Zhu Qiu

Listening to the crackling fire, Li Ao closed his eyes for a moment.

''What do I want indeed.''

Opening his eyes, he smiled. ''Take a guess.''

''Don't play games with me.''

''Heh.''

Li Ao crossed his legs.

''I want to help you.''

''Why?''

''You are important.''

The man seemed, for a fraction of a second, relieved. Then his vigilance was up again, and Li Ao sensed Qi gathering at his feet.

''How will you help me?''

''I will keep you alive.''

''Why?''

''I told you.''

''Why?''

''I told you.''

''Why?''

After the third 'why' Li Ao choked on his saliva.

''My brother I already fucking told you!''

A ridiculing smile appeared on middle-aged man's face.

''Okay. What is your name?''

''Li Ao.''

''Liao?''

''Separate, Li Ao.''

The man closed his eyes, stood still for well over a minute, then glanced back at Li Ao.

''You are a stranger.''

''Its natural. I've never been to the Zhu estate.''

At last the man seemed to let go of his hostility. Vigilance remained in his limbs.

''Who sent you?''

''Does it matter?''

This vague, subtle exchange of wits tired Li Ao. He was using %100 of his brain's capacity to tell the least without exposing the most. For now, he seemed successful.

''What is 'your' name?''

''...you don't even know that?''

''I didn't have the need.''

''Let me make a comment, then.''

''Sure.''

The man took a deep breath and let it out with a deep sigh.

''You are either the most retarded and least skilled spy I've ever seen, or truly a friend.''

''I hope you are the former.''

Li Ao glared at the disgusting smile stretching with the dirty beard.

''You are quick to offend.''

Calming down at the remark, Li Ao let out another sigh. This guy seemed to be a new kind of person to him. That was a natural thing for Li Ao.

From an early age, as do most noble families, he grew up alone in the family estate. He had servants attend to his every need, once in a fortnight could meet up with his cousins, and once every week could see his parents. Apart from that, he was left alone. He had few chances to meet new people, and he almost never acted on those chances to know people.

To him, cultivation or fighting were easy things that would come in due time. Knowing people, now that was a hard thing to do.

Staring back at the fire, then at the man resting, he looked above.

''Won't the fire expose us?''

''Us?'' The man laughed. ''You are quick to suck-up as well?''

''You seem hungry for a beating, too.''

''I wonder why I'm hungry...''

Li Ao snorted, then turned to face the man.

''How long is the path?''

The man cast him an incredulous, side-long glance.

''Be honest with me here.'' His hand pointed down on the ground as if to emphasize. ''How much do you know?''

''That I need to help you do your job.''

''Just that?''

''Just that.''

''Alright.'' The man let out a sigh.

''You still didn't tell me your name.''

''Zhu Qiu.''

''Your parents—''

''No, they were no fan of anyone.'' Zhu Qiu seemed sick of being referred to this particular philosopher. Li Ao let go of the teasing thought that just formed, and instead swept his gaze around the dark trees.

''Where will we go? Are 'they' at a fixed place?''

''That is my business to know. Since you just want to help, then don't ask useless questions.''

''Rude.''

''I'm hungry.''

''Oh, fuck off—''

They spent a few more minutes talking, but it was all vain, with nothing worth memorable yet. After 'commanding' Li Ao to take watch, the Zhu Qiu leaned against a trunk closer to the campfire and closed his eyes.

'Does he trust me now?'

Surely, that was not the case.

Inspecting Zhu Qiu's ragged appearance once more, Li Ao noticed the marks of scratches across his hidden neck. His left cheek, too, seemed a shade darker the other side. Was there a bruise formed before? Or a sliced off skin that grew again?

'He must not have slept in a long time.'

Thinking so, Li Ao spread his divine sense as far as it reached, and spent the night in that manner.

*********

When the first lights of dawn washed over him, Li Ao woke up from the meditative state. Zhu Qiu woke up at the same time, and in a mechanical manner began working around them. Picking his sword from the tree which hung all night long, he, by hand, buried both the wood and the campsite with earth. Then he dug a few other pits, exchanging their contents, then carved a much deeper pit, around two meters in depth, to dump the ash.

''Why not use Qi?''

''It is easily trackable.''

''Anything I can help?''

''Just be alert.''

Li Ao sat down, listless. His divine sense tingled with exhaustion from overuse, but he did not dare retract it. Just one brush with death had made him much more cautious in his dealings, and by no means did he want to have another one.

Those Long Aotians in the novels must have been amazing people, able to come face to face with death for heavens know how many times.

''Let's go.''

Nodding, Li Ao followed the man. They leaped up to a branch, then jumped over others to go further. From the position of the Sun, Li Ao deduced that they were going east. He tried to remember where the Sun rose at Chu Shu's village, but his memory failed him.

He had no more time to think after that. Zhu Qiu's pace far outmatched Li Ao's imagination—the man was a whip of wind in his eyes that kept flashing in and out of sight, traversing a dozen meters at each step. If not for the obvious route they took, no doubt he would be left behind.

After sprinting for half a day, they came to the foot of a long stretch of mountains. Looking up, Li Ao saw that half of the peaks stood unnatural, almost as if they bowed to a figure.

'Like a bent plate.'

''Servant Mountain.'' Zhu Qiu said in a whisper. ''Once we go past here, it will be the Lei Province. There are large expanses of wasteland throughout there. Beasts and demons ran amok, and it is the most suitable terrain to intercept anyone.''

Panting, wiping the sweat pouring down his forehead, Li Ao turned to him. Zhu Qiu seemed fine; he had a stable breath, and few droplets that only glistened under Sun.

''How strong are the beasts?''

''Any realm you think, there is one at least.''

Li Ao furrowed his brows. ''Isn't that just suicidal?''

''What did you expect? We aren't on a stroll.''

''There has to be another way.''

''Show me where it is.''

Zhu Qiu showed him a deep look of disappointment. ''If you are done resting, let's go.''

Now they went up, climbing a few hundred meters through grasping at the protruding pieces of rock. A cold gale whipped their hair and clothes, mostly Li Ao's robes. He was not dressed suitably for a travel this arduous. Once they reached six-hundred meter height, a cave appeared in front of them where Zhu Qiu went right in.

Unlike the white exterior, inside was a mess of brown and black, full of moss. It was cramped at certain points, and excruciatingly unbearable at others. An hour deep inside the cave network, Li Ao watched Zhu Qiu squeeze through a manhole that barely fit him. Swallowing, his nerves wreck, he took out his robe and went in half-naked.

They crawled through, sometimes stopping, sometimes moving up and down. Zhu Qiu seemed to know his way very well, for not even once they met a dead and, and this made Li Ao exhale deep breaths of relief.

But that was no the end of the suffering. They crawled for a whole day more inside that dark space. By then, Li Ao felt a tremor, and Zhu Qiu held his breath in front of him. Beads of sweat trickled down their foreheads and wet their backs, and Li Ao remained ready to press 'Abort' at anytime.

The rumbling kept for a whole minute, pieces of gravel fell on them. But the shaft did not collapse. They moved forward.

Another day went by. Li Ao's elbows and knees hurt from all the scraping, and his breaths felt shallow from the lack of air. If not for his cultivation realm, he would not be able to push himself up any further. He felt glad that he spent a few days cultivating in the cell.

Another two days passed.

''There is a slippery tunnel ahead.'' He whispered. ''Watch me carefully.''

As he said so, he crawled to the end, then let himself fall. Li Ao watched him slide at a high speed.

Zhu Qiu went down for a few seconds, then shot his elbows to the sides. With the aid of Qi, instead of cracking the wall they planted like knife in butter into the foundation. Still, hanging, he moved a few meters down, then went into a side tunnel. It seemed quite larger than the ones they crawled, for Zhu Qiu could crouch without his head touching the ceiling.

''Come down.''

'He won't let me be stuck, will he?'

If not for the insurance of his system, Li Ao would have departed at the moment they started crawling. Yet, knowing he was safe did not help the chill going over his spine. He felt suffocated.

''Hurry!''

Li Ao took the dive.

Once his chest fell, his legs followed. He fell for a few seconds, unable to hold onto any rocks, and in panic struck his elbows early. His force disproportionate, a tremor passed by the tunnel.

''You idiot—''

Li Ao let out a breath. Nothing happened.

Trembling, using his elbows like spikes, he went down and down, then threw himself into the tunnel with Zhu Qiu's help. Once inside, able to breath and move, Li Ao laughed.

'What the fuck is wrong with this mission!'

''You could have killed us both!''

Zhu Qiu's shout woke him from his stupor. It seemed his laughter rubbed the man in a wrong way. Li Ao had no idea what to answer, so he just put his thumbs up and smiled.

Zhu Qiu cast him another glance, sighed, and went deeper into the tunnel. There they moved for another few hours, where Li Ao started to feel the hunger hit him, but it was not the appropriate place.

Two more hours later, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. By now they could walk regularly, and the ceiling was just a few centimetres higher than Zhu Qiu, who stood 1.90 meters tall.

''Cover your eyes.''

Li Ao obliged. Just a trickle of light made his eyes tingly. He could go blind if he went out like this.

Putting on his robe, then covering his face with the long sleeves, he followed Zhu Qiu outside. When they stepped out, he took a deep breath, and bit by bit lowered his sleeve. The scenery remained blurred, and his eyes kept spewing drops of tears, but in no time that too passed.

Now, he saw, they stood at a cliff facing South-east;The sun, rising, was to their left—then he noticed the ground. There were few brown hills spreading across dozens of kilometres in his sight, yellow grass at most a foot high, and nothing else.

''...that is worse than I thought.''

''It will be worse than 'that'.'' Zhu Qiu walked down a slope while spoke. ''If we had a vehicle of sorts, traversing would be much easier.''

''Vehicle?''

Li Ao thought. He still had 31 coins left. Would he be able to buy anything useful?

Opening up the general store as they walked, he typed in 'vehicle', and countless items appeared in sight. Unlike techniques, it was obvious that material goods would be in higher quantity.

He saw grey boxes wherever he looked, and of the few available ones none had a price lower than 2000 coins...except one.

*Two-Wheeled, Two-seated, Two-Pedalled Sit And Travel Device(Bicycle)*

*Description: This vehicle can be powered by one's legs and by one's Qi, depending on the need. It has a top speed of two hundred kilometres an hour, and the limit rises with depending on the terrain. It can take up four strikes from Fifth-level of Qi Condensation practitioners.*

*Owner's note: Ideal for taking out your first love on a lovely date (｡◝‿◜ ｡) *

*Owner's note(2): I have received complaints from people who took boys and girls out with this bicycle about their unsuccessful attempts to woo them. It seems this new generation boytoys and dolls have no capacity to READ or COMPREHEND what they have read.*

*Owner's note(3):...*

*Owner's note(4):...*

.

.

.

*Owner's note(182):...*

[Reviews(+999999)]

*Cost: 25 Coins*

'What is this?'

The thing had a metallic frame, two wheels, one at front the other at the back, and two seats. There were two pairs of pedals that connected to gears at the bottom, which seemed to be the main tools to move this. But it looked so awkward! It looked too awkward to ride!

And what was up with that note? People could add emoticons? What kind of retard complained about the product because of their love life? Most importantly, why did this person have so much empty time to trash talk his customers? If the seller hadn't been anonymous, Li Ao would have checked his profile to see what kind of colourful personality this was.

The reviews section interested him, so he took a quick look. Seeing the profanities overriding his interface, he closed the panel.

'I'm not taking out any girls, so it should be okay.'

Stupid stuff aside, it seemed a good vehicle to use in this terrain. It was a soul-bound item, too, so unless it was destroyed he could find where it was to retrieve it.

No chance of loss or theft. 'That's a pretty good deal!'

Li Ao bought it just as they reached the feet of the mountain. Staring at the desolate, wild expanse, Zhu Qiu let out a deep sigh.

He heard a thud then, and turned around to see a weird tool in Li Ao's hands.

''What's that?''

''Good stuff, I tell you brother!''

Li Ao climbed onto the leading part, put his feet on the pedals, then furiously slapped the seat behind him.

''Get on!''

Disgruntled, but also curious, Zhu Qiu climbed on the seat and held the other pair of railings.

''How does this work?''

''Watch and learn!''

Li Ao pushed his feet off the ground and started turning the pedals. Three times the pedal turned, and Li Ao felt the brush of wind on his face, then fell face first onto hard earth.

''Fuck!'' He spat out a piece of grass. ''Why is this so hard to balance?''

Zhu Qiu scowled behind him and slapped his nape.

''What kind of retard doesn't know how to use their vehicle!?''

Breathing out of his nose, Zhu Qiu motioned with his hand.

''Let me try.''

*********

Under the bright sun of midday, a pair of boys were cycling across a desolate plain. One of them kept growling, while the other whistled.