12 The Bear Strikes

Tian Hai was giving a wry smile as he and his brother Tian Kai both walked forward while holding the hands of a child between them.

Xue Chang was giving off a very dark expression as he carefully walked step by step forward through the small village.

After his ground sinking endeavors, Xue Chang succeeded in being able to get himself out of the ground after a bit of time. His guards, who had secretly hidden to the side and watched the entire scene, came over after he called for them.

Holding the sleeves of their robes to keep himself up, Xue Chang used them to walk forward through the ground without fear. Every step he took improved his control over his own strength though.

In the city, it was easy for him to train and get used to the weight of the robe, but he was unable to practice his control as well. So while he was constantly getting stronger, he wasn't able to perfectly control that strength. Now that he was at this village in the forest, this was the perfect place for him to learn how to control his power.

Walking toward an inn located deep at the village center, the three people walked over to its entrance.

At the reception desk, a young beautiful lady stood there with a bright smile on her face. She turned over to the people who just entered her inn and gave a strange look at the sight.

The young lady watched as one of the people stepped forward with a smirk on his face and began speaking to her.

"Hello young beauty, can we purchase one room please."

Tian Kai smiled brightly at the young girl as he asked for a single room. He originally planned to get two rooms, one for Xue Chang and the other was for him and his brother to use, since even though the three of them were extremely close, they were still master and attendants. The attendants weren't usually allowed to sleep in the same room as the master.

But Xue Chang said it was okay to purchase one as he didn't really mind about those customs.

The girl looked over at the three people and, seeing that Xue Chang appeared to be around ten and the other two were quite a bit older, gave a disgusted look over to Tian Kai.

"Sir, i must remind you that while I appreciate your patronage, I do hope you'll keep to yourself for the night. The walls of the rooms are quite thin and I hope you won't do anything strange in front of your child. While I do not discriminate your 'love' I do hope you can mind your manners."

At first the three of them didn't understand what the keeper meant, but then they realized their situation.

Two older men were holding onto a young child between them happily while asking for a room to an inn. And and most importantly, the two "adults" were male!

A gross feeling welled up inside of Tian Kai as he thought back to the look in the innkeeper's eyes. Then when he realized what the person meant by "love" he began to gag out as a lump began to form in his throat.

Xue Chang was giddily laughing at the scene of the innkeeper being disgusted by his guards while the two of them gave each other a pale frightened look. He didn't plan to say anything as who would possibly listen to the ramblings of a child? But he could delight at their misfortune, especially after what happened at the carriage.

"Y-you misunderstand miss! We are all brothers and we just brought our youngest out to the countryside to experience the sights! I promise we aren't in the kind of relationship you're thinking of!"

Tian Hai hurriedly made up and excuse and gave it to the innkeeper. He couldn't let his reputation be ruined but such a silly thing.

The innkeeper gave a look of realization as she profusely apologized for her earlier assumptions. All of them just laughed it off while finishing the payment and getting the key to their room.

"It's been so long since we've been out together that I forgot about others perception about us."

Tian Kai chuckled little this sentence while hopping onto one of the beds in the large room. They purchased the largest room available with three beds found inside, one for each of them.

"Yeah, it would've been bad if rumors spread about us. I wouldn't be able to find myself a girlfriend if something like that happened."

"You say that Tian Hai, but you wouldn't be able to get a girlfriend with your piglike appearance one way or another."

Xue Chang joked about his swollen face, completely ignoring the fact that he was the one who caused it in the first place.

The three of them continued to joke around and Tian Kai immediately fell asleep a couple of minutes later. Meanwhile, Xue Chang continued to write in the book he had been working on the entire ride.

Tian Hai looked over at the book curiously and asked, "What are you doing there? Seems pretty hard if even you've spent so long working on it."

Tian Hai was already well aware that his boss was someone who was much smarter and wiser than others would expect. Although he looked like a child, he would sometime show maturity beyond his years.

Tian Hai was always curious about Xue Chang's appearance. Through all the years they had known each other, he had only ever asked the cause of it twice. Each time he was either ignored or the subject was changed.

Yet the situation at the inn reminded him again.

"Young master... no, Xue Chang, we've known each other for quite a few years now huh?"

For the first time the entire night, Xue Chang stopped writing inside of the book and looked up. With a reminiscent look in his eye, he silently nodded.

"Tian Kai and I have already promised you. No matter what happens, we will stay by your side. Money and status don't really have anything to do with our decision. You saved our lives all those years ago, we owe you everything. No matter what happens, I promise I'll always stay as your guard, and your friend."

Xue Chang listened silently to his words. He was expressionless, but he wasn't unresponsive.

"...you don't owe me anything. I saved you on a whim, and nothing more. If in the future you ever wish to leave, I won't stop you-", Xue Chang paused for a second as he took a deep breath in, "-but if you stay with me, then I'll make sure you will never regret it!"

Giving off a soft smile, Tian Hai whispered to himself, "I haven't regret a single choice I made in my life yet."

Putting a playful look onto his face, Xue Chang said, "You wouldn't bring something as random as that up without a reason. What are you planning?"

This time it was Tian Hai who became expressionless, "You've avoided it every time thus far, but I still want to test my luck a little. Why are you in your current form? I don't need an answer now, but I hope one day in the future, you'll trust me enough to tell me."

Xue Chang playfully gave a wink out as he said, "Don't worry, you'll know everything soon. Once we get past this whole situation, I'll tell you the truth and give you a chance to leave my service once more."

Suddenly, the both of them were surprised by a sudden voice entering their ears.

"Let me save you some time young master. When my brother and I make a single promise, we don't plan to break it. Till the day I die, my spear is yours and I swear to you, it's the same for my bro!"

Tian Kai actually had woken up at some point during their conversation. With his sudden input and seriousness, which was very out of character for him, Xue Chang couldn't hold in his laughter any longer.

"Before you say something like that, you should wipe the drool from you face."

Laughing wildly while pointing at the dribble of liquid dripping down Tian Kai's chin, jovial laughter escaped from Xue Chang constantly.

Even Tian Hai, who was so serious a few minutes ago, couldn't stifle his snicker.

Xue Chang looked at his two friends kindly, and although he didn't say anything out loud, he remembered their words secretly in his heart.

Suddenly Xue Chang's expression became serious. The jovial and happy demeanor he had before had disappeared completely, and all that was left was a bone chilling coldness about him.

This was his more mature personality taking over. He sensed something serious enough that he decided that the younger personality couldn't take part in this.

"Do you two sense that?"

The Tian brothers calmed down quickly as they froze in place and listened carefully. Tian Kai fell down and pressed his ear down onto the ground.

It was faint, very faint but he could tell. The ground was trembling.

"This trembling isn't natural, it feels as if a large number of things are stampeding their way over here!"

A thought flash through Xue Chang's mind as an idea popped into his head.

Looking to the other two warriors, he screeched out, "Grab your weapons, I think the bear is striking!"

Without another word, the two brothers grabbed their spear and sword. Meanwhile Xue Chang held onto the hilt of the saber he brought over with a tight grip. "Let's move!"

"Yes sir!-" they didn't even need anymore goading as the three of them hopped out of the window and moved in the direction of the trembling.