At the lakeside camp, the group of young cultivators let out an audible cheer when Fang Lin emerged from his hut. Perhaps no one was more relieved than Yu Jinqi who had spent much of the past few days in dread, waiting for Fang Lin's rage when he discovered the side effects of the elixir. Instead, Fang Lin gave the group a few surprisingly humble words.
"I know everyone worked hard to save this unworthy little lord," Fang Lin said, giving everyone a simple salute. "In the days to come, I promise to make it up to everyone," he promised sincerely.
"Enough of that Brother Fang," Zhang Buyan chided him. "We each did our own parts. No more, no less. You'll feel better once you've had a chance to wash and have a real meal. Brother Xiong hunted a large boar for us so come, let's not keep everyone waiting," he said, helping the young lord make his way down to the lake shore far enough away from camp to have some privacy.
Compared to the banquet where Wu Ling and Su Xiang met many of their current companions for the first time, the feast prepared in their forest camp could hardly be called decadent. The roasted boar carried a strong, almost pungent flavor despite Xiong Dahuo's skill in ensuring the tenderness of the meat and the side dishes they'd prepared amounted to a few early fruits and greens that Wu Ling had quickly fried. Yet despite the simplicity of the dishes, the atmosphere was considerably more jovial than the night when they'd met.
Wu Ling brought out his zither and played for everyone's entertainment, allowing the energetic notes of his music to echo across the lake. He also loaned a chessboard to the scholars of the group who immediately lost themselves in a game. When he saw how engrossed the two young lords had become, Wu Ling finally put aside the last of his concerns that Fang Lin would blame Yu Jinqi for the side effects of the elixir.
Whether it was because Fang Lin had put such distant concerns completely out of mind or because he genuinely accepted the change the elixir brought him, Wu Ling didn't know. At the moment, however, it showed no signs of turning into a point of conflict within the group and that was all that mattered.
Several of the young lords had brought jugs of wine for the expedition and as one of the people celebrating a breakthrough, Zhang Buyan didn't hesitate to offer up a large jug to drink around the fire. Stories flowed back and forth naturally over wine and roast boar as everyone came to know each other just a little bit better.
Meanwhile, in the hills overlooking the lake, a rotund man with grease dripping down his chin looked up from gnawing on the leg of a roasted duck with a frown on his face.
"Ery'one, quiet," he bellowed, silencing the raucous group of seasoned bandits and fresh recruits that had followed him on this wild goose chase into the wilderness to find a mysterious assassin.
Gao, who had attempted to title himself 'The Devourer' only to be saddled with the moniker 'The Glutton', closed his dark, beady eyes and perked up his ears, and listened to the faint sounds of zither music carried on the wind. He strained his senses to their limits to find the origin of the sound.
For first-stage cultivators like the ones under his command, it was difficult to even notice the sounds, but as an early-stage Soldier, Gao's physical senses were almost as impressive as his bulk.
Finally, after several tense moments, the powerful Little Boss of the Mountain's Bones gang smiled and tore another hunk of meat off the duck leg before addressing his men.
"Mao, git up, time ta earn yer keep," Gao said, sneering at the second-strongest member of their group.
As a late-stage Brawler, 'Bullheaded Mao' was supposed to be in charge of training the new recruits while they chased after the woman who had slaughtered Little Boss Nalan's group in Blade's Edge. Thus far, that 'training' had amounted to little more than assigning out the most tedious manual labor of their venture through the mountains and engaging in regular 'sparring sessions' with the recruits.
Those sessions were little more than an excuse for the thickly muscled man to pound his recruits into subservience in the name of 'initiation' and 'training,' but as long as his methods produced obedience, Gao had given him free rein to be as punishing as he liked. Even if they lost a recruit or two to Mao's cruel methods, Gao still wouldn't stop him as long as the rest were acceptably obedient after seeing the consequences that accompanied defiance of their superiors.
"Some 'un is playin' zither by tha lake," Gao said around a mouthful of duck. "Take six o' the fresh uns, an' comb tha north side o' tha 'lake till ye find um. If isa 'oman, drag 'er back by 'er 'air if ya haf ta."
"Yes, boss," Mao said, giving the rotund man a quick bow over cupped hands before calling out to six of the middle-stage Brawlers among the new recruits. While he could have brought more men with him, Mao wasn't stupid. After several days of beatings, he knew that if he brought enough of them away from Little Boss Gao before they were completely broken, they'd turn on him and blame it on whatever they encountered.
The six men Bullheaded Mao brought along were all strong enough to be useful, but weak enough that even if they ganged up on him, he didn't have any fear for his life. He might be forced to run back to Little Boss Gao in shame, but he'd survive to claim his revenge if they were foolish enough to act up while out of the Little Boss's sight.
Once the group of bandits had hiked for several minutes away from their camp, one of the bolder new recruits, a former member of the Flying Knives Sect who went by the name of Black Eyed Dai, broke the silence to ask a question that had been on the minds of many of the new recruits while they wandered the mountains under the orders of Gao the Glutton.