章 27: Chapter 27- Frenn
The rest of the day went about as exciting as a flat chest. No bumps all the way, but still kind of fun to experience. (A/N: it's a joke, don't sue me.)
The time is currently night, and Long Ren stood in front of a small cave. Its entrance is about 2 meters tall and 1 meter wide.
Long Ren had only discovered this small cave a few hours before, and it now appears to be the best location for his camp. But first, he must explore to see whether it is occupied.
He took out a fire runestone torch and injected his Qi into it, illuminating the dark cave. Long Ren was alarmed as he entered because he heard some crackling sounds from further in.
He immediately charged up a bullet and pressed further in, and after a while, he saw a light, which only means one thing, another cultivator was already camping there.
Or they forgot to turn the fire off, but it's quite improbable.
Cultivators typically create "fire" by injecting their Qi into a special fire runestone, which, while cheap, isn't cheap enough to be discarded like dirt.
So, with this knowledge, Long Ren deeper in, still with his charged bullet as a precaution. And sure enough, another cultivator already made herself comfortable there.
He noticed a woman his age sitting on a rolled-up sleeping bag, eating what appeared to be a meat soup with vegetables, a staple camping dish, really.
Her silvery-purple hair was tied up into a ponytail with a red hairband, leaving two tails of hair to pop from each side.
She wore the standard star clan cultivators' robes, with the exception of a red layer near her neck, which was most likely customized, similar to his shirt-robe combination situation.
Her expression looked impassive, but he sensed a gentleness emanating from her aura. He might be high, tired, or both.
(A/N: There are two pics here. 1 of her with a ponytail and one with hair let down. I like ponytails better, but the reference I used had her hair let down, so I made two. I like both styles. Also, yes, IK the letdown looks a bit weird, but do let me know which of the two you like better :))
The woman noticed Long Ren as well and only nodded as she gestured for him to come in, not bothered by his arrival at all.
Long Ren initially thought this woman was playing it too safe, but soon realized that all cultivators here are either from the clan or have close ties to it, so no one with malice should appear.
Of course, exceptions can happen, but Long Ren isn't one of them.
Seeing her welcoming gesture, Long Ren just nodded back at her and set his camp near hers, seeing the insides of the cave aren't that large and all.
He set up the same tent he used before because, even though it's "indoors," he doesn't want to dirty his futon. A bit of a clean freak, if you will.
Soon, He heard a voice calling out to him after he finished setting up his camp. "Have you had anything to eat yet? If you want, I have some extra." The woman exclaimed from outside,
Hearing her question, Long Ren stood up, said "Ok," and sat next to her half-full pot of meat soup.
She removed a bowl and utensils from her ring and handed them to Long Ren, nudging her head toward the soup.
"You can have the rest." She said
"Thank you." Long Ren replied, and as he scooped the soup into his bowl, he decided to, for once, make some small talk.
Seeing her friendly gesture and all, she appears to be quite the nice person. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
"I haven't yet received your name; mine is Long Ren; what is yours?"
"Mn, Long Ren, nice to meet you, my name is Yun Ning," she replied.
…
Awkward silence reigns in the atmosphere as Long Ren did not know what to say next…
'Damnit, argh, why did I even open my mouth, I should have stayed silent if this is what's going to happen!' Long Ren reflected internally, regretting not being more social in his previous life, and in this one as well. He quickly becomes depressed as he recalls his past social life.
Fortunately, the woman appears to have a bit more social skills than Long Ren, as she asks. "So, what rank are you? Did you just recently join? I've never seen you around."
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm new; I only joined two, almost three years ago, and I'm still rank four." Long Ren responded quickly while scooping and eating a spoonful of meat.
The flavor is actually quite pleasant. Although it is a little salty, at least it has flavors, as some cultivators simply do not care about flavor and only bring nutritional food around.
All in all, he enjoyed it, due mainly to the tenderness of the meat. Had this been a supermarket cheap meat, the soup would be rated a 2/10.
"What, two years? That was around the same time as me. But fourth and alone? Are you sure you can climb this mountain?" She asked, her tone tinged with curiosity.
After all, only rank-5 or even rank-6 cultivators usually venture into Mountain 2 alone. It's very rare for anyone below the recommended rank to venture in, not to mention alone.
"It's fine, I'm quite strong." He said and showed a spatial bullet, much to her surprise. It is indeed an unusual technique as she gazes at it with curiosity.
"I can manage here by myself, it's not that difficult." Long Ren continued, still eating soup, and then inquired, "What kind of meat did you use for this soup, by the way? It's extremely tender and flavorful."
"Oh, really? It's from a rank 6 red-eyed rabbit I hunted a few hours ago; they're fast, but their pattern is so linear that... Are you all right?" Yun Ning responded but trailed off when she noticed Long Ren dropping his spoon on the bowl and staring at her in disbelief.
"...Wha… What's the problem? It's not that surprising that I can hunt a rank-6 beast, after all, I'm already rank-5." She asks, perplexed by the looks she was receiving.
Long Ren's mouth only opened and closed a few times, but no words came out of it. He finally sighed and asked. "It's nothing, really. But was the rabbit chomping on a bear?"
She tilts her head at the odd question, putting her hand on her chin, and answered, "Now that you mention it, it was eating a big bear when I found it, how did you know?"
Long Ren sighed even more, bewildered by the thought of the seemingly gentle woman killing off such a cute plushie, different worlds, different customs, most likely.
Anyway, what's done is done, and the rabbit wasn't his pet or anything; it was just a bit sad for Long Ren.
He felt as if the stray cat he once fed was dead right in front of him, and worse, he was eating its meat...
Actually, that is exactly what is happening right now, albeit to a rabbit.
Long Ren became even more depressed as he reflected on the situation.
Yun Ning didn't know what had happened or what to do when she saw his depressed expression, so she did what she thought would cheer him up.
"You can eat more of this meat here, you seem to like it, and after all, it's not every day that you get to eat the meat of a rank-6 magical beast." She said this as she mercilessly scooped another scoop of soup into his bowl.
"..." Long Ren
"It's fine, I'm full now, thanks for the offer." Long Ren smiled wryly and answered dismissively, He wanted to change the topic. More thoughts about his stray cat situation will only be more depressing, so He asks, "How long have you been here?"
Yun Ning picked up on his dismissive tone and so followed, "Hmm…I think I've been here for a year now."
"A year? What were you doing up here for so long?"
"Not much really, just hunting some beasts and honing my techniques, after all, I don't really enjoy staying cooped up and just cultivating, so I stay here most of the time and only go back to the clan when I need supplies."
Yun Ning cleaned up the camp up before bringing the remaining soup into her storage ring, much to Long Ren's relief.
"Have you reached the pond yet?" Long Ren asked
"I did, but only once though since it's not worth going into the center of the mountain just to eat some better-tasting fish. Not to mention that when I arrived, half of it had already been taken by everyone, so I could only take a few."
She dusted her hands together and sat back down on her rolled-up sleeping bag.
She looked at Long Ren's thinking expression. Although a bit unsure, she decided to shoot the question. "Are you thinking of going up? You know you'll die with your rank four cultivation."
Long Ren looked up to her from his thoughts and answered with a chuckle, "As I've said before, I'm quite strong. Don't worry, I can handle myself; the worse that could happen is me getting mentally traumatized, nothing too serious."
Yun Ning laughed as well when he heard his response. "Well, it is your life; just don't come back to me later and blame me for not warning you."
"Heh, definitely not," Long Ren snickered. He had 100% confidence in his ability to, at the very least, run away.
…
Long Ren and Yun Ning were still talking even an hour later. They introduced themselves to each other more thoroughly and discussed whatever naturally came up in the conversation.
She, just like Long Ren, had a unique elemental affinity. Both were also taken aback by the other's uniqueness, Yun Ning by Long Ren's spatial affinity and Long Ren by Yun Ning's ice affinity.
Ice affinity cultivators are arguably even rarer than spatial affinity cultivators, owing to their unconventional methods and known cultivators.
Spatial affinity, while rare, is still widely well-known for its power and versatility.
After all, storage rings are a must for all cultivators, and guess who made those?
Ice cultivators, on the other hand, rarely appear in the grand stage of cultivation. Of course, there are exceptions, but well…there are always exceptions for everything.
The chances of a Space affinity cultivator and an Ice affinity cultivator meeting each other in one small cave, who would've thought that could happen today, and yet it did.
Maybe the fate strings were in play, but Long Ren and Yun Ning didn't care.
They were having a good time talking about mundane topics, sharing experiences, and exchanging techniques.
As all things, after a while, they decided to end their conversation and go back to get some rest.
After all, it was getting dark, and they both wanted to continue their journey first thing the next morning.
"I had fun talking with you Long Ren, glad you stumbled upon my cave." Yun Ning said with a smile on her face. A small tint of blush appeared on Long Ren's face as he answered,
"Me too, thanks for sharing your food again, even if it was a little strange, it was delicious." Long Ren said, still with a wry smile thinking about that event, but then continued, "I hope we meet again someday later on."
"Mn, me too... good night." She waved her hands as she walked back into her tent, to which Long Ren replied, "Good night, Yun Ning." He waved his goodbyes as well and went inside his tent.
…
The only sounds remaining inside the cave are the crackles of fire from the runestone and a warm atmosphere enveloping the two blossoming tents.
(A/N: Also, would you guys ever believe me if I say that she is not a romance option?)
クリエイターの想い 
GuessMyName
GuessMyName I have not interacted (offline) with a woman in three years thanks to no one but myself and a certain beer brand, but, I think this is how male and female interaction goes…probably? IDFK anymore Smoge
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