40 Learning To Compromise
Darkscale stood there in silence, thinking.
Star Leaf let him reflect in total tranquillity, with a confident expression on her young pretty face. She was completely confident in her ability to convince the serpent to listen to her. In fact, she truly believed that he couldn't take any other actions other than agree to her arrangement: she had successfully entrapped him, not physically bound him with ropes or magic light like he did to the Fire Earth warrior, but at least decision wise.
The girl looked around her for a moment, then she moved towards a broken carriage and sat on its open back. With a very annoyed face, she started looking at her dirty clothes, twitching her little nose at the smell of blood and wet earth that impregnated the fabric of her once white and spotless robe.
While the woman was thinking about where to find another set of clothing, already believing that she had the situation with the snake under control, the latter was deciding what to do with her suggestion.
Yes, while he actually couldn't attack her directly, the snake had many ways in mind to make her beg for the seal that bound them together to not exist. There were many ways to hurt someone, even without doing it directly.
Darkscale saw the situation that they were in not at as an impasse but a ridiculous misunderstanding. While he truly was enraged at the lack of respect that this stupid green haired human showed him, he also was intrigued by the proposal that she told him.
His instinct was screaming to him to immediately refuse again and make that stupid human feel the wrath that she had caused him with her way of acting. However, the things that he experienced on that long and memorable last day made him understand that making a decision without thinking them through wasn't always the right thing to do. He needed to think about things carefully, to not be guided astray.
He didn't want to just trust the woman, that was obvious, but he also didn't want to completely ignore her proposal without giving it the consideration that it deserved.
'I need the herbs. She can get them for me' Darkscale considered.
'However she wants me to be her dao companion. Her companion... that alone is highly humiliating" thought the serpent, continuing his examination of the pros and cons.
The serpent clicked his long black tongue in the air.
'Plus she said that it would only be temporary" a sly light passed between his eyes.
The more he thought about it, the more he had to admit that the deal wasn't that bad. If he ignored the way the human was trying to force him into committing to it, the deal itself wasn't that bad. He would get access to the herbs, plus access to a sect. Each one of these two things was alone enough for him to decide against killing the woman. But together? It made the deal something that was just totally stupid to not accept.
'If she makes any false move…' The eyes of the snake moved over to the lady that was now searching between a large chest full of pieces of cloth.
'I will end her.'
He still held the power to end her life in a moment. She didn't seem to realize it but the situation between him and her wasn't that different from that between him and her now deceased friends: they had a gamble, a very stupid one, while he had the power, a very strong and unstoppable one. Now, Star Leaf had another gamble, a more intelligent and prepared one but still a gamble that was destined to fail.
There were many ways that he could make that happen: He could leave, find another Forest Will Tribe human and force him to help him get the herbs he needed. Star Leaf would remain in the battleground alone, surrounded by death and blood. Predators will be surely attracted by the scent of such a grandiose feast. How would she survive? She definitely wasn't a warrior. And while she was good with words, that wouldn't cut it when she had to face the fangs and claws of the Blood Wood's beasts.
The only reason why Darkscale didn't make her head fly in the air, as the other humans present in the dirt path, was the strange blue energy of that damned monk. While the energy blocked his attack, he wasn't sure that it would have the same effect if she was attacked by someone else.
Although, torturing the woman would only bring him very temporary satisfaction. Following her lead, for now, would bring him much closer to his true objective in life: become a cultivator!
He would even gain information and even access to a sect, a place where cultivators lived and were trained. Why the hell would he lose that only to punish an insolent human?
'I almost blew it away...'
Now that he slowly thought it through, Darkscale could see the potential that he almost wasted. If it wasn't for the blue shield of energy that saved the woman, he would have wasted that chance completely. For what? Vengeance? That would have been a real stupid move.
'I need to be more careful in the future'
Darkscale realized that he was both too much careless and too much reliant on others. He needed to work on those two of his problems.
'I accept' he suddenly said, sounding incredibly begrudging.
Star Leaf stopped what she was doing, moving back towards the snake with along azure vest under her arm. When she arrived before him, she looked at him right in the eyes and nodded rigidly.
"I do not like it as much as you" started the green haired beauty, sensing the disappointment on the black reptile eyes, "...but this is for our respective futures" she continued, nodding with vigor.
"From now on, until we manage to get into the Heavenly Reptile Sect, we are officially dao partners" she announced loudly, almost as she was announcing it to the headless bodies and the woods shrouded by the shadowy night.
'Congratulation young master Darkscale you-' echoed Carelia, joyously. She then began to sing a happy tune, filling the serpent's mind with high pitched sounds.
'Silence' immediately ordered the snake.
He was losing his patience with the MAID. He had no time to waste with the bugged Artificial Intelligence. There were many things that he wanted to know now from the human.
The music stopped and Carelia didn't continue bothering him. He looked at the human before him, slowly coiling on himself. There were many questions he wanted to make.
"How do you know so much about this Heavenly Reptile Sect "
This was something that bugged him. He didn't know much about the green haired beauty, but she definitely wasn't a cultivator nor she came from a place that had any cultivators. Otherwise, Winter Leaf would have already told him that.
He remembered that she said something about an ancestor when she first approached him. Yet that wasn't enough to quell his curiosity.
"I have an ancestor that served as a human cauldron in the Heavenly Reptile Sect and when her master died she was allowed to come back here. She left a diary on the inner workings of the sect... I read it, so there are a couple of things that I know." explained Star Leaf.
Darkscale eyes lit up: a diary? That explained how she was so sure about the method to enter the sect and the use of that herb she wanted to offer him.
"There are two different schools of thought in the Heavenly Reptile Sect: Harmony and Domination. They both cultivate dual cultivation techniques, but the method they use are... different." said the girl, not explaining these methods further.
"To get into the Harmony faction one need to be in a dao couple and at least one of the two must have the blood of a reptile bloodline" she concluded, looking at the snake before her.
So that's why she wanted to be her dao companion so hard. She wanted to become a cultivator too. Darkscale now understood why she kept trying over and over to win his goodwill, even risking her death.
A long moment of quiet followed the revelation of Star Leaf. Darkscale digested the information received from the girl for some time, thinking about what was he had to do now.
"You said that you had a dual cultivation technique" said suddenly the snake after a while, breaking the silence.
The green haired beauty, her gaze, wavered a bit but then she sighed and nodded.
"Yes, I have" she admitted like she was found red-handed while doing a crime.
"Were that also included in your ancestor's memoirs?" asked dubious Darkscale.
He felt that this couldn't be the case. If the humans of her tribe had a cultivation method, why they were so weak?
"No," responded the woman, her face darkening, "It was given to us to prepare us" she continued, with a cracking voice.
"From whom?" Darkscale already thought that it wasn't possible that such technique had been kept in her family. But now that he was sure, he wanted to know exactly how she did get that technique.
Black lines formed on the green haired forehead. She passed a hand between her hair, twisting them almost as a way to relieve the stress that she was feeling.
"The Leaf Family has informed a member of the Heavenly Reptile Sect's Recruitment Team that we have a Silver Leaf Tulip… we traded its ownership in exchange to two places in the outer sect and ten places as living cauldrons…"
