Retake *Discontinued*

Chapter Twenty-Two: Fox-Bears

"Hello, Xiao Li." sounded Nie Tai, who found her brother cultivating beneath a large tree; his tent was nearby.

Opening his eyes, Nie Li replied, "Hello, sister. Come, join me in cultivating."

Smiling, Nie Tai sat, cross-legged, with her back to the tree next to her brother. Closing her eyes, she began cultivating; the Heavenly God Technique's mantras washing over her, leaving her soul to steadily become stronger. She could feel Nie Li begin to cultivate next to her, leading to both of their techniques being boosted slightly. If two people cultivate at the same time and let their soul force wash over the other, it can lead to a speedier cultivation.

Having compressed her soul force enough so that it formed a small lake within her soul realm, Nie Tai then focused on spreading her increasing soul force throughout her body. Creating a small stream leading from her soul realm to her meridians, Nie Tai worked on strengthening and widening her meridians. If the meridians were wider, one could transport more soul force around the body faster. If the meridians were stronger, they aided in absorbing herbs, energy from other beings, and keeping the meridians from collapsing under extreme pressure. The effects from the meridians also spread to the surrounding areas: the muscles, blood, bone, and skin. In short, it was an effective way to nourish and fortify the entire body.

"Xiao Tai, it is midnight: time to rest," announced Nie Li. Nodding, Nie Tai slowly opened her eyes and quickly checked her soul force. It had risen to eighty-five! This one sitting had increased her soul force by six! A small gust of wind blew, bringing a strange odor to the notice of the twins.

"Demon-beast." stated Nie Li, who stood. Nie Tai abruptly stood and motioned for her twin to follow as she ran towards the direction of the scent. The twins quickly reached an area in the forest of about thirty feet (ten meters); immediately, they noticed the branches and fur scattered throughout the clearing, along with the smell of urine. Nie Li picked up a small piece of gray fur hanging on a branch. Looking at Nie Tai, he whispered, "Fox-Bear."

"Who goes here?" loudly asked a familiar male voice. The twins turned to see Chen Linjian, Biu Hao, Shen Yue, and one more person whose name the twins were unaware of walk out of the dark forest. Seeing the twins, Chen Linjian asked, "Why have you come out here so late?"

"A scent passed by when we were practicing." said Nie Li easily. He wasn't all that familiar with Chen Linjian, but he knew that his sister had a friendship with him.

"We decided to check it out." finished Nie Tai, crossing her arms behind her back. Her eyes passed over Shen Yue and Chen Linjian; she remembered that when the Sacred Family abandoned Glory City, Chen Linjian beheaded some of the traitors. This, she believed, meant that the Divine Family and the Sacred Family were not close allies, but also were not extreme enemies before the incident.

Shen Yue snorted, his cold aloofness arrogantly showing, and said, "You come here in the middle of the night, surely it is for an ulterior motive," The twins ignored his words; Chen Linjian's gaze passed between the twins and the Sacred Family whelp. He had heard of their conflict and had previously thought the twins to be overconfident, but recent events have forced his mind to change. Shen Yue continued speaking, "Besides, this demon-spirit nest has been abandoned for a long time."

Chen Linjian nodded, saying, "Yes, but, " he paused and turned to the twins, much to the chargain of Shen Yue, "what are your thoughts? We are only here because Ming and Biu Hao found it earlier."

"Look here," Nie Li paused and pointed at one side of the tree trunk, "there is some fur residue; furthermore, look how big this stacked nest is. There are very few demon-beasts who stack nests, and even fewer in this area; that leads me to believe that the demon beast responsible for this is the Fox-Bear, which are about three feet (one meter) in height. This is about six feet (two meters) in height; that means that it would be a patriarch or a leader in a large population, further supported by the large size of the nest."

Biu Hao and Ming, a wiry young man wrapped in black cloth, looked dumbfounded at the onslaught of knowledge; Chen Linjian, on the other hand, nodded slightly. It seemed he was happy that he brought the twins with him.

Shen Yue angrily roared at Chen Linjian, "You actually believe him? How old is he? How can he know this? He is simply making a shot in the dark!"

Ignoring Shen Yue, Chen Linjian motioned for the twins to continue; Nie Tai stepped forward slightly, commanding the attention of those present, and said, "Adult Fox-Bears are generally Silver-Ranked; they hibernate three-fifths of the year and are most active in the early summer and late fall; furthermore, the areas that they mark with their urine last through the seasons because the Fox-Bears are very particular about their territories."

Crossing his arms, Chen Linjian seriously asked, "This is early summer; what is it that you think we should do?"

"The Fox-Bears have an extremely acute sense of smell; they are also extremely territorial and will immediately attack intruders." smartly said Nie Li."

"We may have the necessary strength to defeat them," said Nie Tai in a cautionary tone, "however, that will lead to unnecessary casualties and is, ultimately, not our objective. Our objective is the Ancient Orchid City Ruins!"

Chen Linjian thought of the twins' words for a moment, he decidedly said, "Then we will leave now."

"Young Master Linjian, please don't listen to their utter nonsense!" Shen Yue shouted, his hubris and indignance obvious. He continued, "It is not also dangerous to travel at night? We should wait till morning!"

"Enough!" Chen Linjian ordered sharply, his patience lost. The young man's confident composure solidified Shen Yue's hatred of the twins even more so; turning his attention to Ming and Biu Hao, Chen Linjian said, "We are returning to camp and preparing to set off. You two handle the west side," Chen Linjian turned to the twins and asked, "You two will join me in handling the east side, correct?"

"Of course." the twins affirmed. The five left, leaving Shen Yue in the clearing.

"You dare to ignore me. Me!" the boy angrily muttered, "I swear you will pay for this faithlessness, Chen Linjian."

۝۝۝

The sound of crunching footsteps was the only disturbance in the quiet, dark forest; most of the group was far too tired to be complaining of traipsing all through the night, for they had faith in Chen Linjian. The young man showed no outward signs of weariness, encouraging the others to march silently behind him. A sudden, disturbing howl tore through the night: hairs raised on the back of necks, sweat dripped from foreheads, goosebumps ran up and down arms.

As the sound died, one man said loudly, "Young Master Chen Linjian truly has foresight!"

A woman agreed with him, "Yes! He is very wise and saved us from having to deal with those demon-beasts!"

Shen Yue ground his teeth together in aggravation, but then quickly calmed himself; he knew that the Main Affairs Elder sent three Silver-Rank demon-spiritualists to handle the twins. The boy's eyes glittered with hatred and cruelty as he stared at the twins.

Chen Linjian easily accepted the praise, but cast his eyes towards the twins; they walked silently by him, not accepting or denying the admiration given to the wrong one. The young man found it hard to believe the depth of their knowledge, but what choice did he have? His confidence and placidness were tried to the extreme the more he learned of the Nie Tai: the depth of which she thought, her easy confidence, and how much of an enigma she was. Nie Tai met his eyes; she smirked slightly and quietly asked, "What do you think we should do about our guests?"

Chen Linjian's confusion showed as Nie Li chuckled and answered his sister, "We should take the proper measures to deal with them. Yes?"

Growing tired of the banter, Chen Linjian questioned, "What guests?"

"Why," Nie Tai's eyes flashed dangerously as the sun kissed the sky, the day was starting. She quietly stated, "the three Silver-Ranked demon-spiritualists from the Dark Guild."

Heyo! Hopefully you've enjoyed the chapter!

Have a nice day! :D