'Until the sun break, does Man still kill,
Until the moon fall, does Man still sinned,
Does Man beget sin, or the other?
Excising their Morality for mere Glory?
Or is it Man's folly to even exist?'
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Day 3: 323 Students remained.
Last night is uneventful, it is just the usual quiet night. And today is not as cold as yesterday, it is still cold but its manageable.
At dawn, when the dew is still fresh, and the air is still pristine, as it is from the heaven where they dropped. Wu Chen recall a poem, 'when the sun and moon bear witness to the new chapter, this golden hour of dawn shall not be taken lightly.'
Wu Chen, Ni Len, Gu Tian, and the head guard Xiu were all waiting in the gate of their camp for Gu Lian and his envoy.
Wu Chen is recalling a report from one of the boys who is in charge of hunting, the voice is still fresh in his mind.
'There is no beast, it's bizarre enough that there is no beast but there is not even a trace of ordinary animal.'
"What's on your mind?"
Gu Tian asks, Wu Chen is surprised since she did not talk with him for the entire time yesterday.
"…"
"What? Yes, I am still mad. But not at you…"
She said as if already knowing what Wu Chen was thinking in his head, though Wu Chen felt relief that he does not need to say it himself. But deep down, he knows that she is still mad at him.
"…Tete and his boys said that there is no trace of animal nor beast anywhere."
"Oh, that is certainly a bad omen"
Gu Tian said as she strokes her chin.
"They either hide or ran away, but they won't simply do that if there is no outside threat"
"And where did you learn that?"
Gu Tian then eyed Wu Chen like he is pathetic which makes Wu Chen shudders.
"Fools, I am the princess of the Gu family. Of course I would know such thing."
"…You didn't answer my question"
Wu Chen crossed his arm; his face is smiling. An actually genuine smile
"ugh"
Gu Tian twirl her fingers as she is unable to properly explain where she got that knowledge.
"I umm, a hunter came to our manor one time and teaches me a lot about the way of the hunt."
"Ah, a servant of the Erlking then"
Gu Tian looked surprised.
"What?! How did you know about him?"
Wu Chen smirks playfully and asked her back.
"Answer my question first."
Gu Tian gasp in disbelief, but she plays it cool.
"I have already answer it!"
But Wu Chen clicks his tongue playfully.
"Dishonest answer didn't count" he said.
Gu Tian eyes flutter shut, her sweating becomes more intense before she finally admits.
"I-I used to sneak out of the Manor and happens to learn about the way of the hunt."
Wu Chen smirks deepen, uncannily.
"Oh, what a naughty princess~"
"Shut up…"
Gu Tian avert her gaze as her face grew flustered. On the other hand, Chen is fighting the urge of wanting to laugh at her.
"It's my turn to ask you a question."
Gu Tian tried to turn the tables to him.
"Since when I owe you an explanation?"
But Chen quickly deflects the question with apathetical ease.
"…okay"
Gu Tian suddenly drop her head down, Chen who is caught off guard is panicking as he tries to cheer her up. His arms hover mere inches from her shoulder, not touching but close enough that she can feel his warmth.
"H-Hey, I am just joking Hehe… Go on, ask me something."
"No…"
"Why?"
Gu Tian then looks at Wu Chen with neutral looks; this makes Wu Chen took a step back as he tried to avert her gaze. Seeing this, Gu Tian laugh, she laughs so much her eyes started tearing up, it is to the point where Wu Chen has started to become uncomfortable.
"You're really cute you know that right?"
"Huh?"
Wu Chen is taken aback by the sudden confession, for a moment, he is blushing very subtly. Gu Tian who came to realize what she had just said started to blush too; her face is sweating as she averted her gaze.
This two are sickly in love.
Ni Len and Xiu who watch all of this transpire cannot help but to sigh, they all know that this two have a special relationship. But to see it themselves, has started to spoil their morning a bit.
Xiu in particular, who never have any luck with girl, is resentful.
'Get a room you two.'
He quietly mutters. He really prays that Gu Liang envoy will appear quickly so that this two will not become a moronic rabbit in heat.
And his prayer is answered, in the thicket of the forest, a peerless Jade gaits in a way that strikes awe and respect to everyone. Alongside him, is six male students who each already reached the Post-Mortal Stage in their cultivation.
This is evident by the way they intentionally leak their Aura that comes off in blue hue, creating a scene in a painting of a 'Peerless Gentlemen surrounded by Fame and Fortune' Making his entrance really luxurious despite the absent of wealth around.
Wu Chen, however, just saw a Trickster, a fool with an overtly ridiculous way to entrench his existence in his earth.
Gu Tian on the other hand, refuse to look at her brother and instead is focusing her vision on the ground.
"Greeting Gu Liang~" Chen gestured, not even bothering to bow at such present. But his lack of conscience is easy enough to be hidden by the fact that he makes quite a wide and warm smile.
Gu Tian is a bit disappointed at his action, though when she reminds herself of how much lies he can spout, her disappointment turned quickly into doubts.
"I greet Wu Chen, first I would like for us to hasten our arrival at my camp" Gu Liang said, though there is no sense of urgency in his voice despite the clear meaning of the words. Wu Chen glances at his escort to find that all of them were all exhausted.
Wu Chen knew that Gu Liang must have had the Gu family Inheritance technique, either the Flame wheel or the Poison Body, he cannot confirm it yet because he is not proficient enough to do an Energy Probing on him.
"What's the rush? It's still an early morning and I can see that your…follower is quite exhausted" Wu Chen said with silent gaze as he tried to predict what would Gu Liang decides.
His eyes are unwavering; the piercing Blue of his iris is in the same shade as Gu Tian. But his face muscle twitch, ever so slightly to the point that it might as well not move. Yet Wu Chen captures the moment and silently judge his next action.
Convincing.
"I must decline the invitation, for this matter is of an utmost importance" Gu Liang said as he consciously bit his own gum to supress the desire to change his expression, an extremity that has become a habit for him.
"…" Yet Wu Chen did not answer immediately to his desperate plea, making the situation even more tense and charge as these two boys that is too mature for their own age, silently waging a mind battle.
Like a game of Xiangqi, each move decides the winner and set the victor of the exchange, all they need is a blunder.
"Of course, your camp will be greatly compensated for this…" and Gu Liang backs off, believing he cannot win, he could at least secure the objective he was aiming for in the first place.
"Is you so incline, then I will. After all, there is no such thing as free lunch…" Wu Chen said while giving a wry smile he did not bother to hide. For a moment, Gu Liang spine tingles at his honesty before it was melted down by his own 'habit.'
Gu Liang then took a glance at Gu Tian only to find her trying to hide behind Wu Chen. 'She must be shy' he dismisses her odd behaviour. Seeing at the other followers of Wu Chen, Gu Liang found Ni Len looking at Wu Chen with bewilderment and a novel-Ish shock in his face.
"It's a mere jest…" Wu Chen then clarified while lightly laughing. Gu Liang is forced to do the same, right now, it felt like he was at the palm of Wu Chen hand, a mere marionets for him to play.
But despite his attempted 'joke,' the atmosphere is still tense, rather, the joke just makes it worse as both side is sweating a cold sweat as cold as the winter.
"Well, if we're going to stand idly by then might as well, we started moving" Wu Chen said once more, completely seizing the conversation. Gu Liang nod once, his face is still as calm as a pond.
"Lets…"
The two group then walk in a hasten pace, not walking nor was it running. Gu Liang also started to focus his gaze forward; Wu Chen could tell that this matter must be quite heavy.
Wu Chen then took a time analysing, what could the problem be? Gu Liang escort still retain their mass so it cannot be food shortages, they also seem quite healthy so it was not illness, could it be something else?
"Psst, hey!"
'It must be external threats, was it other camp? A Beast?'
"Hey!"
'More than that, what could I ask for a compensation? Supply is plentiful, should I ask for labour assistance instead?'
Gu Tian then stomped Wu Chen leg. He jolts and looks at her, his eyes are blown wide open, an expression of surprise painted his face.
"What?" He asks, his voice laden with confusion.
"…" yet Gu Tian just pout and avert her gaze, perplexing Wu Chen even more.
Then, before he can properly respond, Gu Tian move back and hide behind Xiu whose face is sweating. Wu Chen is even more confused now.
Gu Liang, who happens to walk ahead, cannot help but to be curious at the commotion. The weird sense of familiarity, there is no obligation in them to maintain etiquette, to act simply out their heart desire. Such scene is surreal to him; he cannot help but to envy Wu Chen to be able to cast away such rigidness he himself has considered natural.
"You must have a lot of questions regarding my problem, so I will make it short" Gu Liang finally said, his finger tightening besides him as he slowed down his pace.
"There is this lone student that has been killing many. He has no allegiance" He explained, yet his gaze remained trained and perfect.
"Is that so?" Wu Chen tilt his head, murderer on a rampage, sounds familiar. For a second, his face looks grim as he considered the possibility.
"What does he look like?"
"I don't know the detail but, he has a white hair…"
Wu Chen face truly sank, there is no way, no absolute way he will allow himself to face the one he cannot read. For once, he truly feels like he wanted to run away.
Wu Nanming is his enemy.
"He has a medium build, his face is soft, almost women-like…"
"What is the colour of his eyes?"
Gu Liang turned his face towards Wu Chen, only to see a dilated pupil and no semblance of his previous playfulness. Gu Liang felt that he might knew something, but what was it?
"…Its purple"
Its so over, Wu Chen heart truly sank now. Should he deal with him? That monster of a boy?
'Haha, it's so over, I cannot possibly deal with him.'
Wu Chen chuckles lightly, yet there is no lightness in his laugh, only grim realization as he understood just how fucked he is.
'It is too late to turn back now, isn't it? No, I have not sacrifice that much…'
He then glances back at Ni Len, Ki Xia, and Gu Tian whose form remain hidden.
'But will they continue to trust me if I backed away? Should I just run?'
He really considered the option now, if its Wu Yuen, he can still manage somehow, but there is no way he can fight Wu Nanming.
'He will not kill me. But there is no guarantee, shit, I am so fucked, aren't I?'
Wu Chen dreaded the future; he then looked back to Gu Tian who decided to reveal her head.
"What?"
"…Hahhh"
Somehow, looking at her just make it worse.