7 seven

The Book of Heart and Mind was obviously about LaoHu Jun and Liang Shao, the former being the heart and the latter the mind. It really fit their characters.

But MiQian really wanted to know what his role was in this mess. And the system - was it supposed to help? Because it really didn't! It was like it thought MiQian was an idiot! And, yes, he could be, but at the moment, he did pretty good.

They were walking since a few days and when it started to rain they conveniently found a cave in which they could take shelter.

Since they were resting, MiQian took his time to take care of himself. First, he redid his hair. He got rid of the pearls and braided the long strands. He crossed the braids at the back of his head and used them to tie the shorter hair into a ponytail.

After his hair was done, he took a closer look at his dress. Somehow, he was able to redo it and turn it into a practical white robe. Apparently, his sewing skill was also very leveled up. For survival purposes or what?

„You're impressive, in a weird way…" commented LaoHu Jun.

„I know. Hey, do you remember your name?"

„Uhm… Why?"

„Because LaoHu Jun is a title and calling you lord would mean I'm lowering myself under you, and I'm not going to do that."

LaoHu Jun scratched his head. „I don't remember any other names…"

MiQian thought a bit, and decided to find a name he could call the tiger that wasn't so uncreative and on the nose.

Evening came and it was still raining, so they made a fire.

MiQian dried a few leaves and made two beds out of them, which felt more like a survival game than a novel, and he soon fell asleep because he was very exhausted from the last few days.

LaoHu Jun stared at MiQian. He pulled out his sword and pointed the tip at MiQians Adams apple. Slowly, he pressed the sword down.

His heart was racing as he saw a tiny drop of blood drip onto the blade. Why couldn't he do it? What mysterious power kept him from killing that scum, from completely insulting and destroying him?

He sheathed his sword and crawled from the leaf bed. Maybe there was an item on MiQians body that pacified others or something.

He took a close look at the face of the sleeping boy, then removed the leaves from his body and turned him on his back. A shiver went through his body and he curled himself up again.

LaoHu Jun almost bit his tongue in anger.

He let his hand slide through the clothes and found a little white pouch with black embroidery. He opened it and found a sewing kit, things for painting and writing, money and a weird paper with something written on it.

In the sleeves were that mildly annoying brush and a white tissue.

He put everything back when he noticed something under the clothes.

Carefully, he opened the belt that kept the robes together and removed the outer layer of clothes, opened the undergarments - and stopped.

MiQians whole upper body was covered in a thin layer of snow white bandages. They were made out of a strange, soft material and LaoHu Jun wasn't able to get them off, not even with his sword.

Suddenly, MiQian opened his eyes. They were completely white. He sat up, did his clothes again and threw a paper talisman at LaoHu Jun which catapulted him back to his bed. After that, MiQian closed his eyes and fell back onto the leaves.

LaoHu Jun was very confused.

His sword should have been able to cut the bandages. After all, it was the great sword Tao (meaning great waves) that could have the power of a tsunami. The problem was probably the „could" in that sentence, because it depended on the true will of the holder.

LaoHu pouted a bit before lying down.

MiQian belonged to the Ran sect, but his Ran was written different.

The cause was a language confusion. In Japanese, Ren meant lotus, but someone confused it with Ran, which meant orchid. So the Ran were written with the character for orchid, but had a lotus as their symbol.

But MiQians Ran was written with the character therefore, wich translated his name to roughly meaning „therefore being as humble as rice"

Actually, LaoHu Jun couldn't read, so Qiao Li had explained all this to him after hearing it from Fei Mo.

But what was up with the bandages and the white eyes? Was it a form of sleepwalking? He would try to find out at least a bit, just to satisfy his curiosity.

MiQian woke up. This body had a very deep sleep, but anything that sounded suspicious woke him up halfway.

But this sound was concerning, so he was completely awake.

He sat up and looked around. The fire was out and LaoHu Jun sleeping peacefully on the other bed.

MiQian didn't trust the tiger completely, so he checked his pouch. Everything was still there. The only thing missing was his fan, but that thing was gone for a while already.

He checked his bandages. He didn't know what was under them since he couldn't really take them off, but they had only appeared a few days ago after his skin had started peeling off from all the sweat.

It was really weird.

He heard the sound again and squinted his eyes. The cave went very deep into a mountain, so naturally there would be other animals. But who could've thought that they sounded that creepy and huge!

MiQian stood up and blew into the fire. Because of his somewhat elementar abilities he was able to lit the fire again.

He thought: If I'm best described with very pretty, this novel deserves very weird.

MiQian used a flame talisman and took a few steps deeper into the cave. Water was dripping from the ceiling and a few insects crawled along the walls.

He felt a shiver go down his spine and went in a bit deeper. His heart felt very scared as he stepped on loose ground and almost fell. But he still continued. Maybe he should've woken the tiger up…

Then, he found something. His eyes were very good, so the dim light of the talisman was enough for him to see.

There was a huge hole in the ground with a spiral way going down to the bottom. The ceiling was a hollowed out sphere with strange incantations and at the bottom of the hole lay a huge, black western dragon.

MiQians mind went blank. Fuck, a dragon!!!

He slowly moved backwards, but he slipped and the sound of his fall echoed through the cave. He froze immediately.

The gigantic dragon was woken up. As he moved his scales made a metallic sound. He lifted his heavy head and looked around the cave, searching for the cause of his disturbance.

Maybe the barrier was for this dragon??

The dragon had gleaming, red eyes, and as he spotted MiQian and his little glimmering talisman he lowered his head with a grunt and the scraping of his scales. They were metallic black.

MiQian stared at the dragon, paralyzed. He was smaller than the thin pupil of the dragon and the stinking breath of the dragon was like a small storm. MiQian could also see the moss or whatever it was that was growing inside the nostrils of the dragon.

The dragon opened its mouth, revealing rows and rows of sharp silvern teeth.

„Ah, fuck."

An ear piercing roar echoed through the cave. It made the ground shake and the cave collapse.

MiQian felt like his ears were bleeding. The sound vibrated in his bones, made him unable to stand up.

Suddenly, a blue sword glare shot forward and hit the dragon in the eye.

LaoHu Jun grabbed MiQian and pulled him behind him.

„What the hell did you do?!"

„Shut up, my ears…"

MiQian was almost crying while he pressed his hands onto his ears. His knees were shaking and he almost fell again.

LaoHu Jun had intended to fight the dragon, but seeing that MiQian wouldn't be able to run away, he wasn't that sure anymore.

The dragon blinked irritated. When he saw LaoHu Jun, he wanted to roar again, but another glare hit him in the back of his mouth and the big monster had to cough.

LaoHu Jun used that opportunity to pick MiQian up and run out of the collapsing cave.

As soon as he stepped outside, he slipped on the still wet grass.

They sat there for a while.

When they heard the roar again, they hurried to get away from the mountain.

Normally, MiQian talked a lot, but now, he was very quiet. Every sound made him annoyed and he didn't move, so to make progress LaoHu Jun carried him again.

After a few hours, he was better, but still in a bad mood.

„I feel so dumb for just blindly exploring…"

„Exploring is never secure…"

MiQian sighed. „I know, but still…"

LaoHu Jun decided to keep quiet.

„I really like to talk, but I also really appreciate silence."

„I don't like talking."

„But you do it as much as I do."

„Huh."

„Talking is just exhausting… And the roar was too loud…"

„Then stop talking."

MiQian slid down in his arms and seemed to relax.

In reality, he was pissed at the system that informed him repeatedly that LaoHu Jun had tried to kill him.

„LaoHu Jun…"

Yeah, I got it, so stop talking.

„New ability uncovered and unlocked: Pacifier. The subconscious ability to pacify beings and befriend them."

That's useful! Thank you!

„Upgrade the abilities level to achieve conscious usage."

How do I upgrade?

„Collected brownie points: 438. Needed points for upgrade: 600."

How do I collect brownie points…?

„Use abilities. Form relationships and connections. Keep the plot going. Avoid out of character actions."

Okay… What achievements do I have?

„Meet protagonist. Meet the two masters. Uncover the past. On the way to the human realm. And others. Lost points: wearing woman's clothing. Losing Huang Hua."

Oh…

MiQian thought a bit, then remembered something.

„LaoHu Jun is a title, so I thought of a name for you."

„A name?"

„Yes. It is written with the characters for burning and heart, spoken Ran Xin."

„Ran…? Like Ran Qi?"

„Well, it sounds the same." MiQian shrugged.

„Then won't people think we're related?"

„Eh. Who cares. It's a name that fits you."

„Burning heart…"

„It's better than tiger king."

„So you'll call me that?"

„Yes. Ran Xin. I think it sounds good."

The system gave him an achievement for finding a good name for the tiger.

How many brownie points is that?

„It was not a priority. Brownie points added: 62. Current b-points: 500."

So the system evened it out. Good enough.

At noon, they arrived in the human realm. There wasn't much at the border, just a small, deserted town.

„Dosen't look too old."

„From the war."

„Clearly. Which border?"

„Some desert country and the one in the grass plains."

„Ah. Well, we'll just stay here for the night. And I'll search for new robes, this outfit is ridiculous."

„Glad you noticed."

MiQian let out a single laugh and swiftly started to search for a shop. Ran Xin followed him.

They had to search for a while before they found a shop with quality items.

„Why don't we just look inside houses?"

„Because if we still find something there, it probably is bad quality. Also, there won't be anything to sew up holes and such."

„Huh."

The shop they had found had very good fabrics and some cloth with nice patterns, and MiQian found two designs he really liked.

One robe was dark blue like the night sky, the other one was mainly white with black seams and feather like patterns on the sleeves and the seam next to the ankles, while the undergarment was of a bright red. It reminded MiQian of a Japanese crane.

The blue one was thinner, better fit for warm areas, and if MiQian did a bit of tinkering with the other one, he could wear it in cold regions.

Ran Xin watched him as he sewed red and black fur onto the white robe, making it look even more bird like.

„Should I also make one for you?"

Ran Xin wanted to answer that it wasn't necessary, but the thought of having something made extra for him was charming to him, so he nodded.

But he didn't expect MiQian to ask so many questions about his preferences just to make a good outfit for him.