Fit for each other
Gu Guangzhi packed his meager belongings into a bag and walked towards the exit of the village.On the way there, he saw the head clerk being lashed by Peng Yi as punishment. He thought that he would be happy about it but he felt no joy from it. Because he had a bigger problem on his hands. Usually when a clan member awakens their aperture, they are sent to the academy for learning how to use their primeval essence, how to refine gu and how to feed and use gu. They are also given their first gu as a present. A first gu was very important as it would become their vital gu and it's usage would become akin to second nature to a gu master.
But Gu Guangzhi had given up his family name, so he wouldn't receive any training or gu from the clan. The first refinement usually takes a long time since they are rather unskilled so they need a safe place to do it. Furthermore, Gu Guangzhi only had a D grade aperture. So his primeval essence would run out faster and he would have to wait till new primeval essence is generated in his aperture. This meant that it would take a long time before Gu Guangzhi could refine his first gu. Until then he had to face the dangers in the mountain as a mortal.
The only piece of good news for him was that he had a Rank 1 Bamboo sprout gu with him that was treasured by his parents as it was the first gift they ever exchanged. But that was the end of it. It was a weak gu that was commonly found on Qing Mao mountain. But still not many people used it. One had to infuse primeval essence to the Bamboo sprout gu to produce a Rank 1 Bamboo cane gu. It was shaped just like a bamboo cane whose strength and durability depended on the amount of primeval essence infused into the Bamboo sprout gu during its creation. However, even if a gu master with an A grade infused all of his primeval essence into a Bamboo sprout gu, the attack from the resulting Bamboo cane gu wouldn't be stronger than an average attack from any other common gu available in the mountain. Thus it wasn't a gu commonly used for attacking beasts or enemies. Rather, it was used by some gu masters for disciplining others. The only benefit from this Bamboo cane gu was that it didn't expend any primeval essence while using it. It was a peculiar type of expendable gu that didn't need any food. It would get destroyed after its durability was used up. Once it was destroyed it would produce Rank 1 Bamboo twine Gu that could be used to restrict enemies to a limited extent.
As Gu Guangzhi was walking out of the village, a small girl approached him with a fruit in her hands. She was probably three years of age. Judging from her clothes, she didn't seem like a clan member. Rather she was a slave. She told him, "I heard that you are being punished. Here, take this fruit. When my mother punishes me, I get hungry. It's not very nice to get hungry." Saying so, she placed that fruit in his hand and then ran away to her mother. Her mother seemed to be displeased with her actions. Gu Guangzhi's eyes became moist and he bowed to her before walking into the mountains.
Earlier, when he was humiliated time and time again, he felt that there was no justice left in this world, he contemplated about acting like a demonic path gu master who would deceive, steal and kill to survive. He started to understand why those people in Reverend Insanity message boards loved Fang Yuan even if his acts were evil. It was because this world was filled with hypocrites who would abuse their power in the name of righteousness. In such a world, there was no demonic path or righteous path. They were simply names one gave to the other, to feel good about themselves. Gu Guangzhi was beginning to think how he could become like Fang Yuan. But now, this small act of kindness brought him back.
He scoffed at his own thoughts. He remembered the love shown by his parents in this world. The whole clan hated them and they probably had to endure jeers everyday due to their decision to get married. But they never stopped loving him. They put their actions where their heart was. It was always easy to give in to your inner demons but Gu Guangzhi decided to follow his heart. His heart told him that he was not Fang Yuan and he never wanted to be.
As Gu Guangzhi was thinking all this, he was also working on his aperture and primeval essence. He smoothly learnt to use his primeval essence and to inspect his aperture. He observed the rate of producing primeval essence and rate of consumption. While he was doing so, he stopped once in a while, observed his surroundings and continued his journey. His initial plan was to make his way towards a mortal village and find a safe place to refine his first gu. But since he gave up his family name, if the gu master over-seeing that village spotted him, he might get into trouble. So he made his way into the mountains. His parents would often reminisce about the water spring where they first met and how beautiful and serene that place was. They talked so many times about it in his childhood that he knew where it was located in the mountain.
It was getting dark and suddenly, Gu Guangzhi observed that his surroundings became very silent. It seemed as if his experience working in the store, dealing with corpses of beasts as materials, gave him some insight about wild beasts. He put down his bag and pulled out his kitchen knife that he brought along with him. It was the biggest one he could find before setting off. He held it in his hands and slowly reached for small rock nearby. He judged a wolf type beast to be nearby. He sharpened his senses and became utmost attentive and noticed the shrubs moving ever so slightly. He flung the rock in his hands with full force towards the shrubs and a low snarl could be heard.
An angry wolf pounced out of the shrubs. It was a very young wolf, maybe comparable to a gu master of Rank 1 but Gu Guangzhi didn't slack off. He waved his kitchen knife threateningly to injure it. The wolf bared it's fangs and jumped at him. As he waved his arms, the knife grazed the wolf and pushed it away while knocking him down. As he was about to get up, the wolf bit his leg and he retaliated by stabbing it in its' body. The wolf shot a stream of water towards him and knocked him away.
"It's a water wolf!", Gu Guangzhi exclaimed in surprise. As Gu Guangzhi took another look at the water wolf, he noticed that the young water wolf was already injured before and was now breathing heavily due to the stab wound he made. The water wolf was trying to utilize the stream gu in its body but it couldn't. Seems like the stream gu was damaged in the fight. Gu Guangzhi took out his spare knife and quickly climbed up a nearby tree.
He pointed his spare knife at the wolf in a defensive manner and started to refine his Bamboo sprout Gu. He wanted to refine his vital gu in a safe place but this was as safe a place he could find now. If, for some reason, his spare knife also got knocked away from his hand, he would be totally defenseless. As he injected his primeval essence into the Bamboo sprout Gu he felt a strange sensation. He felt as if, for a brief moment, he met his parents again. He felt as if they were teaching him about the gu, guiding him in the refinement and helped him in each and every step of the way. This Bamboo sprout Gu was not a wild Gu. It had already been refined by his parents before. Their remnant will acknowledged their son and allowed him to refine the Gu easily. Gu Guangzhi poured all of his primeval essence into the Bamboo sprout Gu and produced the strongest Bamboo cane gu he could.
The water wolf didn't seem to give up. Every once in a while, the water wolf would try to climb the tree in its half dead state and Gu Guangzhi would strike at it with his Bamboo cane Gu causing it to fall down. The strike wasn't deadly to the water wolf but deterred it enough and stopped it from attacking aggressively.
Qing Mao mountain faced wolf tides mainly consisting of lightning wolves. But sometimes, there were other types of wolves mixed in as well. Poison wolves and night wolves were some of the commonly seen other types. It was rare for Water wolves to be mixed among them. This was because lightning wolves have a natural advantage over water wolves and thus they can't work well as a tide. It seems like this water wolf's pack was decimated in the wolf tide and it can't return with the other lightning wolves. As night progressed, the frequency of the water wolf's attacks slowly fell. Both the water wolf and Gu Guangzhi were totally exhausted. Gu Guangzhi compared himself to the water wolf. All alone and bullied by their kind. He felt a small kinship.
When the sun rose, his Rank 1 Bamboo cane Gu was destroyed and produced Rank 1 Bamboo twine Gu. He got down the tree and used the twine to tie up its mouth. The Water wolf snarled but didn't attack. He picked it up and went back to where he dropped his bag pack and took out some bandages to nurse the Water wolf. He undid the Bamboo twine gu and fed it some food. Then he ate some as well. He tided up his bag pack and continued on his journey to the water spring. The water wolf followed him silently.