The two idiots exchanged knowing stares, sharing each other's mind telepathically: "Are they literally being serious right now?"
Exchanging knowing faces, their actions synced, crossing their arms over their chest as they pondered at the same idea. Fuxiao wondered why Tianyu even became the chief of their village without THE knowledge of the nature's wellbeing. While Shen Gui wondered HOW Tianyu became the chief of the running town, and even had the face to thrive for the spot of being one the capital's goverment official.
The absurdity of the situation clamped down on Fuxiao's head, eating up the remaining braincells in his head as he takes in the information they had currently gathered.
Like are they being utterly serious upon their own perceptions? Or is that just how their system works?
As what Fuxiao perceived, it must have been an extremely massive boulders for town to carry as they are also solving the matter in hands.
But what in the name of godly mountains is the garbish of this matter that has gotten the town calling for cooperation endeavor? This has got to be an incredibely heavy problem!
With a brief grunt, his eyes deliberately took a quick inspection of the woman's presence. Perhaps it's a habit of his to take criticism of one's filthy appearance, but right now, he's trying to probe this woman's vigilance of the dire situation their chief has gotten them into, as a matter of fact, she's the first one yet to have given them necessary informations. Although, her awfully BEAUTIFUL scent clogged his nose so much that he accidentally took in of her... say, unhygienic form.
And perfect! Just perfect! Hopefully, my complexion wouldn't match of what I'm currently feeling as of now! It might drive her away like the others!
One's appearance is the canvas of their face, and it's not a lie. Looking at her, she might've been mistaken for someone's auntie if not for her saggy face many times. And the worst part is that she's wearing thick layers of clothes during hot season.There's no wonder the farmers had their collars opened a bit wider earlier. They must have felt the stuffiness of her clothes.
Fuxiao rubbed his hand across his face, feeling its rough texture as it came in contact with the softness and oiliness of his skin.
The morning breeze carresed their faces gently, recalling the serene tranquility it preserves. The harmonious tweets from the group of sparrows with the gushing whispers of the wind created a serenity of sweet orchestra. The sun was to rise up from its usual position, hues of blue and pink tainting the skies in a dramatic embrace of the morning.
Fuxiao inhaled a waft of the air's calm fragrance, the tips of the wheat filling his nose. Satisfied as nature filled his soul, making him momentarily forget of the maelstrom earlier. The grasses that were clinging onto his shoes moved in a pattern reflecting his deliberate movements.
Earlier, it was a great disaster, but now, it has been swept off by the morning's gentle console. The sharp eyes that squeezes his gut like a cloth made him shiver unselttlingly, whether be it her gaze or the shape of her eyes. Either way, it's really weird.
Meanwhile, as Fuxiao stood there and probably got digested into the piranh–the woman's stomach when he seems too deep in thought on his position, Shen Gui pondered over the fact that he couldn't even pull the cards on his decks altogether.
Unlike solving a rubik's cubes in a flash of time, picking every color to solve at a time is difficult; thus, the they should start from the very, very bottom of it.
The idiot sighed deeply, his thick brows knitting together. He rubbed his chin like those typical hot uncles on movies that gets frustrated in the matter. It made him chuckle a little at the thought, catching the woman's attention in a span of a minute.
Hmmm. Maybe those algebraic questions didn't pay off in this kind of situation. See that, everyone? Learning is unnecessary. Says the idiot.
"In fact, we only have our source as a running river with powerful water current." The lady started.
She was speaking out the truthfulness of her heart, but it soon began to fade into the background as Fuxiao's ears started to ring, making it hard to catch up with her. For a moment, his eyes lost focus, blurring before him when darkness started to emerge from his peripheral vision.
Fuxiao just realized, aside from that river he often catches fishes and drink water, there are no other water sources with a big rift. Not to mention, its water is friendly enough that it would dance as soon as it hits a rock, and its surroundings were almost too green, leaving no spaces untouched.
Although, given the descriptions from the woman, he could picture out drought on the ground when the furious water pases through the big ocean ridge, creating cracks on its walls from its violent current. The sound it composes should sound punishing and fervent, contrasting the giggles of the rippling water he would hear from his water source.
In fact, Fuxiao marked and called it "Bloodstain" from that box with a bloodstained letter he threw over the river.
His mind reeled with thoughts, could it be the reason why it became harsh and furious now? Though, he knew he shouldn't make conclusions if he hadn't taken a clear evidence.
But, Fuxiao still can't get over if it really is the same place. The level uneasiness gripping his heart gave unknown ideas of unforeseen events that have yet to happen.
If he's done wrong to the nature because of his ignorance, then he's really done for. He's been given a lot of blissful things by the nature, once turned down with his ignorant actions, he might not have his cave anymore!!!
Perhaps it was that the box was heavy that it hit hard on the surface of the river, causing a ridge below. To be fair, that occurred way back then!! It must have been his fault!!!
Just as he was about to speak, his eyes drifted to the shallow silhouettes of the two figures. They've already disappeared with their shadows trailing behind them, leaving him chasing after them.
***
In a noisy and dense forest lies a massive running river. It was big and wide enough to fit in two elephants, which probably resulted in the cracks or rifts that could swathe a whole mountain. Surprisingly, the water didn't stop flowing despite being taken more on its own. Perhaps the water came from a tarnishing ocean that got drifted apart?
"This, this is the river I've been talking about, and recently, investigators weren't able to pry deeper into the matter, leaving this problem unsolved," Lady Die spoke, prodding a stick to the wet stone. Her face contorted in sympathy, she knew that this matter would affect many on the town, yet nobody dared to be the hero and fix this ever since the whole town started making a ruckus from the endless cut of water supply.
Looking closely, the ridge that Lady Die pointed out, which gave them access to water, is actually just a small portion that the river separated into. Like a tree with varied branches, the town's connection was no different from the other small branches. It's no wonder they got a shortage of water supply as each passing time.
Even if the branch has a small fracture on it, once sprouted with an apple, it would break—sometimes, things would get destroyed if they can't hold on to something heavier than themselves.
Shen Gui traced the ridge's pathway with his eyes, noticing how it wasn't purposely given from nature but forced through nature. No ridges are perfectly straight and curved to be a pathway–that's more likely a tube from the nature.
He was slightly disappointed with the fact that they couldn't just use some eco-friendly plan to construct a water supply, but they dared to use the natur against their will. Like, they could've used some type of massive bamboo tube that would give them free access to water.
Shen Gui sighed and shook his head. There are no places in every universes where humans think rationally on behalf of their sorroundings.
It probably serves them right. At this point, he doesn't even want to solve this problem.
Glancing up at the clear coasted sky, he wonders if it will rain later on. But he sensed no sign of dark clouds nor rumbling lightning, just a bundle of the sun's golden rays with the cloudy sky coating the blue skies.
Birds flapped their wings and flew throughout the open space, painting the image of a peaceful morning. The wind whistles silently, producing an eery and calm vibe as they linger in the forest.
He sighed once more before stealing a glance over his shoulders, peeking at Fuxiao's scrunched up face of seriousness. The scene was too humorous that he let out a low whistle to stiffle down his laughter. A big grin spreads through his lips, finding the creature's determination amusing.
What more could this creature have possibly hidden?
Fuxiao, as if he's using something, prodded his gaze intently to that specific spot, tilting his head from side to side to find the fault, but none other than constant running water flashes between his clear eyes.
The water was running perfectly smooth, not until a faint hush of the wind carries a glowing rock on its pathway, purposely blocking the constant supply.
"Indeed..." Fuxiao mumbled out his thoughts, catching their eyes on him. He immediately raised and shook his hand, feigning a smile to distract them from their businesses.
It was honestly far from the town itself, but the water managed to provide them with full supplies of water with a temporary shortage of water. When they've gone to see what's blocking from providing them water, Shen Gui didn't see any water, but Fuxiao saw how normal water was still running, though as if hurdled by a block, it visibly surged and was pushed back.
Now that they came to the place for the proof, it seems to be the same place, though different place at the same time. How come there were no grasses or mosses around but a place he suspected it to be. Although the endless supply of water from his vision kept going, he doubted nobody but the people who're connected to the rift. He turned to Lady Die, his nose scrunching up in a silent scowl before turning back to the idiot.
Fuxiao patted the idiot's shoulder and asked him, pointing at the dried crack that was once a water supply, "That, that hurdle seems off..."
The idiot, being an idiot, scrunched up his face in confusion and fright, afraid that something might eat them from beneath, so he shot a glance from the ground before speaking while turning his head back, keeping his gaze locked on the ground, "What-what are you even talking about?"
"That," Fuxiao pointed. The idiot followed the direction many times but saw nothing instead.
He grew more worried and anxious towards Fuxiao, afraid that something must've possessed this man instead of thinking that Fuxiao's an unordinary man.
Shen Gui's shook his head vigorously, "There's no, there's no hurdle there, stop that!"
Frustrated by his claims, Fuxiao rolled his eyes and waved his hand, indicating to forget about this matter.
Shen Gui ignored it with a shrug and followed the woman back to the town. Fuxiao trailed behind them again, wondering if he should really just tell them or brush off this matter, though he knew he couldn't keep silent for long.
It's not like this is the first time he'd seen it.
Looking back then, he had thrown that box on that "Bloodstain" river. Though he wasn't able to confirm his suspicions clearly from his pre-judgments if it wasn't for someone who had purposely dug up a "rift" to give a water source to the poor ol' town.
...
As soon as they reached the town, they gave their farewell to Lady Die, heading straight to their tavern. They wasted no time talking to the merchants, asking for some evidence, but no, the two idiot's mind were preoccupied by something that their whole stroll was strangely silent.
Once they stepped foot on their room, they fiercely turned their head, their voices colliding in a loud volume of whispers.
"They are actually idiots!" Said the first idiot, Shen Gui.
The second idiot, Fuxiao, chimed in, "Indeed! They truly are! They have lost their actual minds!!"
"Yeahhh!! Like, hire detectors when they could've just used some natural resources?? Hello?? Hellooo??? Are we on the same line??"
The second idiot held his laughter, his shoulders trembling as he held up his hand to stop Shen Gui from speaking. Holding his stomach, he bent down on the floor and started wheezing.
"Not only that! They don't know why it's done, like!" Shen Gui's face scrunched up like a confused animal, the only last straw before Fuxiao burst out laughing.
He kicked his legs in the air, mocking their ignorance with his laughter. Their next-door neighbors grunted and started to bang their walls, demanding silence, but they both continued to laugh and laugh to the point that their door was banging loudly.
Shen Gui strode towards the door with his trembling physique, not recovered from his joyful-mock show. When the door revealed his neighbors' presence, he straightened his manner in a flash of light, towering over his neighbor's.
Fuxiao's laughter continued from the background as Shen Gui glanced down at his neighbor with a smile, terrifying her instead. "What do you need, friend?" He started.
Sensing the tension of his strained voice and the look on his eyes, this shouldn't be the man everyone or literally every single stars on the skies that they'll deal with. Shaking her head with a nervouse smile, she dismissed, "Oh-I! I heard some noises and thought that someone must've gotten hurt in here, but it turns out that you're uh... just laughing, hahah~" she let out a crisp laughter, fooling nobody.
When she saw a brow raised from this golden man, she was glad she prayed last week, this should be her final destiny now.
Shen Gui chuckled and smiled, "Oh, we're just doing absolutely fine." Though, something within those words fit oddly in the odds of his neighbor's mind.
Cold sweat trickling down from her head as it trickled down from her head. The busy noises downstairs faded along with Fuxiao's laughter, her vision turning into one dimension, his laughter echoing to her eardrums as he took in Shen Gui's "kind" smile.
"Are you alr–"
"I deeply apologize for my mean actions earlier!!"
Their voices overlapped each other, causing more loudness in the air as Fuxiao finally came to a halt and stopped laughing.
Shen Gui's stunned and confused wide azure eyes collided with his neighbor's same confused gaze. It seems that they both misunderstood their own intention, leading the spectator, Fuxiao, to laugh louder than before.
Anything other than the idiot's overwhelmingly high energy, his foreign face and features would often scare other people out. If someone built like two buff people combined together would unknwingly appear in front of one's face with a suspicious smile, who wouldn't get scared from it?
Fuxiao's left eye cascaded a warm tear down his cheeks, wiping it off when he managed to stifle down his laughter.
Throughout years of living in this world, he had never been this joyful. He glances up at the intense staring contest between their neighbor and Shen Gui. Raising an eyebrow to himself, what was that idiot about to say after that new word "wanna"?