Chapter 31: At the Stream

Feng Biao had climbed up the mountain slowly. The thick vegetation that covered it was a blessing and a curse, without it he surely would have been spotted, but it made the ascent more tedious than he had imagined.

Feng Biao wasn't used to the outdoors. The reason most people put up with the conditions within the slums was that the wilderness was a far more dangerous place. Monsters that had slipped past Marbles had infested the areas humanity no longer laid claim to as the centuries passed.

As Feng Biao climbed he had sneaked past numerous oni. He had noticed one terrible fact along the way.

"They're never alone."

When he spotted one he could be sure more lurked near it, making the prospect of hunting them difficult.

Feng Biao felt he could deal with a group of oni, but he still had no way to deal with a wave of them. He was certain that upon engaging an entire group the noise would alert all within the vicinity to his presence.

Still, he had taken chances, anytime he noticed one stray too close to him he had silently dispatched it. The fact oni were easy to kill was appreciated. Stabbing one in the head felt like poking wet mud with a stick.

Feng Biao had managed to loot one Mythological Shard as a result of his assassinations. At his current rate, he might pass the exam, but he wouldn't get enough Shards to become a Divine Mortal.

This line of thought troubled Feng Biao who saw there as being only one other way to gain Shards quickly. To get a Divine Tool and sell it. There were two known Divine Tools within Oni Mountain, the "Oni-no-Ochoko" and the "Oni-no-Hyoutan". Oni-no-Ochoko could be found strewn about the mountain left by the Fragment Shuten-Douji and held the property of being able to store liquid poured into them without end.

As soon as the lips of a person touched them they would use up the liquid stored within them. Typically they were used as containers for water that once filled with a sufficient amount would never run out within a Marble.

Finding one of these was feasible and Feng Biao had kept his eye out for one, but had no luck. The Oni-no-Hyoutan on the other hand was impossible to obtain, at least for Feng Biao. Shuten-Douji never let it leave his side, and only those Marked strong enough to deal with the Fragment could make off with it.

The Oni-no-Hyoutan had two properties, first, it would generate the Ochoko at a slow rate, essentially making it a never-ending supply of Merit. The second property was that the Oni-no-Hyoutan contained what was estimated to be an infinite amount of sake. However, the sake was considered poisonous to even Marked.

To normal humans, it acted as an acute neurotoxin leading to death almost instantaneously upon ingestion. For Marked it would lead to serious mental impairment. Those who had been dumb enough to drink it had developed dementia and the like.

Shuten-Douji wasn't totally immune to the effects of the sake either, seemingly always being in a state akin to that of a person with Alzheimer's.

"Finding an Oni-no-Ochoko could net me at least 5 Mythological Shards, all it will take is luck."

Feng Biao wasn't really sure how lucky he actually was. Though judging by his Divinity he guessed not lucky enough to just stumble upon an Oni-no-Ochoko.

It wasn't long before Feng Biao made it to the stream. To his surprise, he spotted someone drinking from the water.

"That's?"

Yes, he recognized this person. Sensing he was spotted the boy turned around and assumed a defensive posture. Upon registering it was another Marked he dropped the stance and became more relaxed.

"Alone?" the boy asked.

"No, you?" Feng Biao responded.

"Kind of, my friend is going to meet up with me higher up the mountain."

"I see, well don't mind me then," Feng Biao said as he went to refill his water in the stream.

"Wait a minute," the boy said as grabbed Feng Biao's shoulder.

"What?" Feng Biao asked curtly.

"I need some help."

"Sorry, I need to go meet back up with my partner," Feng Biao said as he pushed the boy's hand off his shoulder.

"Wait, wait, I haven't even introduced myself," the boy said clearly intent on talking until his entire story was told, "my name is Li Yingshi, and you are?"

"Feng Biao," Feng Biao said as he collected water from the stream.

"Well Feng Biao I have a proposition for you and your friend," Li Yingshi said with all the flair of a salesman.

"Not interested, but good-" Feng Biao said as he finished gathering the water.

"I found three Oni-no-Ochoko," Yi Lingshi interrupted Feng Biao.

That was tempting, but Feng Biao was still wary.

"And the reason you haven't taken them for yourself?"

"A green oni is sleeping near them," Yi Lingshi said flatly.

Feng Biao was conflicted, he needed an Oni-no-Ochoko, but he didn't trust Yi Lingshi. He hadn't known his name until now but he recognized the face, one of the boys who had been buddies with Lin Qing.

"The chance of him recognizing me is high as well," Feng Biao thought. The fact Feng Biao was friends with Hunter was apparent, and the animosity between Hunter and Lin Qing was no secret. The only question then was how loyal, or stupid, to Lin Qing Yi Lingshi was.

"Fine, I can take a look, but my partner will be arriving here in a short while so I can't take too long," Feng Biao said still lying about the imaginary "partner".

"That's ok, follow me," Yi Lingshi motioned Feng Biao and the two cautiously ascended the mountain.

"So you have a True Divinity?" Yi Lingshi whispered to Feng Biao.

Feng Biao simply nodded his head.

"Then why do you hang out with that loser?" Yi Lingshi asked.

"Is this really his angle? I guess I'll play along," Feng Biao thought as he speculated on what Yi Lingshi was fishing for. Based on the current line of questioning he guessed the nature of the upcoming questions.

"Hunter? He's not a loser, he's just unlucky to be born with a Partial Divinity," Feng Biao said as calmly as he could.

"Hey, I don't have anything against Part-Marked. It's just his attitude you know?" Yi Lingshi said trying to gauge Feng Biao, "It's a bit too uppity."

"Yeah, he can get pretty annoying at times. Whenever he acts like he's my superior. Oh shit sorry, don't tell him I said that," Feng Biao said looking nervously at Yi Lingshi.

"Hey-hey no need to feel bad about speaking the truth, brother. Part-Marked who don't get taught a lesson grow big heads, it's our responsibility to teach those lessons, you feel me?" Yi Lingshi said staring at Feng Biao.

Feng Biao remained silent but gave a slightly hesitant nod. Seeing this Yi Lingshi smiled.