Chapter 31

The next morning, the Ai woke up refreshed and ready for a new day. He sat up in the bed and turned to see that Ling wasn't sleeping anymore, tilting his head he glanced around the small space before getting out of the bed and pushing the sheet aside to look around the living room.

It was still quiet and Mrs. Haru and Mr. Haru were still sleeping. With a small yawn, Ai made his way outside to find Ling busying himself with cutting up some wood that his father had gotten the day before.

Seeing Ai, Ling sat the ax down before turning to look at the male. "Good morning, did you sleep well?" he asked.

Ai nodded before he stretched fully waking himself up. "You ready?" he asked the male, he wanted to get the surprise done before the elders woke. They had treated a stranger like him so kindly and he wanted to repay them.

Ling shrugged before heading to wash up a bit. When he finished he headed back over to Ai. "Alright, let's go," he said. He still wasn't sure what Ai wanted to do.

Ai smiled before leading Ling to the forest and heading in. Ling wasn't sure what it was Ai wanted from the forest, but he followed him regardless. He was one of the few that didn't mind entering the forest, sure he only stayed on the edges of the forest.

His heart felt a bit unsure when Ai led him further in then he normally went, often looking around to make sure nothing was about to jump out and eat them.

Ai hummed to himself, leading the way to a good spot with lots of good berries and veggies. Sure he wouldn't be able to help the couple with meat since the majority of what was in this forest was spirit beasts rather than normal cattle. But he'd figure something else for that later.

When they arrived, Ai placed his hands on his hips and gave a prideful smile as he looked at Ling who's eyes widened when he saw the abundant wild growing food.

"This is?" he asked, turning to look to the smaller male. He hadn't thought that Ai would show him such a place as this. It was more food than he'd ever found since he'd started searching the forest for food to help his family.

"It's food right?" Ai asked as he went to start gathering some of the berries. It was his favorite. He ate a few before sitting as he watched Ling. "They aren't like normal fruits or veggies. They are filled with spiritual energy from the forest. So they have more nutrition in them. Plus they don't go bad as fast." he stated with a shrug.

Ling found a smile moving to his lips as his eyes brighten. Spiritual fruits?! Spiritual veggies?! These would be worth a lot if he managed to talk his dad into taking them to sell in the next town over.

"These...I'm allowed to take them?" he asked unsure. He didn't want to make Ai mad at him for taking something he was showing him without asking first.

Ai nodded. "Yes, I brought you here so you'd be able to gather them. The spirit beasts mostly eat meat, those few that eat these things don't really enjoy these lower quality ones. The inner part has higher quality things to eat. So these ones are normally just left to grow wild. Its why there's so much here.

Ling felt his mind going blank at this information. So these were lower quality? There was such a thing? Well...How much would these lesser quality goods get him? Surely it would still be more money than his family had ever seen before.

He quickly busied himself, gathering as much of the goods as he could carry.

Ai helped him carry some more things that Ling wasn't able to hold before the two hurried back to Ling's home.

When they returned it was rather late in the afternoon, and Ling's father was already off to work. His mother was busying herself with housework. When she saw Ling and Ai hurrying over, she gave a small smile before seeing the things they had.

The large amount of food that Ling and Ai had brought made her head spin. Ling happily told her where the food was from and that Ai was the one who showed him. He also told her something that made her heart freeze. Hearing that these were all spiritual foods made her mind turn with questions.

It wasn't until night time when Ling's father returned that the two spoke on what to do. Ling tried to persuade the pair to sell the goods at the next town, and after getting Ai's views on this the two finally agreed. The next morning Ling and his father set out to sell the goods while Ai happily waited with Mrs. Haru.

He wanted to go with them, but because Ai was still in this childish age, Ling and his father both said he was too 'young'. This made Ai upset but he gave in when Mrs. Haru promised to make him something yummy to eat.

Thus Ai's new life began as he somehow managed to be 'adopted' by the loving couple. Ling wasn't too upset, he was glad to have a new little brother as adorable as Ai.

A few years passed and the new family started to realize that Ai wasn't normal. He aged rather fast. Within these years, Ai had gone from an 8-9-year-old to someone who was the same age as Ling.

Ling now 18, was looking at the fully grown Ai who was still petite in size but had grown more and more beautiful.

A lot of the elders in the village often teased Ai about his beauty, often saying he should have been born a girl! Ai ignored their comments as it was normal for his kind to be this way.

Since they weren't 'born' normally they didn't need the whole issue with 'male or female' in their race.

Within these years, with the family selling the spiritual foods, they had managed to raise their status in the village and get a better lifestyle. Thankfully Mr. Haru and Mrs. Haru were still kind and didn't take for granted what Ai had given them.

The village also noticed that ever since Ai started living with them, the danger from the forest lessened greatly. They rarely saw any dangerous spiritual beasts, and when they did see one, the beast would often ignore them and move on.

It wasn't until the sects closest to the village heard about the odd changes in the unnamed forest that they sent out elders to investigate.