"Have some food." Xu Qingling immediately offered, afraid that the old man would say something to alert him of his appearance.
"Thanks." Bohai replied, as he gratefully took the plate of food.
The two hadn't expected for him to wake up, and there hadn't been enough food. But Xu Qingling eagerly scraped half of the food that was meant for the old man onto another plate for the handsome boy.
Tan Huizhong, who watched in silence as his food was taken away from him, frowned.
"Brat, just how long do you think you were sleeping for?"
"A night?" Bohai cluelessly responded with a mouth full of food. "By the way, this food is really good."
"Idiot! You've been asleep for three days!" Tan Huizhong yelled. "We would've already gotten there if it wasn't for you."
Bohai's face contorted with surprise, and he immediately shoved the rest of the food into his mouth. He then ran back to pack up his sleeping area, and only then did he notice that he was shirtless.
Before embarrassment could take over, he became ashamed. No one, other than Yuan Peng and Zhilan, had seen his scars. He hadn't let anyone see them. But now, he had been careless enough to even eat breakfast with no shirt on. And he did it in front of a vicious old man, and a stranger.
"Are you ready to go?" Tan Huizhong asked from where he sat. Immediately, Bohai finished up packing, forcing himself to let go of the matter. He returned shortly after Huizhong's words, with all of his stuff on his back, and a shirt on much to Xu Qingling's dismay.
The three continued on their journey, only stopping to eat and let Qingling sleep for an hour or two. It took the trio four days to finally arrive at the capital, and it'd take another day for Tan Huizhong and Bohai to get to their final destination.
"Is that the capital?" Bohai asked in awe. The huge walls covered the majority of the city below the mountain they stood on, but a small portion of the grand city could be seen. Houses of stone, that were multiple stories big, was all that could be seen. Even the smallest house resembled Long Guangli's impressive manor. Bohai couldn't believe his eyes.
"Yep." Xu Qingling replied. She had been here once, and would never forget her short trip. It was there that she learned to cook, and it was there that she would fulfill her dream of becoming a famous chef.
"What're you two standing there for?" Tan Huizhong, who was well ahead of them now, looked back to ask. Ever since he had seen Bohai in his worst state, he had been more quiet. Only talking a total of thirteen times during the rest of their trip. That instead, left the two teenagers to converse amongst themselves more. They found out a lot about each other, and found out that they didn't have much in common. Because of that, they ended up arguing a lot.
Xu Qingling and Bohai raced down the mountain after Tan Huizhong, soon passing him. They had began a race without declaring the start, and were now overtaking multiple people as they practically flew down the mountain.
Xu Qingling was fast, but so was Bohai. If they were to run on a flat surface, they would probably be tied. But, on the mountain slope, Bohai who had grown up on a poor farm, had the advantage. He found the easiest path down, and continued to run down it. The race ended with his win, not to anyone's surprise.
"You win." Xu Qingling said between pants. Although she was fast, she wasn't anywhere close to being in shape like Bohai. So while he was fine after that run, she was exhausted! "Next time, I'll win though."
"Idiots!" Tan Huizhong, who arrived at the bottom of the mountain five minutes later, yelled. "Where do you think you are?"
"The capital?" Both of the teenagers replied with. Resulting in a bonk in the head for both of them.
"Yes! The capital!" Tan Huizhong said with a deep frown as he pulled something out of his bag. "And its because we're in the capital that you guys have to be more careful," his brown eyes made eye contact with Bohai's, "especially you."
He tossed him what had been in his bag, a long cloak. It was made out of a nice material, and fit the tall youth almost perfectly. It covered his face, only revealing lips and his neck. As he put on the cloak, Xu Qingling was pleasantly surprised. Although she could barely see him, the cloak made him look mysterious. Which she found herself liking.
"Why am I the only one who has to wear one?" Bohai complained.
"Because your the only one with a bounty." Tan Huizhong retorted.
"But doesn't it look more suspicious if I'm the only one like this?"
"No."
"Haven't you ever been to the capital before?" Xu Qingling asked. When she saw Bohai shake his head, she was shocked. "Oh, well that explains your stupid questions."
"A lot of the people in there wear those cloaks. Its the symbol of a person who's training in the Arts." Tan Huizhong commented.
Bohai's mouth made an 'O' shape, as he followed after the two more experienced travelers. He wanted to ask more questions, but knew he couldn't when they entered the start of the line to enter the gated city.
The guards payed no attention to the trio, and let them enter without any hassle. However, after they entered, the real trouble began.