"So Daogi is still unconscious? Makes sense.....his injury was quite horrifying. But they are still not allowing in visitors to the barracks?"
"The barracks are under the area of the Gavarnum Residence. Only authorized people are allowed in. This waiting for information about the two of them is killing me!"
"Ranaba's injury was pretty normal. Especially considering that he even protected Daogi and brought him back to the Protected Space before the beasts could snatch him away. He was really fast!"
"Don't underestimate him. He might not talk much, but he is very powerful. More than that, he is very resourceful, and always has a backup method. I have seen him being surrendered by more people than he could possibly handle, but he always made it out of their encirclements. He is very shrewd and scheming."
"But it's a good thing he is not scheming against his friends. If he hadn't stepped in, then Daogi would probably not have made it."
The murmurings paused, but the footsteps heading their way continued. Artreya had just turned his head, when he noticed the huge grin on Rihanna's face which startled him. Even Ye Luo frowned, wondering if she knew these people who were coming their way.
"I heard that they be allowing the less injured team members to leave the barracks tomorrow. Perhaps Ranaba will be coming out as well. But...we will have to stay on in the city till Daogi is better enough to come out?"
"Hmmm....there is no other way it seems. But the Clan might not be willing to host us for much longer."
"At least we have till the end of the Conquest.....till the Gavarnum's Coronation. Hopefully he will be better by then."
By now Rihanna grin had slowly disappeared once more, and a deep frown creased her brows. The three of them had not been able to keep sitting in the arena till the end of the Challenge. They had returned back a day early. Though they had figured out the results from the neighbors living in the same cottage complex, they did not know all the details.
But from the conversation, it seemed that both Uncle Daogi and Uncle Ranaba were not able to come out unscathed. In fact, Uncle Daogi was badly injured!
He and Yaoi had just stepped across the dense tree line when they sensed people ahead and stopped their conversation to look around. And paused in the steps as they noticed the very familiar face frowning deeply at them. The three kept looking at each other, one still frowning, the other two in disbelief. They couldn't believe this little girl had actually managed to find her way all the way to Core City!
"Little girl! We do keep meeting in the strangest of places! I never would have thought of meeting you after more than a year, and that too in this place!"
Uncle He's face had already blossomed into a wide smile as he stepped forward. Uncle Yaoi too smiled as he followed. Rihanna stopped frowning, unable to hold back her smile at their excitement. She couldn't help having a soft spot for these four 'Uncles' of hers. They had helped her unconditionally in tough times. She was very happy meeting them again after so long.
Now Artreya was frowning, as Ye Luo raised an eyebrow in surprise. Surprisingly, Rihanna had never mentioned these people to them before. In her defence, she had merely not had enough time to rest and reminiscence over everything that had happened since she came to this alien world, so it was natural that she never reached the point of telling her friends about her Uncles.
"Yes....it has indeed been such a long time."
It had been a bit more than a year for them, but for her and her friends, it had been more than six years. It seemed such a long time ago that she had gone to the Underworld Abyss, and then wandered in the Ice Fire Desert with her Uncles.
Uncle He patted her head, as he and Yaoi unceremoniously dumped themselves beside her. They both turned towards Ye Luo and Artreya with inquisitive glances.
"These are my friends, Artreya and Ye Luo."
"Ye Lu....ye as in....the Ye Major Clan?!"
Both He and Yaoi was shocked to hear that this little girl was friends with such prominent people and couldn't help glancing at the two boys a few more times. They didn't know of Artreya's background, but from his cultivation level they could tell that he was not simple. Ye Luo smiled at them politely. Since Rihanna acknowledged them as her Uncles, then he would put on his best behaviour.
"Hmmm.....I am from the branch family...from Dalphinue Tri-City area."
"Aahhhh! You must be the prodigy we have heard of. The one who entered Ancient Beast Aura Sect and changed the fate of the Sect!"
Ye Luo looked very awkward at this sudden praise, and Rihanna noticed his ears had turned red.
"Ancient Beast Aura Sect has had a lot of very capable disciples in the past few years. It is not possible for only one person to change the fate of an entire Sect."
Uncle He smiled and nodded. He was pleased to see that the praise did not seem to go to his head. As a lone cultivator, they had roamed around all the countries and seen a lot of cultivators. Those who became too arrogant often met with their untimely demise. Being grounded and low-key was a good attitude. He was genuinely happy that their little girl now seemed to have some strong people by her side.
Rihanna had been trying to hold back, but could no longer control her concern.
"How is Uncle Daogi's condition now? How did he get so badly injured?"
"You didn't watch the last day of the Challenge?"
All three nodded, to which He and Yaoi sighed, both having lost their previous light-heartedness.
"It is bad. The doctor's said that he will be able to recover. But that depends on how long it takes for him to wake up. The longer he is unconscious, the more difficult it will be the recovery process."
"Almost all the targets had been rescued by the ninth day, so people were more relaxed on the tenth day. Everyone thought they only had to wait out the time at the peripheries. So no one saw the Ice Mortaris Hounds coming back with reinforcements."
"Apparently there are quite a few packs of hounds in the inner regions, though they live separately. But they all had gathered together and surrounded their Protection Space."
"That's due to the stupidity of the group from Beyi! They killed a tracker team of these hounds and stole some of their babies. They thought they could bring them out of the space for research. But Demon Beasts are extremely protective of their own members. So even though the packs generally don't mingle, due to this incident they all came together."
"And there were too many Supreme Grade Bests amongst them for even the Challengers to handle. Moreover, these three teams were quite a distance away from all the other teams. So they couldn't even send out help signals before they were under attack. Many cultivators died in that fight. Even one of the Challengers from Kshugenu was mortally wounded and is still unconscious."
"Yes....it is a blessing that Daogi is only wounded and not dead. If Ranaba had not been fast during their escape, neither would have made it out."
"How is Uncle Ranaba? Will he be coming out tomorrow?"
"That's what we have been told. We'll know more about Daogi's condition once he comes out. For now we know that he is out of danger, but still unconscious."
All fell quiet, each lost in their own contemplation. Ye Luo and Artreya glanced at them. Then looked at each other. It seemed that Rihanna had quite a good relation with these Uncles. They too were happy for her. From what little she had told them, she seemed to have been schemed against by her own family. Moreover she had lost most of her prior memories after the fall.
Though she had her sister now, safely living in the Sect, but having more cultivator friends was always a good thing. No one could look down on lone cultivators. They might not be as strong as those who studied in sects, but they travelled everywhere, had a rich experience and very often had friends and contacts in the most unexpected places.
"Will you be leaving again after the coronation?"
He and Yaoi looked at each other, then sighed.
"We did have such a plan. We were thinking of meeting with the Mercenary Group of Falanderie City. They have a large mission for Void River, and we have some work in Abarone-Tengai. So we had thought of picking up this mission. It perfectly fits in with our own agenda, and it has good commissions and bonuses. But now....."
The three understood that till Uncle Daogi woke up, and his condition improved, they could not take any more decisions. In fact they might even have to postpone their work in Abarone-Tengai. Ye Luo contemplated seriously for a long time before speaking up. After all, the wounded person was Rihanna's friend. He didn't think it would be much of a hassle.
"If it is okay with you, then I can take the permission of my Master. He is the Head of the Sect, so if he agrees to house Uncle Daogi for a while, then you could still go ahead with your mission. Once you return, you can take Uncle Daogi back from our Sect."
He and Yaoi looked speechless for a while. Rihanna couldn't help turning to Ye Luo in shock. She wasn't sure what to feel. How could she not know that his suggestion was based on the fact that they were friends, and these people were related to her. She felt he kept favoring her unconditionally.....and she didn't know how to return all these favors.
Ye Luo saw the conflict in her eyes. Sensing what was going through her mind, he leaned closer to her ears.
"Don't be so conflicted. That I am doing it for you is a very small part of it. I can see they are good people. Moreover, being lone cultivators, they were able to enter the Core City...it means they have strong connections in high places. Master would be very pleased to owe them a favor. In this world of cultivation, owing a favor can be very beneficial in crucial times."
Rihanna nodded, but she still felt grateful despite his words. Even if it was a small part...he was still doing it for her, no matter to what extent.
He and Yaoi glanced at each other.
"Hmmm.....that would indeed be very helpful to us. It is a bit of an emergency for us to go to Abarone-Tengai at the moment. How about we give you our decision in a few days. We would need to discuss it with Ranaba as well. You will be staying till the coronation, right?"
"Hmmm.....sure. you can take your time. We will be going back only after the coronation."
After their little talk, Uncle He and Uncle Yaoi seemed more relaxed. All the three were interested in the experiences of the two elders who had roamed around in different lands. And the two Uncles felt gratified someone wanted to listen to their stories.
No one knew how time flew as they sat in the Seating Circle, sharing stories, talking and laughing. Through a common point called Rihanna, two teams of strangers slowly found their common grounds, becoming a bit more closer to each other.
On the other hand, Rihanna was secretly musing on the other point her two Uncles had brought out....going to Abarone-Tengai....especially Void River. As she remembered.....there were at least two items on the list of things, required for changing Fluffy back to a black hog for a long time, in and around the Void River. A large mission, with many cultivators going, might just be the perfect cover she needed for searching these items.