Yun Lei, Zuzhou Nuo and the tribe leader were looking down at the open map in front of them.
The sun had risen quite high in the sky by the time the two had returned but everything had been packed and the tribe were ready to move.
Most of the members of the tribe still looked towards Yun Lei with uncertain eyes but they were somewhat starting to get used to his presence.
"There are clearings, here, here and here." Yun Lei started pointing out the clearings he had found while exploring the area around the hill the cave was in. "I suggest this one. It's pretty deep into the forest, the trees are thicker there. Food will be easier to find too."
"We'll go with that one then." Zuzhou Nuo said without waiting for the tribe leader to say anything. She agreed with everything he had said but more than that, she simply trusted his judgement.
Thus, the White Deer Tribe's migration began. The oldest people walked in the front while the adults walked towards the back and the children walked in the middle. The reason for this composition was to keep the young ones as protected as possible. Which was also the reason Yun Lei was walking with the children.
Of course, walking in the middle also meant that he would be able to quickly react if any problems arose in the front or the back. The navigation duties had been left to the tribe leader while Zuzhou Nuo stood at the back.
They travelled almost silently. The only thing that broke the silence was the tribe leader's occasional coughs as well as the clattering of the teeth of one of the children walking close to Yun Lei.
"I won't eat you, you know." Yun Lei grumbled in dissatisfaction. He had done nothing but help the White Deer but they still treated him like he was some sort of dangerous individual who could harm them at any moment. Given the past of the tribe, he understood this behaviour but it didn't mean he didn't find it somewhat off-putting.
"You won't?" One of the little girls spoke with a bit of hesitation. She looked no older than 5 and walked while holding the hand of a girl who looked a bit older than her.
Yun Lei turned towards the girl, and opened his mouth, making several children flinch.
"Do you see any fangs?" He said before letting out a little chuckle. "Of course, I won't eat you, little girl."
"Really, really?" The girl looked at him with eyes full of uncertainty but the glint of hope wasn't well hidden from Yun Lei.
He got a little closer to the girl and placed his hand atop her head. "Really, really." He spoke softly, a gentle smile on his face.
Yun Lei wasn't someone who would describe himself as kind. He was cold and apathetic, to the point that ending the lives of 5 people hadn't even made him feel anything. But even his cold heart melted a little in the presence of the White Deer. Their innocence was simply too much for him to handle.
Zuzhou Nuo watched the whole scene with a small, almost invisible smile on her face. Most of the adults looked on with worried gazes but she truly felt that there was nothing to worry about. After all, the smile on Yun Lei's face was the same smile her father used to put on as he spoke to her.
Yun Lei was a very weird person in the doe's eyes. He could be so cold and ruthless in one moment yet his eyes would fill up with kindness the next. This, in and of itself, wasn't weird. After all, humans knew how to deceive others the best. The weirdest part, to her, was that he was completely genuine. His coldness wasn't fake and neither was his kindness.
Like a crystal-clear lake with dead bodies floating atop it, he was a contradictory enigma.
"But you don't smell like a nice person." The little girl spoke with confusion. All of the adult Deer turned towards the young doe in shock. The mother quickly rushed forward in order to apologise.
"Young sir, the child is still small. Forgive her rudeness." She bowed again and again in apology before shouting at her daughter. "Apologise immediately!" Her mother's sudden change in behaviour scared the little girl to the point of tears.
In the eyes of the adults, Yun Lei was a disaster waiting to happen. Sure, he had shown them only kindness till then but who could say for sure that it wouldn't change in the future? What if something they said angered him? Could they deal with his anger?
The Deer who had accompanied Yun Lei to the hunter's camp had relayed everything they saw to the adults. They had seen three bodies of hunters who were all bigger than Yun Lei and from what they saw, it didn't even seem to be a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter.
If someone like that were to turn on the tribe, what would happen to them? It was natural for them to think of things like that. Only Yun Lei knew what his intentions were. And as much as they wanted to trust him, it was difficult to trust a human they hadn't even known for a week.
"All of you open your ears and listen carefully." Yun Lei's voice quickly turned chilling, as he released a small bit of his aura. He carefully controlled it so only the adults would feel it.
The adult Deers were quickly covered in a cold sweat as their bodies began to shake.
"If I wanted to harm you, you wouldn't still be unharmed. Even if every single one of you joined hands, you still wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch upon my body." Yun Lei spoke, wiping the tears from the little girl's face.
"If you think that acting like scared kittens will keep me appeased then keep doing that. Just don't shout at the children in front of me."
The crowd began moving once more after Yun Lei withdrew his aura.
"There's more to a nice person than just their outside, little girl."
"What do you mean?" The little girl asked while sniffling.
"Do you think killing others is bad?"
"Yes. Mommy said killing is bad."
"What if you kill someone who wants to kill you, then? What if you kill someone who wants to kill your mommy? Do you still think that's bad?"
Silence filled the air as the little girl contemplated Yun Lei's words. But it wasn't just the child who was contemplating, the entire White Deer Tribe was.
"It's not bad." Came the unexpected reply from Zuzhou Nuo. Even the tribe leader was surprised to hear her usually silent daughter speak when she didn't need to. "If you don't kill them, they will kill you. How can it be a bad thing to protect yourself and protect those precious to you?"
Yun Lei smiled at the answer. After all, that was exactly what he thought himself. It was nice to be in the company of like-minded people.
"Listen well to this big brother, little girl. Nothing in life is entirely bad or entirely good."
Perhaps the concept of duality was a little difficult for the little girl to handle since she only gave a confused nod. It was the little girl's older sister, the one whose hand the little girl had been holding, who asked a question.
"If nothing is entirely good or entirely bad, how do we determine what is good and what is bad?"
"Morality is a creation of people. We can determine what is good and what is bad to us but we can never determine the absolutes since they simply don't exist."
"Then why have morality in the first place?"
Yun Lei smiled once more upon hearing that question. "That is a good question. But, if you ask it to 10 different people, you'll receive 10 different answers. I can only tell you my own answer.
"Do you know what happens when a beast gets injured?"
"It gets left behind." The girl said with certainty.
"If people did the same, do you think society would have developed to the point it has? This is why we need morality. To distinguish us from the beasts."
The older sister seemed to be in deep thought as the little sister looked up at Yun Lei in amazement. "Big brother, are you a scholar?" She asked in her adorable voice.
"I just like reading books." Yun Lei said with a small laugh.
"I know how to read too!" The girl said excitedly. "Sister Nuo taught me."
"Oh, is that so? You must be very smart then, little sister. What's your name?"
"Zuzhou Li! And this is my sister Zuzhou Meifeng!" Zuzhou Li introduced herself with gusto. "I even know how to write it!"
Yun Lei couldn't help but smile at the little doe's mannerisms. He was glad that the children seemed less wary of him after seeing him interact with the little girl.
On the way to the clearing, Yun Lei would point out edible plants and hand the fruits to the children. Watching them munch on the fruits made him quite happy.
"We'll rest here for the night." The tribe leader informed everyone. The adults quickly got to work and began setting up tents.
The clearing Yun Lei had chosen for the tribe would require them to travel for another day to reach. The White Deer could see quite well in the dark but the children couldn't walk for the whole night without rest. The sun was already quite low in the sky.
The adults of the tribe were very proficient in setting up camps, as could be expected. The camp looked much better than it did in the past because they had used the hunters' tents.
Many of the younger children were so tired that they had to be carried to sleep. But of course, the most tired person in the entire entourage was Yun Lei. He wanted to do nothing but lie down somewhere and go to sleep.
Yun Lei had gotten a whole tent to himself, just like last time. It was, of course, the nice one. They even gave him a bedroll.
Although they had more tents, they had only set up five. With Yun Lei taking an entire tent to himself, the other tents would no doubt be rather cramped. He didn't really want to trouble the Deer too much so he offered to share his tent with the children and even gave up his bedroll.
The Deer looked hesitant at first but quickly agreed after Zuzhou Nuo told them to not "insult his kindness."
Dinner consisted of some fruits and the same old flavourless vegetable soup. Yun Lei was beginning to get tired of eating the same thing over and over but he kept his complaints to himself.
After dinner, everyone got into their tents while a few adults took the night watch.
Yun Lei slept closer to the exit of the tent with the children deeper in. Despite how tired he was, he didn't immediately fall asleep. He could hear a few of the older children whispering to each other, the deep breathing of the ones that had already fallen asleep. He could even hear some of the adults speaking outside.
Lying down on the ground with only a small sheet of fabric underneath him, it would be a bigger surprise if he could fall asleep so easily.
With the gentle sounds of the forest swaying with the wind and the small crackle of the wood atop the fire, Yun Lei slowly fell asleep.
In his sleep, Yun Lei found himself in the same ruined Ether Cloud he had seen many times in his nightmares. The mighty walls of the city were torn down; corpses strewn everywhere. It truly was a hellish image.
Then he saw them. Su Ning and Yun Meili. But they were merely lifeless corpses, a terrified look hung upon their faces even after death had already claimed them.
He didn't know when it started but tears were streaming down his face.
"What do you mean, a coma?" Yun Meili's voice entered his ears, rousing him from his nightmare.
Yun Lei slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on the bed in Yun Meili's room with the owner looking towards him with a worried look on her face. Su Ning, who was standing next to her, looked equally worried.