"Urg.....!"
The lecturer ran out of the room clutching his stomach for the fifth time in the week. His elegant green robes glided behind him as he left in a flurry. The class was filled with roaring laughter as Wu Liang Hui hung his head in shame at the front of the class. The lecturer had called them up one by one to test the health potion he had the students making.
"Ha, what an idiot!"
"The poison King strikes again!"
"You should sell your potions to the warriors as weapons, I bet you'll make a killing!"
He trudged back to his worktable as all the other students loudly exited the classroom. The lecturer usually never returns for the day after ingesting one of Wu Liang Hui's potions. Liang Hui sat with his head leaning on his fist as he stared intently at the remaining vials of his health potion. He just couldn't understand what he was doing wrong. He had copied what he saw all of the other students were doing exactly as he couldn't read the handout the lecturer had handed out. He just really couldn't figure out what he was missing, and the system was no use because all it did was tell him his current status and not how to improve it.
Sighing, he pocketed the three vials and finally exited the classroom. He had no time to waste as his senior disciples had given him a long list of chores that he had to complete before the end of the day. They had found different means of harassing him since the day he arrived arm in arm with the sect princess Wang Yoyo.
Trudging down the hill to the nearby stream Wu Liang Hui hummed to himself. He had gotten used to his new life at the Lightning Sword Sect and his senior brothers. They reminded him of his high school days. Silly boys vying for the pretty girl's attention. He found a nice cool spot to catch his breath under one of the many navy-blue leaved trees that populated the forest surrounding the sect. Gazing out at the sparkling waters of the stream he thought more about his situation.
It has been two months since he came to this new world, yet he hasn't made any progress. He still hadn't learned how to read or write the language as the only person that might be willing to help him was Wang Yoyo. However, she left on a mission with her master the very next day after he arrived. He was left with no other choice but to wait for her return. As the days went by, he got more and more anxious as the letters from Li Qingyun piled up. He felt guilty every time he received a new letter that he couldn't read nor reply to, especially after all that the old man had done for him.
He was suddenly roused from his thoughts by the smell of smoke. Looking around he saw that it was coming from across the stream. Knowing that this forest area belonged to the Lightning Sword sect he figured it was safe to investigate who it could be. Using the Ghost Step Technique, he quietly crossed the stream. Carefully making his way through the dense forest on the other side he found the source of the smoke. A group of four men in old, tattered armor was seated around a campfire. On the fire what smelled like some kind of spiced meat stew was bubbling.
"How much you reckon we'd get this time?"
"7000 easy,"
"Nah when they see that tiger its sure to be 16,000,"
The last man sat quietly next to the pot stirring every so often as the others chattered away. From where he was hiding behind one of the trees, Wu Liang Hui could tell they weren't good news. Turning around he was about to make a beeline back to the Hall of Mages, list of chores be damned, but something caught his eye. Behind the men was a metal cage. It was as large as a trailer and inside there were people. 'They're traffickers!' He mentally exclaimed. What's worse, amongst them could see a mother holding her toddler in the cage. He couldn't leave, he had to do something, but what? Liang Hui emptied his pockets trying to see if he had anything that could help him right now. Looking at everything he grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
Warming up his limbs Wu Liang Hui crossed the camp where the men were about to share their meal as fast as he could, like a cool spring breeze. He hid behind the tree closest to the cage. Putting his finger to his lips to silence the surprised people in the metal cage. Now close enough to examine the cage he realized that the people in the cage were beastmen not humans. They were in bad shape, covered in bruises and some even had fresh wounds.
Inside the cage closest to Liang Hui a beastman sat lazily with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and silently stared at Wu Liang Hui. Cold blue eyes stared into his brown eyes as if looking into his soul. He froze on the spot as they had a silent stare down. The beastman was breathtakingly handsome despite the majority of his body being covered in scars. From his straight nose to his strong jaw, the man looked as if he was sculpted by Michelangelo. His tan skin contrasted with his waist length white hair. Though his aura was stoic and cool his cute fluffy white ears and black and white striped tail made Liang Hui think of him as very adorable. What shocked him though was a silver tag on the man's right ear. The tag was engraved with the very same crest that he saw all over the log cabin in the demi plane, but before Liang Hui could think too deeply about it the show started.
"Urg.....I don't feel...good."
"Urg...what....was....in that...stew?"
"Urg.......out of my way!"
"I think it was the ....urg....bread," the man glared at the hard flat bread in his hand. After all it couldn't be the stew he made, the trafficker thought to himself. All four men scattered into different directions into the forest. The beastman stared at Wu Liang Hui with furrowed brows, clearly confused. Liang Hui held up an empty jade vial that once held his failed health potion. Turns out his classmate was right; it was a weapon. He giggled at the thought as he skipped over to the cage door. Now it was his turn to be confused, there was no lock.
"Inject your mana," Liang Hui jumped in surprise as a husky voice whispered into his ear.