______________________________-??? years later. Current year, 2101.-________________________
Shao Dai Lu. Shao Dai Ling. Hao Feng. Zhou Fei Ming. Zhou XieLang. Beastly eyes calmly took in the new trespassers who were discussing with each other over strange devices on their wrists. Light images hovered between their tense faces as they even argued and fought over where to go moving their fingers and leaving traces of color over certain areas of what he could recognize was a map of his mountains. Wearing suits that stuck to their skin tightly, and strange weapons that fired extremely fast metal cylinders. But those were only the weaker of the powers they brought with them, he had seen them conjure mystic arts with metal talismans that shaped to the person's desires. Symbols he found familiar but also not, flashing on those warping metal talismans.
The most proficient at those warping talismans was the one called Shao Dai Ling. But the leader seemed to be the one huffing angrily on the side, shouting at the siblings wildly flinging her hands at Shao Dai Ling who frowned at her but kept his mouth shut once she started ranting. However, his sister seemed to be fed up with her behavior finally stepping between them and swiping the map into thin air pointing fiercely at the other woman. Her almond eyes holding undisguised fury and disgust, her shoulders and back straightening to loom over the shorter woman. "-don't take our kindness for granted Zhou Fei Ming! Who was it who weaseled their way onto our ship because they had crashed their own and become stranded here?"
"-Not only that, but also caused my brother to lose focus thinking they knew better, and forced us to also crash land because they thought they were the superior driver?" Shao Dai Lu sneers at the worthless siblings who became red-faced due to her scolding. Zhou XieLang was also ashamed of his sister's spoiled and brainless behavior, but she was still his only sister. He pulls Zhou Fei Ming who was about to faint from anger and aggravation aside, coldly warning the fierce Shao Dai Lu who protected her own sibling with an equally harsh glower.
"Enough, Shao Dai Lu. Although my little sister did overstep it wasn't on purpose. Our Zhou family will compensate for your crashed airship once we get out of here. There's no need to point fingers at this current moment, we still need to find a way to leave the valley before night approaches." "Ha!" Shao Dai Lu laughed out of anger, unable to understand this pair of brainless siblings who only knew how to count money and buy prestige. The ridicule in her eyes grew "Zhou XieLang, my brother advocated for your good reputation and persuaded me to allow you onto our airship out of the kindness of his own heart. Yet you two-step on his good intentions and dare to order him around like a servant? Even trying to buy our forgiveness with money when your sister almost killed us all? Are you f**ken stupid??"
Zhou Fei Ming's anger rekindled and without caring for the stiff face of her brother she furiously went around her brother's back to lunge at Shao Dai Lu. Her pampered and pretty face twisted with her ugly roar. "Shao Dai Lu you f**ken slut!! Take that back!! What's wrong with having money huh?! You're just a talentless backgroundless wh*re who slept her way through the rank! Isn't it just one airship?! My family has hundreds! Is it so wrong to treat a pair of parentless bastards who sold their asses like servants?!" Shao Dai Lu and Shao Dai Ling both tensed, their similar-shaped eyes condensing darkly after the young woman spilled her true thoughts.
The siblings' whose expressions seemed to grow even colder stood together in silence, staring at the Zhou siblings with a sudden chilling indifference. Zhou XieLang was also startled and taken aback by his foul-mouthed sister. Finally turning his harsh expression onto Zhou Fei Ming half out of shock and half out of disbelief. "Ming'er!!" Meanwhile, during this exchange, the one called Hao Feng buried his head into his chest. Stepping further away from the Zhou sibling with a subtle expression. Zhou Fei Ming scoffs at them, not caring for their reactions one bit.
"Older brother who needs their help anyways? Isn't it just a few primitive beasts? Even I can handle them on my own, let's just go our separate ways." Zhou XieLang's stunned expression became a bit stiff, however, the current situation didn't seem to be repairable no matter what he said. Although, separating was a bad idea before nightfall, after the things his sister said it would be impossible for the Shao siblings to ever allow them to share a campfire anymore. He gave the dignified and gentle-faced Shao Dai Ling a tentative and guilty glance.
The mild-tempered man merely turned his face aside refusing to meet his gaze and gave off the appearance as cold as his sister does on the usual base. As if noticing his wandering eyes Shao Dai Lu sneered and stepped in front of her twin brother holding her chin up high. As unrelenting as ever when she made up her mind coldly eyeing Zhou XieLang and Zhou Fei Ming like mortal enemies. The grey eye color she shared with her brother makes her appear even more stern while on her brother they appear refined. After snorting at them with another look of disgust Shao Dai Lu grabs her twin's hand and drags him away. "Let's go LingLing. It stinks here."
Zhou Fei Ming also stubbornly and haughtily flung her hair at the fleeing backs, turning to face the opposite way of the valley with a sour expression. "Older brother what's the point of wasting our breath anymore, let's go. Let's see if they can leave this valley alive without our help. Father will surely have already sent an airship to rescue us by tomorrow, let them eat a bit of suffering." Zhou XieLang was still reluctant, staring at Shao Dai Ling's straightened back that didn't seem to have any intentions of turning around.
Scampering after them, the person who kept quiet the entire time, Hao Feng. He too never looked back at the two Zhou siblings as if avoiding the plague with his lips tightly pursed. He wasn't dumb, although the Zhou family was rich with resources and had plenty of money. Their personalities were twisted, especially the spoiled daughter of the Zhous' who wasn't used to swallowing losses. Zhou XieLang wasn't bad, but he was dragged down by that mentally ill sister of his. On the other hand, Shao Dai Ling was talented, smart, tolerant, and kind.
Even if his sister is stern and hard-hearted towards outsiders, with a few words from her brother she would relent and bend with the wind allowing him to temper her fierce spirit. She was snide and sharp, but not cruel, having a good heart hidden behind a rough face. Hao Feng even had a guess that Shao Dai Lu was cold-faced because her male twin was too soft. "..." Brown oblique eyes followed the separated group of people from a distance without much interest, even layered with a hint of boredom. He didn't have much of an opinion on the people who he considered soon to be passersby.
Those who entered this mountain over the years, there was no need for him to clean them up for the beasts of the night would do it for him. As long as they did not harm his land, wantonly taking it as their own he would just continue watching them from a distance. Besides, as he was, there was hardly any chance of him being able to do much other than that. A silver tail, a large claw that could easily crush ten men below it, lightly shifted their positions disturbing the dirt and dust collected on the seemingly rusty scales. Platinum chains also jingled faintly at the beast's four claws.
The beast shut his eyes while keeping his ears open, appearing at ease and disconnected from the mortal realm. His powerful body to this day remains grand and languid unless provoked. Laying down as still as a statue, because of the ever-blowing and shifting wind much dirt and leaves had settled upon his frame taking him as just another part of the mountain. Unless you touched him, he was just a sleeping statue that continued to pass the time in solitude within the valley. The beast of the valley, unbeknownst to the stranded group of people, quietly shut one eye and magnanimously allowed them to struggle to leave this cursed valley.
Whether they lived or died had nothing to do with himself. He listened as the group of three came close to the center of the valley where his village lay. Assuming that they wanted to pass through here to get to the mountain pass, he wasn't alarmed at being discovered. As the place he rested was in the old cellar of the village shrine. The building was practically nothing but old rubble so the cellar door was also easily overlooked. The remnants of those days had already long returned to the earth. His tail gave a muffled thump before he returned to his motionless post.
A chill traveled down Shao Dai Lu's spine. The woman hesitated and gave their surroundings a better look. Why...? But seeing nothing around them, she frowns to herself second-guessing her gut feeling of being watched. However, because of this feeling, she realized although overgrown, the area in front of them was much too different in comparison to the spread of trees they had just traversed. Not to mention, the sound of birds had suddenly...stopped. Noting something about the area being odd, she looked at the trees behind her before glancing at the ones she and her twin were about to cross through. Shao Dai Ling, seeming to have noticed his sister's hesitance questioned her strange behavior. "LuLu are you alright?"
Shao Dai Lu couldn't shake the strange sensation she had just felt. However, in an unknown land, she never took her instincts lightly and voiced her opinion seriously to her twin. "LingLing let's go around." She had a feeling of unease about the patch of forest ahead. Shao Dai Ling also frowned, looking over his sister's wary expression for any clues as to why she would suddenly say something this absurd. "Is something the matter?" His sister had always been more sensitive to things than him, even if he had more talent in mystic arts his sister was more sensitive to unstable auras.
Together, they can be considered formidable. What he lacked she made up for, and vice versa. Shao Dai Lu didn't hide it from him and spoke bluntly with furrowed brows "I'm not sure, but I just have a feeling we should avoid this area. Something just doesn't feel right." Shao Dai Ling didn't think there was anything wrong ahead, but trusting his sister's words he soothed her and accepted her opinion. "Then, let's go around, ok?" Hao Feng didn't have much of an opinion, since he was taking advantage of the twins anyways he just quietly followed along keeping watch of their backs.
As they took the long way to avoid crossing the area Shao Dai Lu avoided like the plague, afternoon came and went. The light slowly leaves their surroundings, encasing them in a dark and isolated position. The wind that was warm became cold swifter than anticipated, the silence of the night even faster. Shao Dai Lu lifts a hand with her metal talisman, a wisp the size of her head lightens the area in a soft orange glow. Hao Feng finally spoke seeing the twins frown in sync again. "Miss Shao, Sir Shao, I think that it's best if we stop here for the night. Otherwise, I fear we'll be too exhausted to traverse the mountain pass tomorrow morning if we continue walking and run into whatever beasts may occupy the valley."
Shao Dai Ling glanced at the young man who had been quietly following them this entire time. He appeared to be an equally mild-tempered person, originally he and Shao Dai Lu assumed Hao Feng was from a subordinate family of the Zhou siblings. But considering his attitude from start to finish, this person seemed to have been forced into those two's group to fill their third spot. The only reason he and his sister were a group of two was because no one wanted to pair up with them and it left the instructor with a headache. Holding no malicious feelings and sensing none from his side as well, Shao Dai Ling nodded in agreement with him. Pulling his sister's hand lightly "LuLu, he's right. We should stop here and conserve our energy first."
He did his best to soothe the bristles of his twin that seemed to rise the closer full darkness came. Shao Dai Ling could tell she was ill at ease, but even if there was danger around if they kept moving in the dark it would just make them more tired. And whatever was making his sister uneasy would also find it easier to hurt them when they were drained of energy. Shao Dai Lu pursed her lips, staring into the dark patch of land they were circling with extreme focus. "LuLu." Feeling her twin tugging their held hands again, she sent him a reluctant glance. But seeing his concern, the rejection she was about to speak out loud was shoved back into her throat. And she nods her head assenting with a stiff "Mmn."
Shao Dai Ling smiles softly at her in a comforting manner, "It's alright. I'll keep the first night watch so rest up for an hour or two. Hao Feng can take second and you take third, is that ok?" Again, Shao Dai Lu nodded her assent toward his arrangements. Hao Feng breathed a subtle sigh of relief as the exhaustion he had been holding onto for the past few hours showed itself. In fact, the days with the Zhou siblings had been extremely taxing on him too.
If it wasn't for the fact that whoever refused to partake in this exercise would be disqualified for future expeditions, he would have long abandoned those two and given up. It was a blessing in disguise that the Shao siblings crossed paths with the Zhous and saved him by directing that spoiled brat's anger onto themselves so he was forgotten about. As long as they didn't ask him to die or do something humiliating, Hao Feng was adamant about staying with the Shao siblings instead of those other two. Not knowing the torturous experience the young man went through before meeting up with them. Shao Dai Ling was polite as they discussed and shared their supplies in their bags.
"I managed to take the food packets from the Zhou's airship before we crashed so I have plenty to share. It should be enough to last up through the rest of the voyage if we pool our supplies together." Not only was Shao Dai Ling surprised by the seemingly mild-tempered Hao Feng's shameless actions who seemed to nonchalantly admit to robbing the Zhou siblings of things. But even Shao Dai Lu was shocked and sent him a baffled look. Having received two wide-eyed looks of shock, Hao Feng turned a faint pink and coughed into his fist while avoiding eye contact with the two. "They had so many food packets, I thought it'd be a waste to not take any with me when we separated. After all, there's only two of them and three of us."
Despite the suspended question mark and tension in the air, Shao Dai Lu's hand rose to over her mouth. "Pfft-!" Hao Feng scratched his cheek and also let a small smile spread on his lips, still avoiding eye contact. Shao Dai Ling freely chuckled, his expression becoming ten degrees warmer causing the blush on the 'thief' Hao Feng to turn a darker shade. "I never took you for a, vengeful type. Sir Hao." Hao Feng cleared his throat and clumsily began looking for a place to put his sleeping mat. But seeing he was embarrassed, Shao Dai Ling directly took the mat from his hands and spread it beside his and Shao Dai Lu's.
The twins with amusement dancing in their grey eyes watched as the young man seemed at a loss due to Shao Dai Ling's kindness. "Don't think too much, we don't blame you for the Zhous' transgressions. It must have been hard for you these past few days as well." Hao Feng's previous thoughts about the twins being distant and indifferent people immediately changed with this warm acceptance. He didn't agree with what Zhou Fei Ming said, but he also considered the twins to be people who were cold-hearted and unwelcoming siblings who didn't put others in their eyes. Now, it seemed that perhaps he and the others thought too much.
So, he didn't ponder too much and instead sincerely gave them a grateful and relieved smile in return. "Thank you." The Shao siblings waved his thanks away and sharing one talisman fire to save their strength, the three ate one nutritional packet each. Shao Dai Lu was still apprehensive but trusting her brother to wake her if anything happened she shut her eyes and did her best to catch some sleep. Shao Dai Ling warmly watched his sister as she habitually curled near his side and patiently observed as only after a few seconds passed her stern expression gently gave way to a gentle and soft expression much like his own. Leaning over he carefully tucks her in, making sure not to disturb her slumber as he did so. "You worked hard today too, sleep well LuLu."
Hao Feng who although tired and wanted to rest as well had a harder time. He listened to the faint crickets in the cold night, then tiredly opened his eyes to the night sky obscured by long tree branches. Then tried to close his eyes again, only to helplessly open them once more and tried his best to hold in a sigh. An amused chuckle came from his left, "It's not easy to sleep with new companions, right?" Hao Feng was indeed having a hard time but openly expressed that it wasn't them he specifically had a hard time trusting. "It's not that I'm doubting your intentions and kindness. It's just that,"
He held in another broken sigh "-this dirt floor is really uncomfortable. And it's cold." Shao Dai Ling pressed his fist against his mouth to muffle his laughter, afraid of waking his slumbering sister. "It really is uncomfortable." Hao Feng saw Shao Dai Ling didn't take any offense towards his words and spoke a bit more boldly. Glancing almost disbelievingly at the woman who was slumbering peacefully beside her brother. "Does Miss Shao have a special ability? Being able to sleep in this kind of environment, it's honestly an incredible talent in itself."
"Haha-" Unable to hold it in anymore the gentleman finally laughed out loud albeit quietly. His eyes were gentle as they also landed on the sleeping woman who seemed to finally appear her own age and got younger when she softened her expression. "Back when we were children Dai Lu and I always quarreled over the smallest things. If I had one more point than her she would cry and hit me. And in return, I would go complain to our parents and she would receive a punishment for being petty. Or if she did better than me at something she would appear smug and I would still complain to our parents she was bullying me." The mature Shao Dai Ling spoke of it fondly, even as Hao Feng expressed disbelief that the male god in so many students' hearts would be so petty in his childhood towards his sister that he held like a pearl in the palm of his hands.
Breaking his delusion of Shao Dai Ling being perfect his entire life he still somewhat didn't believe it. Shao Dai Ling chuckles lightly "However, on the day that our parents left us, Dai Lu never complained again or voiced her discontent. She had trouble sleeping, she couldn't focus on anything, hardly had an appetite, and was completely disconnected from the world." He fixed the blanket she had kicked off her feet patiently. "-Unable to bear seeing her ruin herself. I made it a habit of staying by her side whenever she was going to sleep. Now, " He gestures to the peacefully sleeping Dai Lu with a twinkle of humor in his grey eyes "-well, you can see for yourself."
"..." Although he was sure there was more to the story, he wasn't someone who would pry and wanted to pry. Being fed a bit of sibling love by Shao Dai Ling, Hao Feng wordlessly shut his eyes and dryly answered. "Allow me to borrow you and miss Shao's harmony." In return for his bitterness, he was given another gentle laugh.
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"-LuLu." Being shaken awake along with the tense whisper, Shao Dai Lu awoke with a start. However, the hand on her shoulder pressed down on her keeping her down. So understanding his intentions, Shao Dai Lu stiffly laid still and fixed her breathing to be as steady as before imitating sleep. Her eyes snapping open, she took in their surroundings that were completely encompassed by darkness. Blinking a few times, she tried to adjust her eyesight however no matter how much she blinked it was still the same darkness and added to the anxiety in her heart. She heard it then, straining her ears the rustling of leaves that wasn't like that of the wind at all.
Even if it did its best to imitate it, there was still a difference as it wasn't timed as perfectly with the wind as it hoped. She almost choked on her spit however the hand on her shoulder along with her brother's calm voice kept her still. "When I count to three, you and Hao Feng close your eyes and run toward the mountain pass as fast as you can." Shao Dai Lu although afraid, still pursed her lips silently refuting his orders. Seeming to guess her mind Shao Dai Ling spent a second comforting her despite the rustling growing closer to their mini camp. "I will follow you two after distracting it long enough to let you two get away first."
Shao Dai Lu bit her lip, slowly and subtly moving her hand to squeeze her brother's which was still on top of her shoulder. Shao Dai Ling was relieved, knowing he convinced her. Placing a hand on both of their tense shoulders, Shao Dai Ling gave a countdown using his fingers. One. Two. "Three!" Three shadows jumped up in sync separating along with a bright flash Shao Dai Ling threw toward the stalking beast. The beast gave a furious roar due to the flash in the dark of night rubbing its eyes because of the blinding pain and crashing into the minicamp in disarray.
Shao Dai Ling didn't waste time, quickly retrieving his metal talisman before tossing balls of fire at the beast creating more painful flashing around the beast. Angered, the bear creature several times larger than the primitive sizes stood on two legs and swung its large paws at everything around it. Shao Dai Ling hissed as it nicked his sleeve. After adjusting to the light, Shao Dai Ling grew pale after realizing the beast before him was several times larger than the beasts they encountered in the morning. Was this creature the reason LuLu was feeling uneasy all afternoon?
Perhaps, it was stalking them the entire time waiting for the opportunity to strike at the darkest hour? If so, Shao Dai Ling took no chances and created more distance while taking out his energy rifle from his spacial bag and firing bullets infused with mystic arts into the beast in an attempt to slow it down. Shao Dai Lu pales when she heard the sound of gunfire and came to a screeching halt looking back at where she came from with stiff features. Her brother never used his rifle unless he was forced to. As it was taxing on his body to use the rifle that utilized a lot more power to effectively shoot pure concentrated energy.
Meaning, that the foe was stronger than he thought and he wanted to keep its attention on himself and he couldn't beat it alone. He couldn't damage the beast with his talismans. "LingLing-!" Without hesitating Shao Dai Lu ran back with a rare panicked expression. Hao Feng noticing that the shadow running beside him had vanished also came to a screeching halt. Looking in the direction of their destination and also at Shao Dai Lu's retreating back. The young man also gritted his teeth before chasing after her.
Eyes the color of bronze sitting within the embers of a bonfire opened silently, and a silver tail swished across the dusty cellar floor. The silver beast that had meant to sleep through the night rose its head, and small cracks in the cellar door above him shone on his snout. He growled deeply, revealing a long line of sharp white teeth as long as a human arm. The beast hidden in the shallow basement rose to its feet after sleeping for so long. The shrine could hardly house him unless he spread his body flat and curled around the corners of the room and lay down.
His chains screeched and clanged. His growl gave a subtle vibrato throughout the ground as the beast climbed from the shrine floor cracking and breaking the floorboards of the hole he was currently too large to fit through. The earth gave way for him, like an earthquake it spilled into splinters allowing the beast's claws to claw out from its domain. Like peeling away soft dirt instead of hardened clay and ten-thousand-year-old overgrown tree roots, the silver-scaled beast arose and shook the dust from his body. So, after all these years of wandering around our home, that thing has the courage to finally cross into his land.
He snarled and with the clanging of chains charged toward the northern side of his village. His long body moved between the grove of trees with ease leaving traces of his powerful claws digging into the land underneath him. "LingLing come this way!" Stunned having heard his sister's call, Shao Dai Ling also expressed panic seeing his foolish sister return. "LuLu run a-!" However, his call is cut short as due to her distraction the bear who had been chasing him at full speed swung out so fiercely and accurately Shao Dai Ling had no time to dodge. The sickening sound of her twin's body smacking into a tree filled her terrified heart and mind sending her into a frenzy.
"BROTHER!!!" Hao Feng at this time took out his talisman and stood between the Shao siblings and the bear surrounding their position in a wall of flames as high as a man. The bear seemed to know how much those flames hurt and was already slightly injured because of Shao Dai Ling's rifle could only halt its assault with an anguished roar taking a single step back. Glaring at the humans that hid behind the walls of flame. However, although intimidating Hao Feng's lips trembled and his hands holding out the metal talisman trembled. "Brother! Brother!!" Shao Dai Lu rushed to her brother's side with tears hanging from her eyelashes.
Shao Dai Ling covered in his own blood and sweat lay in a pool of quickly accumulating red liquid. His face scrunched up, seeming in so much pain he couldn't even reassure the terrified Shao Dai Lu. "LingLing! Wake up!" Although choking on her sob the woman still hurriedly took out her medical kit to bandage his wounds to stop the bleeding. "Miss Shao! We don't have time to heal him! Bandage him as best as you can and I'll hold the bear off!"
But Shao Dai Lu although panic-ridden still rejected his words and thought with a clear mind. "No! If my brother couldn't hold it off it's not a normal primitive beast! It's probably older and stronger than the ones this morning!" Hao Feng gritted his teeth as the flames surrounding them almost flickered due to his waning energy. Sweat dripped down his brows like a waterfall due to the heat and level he was forcing his spell to stay at. "Then what do we do?!" "We-" Shao Dai Lu felt a chill creep down her spine and heard the sounds of something quickly approaching their location over the pacing and roaring beast.
Spinning around to look in the direction of the thumping, before realizing to her horror they had crossed into the grove they had deliberately avoided because of the darkness of the night. Hao Feng paled, also hearing the sound of trees snapping and the earth shaking. Both of them felt their stomachs drop. Don't tell us...there are more of them? However, to their shock, the roaring of the bear seemed to turn into a whimper. Behind the tall flames, Hao Feng and Shao Dai Lu watched as the once terrifying bear that was overbearingly looming over them waiting for them to run out of energy suddenly took a step back. It's eyes widened as if just realizing something on its own, to their shock the bear made to turn on its heels to run away from them.
Only, a large body of silver along with a ground rattling roar petrified all of them in place. The large beast with silver scales tackled the bear overbearingly like a lion pouncing on prey. Kang Haolin, furious with the bear for hunting in his territory with a single leap snapped the unprepared bear's spine sending it to a painful early grave. He snarls at the bear that time and time again, tested the borders of his restraints but never actually crossed. Taking himself as king of the valley, when the real king restained in the basement of a shrine could only guard his village in a deep slumber.
Inferior vermin!! But the black-bellied Kang Haolin snarled, not having been satisfied with this simple killing claws at the bear's corpse tearing him apart and seeing fur and flesh alike everywhere. Hao Feng ran out of energy so they sat still due to terror with no wall of flame to separate him and the Shao siblings from the scene of a silver beast tearing apart the bear that gave them so much trouble. The two felt ill but dared not move and draw attention to themselves out of fear for the unknown creature. Shao Dai Lu's bloodless facade and hands mid-wrapping her brother up shook so badly she would have dropped the bandages if not for how tightly she held onto them.
Kang Haolin, chest-puffing as thousands of years of anger was vented on the bear that was unlucky enough to have been caught by him today. In his bloodlust, he had torn the creature in two before coming to his senses and giving an annoyed grunt. The bloody silver dragon swung his tail showing signs of dissatisfaction with the lack of resilience of the bear that considered himself king of his valley. Swinging his dissatisfied gaze onto the frozen group of humans who were still staring at him resembling hamsters after being flashed by a bright light. Kang Haolin's bronze eyes move toward the dying human. He flashed his fangs at the humans, terrifying them again.
But just as Shao Dai Lu thought he would kill them for crossing his lands too. The dragon unexpectedly snaps at them once as if warning them before directly ignoring them. "..." Baffled and still fearful of the dragon, they didn't dare to move until the silver king made his way back the way he came. Her eyes swirled with conflict as she watches the dragon that seemed to have unintentionally saved them leave indifferently. "Lu..Lu.." "Li-LingLing-!!" Kang Haolin heard the sorrowful cries of the female human behind him and momentarily paused before continuing on his way. It was none of his business.