"Hold on, it's almost dead, Shui Guo!" shouted a young woman with long, dark hair and large, shiny eyes. Her stunning features were etched with determination as she addressed her teammate. He was blocking a massive wild boar while she received treatment for her injuries from another teammate.
"Qiu Qing! Heal her already, you useless idiot! I'm almost out of primeval essence." the teammate in front of them, Shui Guo yelled. His hands were stretched out, creating a wall of dense water currents, but he was visibly struggling to maintain it. The watery barrier began to waver and, with a splash, collapsed under the relentless assault of the wild boar.
"Damn it!" Shui Guo cursed, closing his eyes as he braced for the boar's attack, having run out of primeval essence. He couldn't run or dodge. However, the anticipated blow never came.
Opening his eyes, he saw a giant figure wrestling with the boar, handling it like an oversized dog. The giant repeatedly smashed the boar's head into the ground, making it dizzy. This giant had long, silky black hair, bulging muscles, and exaggerated features, moving in a slow, almost unnatural manner, like a fusion of beast and man.
"Finally, I'm so tired. She should be able to handle it from here." Shui Guo sighed in relief, watching the giant struggle with the boar. "Qiu Qing, come and use your Gu and make yourself useful." he said to the young woman sitting silently at the back, watching the fight.
She nodded but remained in her place, gesturing for him to come and sit beside her. 'I'm really grateful we have such a well-rounded team, but why does she have to be so quiet? It's kind of annoying.' Shui Guo thought as he approached Qiu Qing. Behind him, the battle between the two monsters continued.
"Ah, sorry for what I called you earlier, Qiu Qing. You know I was in a dangerous situation and didn't mean it." he apologized. The girl just shook her head, still not saying a word.
'I thought I might get her to curse at me or even hit me, but I guess she's more strong-willed than to be stirred up by a little provocation like that. Anyway, we should be finished here soon.' He thought to himself as he settled down in front of the girl. His body was riddled with small injuries, but what affected his strength the most was his dwindling supply of primeval essence. If something unexpected were to happen, he would basically be useless. However, the girl didn't seem to care or even know about that, so she just started healing him up.
Suddenly, they heard a desperate scream, startling both of them. When they looked in its direction, they were shocked. They had never seen such a gory scene before: the wild boar lay on the ground, and the giant was stepping on it, one hand holding its body to prevent it from escaping, and the other grabbing the beast's head and pulling with all its strength. The once formidable boar now seemed pathetic, screaming for its life, but nothing came to its aid. Finally, its head came off in the giant's hand, creating a fountain of blood that sprayed the surroundings red and made the giant appear less human and more like a monster.
"Wow! Even though the boar had been weakened by the previous attacks, it's still impressive. Do you know how thick its neck is, Qiu Qing? It's very strong and wouldn't just come off easily like that. Don't let her looks fool you; Rue Lan isn't to be underestimated." Shui Guo commented, but Qiu Qing ignored him, focused on the giant. It threw the boar's head away, and its bulging muscles and exaggerated features began to shrink until a beautiful young lady emerged, covered in blood yet still amazing.
"Are you alright?" Qiu Qing asked, irritating Shui Guo, who she hadn't spoken to at all.
"Hmm? Of course, I'm alright. Why would I be otherwise? Hahaha." she laughed, then added sheepishly. "Anyway, Shui Guo, Qiu Qing, I'll trouble you both with the clean-up, hehe."
"It's alright. You did a lot of work as usual today. Don't overuse your body; just rest." Shui Guo replied, while Qiu Qing nodded in agreement.
"Hahaha, I'm really glad to have such considerate people in my team. The heavens are truly on my side." she laughed, while they ignored her nonsense and started cleaning and dissecting the wild beast.
But not long had passed when they suddenly heard noise coming from the trees. Then, they heard footsteps, and finally, they saw two handsome youths who looked exactly alike, except for the color of their eyes. One had rosy red eyes, while the other's were a golden hue, matching their hair.
"What have we got here?" the one with golden eyes said.
"Oh, isn't that a wild boar, brother? That thing is dangerous among the rank 1 beasts. Though I can't believe they managed to kill it with this whimsical team." the one with red eyes added.
They started walking towards the dead body of the beast, both speaking plainly. "Why did you stop? Continue your job." one of them noticed Rue Lan in the distance and added. "And you too, come here and help them. We don't have all day." pointing at her and then at the wild boar.
"What?" Rue Lan was confused. 'Why the hell are they worried about our boar, and who even are they?' Rue Lan and Shui Guo were confused, but Qiu Qing had a frown on her face, as She knew these two very well.
"Didn't you hear me?!" the one with red eyes shouted at Rue Lan.
"I heard you, but what are you planning to do? We fought hard for this beast, and our mission will fail if we don't submit it before the nig..." she was still explaining when, out of nowhere, a big tree branch penetrated her right shoulder, sending waves of pain to her brain and making her fall to her knees, screaming.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"Hmph, I don't care about your life story, you little bitch. When I tell you to do something, you do it, understand?" The tree branch shrunk back, dragging her with it until she was now in front of the handsome young man.
"Oh? Are you mad?" he said, observing Rue Lan's expression, but he just laughed and smashed the tree branch on the ground, with Rue Lan still attached.
"Know your place." he said while repeatedly smashing her against the ground.
"Hahaha, that's better. Look at you, all worked up earlier just for a little boar. You should behave better, or I might just take an arm or perhaps both of them with me." he mused, seeing Rue Lan's contorted face as the pain became unbearable, and she started screaming again.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
"Kui Mu, leave her alone already; her screams are annoying me." the other brother said, who was now hitting Qiu Qing as she tried to stop his brother's attacks against Rue Lan. The petite girl wasn't making a sound despite the repeated blows and kicks she was enduring.
"At least one of them is smart enough to know his place." Kui Mu said, glancing at Shui Guo.
"Just let her go, she's just trying to heal Rue Lan's injuries, and neither I nor Rue Lan have any primeval essence left. So, even if she attempted to attack you, it wouldn't be threatening to both of you." Shui Guo added before they could say something. "Besides, I won't be able to finish cutting this boar alone before some stronger wild beast comes due to the smell of blood." Both of the twins looked at each other and nodded.
Letting Qiu Qing go, she immediately went to heal Rue Lan's injuries, but before she could treat the bruises and various cuts on her body from being repeatedly smashed against the ground, she ran out of primeval essence. However, she was in a good enough condition to speak.
"Both of you will regret this. Remember my words. The next time we see each other, you'll be begging me on your knees to accept your apologies, and I won't accept it. I'll make you fear for your life in every step you take and every breath you breathe. Mark my words!" She finished speaking and went with Qiu Qing to help Shui Guo, knowing she alone wouldn't be able to do anything to these people, not to mention she didn't even have enough primeval essence to activate the weakest Gu worm in her possession.
"Hahaha, did you hear that, Kui Mu? She's going to make us fear for our lives. That's the best joke I've heard all day. Hahaha..." Kui Tu started laughing hysterically.
"Hmph, you really shouldn't be saying nonsense like that to anyone, especially someone stronger than you. Even with your full strength, I doubt you can even leave a scratch on one of us, let alone both. How can you be so arrogant as to say you'll make us fear for our lives?" Kui Mu mocked her, wanting to hit her again but restraining himself.
"Oh? Did I say I'll make you fear? Sorry, it's my mistake. I'm not that foolish to believe something like that. But please, I want you to remember the name of this person, and when you encounter him, you'll understand where my confidence is coming from." she said after calming her mind a little.
"Hahaha, fine. Tell me his name, and I'll make sure to cripple him for you." amused by her response, Kui Mu asked for his name.
"Ma Rue Bu. Please remember it." she said confidently and went back to dissecting the boar as if nothing had even happened.
___________________________________
Chen Huan looked down at Chen Yan, who was still in shock after almost losing her leg without even getting the chance to react. After Shui Chun healed her completely, she still sat on the ground, fearful that if she stood up, her leg would get cut again somehow.
"You look pathetic, Chen Yan." Chen Huan finally said after a long silence.
Chen Yan, startled from her trance-like state, put her hand on her leg and sighed in relief. Looking up at Chen Huan, she felt a mix of anger, disgust, and surprisingly, fear. 'Who the hell is this guy with her? Is he the one in her team? Do I have to be careful around this bitch from now on because of him?' She gritted her teeth but still didn't reply to Chen Huan, obviously not scared of Chen Huan herself but of whoever this guy might be.
"Huh? I didn't know that the all-powerful Chen Yan would have a day where she can't even fight back, let alone answer someone." Chen Huan tried to provoke her once more.
"What do you want, Chen Huan?" Chen Yan replied reluctantly.
"Hmm, me? Why would I want something from you? I just wanted to ask about... Grandfather, how is he... doing?" She asked hesitantly.
"Hahaha, what? Grandfather? You still want to ask about him after what he has done to you? Hahaha, I can't believe he was right. He said even if he was to cut off every limb on your body, you would eventually forgive him. And you called me pathetic? How ironic." Chen Yan couldn't hold it anymore and lashed out, laughing and mocking her.
Chen Huan gritted her teeth, feeling a sense of loss and pain. She turned and looked at Rue Bu, saying. "Let's go."
They left the three youths behind. Ma Xiao and Shui Chun were confused but didn't ask about what had just happened. Instead, Ma Xiao said. "You didn't find what you were looking for this time either, right? Should we leave and come tomorrow?"
"No, there is still one place close to the Ma tribe that we should check first, then we will leave. But let's rest for a bit and let our primeval essence regenerate." she said plainly, as if nothing had just happened.
"What about them? Aren't you worried they will tell someone?" Shui Chun asked.
"Why would they? They probably think it's a mission that we have to hunt bats." she answered, then looked at Ma Xiao and said. "You and I need to talk."
"Listen, I agreed to help you here because I had no other option, but I didn't agree to kill someone in the process..." He started spouting nonsense while thinking. 'Especially not Rue Bu. If I didn't warn him and he came out unscathed, he would have definitely beaten the shit out of me.' But even a gullible person like Chen Huan wouldn't believe his words, let alone Chen Yan.
"Just tell me about him, Ma Xiao." but surprisingly she didn't blame him; instead, she asked about Rue Bu.
"Oh? You mean Rue Bu? Trust me, Chen Yan, it's better if you leave him alone. He isn't someone I can handle, neither can you. He is way stronger than anyone of our age. At least that's what I observed in the first three months of the academy." Ma Xiao then told her about how after the first two weeks of the academy, Rue Bu dominated the rankings matches. Even though his opponents kept finding ways to counter his fighting style, he would find a way to emerge victorious in the end.
In the process of telling her, he found out that he still didn't know much about Rue Bu, despite following him for almost the full three months. He only knew about one Gu worm he had, and that was the berserk Gu, so he couldn't explain what attack he used earlier on her.
She became even more annoyed. "How can you follow someone for that long and not know anything about him? You are truly useless. You even warned him because you were just scared of him, I guess. Forget it, I will find out more about him and make him regret what happened today, are you both ready?" They nodded at her as their primeval essence had returned to normal. As the sun was setting, they moved swiftly, heading straight to the location Chen Yan had mentioned earlier, the darkness of the forest enveloping them in its shadows.