The morning horizon

The warmth of the sun penetrated the flaming descent of the Xi village and it caused the night's fire to fall off into the ashes. Fu Hua walked out just as the first ray of the sun rose over the horizon.

He watched as the fire shimmered down into nothing and as the ashes disappeared under the glory of the sun. There was no evidence of the last night left on the scenery of the Xi village, a fresh new day had begun.

"Ah, young master? Did you not sleep at all?" the elderly lady asked, having woken up early to take care of her usual business. Since she had lived here for a long time, she had adapted to a short-sleep schedule a long time ago.

But for her to find such a distinguished young master awake so early in the morning was a rare occurrence. Did most nobility not prefer to sleep in and indulge in their luxury every chance they got?

This was a weird noble in her eyes, having saved a common merchant yesterday and even went off into seemingly danger on his own. His companions were extraordinary too, risking their lives to follow the monster yesterday.

These were the kind of nobles she had dreamed about, the ones in the fairytales of her own grandmother when she had been young. Then reality had struck and she had known the true face of that so-called nobility and their tyranny.

But maybe they were not all bad and greedy. Maybe there were fair and just nobles out there.

"I slept plenty tonight. It really is a well-established business and managed by such lovely people too. I just wanted to admire the beauty of this place a little bit more" the female took her clue to leave.

It was clear that the noble had a lot on his mind and she did not want to disturb him. It was weird though, his overall cloak and how he did not show any part of his body except his upper neck with the bite mark.

Someone likely had a good night before coming here it seems.

The elder lady took a last look at the noble who was looking at the horizon with a glazed-over look and his cloak finally moved a little to bare his arms.

Her eyes met a pair of bindings and a slave mark which she had only seen once. This noble was a slave? How had she missed it till now? Then one of the others inside had to be his master.

Then she realised another crucial detail on his neck and her eyes widened and her face reddened. Did this not mean he was 'that' kind of slave to his master? Surely that was what the bite mark meant and the elderly felt her brain melt at the news.

She suddenly realised that she should not look into it if she wanted to keep her life because this was a private matter and one that was frowned upon by society. She should not let it show that she had found such a thing on the other person's neck at all.

It must be the rough-looking one who had chased the monster yesterday. The kid was too young to have that kind of side and the other seemed far too into himself to have a slave as kind and thoughtful as this one.

But she also itched to gossip about this juicy news she had just found but she had to contain herself. She should not let others know about this, she should not but then she would not have any new news to contribute.

Anyway, the rumour ended up going out and in various twisted forms as it travelled from one mouth to another. In an hour or two, everyone in the small town of Xi knew about it.

Fu Hua was not aware of any such happenings at all and his mind was elsewhere. Mainly on the talisman, he had seen hanging up. He had drawn one for a desperate man who had lost his son to the monsters before.

And once the news had spread, more people had come to ask him for one. Once Xi family had known about this, a servant had come to invite Fu Hua to meet their noble but he had refused. He had not wanted to see anyone from that family he still had trauma about.

It had not gone over well and then Fu Hua had been driven away. But there had to be more he was missing there since he did remember more details that had seemed unimportant back then.

After he had declined the meeting, no new persons had come to ask for the talisman. It did not help that he hid his face often when he did his work so no one likely could tell how Fu Hua looked.

General Yuhan had followed behind the monster yesterday but he had not found any trace of it either which was weird. The monster of that size and attribute should have left behind a trace at least.

This all pointed to human interference which was not unlikely.

But Fu Hua was not going to solve this staying inside here and he needed to research more about this topic instead of jumping to conclusions.

In the sky, the sun was getting even higher up and the black was giving way to the blue of a healthy sky. But Fu Hua saw the signs of the clouds in that blue as well. The sky was not going to remain clear for much longer.

He should go inside and warn the party who should have woken up by now.

Fu Hua only made it to their shared room before he saw a teen girl trying to peek inside his room. She had a water bucket at her feet which was steaming but she did not enter yet.

Fu Hua gave out a soft cough which made the girl flinch and jump in fright before her large brown eyes landed on him. The female went red in her face, her eyes diverting from him to below him.

"I-I, hot water for the bath?" The female looked lost and then her eyes fell on the water bucket before she finally remembered her reason for coming here. Fu Hua wanted to give out a small laugh at the adorable display.

"It's alright. You can come inside to leave the water" The girl shyly opened the door and went inside. Her eyes moved toward Xiao Lan's covered form for a few solid seconds before she remembered the reason she was here.

She hurriedly put the bucked in the adjacent room before she came back with a lost look. There was only one bucket of warm water and two people. Should she get another one?

"It's alright. One is enough since I don't need the warm water. You can go and enjoy yourself now" the female gave a soft nod of acknowledgement before she left.

She did cast a last look over at Xiao Lan's covered form before she left with a disappointed look on her face. Fu Hua wanted to laugh at the cute display but at the same time, he felt himself choke as a voice called out.

"Is she gone? Finally. I thought she would stay out there forever" Xiao Lan was awake, the sheet that covered his being pooling in his lap now. Fu Hua could just shake his head at the display and behaviour of the other.

"If you were awake then you should have said something to let her in. The poor girl was standing there for a long time." The look Xiao Lan gave him clearly said that it was a poorly thought out idea on Fu Hua's part.

"If I give her an inch then she might reach for a mile next. Besides, she could have come in at any time and not made a fool out of herself" Sometimes Fu Hua forgot just how socially apt Xiao Lan really was.

His family relations were not that well developed and everyone just kept their distance. He had only Fu Hua as a friend for a long time and Fu Hua had never been in a position to object to anything Xiao Lan did.

What kind of understanding had the other developed this far into his life? Fu Hua was not sure he wanted to know at all.

"Anyway, you should take a bath now. I'll take one after you and then we'll meet the other two for a discussion and breakfast" Fu Hua took a seat while Xiao Lan picked himself up.

"Don't tell me what to do. You already lost that right a long time ago" but despite that Xiao Lan picked himself up and followed the instructions Fu Hua gave.

It was just logical to do that and there was no other reason alright? Even if it felt like an excuse, that was the truth and Xiao Lan would not hear otherwise.