Under the shades of the trees, a rustle rang from the bush beneath.
"It couldn't be too far away." Li Kong said as he looked at the trail of blood on the ground.
Ye Cheng nodded at Li Kong's assessment.
"Let's quickly chase after it before it's gone." Ye Cheng instructed.
The pair of hunters danced their way through the wood before suddenly Li Kong hissed.
"Why are you doing that?" Ye Cheng asked.
"Oh, nevermind me. I just remembered the moment when our hunt got stolen by tiger. That cheeky bastard."
The figure of the king of the forest still left quite a big impact on Li Kong. That sense of powerlessness he felt when there was nothing he could had done except for letting the tiger embedded its teeth and dragged away his hunt from his hand was nothing but infuriating.
Ye Cheng refrained from responding and instead continue to track the trail of blood, followed quickly by Li Kong.
The trail of blood extended deep into the forest before they found a deer laying on a pool of blood with an arrow pierced through its neck.
"This deer is pretty strong. How the heck he still have the power to run to here with an arrow on his neck?" Li Kong said while fiddling the arrow.
Ye Cheng reached out towards the deer and pulled out the arrow from its hide and said to Li Kong, "Help me tie up the legs."
Li Kong grouped the deer's legs and tied it up with a rope.
"Done."
"Good" Ye Cheng nodded. He pulled out one of his knives and started to removing the hunted game's organ.
Ye Cheng started to opened the deer's stomach with his knife and then, he inserted his hand to the deer's guts before grabbing something and cutting it off. Immediately the innards came flowing out as Ye Cheng retracted his hand back.
Ye Cheng gave an empty hand to Li Kong and without any words being spoken, Li Kong placed a pouch of water on his uncle's hand.
While his uncle was washing hands, Li Kong squatted and looked inside of the deer and it was completely hollowed out. Uncle was surely skilled with knives. Not even five minutes had passed and the deer was already done.
"Now let's carry this out of the forest." Ye Cheng said while shaking off any water that still sticked on his hands.
Li Kong straighten his posture and placed his right hand diagonally on his forehead.
"Yes, sir!" Li Kong's voice filled with vigor.
Ye Cheng was already numbed at Li Kong's weird action. The salute was just one of many weird things he would done on the spur of moment. As long as it didn't annoyed him too much, he wouldn't be bothered to smack some senses into Li Kong.
Ye Cheng lead the way in the front while Li Kong was busy carrying the deer in the big leather bag, looking out of breath.
"Uncle, isn't it not fair that it was always me who carrying the spoils?"
Ye Cheng snorted. "Just a little bit of exercise and you're already complaining? You're still young. Where all of those youthful muscles at? That's why you have to move a lot so that you can grow."
Li Kong feeling indignant and said lowly, "You and Uncle Zheng was all the same. I swear you two are just using me for free labor."
Ye Cheng was caught off guard by Li Kong's sudden outburst. But after that, he laughed and ruffled Li Kong's hair.
"Free labor. I like how it sound. Don't you like how it sound too, Li Kong?" Ye Cheng grinned.
Li Kong was about to open his mouth before he signaled to Ye Cheng to be quiet. Li Kong let go of the leather bag and slowly walked toward a bush soundlessly while slowly withdrew one of his daggers.
Not far behind the bush, a rabbit with a fur as white as the full moon was hopping around before it suddenly stopped and looked around for a moment. But even a moment of stillness could spelled eternal sleep to the bunny.
Li Kong saw through that moment of stillness and shot his dagger forward. The dagger hurled toward its target and flawlessly pierced through the rabbit's neck and planted it on the tree nearby.
Looking at his successful attempt, Li Kong made a "yes" gesture and looked at Ye Cheng with a smile.
Ye Cheng respond it back with another smile.
"Quick, grab it. After that, we're going back immediately to the village. It's starting to get late."
Li Kong happily pulled out his dagger. He quickly gutted the rabbit before putting it inside a leather pouch he brought with him. He quickly went back to Ye Cheng's side and they walked toward the exit.
"I can't wait for Granny Qing's rabbit stew tonight! Just thinking about it already makes me drool."
"Just don't forget to leave some for your old man, okay?" Ye Cheng urged.
"No worries, Uncle Ye. I'll leave you some bones later." Li Kong said while grinning.
"It seems like you really missing my beating." Ye Cheng cracked his knuckles.
"Beat me up and I'm telling you bullying me to Auntie Feng!" Li Kong threatened him fearfully.
Hearing the sacred word was coming out from Li Kong's mouth, shivers ran through his back and he immediately fell silent.
"Hahaha!" Li Kong laughed for a while before stopping to wipe off his tears.
Ye Cheng, looking slightly disturbed, arrived on Li Kong's side.
"You weren't really thinking to said that to your Auntie right?" Ye Cheng probed meekly, unfitted to his usual composure.
"Of course not. I love my uncle after all." Li Kong flashed him another grin.
Ye Cheng pulled him into his side and ruffled his hair once more.
"You rascal. Now you dare to try to tease your uncle, huh?"
Li Kong didn't make any responds and instead laughing along his uncle.
Despite Ye Cheng's warning that it was getting late, Li Kong managed to caught four more rabbits and they reached the village's entrance just a moment the sun starting to set.
...
In the middle of the village, Yu Mei was walking hand-in-hand and chatting with the little children. The children were twin named Xiao Jia and Xiao Fang. Xiao Jia was a little shy and meek while Xiao Fang was the very opposite of Xiao Jia with his confident pose. It was unknown whether Xiao Fang absorbed all the bravery and confidence out of Xiao Jia when they were in the womb.
But while chatting one of the children suddenly pulled her sleeves.
Yu Mei looked at Xiao Jia's big round eyes and asked with a smile. "What's wrong, Xiao Jia? Do you want to be carried?"
Xiao Jia shook her head then silently pointed her finger on a direction.
Yu Mei's eyes traced the direction where her finger pointed at and when she arrived at her destination, appeared a youthful figure. It was Li Kong.
At the distance, Li Kong could be seen waving his hand side to side at their direction cheerfully, already cleaned up from his hunt. Yu Mei's expression immediately soften.
"Look at who is back. Why don't you two go and greet him?" Yu Mei looked at both of them.
Xiao Jia was shaking his head while Xiao Fang was already running before Yu Mei even finished her words.
"Li Kong!" Xiao Fang shouted.
"Woah, woah, be careful right there!" Li Kong lowered his body and opened his arms forward.
When Xiao Fang was within reach, Li Kong immediately carried him upwards and grinned mischievously. That smile was the most sinister Xiao Fang ever witnessed in his entire life. Colors faded from his face as he nervously tried to stop him.
"Li Kong, n-" His words was cut off short.
While Xiao Fang was still in mid-air, Li Kong pivoted and spun his body as fast as possible. The world promptly became blurry and all Xiao Fang saw were straight lines.
"Aaaaaaaaaah! Stop! Stop!" Xiao Fang could felt that the feeling of nausea was building up inside of him.
Hearing Xiao Fang's plea, Li Kong further accelerated his spin and the world turned even more blurry for Xiao Fang.
Xiao Fang scream still resounded for another five seconds before Li Kong finally stop and put him down.
Xiao Fang who had finally able to feel the ground again was unable to stand properly and swayed like a drunkard before ultimately fell on top of his butt.
On the other hand, Li Kong was dancing like a grass, clearly affected by the aftermath too but most importantly, he didn't fall to the ground like Xiao Fang did.
"You're still so weak, Xiao Fang. Look at me standing proudly right here." Li Kong tried to poised but unfortunately karna caught up to him as Li Kong fell on his knees and arms touching the ground.
"Damn it, I shouldn't have spin that fast." Said Li Kong weakly while trying desperately to held the rainbow from coming out.
And there were Yu Mei and Xiao Jia witnessing the stupidity that had just transpired and the perpetrator and victim dearly holding something with their dear lives.
"Sigh. Seriously, what do you think you are? Four?" Yu Mei released Xiao Jia's hand and approached pale Li Kong.
Li Kong looked at what he thought was Yu Mei. "To be exact, fourteen." He tried to straighten his back and gave "one" and "four" hand signs on his right and left palm respectively before his body fell again and he desperately covering his mouth.
Yu Mei sighed again. "I couldn't believe you still have a time for joke." Yu Mei didn't say anything after that and just patted Li Kong's back.
"There, there."
On the other side, there were Xiao Fang, who experienced the same thing like Li Kong and had changed his postures from sitting to exactly like Li Kong and letting out the sound of "Uwegh" from time to time, and Xiao Jia who looked at her little brother with full concern. Xiao Jia panicked for a moment, not knowing what to do. She remembered that Li Kong was also experiencing the same thing and she quickly took a glance at Yu Mei and immediately applied the same thing to his brother.
But unfortunately for Xiao Fang, it seemed his older sister's concern was too enormous for him to bear.
The "pat" from his sister coming at an unprecedented speed.
Pak
Xiao Fang was unprepared for the impact and when it finally arrived a manly scream resounded from the mouth of the six years old. All sense of nausea immediately dispersed from Xiao Fang as an entirely different type of pain greeted him instead.
Xiao Fang jumped from his positions and then rubbed his back furiously. He hissed repeatedly to ease the pain and when the pain started to subside, he turned his head to looked at Xiao Jia.
"What are you doing Xiao Jia?" He spoke with a pained voice.
"I- I just copied what Sister Yu do." Xiao Jia said while looking down below and fiddling with her fingers.
"You were supposed to do it slowly. Not slap on my back!" Xiao Fang shouted at his sister as he stared at Xiao Jia begrudgingly.
Not able to contain her guilt, Xiao Jia broke down crying.
Looking at his sister sudden breakdown, Xiao Fang's mind was instantly cleared from any semblances of pain and he quickly got to Xiao Jia's side.
"Oh, Xiao Jia. Xiao Jia. I'm sorry. Really sorry. So don't cry anymore! Don't cry! Look at me, I'm fine now. It doesn't hurt anymore!" Xiao Fang frantically tried to comfort her as he rubbed his back, trying to show Xiao Jia that he was fine, but unfortunately his attempt ended up in a failure.
Yu Mei, who had already done taking care of Li Kong, kneeled on Xiao Jia's side. She took Xiao Jia in her embrace and pat her back softly.
"Xiao Jia, it's okay. You don't need to cry anymore." Yu Mei whispered gently.
"B-but... Sister Yu... Xiao Jia... Xiao Jia hurt Xiao Fang!" Xiao Jia sobbed.
"It's okay. It's okay." Yu Mei caressed her head before she let Xiao Jia out from her embrace and put her hands on Xiao Jia's shoulder.
"Xiao Jia, look at me." Yu Mei said with the gentlest voice she could utter.
Xiao Jia's sobs had subsides and she lifted her chin up to meet Yu Mei's eyes. Her eyes filled with affection for the crying girl.
"A little mistake once in a while was alright, but the most important was you should learn from that mistake and never repeat it again. Do you understand?" Yu Mei said while wiping off tears from Xiao Jia's eyes.
Xiao Jia's wept had subsided and she nodded her tiny head at Yu Mei's words.
"And wasn't Xiao Fang already said that it didn't hurt anymore?"
Xiao Jia further nodded.
"Not only it didn't hurt anymore, it also chase away his headaches. Am I right, Xiao Fang?" The words was from Li Kong who had completely recovered.
Xiao Fang that was still panic-stricken quickly retrieved his soul and nodded thoughtlessly.
Xiao Jia's two round jewels brighten instantaneously and with a hoarse voice, she asked, "Is it true Xiao Fang?"
"Yeah, it's true. It's true." It seemed like Xiao Fang's mind had already long gone and now he was possessed by a woodpecker as he continued to banged his head forward and backward repeatedly.
Shortly after, Xiao Fang suddenly stopped nodding and said with a voice so low, you might missed it if you didn't focus, "Xiao Jia. I'm sorry for shouting to you like that."
Xiao Jia wiped off the remaining tears. She shook her head, "Mhmm. I'm sorry too."
She walked until she was in front of Xiao Fang.
Xiao Fang lifted his head up and saw Xiao Jia widened her arms.
"Hug?"
Xiao Fang immediately hugged his older sister and they shared the embrace for a moment before parting.
While the siblings still hugging, the perpetrator on the back started to whistling and clapping.
"More happy ending for the Ruman Village! Hooray!" Li Kong whistled at the beautiful bonds between the sibling. "But unfortunately the day is getting too late. Let's go back to each other home everyone and I hope you all have a good night!"
Li Kong had started retraced his steps back home but suddenly he felt something gripping his shoulders with a force almost like wanting to ripped it off.
"Li Kong, I think you might forget just a little thing now." Yu Mei said calmly, with a crushing force behind her voice.
Li Kong turned his head to face Yu Mei and he started to sweat a little. The grip starting to get more dangerous each seconds pass by.
He coughed a bit before walking through the pair of twins. He lowered his body to meet the twin's somewhat unwelcoming gaze.
Xiao Fang was understandably mad and stood behind Xiao Jia while Xiao Jia was looking at Li Kong with an expression he never seen before.
Li Kong felt a little bit of pinch in his heart but he ultimately resigned to his fate.
"I'm sorry for making Xiao Fang hurt, okay? I promise I'll never do it again."
Xiao Jia was unconvinced.
Li Kong was looking troubled before inspiration surged in his brain.
"How about as a payback I'll buy you two tanghulu from uncle Qin tomorrow?"
Xiao Jia was completely convinced and nodded her head while Xiao Fang behind his sister's back also followed his sister's gesture.
"It's okay, Li Kong. I forgive you. Yu Mei said what's more important is to never repeat the same mistake." Xiao Fang clearly wasn't being bribed.
The two sides reconciled and started to talk with each other again while Yu Mei at the distance was utterly disappointed by the daylight bribery that had taken place and could only shook her head.
Not long after that, the twins bid their farewell and went to their home and Li Kong saw them off with smile on his face but suddenly he felt something nudged him on his side.
"Crafty, aren't you?" Sounded a voice full of scrutiny.
"I prefer to call it resourceful." Li Kong responded while pinching his clothes and bringing it forward.
Yu Mei snorted but didn't chase him further instead they started to walk side by side.
"So how was today? Did you get scold a lot?" Yu Mei asked half-joking and curious.
"Uncle Ye was mad at me because I didn't bring the bow."
"Hmph... Served you right."
"Is that what a friend should say at their friend suffering?"
"If the friend's head was as hard as rock then all is okay. It's not like you remember it tomorrow." Yu Mei easily shrugged it off.
Li Kong felt wronged and sulkily hastened his walking pace leaving Yu Mei who was still busy giggling.
Yu Mei pushed her body forward, mischief colored her delicate face as she walked beside him.
"Is our promising young hunter sulking right now, hmm?"
Li Kong's temper finally wasn't going to having it anymore and he flicked her nose causing an "Aiya" sound to be heard.
Looking at Yu Mei rubbing her nose made Li Kong finally felt satisfied.
'Consider this a revenge for what you've done in the afternoon.' Li Kong met her angry gaze triumphantly.