Chapter 5: A Strange Fruit

Groggily waking up and taking a moment to clear the blurriness from his eyes, Weizhe picked himself up off the ground. Looking around the small hut he called home, he saw standing there in a corner of the room overlooking a wok was his mother, Zhilan. His mother, despite being middle aged, look no older than a woman in her 20's, she had long jet black hair and ivory skin, with deep blue eyes not unlike her brother Zhixin. She wore a pien fu, a two piece outfit consisting of a long tunic on top and skirt on bottom. A noteworthy difference in her appearance is that, unlike the complete human form that Zhixin and the elder Lihua displayed, her human form was still only partial, as her ears were replaced with those of a horse and coming out from behind her was a horse tail. Having sensed Weizhe wake up she turned to look at him, a cold look on her face, though a look in her eyes would show some warmth buried deep within. She grabbed an apple beside her before extending her hand towards Weizhe. "Here, have some breakfast."

Slowly walking up to her, he looked down at the apple in her hand and then back up at her for a moment, almost as if asking if it was for him, resulting in her slightly smiling and the coldness in her eyes to melt.

"Yes silly boy, it's for you", to illustrate her point she placed the apple close to his mouth. Understanding the gesture, he opened his mouth and took a bite. Smiling, she placed the apple down on the ground for him to continue eating, before turning back to the wok which was cooking some vegetables. As horse type demon beasts they were herbivores and thus could only eat fruits and vegetables. Soon a comfortable atmosphere filled the home, the sound of Weizhe munching on his apple, the occasional stir of the vegetables cooking in the wok, and the crackling of the fire were the only sounds present. Finishing his small breakfast, Weizhe began trotting towards the entrance of the hut, but a cold voice behind him caused him to pause. "Don't you dare go to that river. It's dangerous, and it'll only cause your reputation to worsen if you continue to practice human body cultivation."

Facing his mother, Weizhe tilted his head curiously, not understanding what she said, though seeing a stern look in her eye he understood it likely something important. Letting out a neigh acknowledge that he had heard her, he turned and walked out the hut towards the gates of the compound, causing Zhilan to sigh, though she let the matter drop knowing words wouldn't work on Weizhe.

The sun was at its peak in the sky signifying that it was already noon, and in the dense forest a familiar scene occurred in a stream. Sweating and in pain, Weizhe was once again stubbornly submerged in the fierce river rapids, causing faint traces of red to appear in the water around him. Having been in the water for two whole hours Weizhe was finally reaching his limits, evident by the violent trembling of his body. A small rock traveling in the rapids brushing by, leaving a small gash on his side, was the final straw. Letting out a wretched cry, he quickly stepped out onto the river banks before falling over and lying there. He only took a moment to enjoy the feel of the cool ground before shakily getting up, and stumbling into the dense forest. Perhaps it was the result of blood loss or the fall he took when he exited the river but his vision was swirling, teetering on the verge of the black, until eventually he tripped and there on the ground he fell into the blissful embrace of sleep.

An hour later a droplet fell on a leaf in the tree above, traveling down until it eventually dropped landing straight onto Weizhe's head. Shortly after more followed and with the emergence of rain Weizhe's eyes fluttered, slightly annoyed at having been disturbed from his slumber, before his mind cleared and he remembered where he was. Forcing himself to stand, he looked around in an attempt to determine his location, however he traveled quite the distance into the forest before passing out, and the rain had washed away his tracks, leaving him with no way of tracing his steps back to the river. Anxious, Weizhe tried calling for help, however, whether it was because he was too far from anyone else or the sound of the rain was drowning out his cries, he got no response. Realizing his attempts were futile, Weizhe stood there, blankly staring at the ground for a second, before deciding to start moving a direction of his choice. Venturing further into the forest wasn't easy in his current state, many times he stumbled against tree roots or small rocks along the ground, and the occasional scraping of nearby bushes on his injured body made recoil in pain; still, he persevered. Traveling through the now dark forest, he continued pressing on in a single direction, the passage of time eventually allowing for the rain clouds to disperse.

Stopping in place, his ear twitched. One time, two times, his ears now picked up a distant sound. Rushing water! Excited, Weizhe broke out into a mad dash, disregarding the dire situation of his body and pushing forth in the direction of the sound, however his reckless charge caused him trip on a large root jutting out of the ground, landing him head first into a bush. With a groan, Weizhe picked his head up off the ground ever so slightly before pausing, a peculiar scent drifting into his nose. It was a pleasant aroma like the faint smell of nectar one picks up when smelling a flower, and held an almost demonic allure. Weizhe's pupils dilated, becoming the size of pinholes, and looking down he caught sight of the source of the aroma. Hidden in the bush was a small yellow-stemmed plant with large bell-shaped leaves and with strange fist-sized fruits hanging off the sides of the stem. The skin of the strange fruits had a bumpy texture not unlike a bayberry and the color of the fruit itself was a dark, cool green like grass in the shade. An intense urge swelled up within Weizhe, every fiber of his being screamed at him to take a bite out of the plant, and Weizhe without hesitation gave into the urge and took one of fruits in his mouth.

Immediately after placing the fruit in his mouth he tried to spit it out as a potent bitterness spread through his mouth, but the fruit quickly melted into a liquid paste and dived down his throat. Rushing down his esophagus into his stomach, the green paste spread out to cover the walls of his stomach before eventually sinking past and spreading throughout all his body. An incredible scene occurred, wherever the liquid traveled his muscles and tendons would burst with newfound strength and his organs would function far more efficiently.

The miraculous green paste soon became a dull greenish gray with flecks of black, impurities in Weizhe's body which had been picked up by the paste, and seemingly nearing its end it began to rush out from the pores in Weizhe's skin. Weizhe felt incredibly agonizing pain as the now dull paste forced its way out his pores. Eventually all of the dull paste had left his body, leaving him lying there completely covered in a layer of grime, though if one were to look below that layer they would see his cuts and bruises had healed, a result of the paste making contact with his skin on the way out. Weizhe himself, after shaking off the pain and layer of filth, also seemed to notice his rejuvenated state, and excitedly got up and galloped around before the distant sound of the river reminded him of his original goal. Glancing down at the bush that held the strange fruits, Weizhe turned and began walking towards the river, reaching the banks he looked around in search of something. Catching sight of some rocks, he picked them up with his mouth and starting lining them up in a straight line with one end pointing towards the river and one in the direction of the fruits. Satisfied at having found marked the location of the fruits, he now faced another dilemma. Should he move further downstream, or travel upstream?

Standing there on the banks, Weizhe stared at the river hoping some idea, any idea, would come to mind. Perhaps the heavens, seeing the hopeless young horse, took pity and granted him inspiration in the form of a droplet flying out the river onto Weizhe's body. Feeling the droplet, Weizhe had an idea! Having trained in the river since he was young no one among the clan was more familiar with the strength of the river than Weizhe, being able to sense even the subtlest changes in intensity, and so he dipped one of his hooves into the river to test the water. Noticing the strength was slightly lower than where he usually trained, he now knew to move up along the river.

Not too long after walking up along the banks, Weizhe heard calls from a familiar voice. Breaking into a gallop he dashed forward, catching sight of Weiyang who was searching for Weizhe. Weiyang, hearing the clop of his hooves, saw Weizhe and mimicked his actions, the two ending up running in circles around each other.

"There you are! Your mother sent me to search for you when you hadn't returned to the compound after such a long time." Glad that Weizhe was safe, she nuzzled her against the side of his, before pulling back and giving him a stern look. "You shouldn't wander the forest recklessly, it's easy to get lost within if you don't keep track of where you're going" The stern look in her eyes allowed Weizhe to calm down from his initial excitement. Walking back in the direction he came from, with a serious look he gestured for Weiyang to follow . Confused, she closely followed him until they finally reached the bush that held the strange fruits. Wanting to show Weiyang, Weizhe lied down and poked his head through the foliage. Weiyang, following his lead, peered into the bush and caught sight of the fruit. She sucked in a breath of cold air, her eyes went wide and her body lightly trembled. "This is-?" Moving her head closer, she took a whiff of the plant, and began examining it.

"This is one of the rare plants on the mountain Elder Lihua showed us during her lecture on flora and fauna. This should be the Thread Binding Vitality fruit, a healing fruit capable of restoring even severed limbs as long as they're connected by a single thread. I thought it was strange that you showed no signs of injury, considering all you do is train in that ruthless river." Teasing Weizhe at the end, she then sunk into thought. The elder had mentioned during lectures that rewards would be granted to those reported any discoveries of rare ingredients, however the rewards were only useful to those who practiced spiritual cultivation. She had no intention of turning in the fruits herself, as she knew Weizhe was the one to discover them. Staring directly at Weizhe and then back to the fruit a thought came to mind.

"Maybe we can use them to supplement his training, with this he might even have a chance at placing well in the upcoming competition." Satisfied with this idea, and giving a determined nod, Weiyang decided she would help Weizhe train for the tournament.