chair opposite her and then for some reason, he began to talk, "I don't know if that person I am searching for is really dead or playing dead right now."
Celes could care less. All she thought was, 'Wow, that person sounds fun.' Afterall, she had yet to meet that person. For a being like her, Celes preferred to meet the person before gathering too many opinions nor feelings that may be wasted on them. Despite her reasoning, Celes let her eyes stay on her master's sad, oppressed figure and let her ears continually listen both at his voice and to their surroundings just in case their was any intrusion.
He continued anyway, neither sparing her a glance nor caring about her opinion. At the moment, he simply wanted to tell someone his story. "My uncle was not the best master but he acted truly. Not the best father figure either but he was family. Yet one day, some soldiers of the empire came for him. I don't know how the emperor managed to intervene with matters of the secular world and call forth an imperial decree to take my uncle away. But it was not as simple as shackling him and leading him to the prison. To humiliate Uncle Lou, he was cuffed by his ankles and around his wrists. For two days, he was dragged away like that. If I was not busy with women and liquor, I would have been able to do something."
Celes nodded. "Dumb regrets," she mumbled. She knew that her master's keen ears should be able to hear that yet it seemed that he would not fuss as much right now.
He continued, "Though intoxicated and doused with aphrodisiac, I managed to follow after them. Uncle Lou was showered with humiliation for another day once reaching the capital and then, was dragged to the entrance of the forest." In his memory, they were able to make an eye contact and the old man managed to send him a pained grin. That was the last of it. His chest tightened and tears threatened to form in his eyes. It goes to say how much guilt he felt. Ling Hou, though among the gifted disciples of the sect was rendered useless to the traps of women and liquor. He was left with the feeling of incompetence after finding out that these were simple set ups made to ease the capture of his master. His jaws trembled and he seemed to want to just collapse into his own oblivion. Celes could see that but for her, his weakness felt satisfying. It delighted her that someone who looked so strong and ragged would become so vulnerable and easy to target.
But then, Celes' own bushy yet finely shaped brows furrowed. Her eyes widened by a fraction and she cursed her own self in surprise. 'Just why did I think that? Oh my gosh, I'm not those reincarnation anymore! Ugh!' She shivered.
To solidify the fact that Celes Falon de Lin is in fact not like one of her villainous incarnations, the lady forced herself to care, enough to bother the frozen master beside her by violently shaking his arm. "Master! Hey! Wake up!"
His flashbacks came to an abrupt end when Ling Hou felt the recurring pressure on his arm. 'What was happening to his body?' he panicked. Therefore releasing his Qi and for Celes to defend against such wild wave of force. A shriek escaped the girl's lips when caught off guard. Nevertheless, she put her weight on the ground and crossed her arms over her head to shield herself. But it was rather strong, having pushed her far away from him until her back had hit the wall. And since her body was hardened, the force could not cut into the young cultivator but pushed her further in until it finally disappeared when it has been exhausted. Given that Celes was only a a low ranked martial warrior, her skin stung as if multiple ants bit her continuously and bled out from the small scratches after the wave of Ling Hou's spiritual power. When Celes recovered her stance, she turned to check the hole she has been in. She grinned in amusement as she could perfectly see how the dent was of her body shape carved into the wall.
Ling Hou initially felt worried at the sudden release of his Qi but to see the girl examining the wall made him sigh in relief. But like a mother, he could not avoid screaming, "Why didn't you dodge?"
Celes grinned. "I wanted to see my level of endurance." Her eyes sparkled at the achieved result. "And now they know we were here. How'bout-" but before she finished, she used her Qi to carve some characters in the wall.
' Celes was here!'
Ling Hou grimaced. Just when he thought he was one of the worst disciples in the sect, this day have just shown him how much of tyrant his disciple would be. And their future would be obvious. For a moment, his worries disappeared as he pictured his future with this brat with a pair of dull eyes, "Headaches, running, loud laughter, screams, entertainment, reprimands, and more."
And to his surprise, she spoke something worth listening to. "Well when did that happen?" Though such distractions previously occurred, Ling Hou knew very well how to get back to the main subject.
"The day before we met."
When she heard so, Celes who was thinking so positively felt helpless in an instant. "You know what, let's forget about it, if I did purify him then that's good. At least he can go to rest."
"Lest one want no enemy, one should not provoke any," he coldly stated as if to warn her of her choices.
The natural tyrant felt chills sending goosebumps down her arms. Then those honey-brown eyes sneaked a glance at the man. She pursed her lips and remained silent, awaiting his decision. For the first time in a long time, Celes did not object knowing the consequences. Besides, she swore her obedience to him as a disciple. She needed to remember more about this world and reach her goals. She was not going to end her last life by dying because of carelessness.
But when it has been too quiet for awhile, her mouth moved faster than her brain, she asked, "What now Master?"
"We search. Continuously search and while doing so, let me see how you purify them. Only the monks do it, how can you do it so?"
Impatience and curiosity burned in his eyes. Celes nodded. 'Seems like only the second life can explain this.'
"Hmm, Master, how many lives does a cat have?"