But then she thought, 'Dead? Nope. Caged and unable to go against it right now? Yes!' A groan could not help but escape those plump lips. Celes have too many blades ready for use from within storage!
Tonight's evening was just a little too much for such a busy day. And checking if the blades needed sharpening eould be a great way to vent out the stress! So Celes felt torn between attack or hold back and finish the job.
To start with, Celes' supposed goal for the day was go around and purify the pits then have dinner when the fog has gotten heavier and the blurred out sky has lost its light. Maybe find Master Ling Hou's master as well if Celes had the luck But how come things went awry? It is out of control, this greedy cheat and that mentally weak dragon have come to stab her in the back, willingly or not!
Nevertheless, the barrier is formidable given it was made by no other than the core disciple of Merlin! Even that master of hers was safe on the side thanks to her own talismans! Therefore allowing Celes to sigh. The dragon can continuously attack head on or blow fire against her barrier but it would always be rendered useless. Like a child throwing rocks at a boulder.
Boring!
Celes, though have lived for many lives cannot help but be tempted to stand and provoke the dragon more! Fortunately, the purification progress was almost at its end. It was almost there, her skin that was initially replaced with goose skin from the tingling sensations have been reduced to normal. The Qi flowing into her pores must be slowing down and thus the pressure on her body have become lighter and lighter. Just a little more. And then Celes can do all sorts to make fun of that midget dragon!
'Oh, how exciting!'
And yet, for the unknowing audience who came running to where the white beams were have thought otherwise. In there eyes, a dragon was fiercely attacking an exhausted girl trapped in her own barrier. They also filtered the determination in Celes' eyes and decided she looked like she was about to cry from helplessness.
If Ling Hou could snap back from his nostalgia and pull his index finger out of his nostril, the man would simply shrug it off. A poor, helpless psycho? No way! For his honour, he did his best to change some of her ways and make Celes think a little bit more differently.
For example, Celes' priority was to finish her task before playing around!
So while she continued to purify, the visitors were about to take away the fun by deciding to surround the divine beast. 'Oh this nasty, nasty people! Don't touch the beast! He's mine!' Celes wanted to say but could not. Because she should not. If five dogs surrounded a person holding a bucket of fried chicken, would it be safer to save the chicken or just give it up to survive from potential attacks? Clearly, that is a rhetorical question. If not, simply change dogs to starving lions. Five high-ranked martial honours have been posted, Celes noticed. But somehow, how could it be that not too far from here, a denser amount of Qi have been gathered?
'This men are about to eliminate the midget! But,' Celes and her greedy cheat wiped there drools, 'They also have some surprise?' She grinned. No such thing as free lunch in this law of the jungle type of world. Now that the dragon was kept busy, the girl turned her focus back to the dimming light. It seemed that in a few seconds, like 'Three Mississippi, two Mississippi, one Mississipi, three Mississippi, two Mississippi, one Mississipi, ze....ro!'
'Burp!' the gluttonous cheat finished filtering and consuming. The talisman had also disappeared in the blink of an eye and then Celes could finally breathe in fresh air.
Not to forget, Ling Hou also woke up from his day dream only to find his midget dragon being attacked. Eyes wide, he craned his neck to his disciple who was supposed to have his back! Celes furrowed her thick yet finely shaped brows then shook her head. "I just finished purifying! No sign over here! It's too dark so maybe check tomorrow?"
Is she blind? "Are you blind? Deaf? The divine beast is being harmed!" His blood have reached its boiling point once again tonight. His master was nowhere to be found, it was somehow both relieving and saddening. In addition to the dragon he contracted with. "Get the dragon to safety!"
Celes clicked her tongue. "Nope! It tried to attack me first! You better thank this five boys for being such heroes!"
"Whay do you mean?"
Oh no. Celes checked the status of the fight to see both sides to be equally wounded. Luckily, they were still breathing. A little bit too loudly and uncomfortable hearing them pant like dogs. The girl decided they were still fine and proceeded to narrate to her master about why and how all of these began.
Several minutes later, Celes stood up from the ground to dust off her robes. Ling Hou then quickly collected his noble and valiant demeanour to save face. His ever so nonchalant yet strangely assuring disciple Celes had some new plan.
Like they had discussed after story time, Celes turned to the men with misty eyes and trembling shoulders. Oh yeah, this was the infamous white lotus move alright.
"Hmmm, hmmm, please... please stop fighting! The divine beast should not be killed! He is my master's child with a sacred dragon!"
Ling Hou's brows twitched. That was not part of the plan. Just when the man was about to react, Celes turned to him with a silly wink and a thumbs up as if to assure him. Unfortunately, his complete body paled. Does this girl not know that sacred beasts are too prideful to even mention the word 'human'. Moreover, the arrogant sacred dragons? Only fools would believe that!
Like he had thought, one came over to 'comfort' Celes by patting the top of her head. Though he wore a black mask on his face and only revealed a set of brown eyes, his voice sounded playful. He laughed loudly, acting unbothered by the fight and his wounds. "Little girl, you must have been fooled by such a fox-like man. Tell me is he your master? You should learn to stay away from foolish old men like him! How can such human touch a prideful, untouchable female dragon? Did you pick him up from the pit? Oh you should not have! But for your sake and the dragon's, we will do our best to subdue it but not kill it."
To say that Celes was speechless was lacking. The girl also felt respect for the man thus have let him speak without interrupting.
However Ling Hou coughed out blood. Fox?! Foolish?! Old?! Pick me up from the pit?! Those sharp words pierced his sensitive heart. He crossed his arms over his chest and then walked back to his rock with a loud 'Hmmfff!'.
Seeing that everything seemed fine without lifting a finger to take responsibility for the mess her cheat created, Celes accompanied Ling Hou and took a nap to waste time.
Yet her eyes later have quickly opened. 'I almost forgot!'
Fortunately, the dense gathered Qi did not move at all and when she was trying to decipher the crowded Qi, she came to realize that it came from a few humans. The purest came from a small person, a child if she could guess who was protected in the center.
Though Celes liked to live with nonchalance, she still could sometimes be serious. Hkw can Iure him out?
A) Act like a white lotus complaining about some headache.
B) Ask them to come out.
C) Ignore them and wait with luck.
D) Just pull them out.
But what a no-brainer! Seeing that the men were preoccupied, Celes have took advantage of the thick fog of the Unforgiven forest. Ling Hou shrugged, Celes should be fine and same with his dragon.
In no time, royal blue robes fluttered out from within the fog followed by the tanned body that it enveloped itself to. Then a face that was neither a peerless beauty nor ugly, just an average face have come out smiling to greet the eavesdropping guests.
"Hi, please call me Celes." Her voice emitted an amicable tone. And yet, three spears were quickly a few inches away from her neck.
"Stay back!"
They all looked young and reliable. She smiled. Three high-ranked Martial Warriors just like her. Except her body was at a very high tempered state. Those spears were nothing.
Celes enjoyed seeing reactions when she does something unpredictable. Such as making a step forward so that the tips of the spears were tickling her neck instead! "I cannot! I want to be friends!"
The young martial warriors gasped. A crazy girl! It was an anonymous vote.
She was dressed in a royal blue robe but it was too long that the robe have touched the ground and was too easy to step on by accident. Her hair, it was too short. A female in this society should have thick, silky black hair that reached at least past her waist! And her voice sounded too rough to be a noble. All in all, a barbaric girl was overstepping her bounds, they concluded.
Not that Celes would mind. To her, this kids were snotty, young foolish frogs stuck at the bottom of a well.
"Oh come on, I'm Celes. By the way, who's that kid behind you three?"
Without revealing himself, he answered, "This prince does not wish to speak!" His voice sounded so cute to Celes' ears. What he wanted to say was left to be scattered by the wind.
Aww! A stubborn child! They're so easy to lure out! "Hey, do you want to see some magic? Come with me."
"This prince do not fancy such childish schemes! It is beyond me!"
A grin and an amused expression had replaced her white lotus appearance. Afterall, Celes only wanted to check his Qi but to notice that his personality was pretty interesting- Not bad.
"Okay, then. This big sister has a lot of tasty spiritual fruits, so sweet and juicy that one bite can make you look respectable forever!"
Celes loved to spew her bullshit. Especially to mature, educated, smart children. Testing her tricks on them allowed her to see if it would be also effective to most adults.
And then the word she waited for just came. "Really? Let this prince through!"