=====
2 P.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
=====
An was puzzled as she scanned Lee who stood like a tree stump. His eyes were fixed at the wall before him. He did not move an inch from where he remained. An guessed that Lee was having a conversation with the Sovereign cultivator. She did not dare to touch the weapons as she had an instinct inside her telling not to. She unsheathed her sword and turned around to guard any incoming threats. As the remains were found in a cave and were promptly placed in a corner, she suspected that this cave was once the lair of a ferocious beasts. She went on high alert as she circulated Qi around her body and into her sword. It was ready to cut down anything!
--------------------------
[The curse is of 4th order. If such a curse is in such an extremely weakened state, then it probably only has a few more years to vanish completely. We can store the Steel Silver armour sets and weapons in the Inventory. The suspended state inside will not halt the corrosion of curse as it was a predetermined process. The time axis of the curses run in harmony with that of the dimension. Wait a few years and you will get some good weapons. Spend a few Essence and get it de-spelled instantly. Your choice!]
Without a second thought, Lee raised his hand and absorbed the weapons and armours into the Inventory. A panel came up notifying that the stored objects are cursed and needs cleansing. Lee disagreed with the panel as he chosed the reject button. The panel vanished and nothing happened.
An noticed Lee moving and glanced at him. What she saw invoked doubt in her heart. To her surprise, the objects seemed to be disappearing right into Lee rather than to his left hand.
Finishing the process, Lee turned to see An putting her sword back in its scabbard. The plain and generic look of the sword caught his attention. The scabbard itself was old and showed signs of combat. An felt his sight falling on her sword, so she held it half-sheathed. Lee came near her and took the sword from her grasp.
"This one looks old."
Lee commented as his eyes observed the blade and handle. He carefully inspected it and found faint cracks on the blade. His keen eyesight caught a series of wear and tear on her sword. Lee unconsciously expressed his discontent on his face. For someone who has well experienced the world, his frowned brows were enough for her to understand his evaluation.
"It was given to me by my father."
Lee raised his brows as he noticed the seriousness in her eyes and her voice. He immediately felt guilty for making such a comment on the sword. He regretted and did not know what to say, hence he placed the sword back in its cradle.
"I can tell your attachment to this sword. It has travelled with you through many hardships. It helped you survive in troubles. So..."
Lee took a pause and this pause made her tilt her head slightly with a frown. Lee found this reaction very amusing, but held back his smile.
"So, if I can reconstruct and make it new, will you let me do it?!"
The offer of a new sword was in the range of her expectation, but to reforge it was something she never expected. She was surprised as her brows rose up. Her left hand fidgeted over the hilt of the sword and it conveyed her reluctance to his proposal.
"I am not saying that the sword will….."
Before Lee could finish, An took the sword by its scabbard and held it in front of him. Since it was Lee who was asking, she had her complete trust in him. She believed that he would not hurt her in any way.
Lee gripped on the scabbard and the sword in it as he did not have any other choice to make. A smile bloomed up his face as he returned it back. An could not make out anything from his action.
"Your consent is enough for me. I will reconstruct it once we find a place to anchor."
An took it back and hung by her side. Lee pulled out his blade from the Spatial ring and walked out of the cave. He expressed his intention of scouting the area, to which she gladly nodded and followed.
'D, I can sleep on the floor but I will not let her share the same trouble. Suggest a way.'
D was silent for a few seconds as Lee tried to figure out a way by himself. Walking past the short rock mounds, An watched her surroundings as her ears picked up any unusual noises. She followed Lee with great precision.
The Shop panel came up without any prompt. Lee did not feel surprised by it as he was expecting D to do something. In front of his eyes, the Shop began to move on its own. The Skill section came opening up and the Lifestyle skills were selected. The window started to scroll and came to a halt when a certain skill was visible. The selection was confirmed and the skill description popped up.
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Name: Home Planning.
Description: A lifestyle skill that helps you make anywhere your home. This skill enables you to plan, layout and install home features wherever possible. Neatness and order are the additional perk of the skill. It takes 320 Essence to continuously run it for an hour.
Cost: 560 Essence.
=====
[Buy this skill. Couple it with the Remodel feature to make anywhere your home!]
Lee recognised what D was coming into. Stacking with the Home Planning skill, Remodel can be used very effectively to create a comfy place to rest. Lee had a smile on his face as he bought the skill. His Essence count decreased again.
=====
3 P.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
=====
The duo walked around for quite a time. Other than a few isolated rogue rodents, no other lifeforms came across them. One peculiar feature they noticed was the clear cut terrain division of the stones with the soil and vegetation. The mounds are clearly separated from any greenery, and the forest surrounds them and creates a stealthful appearance. It looked too good to be a natural formation, and this finding made An frown at the first glance.
"Lee, I feel something missing about it. This formation....they are not some ordinary ones. Something is definitely strange!"
Without turning his head, Lee slightly nodded as she glimpsed at his response. After walking through the border of stone mounds, they finally came across the inclined wide path that lets one move to the inside of the canyon. Lee was brave and courageous as he stepped forward. But An caught his arm and shook her head as he glanced at her with surprise. She felt a tinge of hostility from the obscurity.
Lee was brave and resolute that he did not notice the eerieness of the darkening slope. His blind courage almost pulled him into the pitch black canyon, in which nothing is visible. Lee smiled as he understood his foolishness. He nodded and turned around to walk away.
*zing*
A pale shrilly noise that was barely audible came from the darkness followed by a metallic dart. Lee instantly took out his blade and turned around as he pushed An behind him. The blade moved with precision and struck the thin, short needle-like dart that came at his neck.
*ting*
The metallic collision died out after resonating for a second. The silver needle fell on the ground after losing momentum. Lee held his blade horizontally in front of his neck as he peered onto the darkness. The obscurity was greater than his night vision. Even D was unable to make out what was happening!
"An, slowly move backward. Watch your surroundings."
Lee whispered as he was on high alert. D activated Sand, Sound and Death affinities on Lee's command. Steadily and slowly, they came out of the path. As daylight began to intensify on them, the hostility inside the darkness shone like three green gems for a moment. Lee was puzzled by this scene, but what came next was totally unanticipated.
*zing zing zi-zing zing zing*
Volley of darts began to aim at Lee as they stepped backward. Contrary to the pitch black opaque, the darts were clearly visible. The daylight reflected on them was enough to make one blind. Those silver darts approached as Foresight took effect.
*ting ting ti-ti-ti-ting ti-ti-ting ting ti-ting...*
The needles were approaching as if they were aimlessly fired. But their sheer number was alarmingly high. An did not poke her head out to enjoy the view. She can evaluate the situation from Lee's intense battle. His blade flowed with greater accuracy that it connected each approaching darts and deflected them.
Time was derailed. Lee or An tried not to think of anything else at the moment as they do not know how long they have been going on like this. Whenever arrows slow down, Lee would grab onto An's waist as he leaped out of the arrows' trajectory.
That did not mean he was unharmed. After a very long time, his skin was scraped and bled by these needles. Lee was uninformed of this information as he was putting his own life to protect An. At a steady pace, they finally reached the surface. The very moment, the darts stopped incoming.
Lee and An moved out of the treacherous path. Lee leaned onto the nearest stone mound as he gasped. An covered her mouth and tears welled up her eyes as she saw his situation. Lee had a needle piercing his stomach and another one right below his left knee, avoiding the bones while piercing the flesh. She quickly supported him and laid him down. She was trembling and confused as she could not do anything at the moment.
"Can you pull them out?"
Lee asked An who was at the verge of forlornness. She pulled her mind and heart together as she nodded. At his nod, she gripped on the needle piercing his stomach and pulled it out. To her surprise, it came out very easily. Also, she did not notice any expression of pain of his face. An did not delay to pull out the one below his left knee.
Lee laid down like an obedient child as she pulled out the second one. As soon as An pulled it out, he gasped for air and indicated that this process was actually painful. She froze like a statue as she saw him smiling while hiding the pain. Her heart ached like like it was pierced by an arrow.
=====
4 P.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
=====
Lee took out a few low quality healing pills from his storage. These pills were his trophy when he terminated the bandit scums. At that time, he did not know whether they will be of any help, so he stored them rather than throwing away. Now, it came in handy.
3 healing pills went down his mouth as the wounds began to close up. His brows rose as felt the injuries tingling. He understood that the pills are taking effect as he saw surprise in her eyes.
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