On the way back to the mountain entrance to the sanctuary Bai Mei Li was exploring her new bond with the demon beast. It didn't feel exactly the same. With Bi Yu she could feel the connection in her soul. With the wyvern it almost felt as though the beast were an extension of herself. The bond felt bone deep.
She somehow felt that she could trust him. It was such a strange feeling to have when a just a few hours ago the killing intent that it had directed towards her had been so strong that with just a little more it probably would of been condensed into some unholy thing.
Yet now she just knew that she could trust it and even though it was just by a little bit at a time she could feel that this new found feeling of trust was growing stronger and stronger.
The power of bonding was indeed very strong.
After thinking it through for a little while she decided that it wasn't actually a bad thing that she'd gained this bonded beast. At the very least she wouldn't be alone when fighting anymore. She now had some back up. This would be added protection for Xiao Jun. "Bai Mei Li…. Bai Mei Li wake up! Your having a nightmare!"
Bai Mei Li groaned and slowly opened up her eyes.
Chai Ying sighed in relief. He'd wanted to just sit back and allow her to wake up on her own but it was taking too long and he thought it would be better for them to go and get the boy sooner rather then later… plus it didn't look like she was enjoying whatever dream she was having. Her face looked so pained that it made one comfortable just looking at her.
As she opened her eyes she instinctively placed a hand to her abdomen as though she were trying to stop the flow of blood. She looked startled when she didn't feel anything wet then she realized she wasn't in any pain.
She blinked a few time and looked around. It took a moment but everything came rushing back to her and soon realized were she was. She looked to Chai Ying.
"Everything is over?" She asked in a soft voice, unsure if she was talking about the dream or the fight, she was clearly still sorting through things. That dream was a terrible past memory. It was one of the worst days of her life. She thought she'd done the smart… albeit unhealthy… thing of stuffing that bitch down as far as it could could and never thinking about it again.
Why would it suddenly resurface now?
"Yea.." He coughed a little bit in embarrassment and looked away in guilt. He really felt bad about what happened. He had just wanted to cut loose a little bit. He hadn't wanted to cause her or the child any harm.
"Okay lets go get Jun'er" She said she got up and dusted herself off. She allowed her Qi to circulate through her body once just to make sure everything was okay.
Just as she was about to start off she felt something was different. She looked down at her arm and frowned when she saw the snake bracelet coiled around her wrist and part of her forearm. She looked Chai Ying how immediately avoid eye contact again.
"It'll be helpful" It was practically an admission to guilt.
She sighed and once she checked her body and assured that everything was okay she immediately moved in the direction that she's stashed Xiao Jun.
She noticed Chai Ying's earlier expression and could take a rough guess as to what the problem was. She remember seeing him fine and well moments before she fell into unconsciousness. That kind of recovery was just too fast. Clearly he hadn't been taking the battle as seriously as she had.
For now at least she wouldn't call him out on it. But that didn't mean she was letting it go. She had separated from Xiao Jun because she thought he was in serious danger and she couldn't bare the thought of him sacrificing himself on her behalf. After all that wyvern was only there because she'd provoked it. How could she just stand by and allow him to pay for her sins.
She just wasn't that kind of irresponsible person.
Chai Ying followed closely behind her. She was very silent now. Although they'd had their moments of silence that silence had been comfortable. This was awkward and her turbulent aura made him uncomfortable. He didn't like it at all. But he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say.
As of right now he wasn't sure if she was angry with him or anxious for the boy. He didn't want to broach the subject if he didn't have too. Maybe she wouldn't even figure it out and he might just tell on himself.
He was frowning as he thought about what he should do.
Bai Mei Li was at peace because she'd already made up her mind. She would definitely get some answers from him as soon the adorable little bun was back in her arms.
Unbeknownst to her that her normal amiable and tranquil aura and made a major shift… it had settled back down after that dream.
It was understandable that she wouldn't just shift back into her normal self after reliving that nightmare.
Those few hours had been nothing short of horror show. Those two brother had truly planned things out too well. And their plan had been designed to force her fail.
She shook her head to get herself out of those thoughts,
When this had first occurred she'd spent countless hours going over those three hours again and again and again. She understood that there had truly been nothing more that she could of done.
Been told again and again that fewer any people could of done better.
After several few breaths she was finally to remove her hand from her abdomen again and stop thinking about it.
Some things were just better left alone. That incident was certainly one of them.
"It's just up ahead." She said pointing.
She stopped in front of a tree and then crouched down and started to remove the foliage that she'd placed there as cover. The tree was hollowed out and she'd hidden the sleeping Xiao Jun there.
As soon as she saw his sleep form she grabbed him and hugged him tightly to her. Then she stood up and looked at Chai Ying.
"Don't you think I deserve an explanation?"
"Look… it wasn't on purpose." He said coming clean. Although he liked to avoid conflict with the women in his life because he always ended up on the loosing end of the arguments he was still a straightforward type of person. So once there was no avoiding the trouble he preferred to just get it over with.
"It had been a while since I'd had a good fight and I just wanted to enjoy it a little. It was my wrong. I should of explained things properly to you. I never intended for you and the boy to be harmed. I wasn't worried because I knew that I could protect you.. of course I understand that you didn't know this." He scratched his head awkwardly as he explained. "I didn't bbq the snake so I could give it to you as an apology gift. Are we good?" He asked with a cheek grin.
A level ten demon beast… seriously??
How extravagant could one get. She watched him. He was clearly apologetic. He didn't mean any harm. And to be honest she'd brought the trouble onto herself. She was lucky he was there to intervene.
"It's alright. Thank you for the beast." She said with a smile. Her violent aura had basically become normal again now that Xiao Jun was in her arms so her smile was extremely beautiful and disarming.
Chai Ying shook his head inwardly. This girl was just too beautiful. She would certainly have troubles finding her left and right in the future.
"That's good. Let head back now. You told the kid we'd be there when he woke."
"You're right lets go."
Bai Mei Li didn't waste any further time and sped off with Xiao Jun in her arms and followed closely behind Chai Ying.
The more she thought about it the more she found it wasn't all that hard to accept this former enemy of hers.
'Human brat, where are we going?' A arrogantly masculine voice suddenly appeared in Bai Mei Li's head. It was deep and a few noticeable lisp.
"Who…?" Bai Mei Li slowed down a bit when she heard the voice. Her beautiful eyebrows furrowed. Having a voice suddenly appear in your head was disconcerting.
Chai Ying slowed down and looked at her. "What's wrong?
Still frowning she looked at Chai Ying. "I…" She stoped before she could finish. She wasn't sure how she should explain she suddenly started hearing voices? He would just think she was crazy right?
Of course Chai Ying wouldn't of thought such a thing because he'd been in this world longer then she had. It was far more likely that he'd of understood immediately where the voice was coming from. Bai Mei Li hadn't been in this world long enough so she just didn't think a long those lines.
For now at least she was still more earthly then anything else.
'Why do I have such a stupid master.' The voice sound exasperated. It truly couldn't understand why fate had deemed that he be tied to such a human. How powerful was he? Why were the heavens playing such cruel tricks on him?
'You're the wyvern…?' She said carefully. It didn't feel natural at all too be talking to a disembodied voice in her head. She unconsciously looked at the snake that was coiled around her arm. It wasn't moving at all. It's eyes were closed. It truly looked like an exquisitely crafted piece of jewelry.
"Bai Mei Li..?" Chai Ying frowned and asked again. She was acting strange. She had a very confused look on her face. Her brows were deeply furrowed as though she were trying to concentrate. She looked extremely cute. It wasn't until he saw her look down at the bracelet that he understood what was going on. "Your bonded with the beast. You can communicate via a kind of telepathy. The people of this world will say that it's talking through a spiritual connection. We shorten it and call it spiritual communication since they wouldn't understand the word telepathy… or mind to mind speak. They believe that it is a connection between the human soul and the beast soul" He explained patiently.
Bai Mei Li listened to his information and was great full for it. She was a modern human so of course she understood what telepathy meant. It was also good to know what the people of this world thought it was. Once she searched she found a couple of memories on the subject, but there were vague. The previous Bai Mei Li hadn't been powerful enough to have a beast advanced enough to learn human language.
The truth was that without Chai Ying there was no way she would be able to gain such a strong demon beast as a companion.
"Thanks for that, I understand now." She smiled with appreciation.
Chai Ying nodded and they continued on.
'We are headed to where Chai Ying lives' she responded awkwardly in her mind. It would probably take her a little time to get use to something so novel. The companion spirit that was attached to her Phoenix ring had been silent ever since she'd left the space. So silent in fact that she'd nearly forgotten a about it. It hadn't occurred to her that she could communicate with the things that she bonded with. She wondered if she could communicate with the companion spirit.
She wanted to try, but she wasn't sure if they were all on the same frequency. She couldn't imagine how that actually worked and she a bit embarrassed to randomly call for her in her mind. What if Bi Yu didn't answer… would the wyvern just make fun of her?
'Do you have a name?' She asked suddenly. She didn't want to just keep calling the beast wyvern if it had a name. If it didn't she'd just give it one.
The Wyvern was silent for a long moment before it finally spoke reluctantly. 'My name is Jin Hai.'
She thought about it for a moment and then decided that was a really good name. 'You must feel like you got the short end of the stick, huh?'
'What does the short end of stick have to do with anything?' Jin Hai said irritably.
'Sometimes when humans need to decide who should do something undesirable they will gather sticks. All the sticks will be of the exact same length except for one that will be shorter then the others. The person that pulls that short stick is the loser that has to do that undesirable thing.' She explained in her usually calm and even voice.
'I see.' Jin Hai considered for a moment. 'Then yes. I received the short end of the stick.'
'Your wrong.' She responded. 'You will benefit. I have always seceded in the things I've wanted to achieve. I've decided that the only way to get what I want is to stand on a summit of this world.'
'What do you what?' Jin Hai asked. His voice held a hint of curiosity.
'Absolute right.' She said in a matter of fact voice.
Jin Hai was confused. 'I don't understand.'
'Only those with absolute power have the ability to claim absolute right. The right to choose. The right to deny. The right to stop. The right to do. I will stand amongst those at the apex to achieve absolute right'
Jin Hai listened. He couldn't deny what she said was truth. It was just that this wasn't what humans or beasts usually say when they talked about where they were headed. What they usually said was that they were after power. The power to dominate.
What she said required power as well but… right… Why did it sound so… unconventional?
Bai Mei Li didn't explain any further. She understood very clearly what was required to survive here. Power was very important. But power required time. What she needed was the right to define and control her own fate even while her cultivation wasn't powerful enough to afford her such a thing. In the absence of power one required ingenuity and wits. A sharpe mind capable of careful planning could defeat a more powerful opponent.
Although she didn't come from a world that was exactly fair… at the very least it had clear laws that protected it's citizens. Some where better then others of course… but the laws were there.
Here in this world you only need to be strong or have a strong backing and you could do whatever you wanted. Bai Mei Li was very clear on what she needed to do in order to survive in this world that was dog eat dog world. She just need some proper preparation.
As her mind raced it formed one plan after another formed.
It wasn't long before they reached the mountain. They followed the correct path and entered the clearing. Once they were back she smiled and looked down to Xiao Jun that was snoozing blindfolded in her arm. She kissed his juicy cheeks to wake him up.
"Come on Jun'er it's time to get up. We've reached your surprise."
The cute little bun stirred and then slowly opened his eyes.
(Edited)