57 A Boy's Love For His Mother.

  The Commander was still trying to pull it from Ear's head but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist. The amount of strength he used in grabbing her wrist made her worried. Did he get taken over like the bunny from earlier? Would she have to kill her Vice Commander in front of all of her men? No! There had to be another way. Jing was fine somehow so, there had to be another way to deal with this thing!

"Commander, I'm fine..." Ears said in a haggard voice. He released Wenling's arm. "The little bastard doesn't have any control over me..."

"Are you sure?" Wenling asked, with a worried look in her eyes. Ready to help him out no matter what it takes.

"Well... If you could bring me some more of that bastard's meat, I'll be even better." Ears tiredly collapsed against the tree next to Jing. The transformation must have taken a lot out of him.

"You got it." Wenling headed over to the campfire and started roasting the biggest meat for the Vice Commander.

  Jing looked around awkwardly. Not wanting to make eye contact with Ears because of his supposedly dislike of her but still being worried about his current condition. She turned her face to the side and held out her meat towards him. She could hear him chuckling at her offer.

"If you need some... I don't mind sharing..." Jing mumbled.

"Don't mind if I do." He took a large bite out of Jing's food, causing Li Li to cutely squawk at him in anger.

"Heh, give me a break little bastard. I felt like I was just shoved out of my mom's hole for a second time." He chewed.

  Li Li wasn't satisfied with that excuse and continued to berate him for daring to steal more than he deserved from his mother. He kept laughing while trying to get used to his new body by cultivating. Seeing the man ignore him so blatantly, Li Li knew he was being looked down on! He kicked the Vice Commander in the stomach, causing him to spit up some of the meat he just ate and hold his stomach from the pain.

"You little fucking bastard! Why would you!?" Ears cursed angrily.

  Li Li just smirked as if he was saying, "You dare to ignore me now? A weakling like you who can't even beat a simple bunny?"

"I'm not gonna be looked down on by a fucking bird!" Ears swiped at Li Li to try and grab him but failed as the owlet did a simple hop and kicked him in the jaw from below the chin.

"Hey look, the Vice Commander is getting his ass kicked by Jing's baby owl!" Someone shouted.

  A shining red mark was left on Ear's jaw. He bounced up with humiliated fury and let off a number of punches towards the avian beast. Li Li swayed his head with ease and continued to look at Ears with a condescending look of mocking.

'Heh, you couldn't touch me even if you tried. Honestly, it's just embarrassing looking at you.' Was what it looked like Li Li was saying to Ears.

"Oh yeah you little bastard shit!? Don't mock me!" Ears took out his daggers and rapidly slashed at Li Li who now was flying.

"Kick his ass little bird!"

"Haha yeah! Show the Vice Commander that there is always a sky above the sky!"

"I was always sick of that asshole barking orders! Shut him up for us!"

"Vice Commander, you can't even beat a tiny bird like that!?"

"The fucking bastard is faster than he looks! Shut the hell up already you loud bastards!" Ears yelled back while continuing to try and hit Li Li with his blades.

  Jing outwardly looked very worried but inwardly was smiling. It was nice to see Li Li having fun with others. He didn't have many friends and seeing this situation maybe that would change in the future as he interacts with others more. She might have to give him a way of talking to people though.

  Jing didn't plan for this situation to happen with Ears but it was fine for her not to step in for now. Li Li wasn't doing anything that would reveal that he's much more than he seems. He is at the 9th stage, so fighting against someone who just reached that stage wouldn't be that much of an issue for him. Plus, there's the fact that spirit beasts are normally stronger than humans at the same stage.

  The two continued their show for a few more minutes before Ears dropped to the ground exhausted with a taunting Li Li prancing around him. Those watching started exchanging items with one another. Those who betted on Ears landing at least one hit lost and those who betted that Li Li would not get hit, won. Jing didn't participate in the gambling for three reasons. One, she already knew who would win. Two, it was too early for her to get along with everyone else and start participating in their bandit-like activities. And three, it wouldn't fit her personality as of right now to enjoy seeing others fight yet.

"Here you go. This is for the winner," Wenling handed a big piece of roasted rabbit meat to Li Li. "And this is for the loser." She handed a slightly smaller one to the exhausted Ears.

  He was lying on the ground unable to lift his arms. He looked at Wenling with his face red and filled with shame. But it quickly changed into a scheming one once he realized his current position. A loser in need of some comforting!

"Commander, it looks like my body is even more exhausted than I thought. I can't even move a single finger. You might have to feed this sorry bastard." He grinned cheekily.

  Wenling rolled her eyes as she knew he was just taking advantage of the situation. She propped his head up on her thigh and fed him herself. The rest of the gang made fun of the Vice Commander for wanting to be treated like this but he ignored it while looking like he was taking part of some heavenly activity. It was as if he was freely flying through the clouds just because he was lying on the Commander's lap.

  Li Li walked over to Jing with his prize and handed it to her. She almost forgot this was the reason he fought with Ears in the first place. He ate most of her rabbit meat. She smiled at her feathered son and hugged him. The two shared the rabbit meat together as the lively night was coming to a close for the Wolfeng Gang.

  By morning time, everyone was up and ready to move. Ears led them deeper into the woods, getting closer and closer to the Great Mountain. There's no doubt that there would be plenty of cultivators who headed up the mountain in search of treasure. And where there is cultivator, there is loot to be plundered! As long as Ears continue to scout the path carefully, avoiding any spirit beast nests they should arrive in no time.

"Commander." Someone called out.

"Yes?"

"Are we going to go higher than the lower limit?"

"No. Even though the power of our squad is stronger from eating that mutant's meat and the Vice Commander reaching the 9th stage, it's still not enough to take on anything higher than the lower limit." Wenling answered.

"What is the lower limit?" Jing asked.

"It's the area of the Great Mountain where only beasts of the Qi Gathering stage stay. The middle limit is where Qi Consolidation stage beasts stay and it continues like that with the higher limit, greater limit, and so forth."

"So, it's safer?"

"No, far from it. It just means that it's an area that isn't impossible for us." Ears clarified.

"If we tried to tackle the middle limit with just this squad, we'd be wiped out within seconds." Wenling added.

"Scary..." Jing mumbled.

"Yep. That's why you should always know your limits. It's also why those in the Wolfeng Gang take great care not to offend anyone with great backgrounds. Most of us in the Wolfeng Gang are just commoners. Those who started the path of cultivation without support from families or clans."

"Hell yeah! We worked our asses off to become cultivators!"

"Like hell we'll let some pompous fucking brats ruin that just because they were born richer than us!"

"AWOOOOO!!!'

"AWOOOO!!!"

"Shut the hell up you screaming bastards! How am I supposed to fucking hear anything with you bastards howling like monkeys!?"

"That's a wolf, Vice Commander." The young man who corrected Ears got a rock thrown at his nose. His fellow allies only laughed at him and his bloody nose. It was his own fault for correcting the Vice Commander.

'This kind of atmosphere isn't so bad.' Jing thought.

  She wondered if her own followers were getting along like this. If so, she will be looking forward to when she goes out traveling with them. It would be a while until then but it was still something to look forward to. Their personalities are all quite different and should be entertaining to see them come together.