บท 60: Triple Suspicions
Kuro quickly covered the whole cave with his powerful spirit sense and even gone as far as making multiple layers to prevent the intruder from peeking through. Although he knew he wasn't as strong as the smelly old fish in terms of cultivation levels, his spiritual sense wasn't too far behind due to his higher tiered bloodline. He even sent over a silent warning to the old fish in the form of psyche attacks though they were not meant to hurt. Unbeknownst to him, spending a week with Hana had mellowed out the notorious little snake. If it was the old Kuro, he would've spent all of his energy to attack the Crystal-veined stream Lord even if it costed him his life.
Kuro's actions had prevented Lord Tittua's spiritual sense from penetrating through and bypassed the cave dwelling.
...
Lord Tittua faced suddenly turned serious as an illusory psyche attacks bombarded his mind all of a sudden!
Lord Tittua immediately pulled back his spiritual sense and visualized a sturdy psyche wall in his mind to fend off the attack. Surprisingly, the attacks weren't strong at all as they crumbled like fragile glass, but they were unmistakably laced with silent anger.
"The devious snake has gone out of his hibernation!" Lord Tittua exclaimed in surprise to the elder beside him.
"Has it been 300 years already? His previous closed door hibernation was around that long. He wakes up much earlier than expected this time. Peculiar." Watershade added. "Did you find Lady Aranyella's whereabouts, my Lord?"
"I haven't. Ara shouldn't be able to travel so far. No matter what, that snake is really suspicious. That snake didn't permit a scan on his cave and had fought back."
"He has been quite difficult since before, my Lord. Nonetheless, it is quite improper for us to barge into the young one's privacy. Anyone else would've been offended. If it's before, the boy would've attacked with all he got even with a slight provocation. The hibernation this time had done him well. He must've learnt a profound art from his distinguished bloodline memory as well as cultivated his bearing befitting his noble stature." Watershade praised Kuro with appreciation.
"True. Anyway, there's no way Ara would've been eaten by the snake, right? I have continuously reminded everyone not to step on land, especially on the snake's territory." Lord Tittua tried to convince himself to no avail. His fins started trembling. The notion got clearer by the minute. The burgeoning worry made the Crystal-veined stream Lord coughed again and puked some more blood. Once a strand of suspicion had taken root, it spread like a tumor, unable to be wiped away anymore.
"Take it easy, my Lord! I'm sure she will be all right. Let's visit the snake tomorrow at a more suitable time to inquire." He tried his best to calm the agitated Lord. It was unwise to form enmity with the snake especially when the Lord was currently severely injured.
Unwillingness clouded his eyes. "Even if his closed door cultivation had yielded him with greater power, he shouldn't be stronger than me."
"Remember what he did last time before he established his base here. Moreover, his background is profound and unfathomable, his bloodline is of a more exalted status. It's unwise, my Lord. Please reconsider!" Watershade tried again with a solemn expression while prostrating.
After a few moments of silence, the Crystal-veined stream Lord answered quietly, "I guess you're right. Let's wait for tomorrow. Before that, we need to keep looking for that naughty girl! Maybe she's just a little further down the stream, moving towards the great sea."
Lord Tittua and Elder Watershade swam towards the outer ridge of the stream. They even went to other branches of rivers around the area and finally the sea. Every single freshwater spiritual creature kept on looking for the pink football-sized fish the whole night. Some were genuinely worried, while others cursed under their breath for the extra trouble.
...
"Can you feel it, stupid fish?" Kuro inquired quietly beside the snoring Hana. He was gazing at the trembling pink fish inside the water bubble. The water was heaving chaotically following Ara's trembling. Obviously, she had detected it too; her great grandpa's aura.
"If you implicate my Mommy, you'll know what will happen to you." He added another warning. The spiritual sense sweep from the Crystal-veined stream Lord was especially strong this time, showing how desperate he was. It didn't look like he had given permission for this little fish's adventure.
Shiro opened one eye and closed it back after a meaningful stare at the floating fish. Even Markisah flew away and perched on a boulder a bit further away from her to give a silent declaration that she didn't want to be implicated with the fish's actions.
Ara cleared her throat slightly and kept quiet, not responding to Kuro's insinuation. Deep in her heart, she knew she needed to double up to ask help from Hana for the main purpose for coming on land. The spiritual herb for her grandfather.
...
Hana's sleep was especially deep this time. She wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or not; she was currently floating in a total darkness with two twinkling lights suspended on air like stars. One was bluish white, while the other was especially bright, large and dark red in color. It somehow reminded Hana of Kuro's beautiful 'ruby' on his forehead.
Surprisingly, she felt very calm even though she disliked darkness. It was as if her inner-self was at peace.
All that she could recalled was at the beginning, the cold had stopped her from falling asleep deeply, but a sudden warmth from outside enveloped her, as if she had been bundled up inside a thick blanket. So cozy. As she eased comfortably into a deep sleep, she suddenly woke up at this empty space.
Suddenly, she could feel a small fire slowly brewing in the pit of her stomach. It got warmer and warmer, but surprisingly, it didn't hurt like a burn at all. It just made her felt a slight discomfort from the heat; like immersing herself in a hotter than usual shower. Thankfully, the heat intensity stopped from increasing just shy from her tolerance level. The 'fire' then spread to encroach her entire being at a snail's pace. After a really long time, the warm sensation reached the ends of her four limbs.
Hana starting to panic as she felt like a pressure-cooker, brimming with pressure and hot soup together, just waiting to explode if the lid was prematurely opened. After a while, she took a deep breath and relaxed as she knew that whatever came next was beyond her control.
After all, it was just a dream. A dream of being pressure-cooked. What a novel experience. It was a first for her. She wondered, was this how the pretty ladies who were refined into pills inside a pill furnace felt like before dying or being saved by the suave heroes. Will an OP hero leap into her dream and save her from being 'refined' too?
Now, the aunty was anticipating the outcome of her nonsensical dream!
After a few minutes, she started to count out of boredom.
One – two – three..
Where are you, bro? I'm tired of waiting already!
After approximately ten minutes (or her six hundredth count), nothing happened. Hana still felt the same heat coursing through her whole body without any other additional effects.
This is such a weird dream. So slice-of-life! No action at all! The aunty whined unhappily. She missed the good ol' times when she became a superhero who fought for justice. It certainly beats being the damsel in distress! (Author: Of course, only in Hana's dreams 😊).
She blinked her eyes while looking left and right. The scorching heat was gone and left her with a comfortable, fresh and energetic. She suddenly yearned to do some Zumba to let off the energy.
By now I should've become a superhero or something. Why is there nothing here? Since nothing could be done and Hana was getting super bored, she took measured steps towards the twinkling lights slowly. She chose to walk towards the ruby colored one since it was brighter and more beautiful. After all, red was her favorite color, while blue was Arash's.
...
Hana woke up suddenly and sat up straight after she stretched her body. She could hear popping sounds coming from her stretched bones. She felt excellent! It was like after a good massage treatment from an excellent masseuse.
What a great sleep!
She then realized her two beloved pets were around her, warming her up.
I see. That's why I felt so warm and cozy last night.
The fire was still burning moderately, indicating that someone was keeping watch. Hana looked at Kuro and Shiro's sleeping profiles. She rubbed Kuro's little neck which was perching on her left shoulder, then caressed the bushy fox's head. Both of them purred cutely in satisfaction.
She reviewed back her uneventful dream last night. The 'walk' within the dark void was an extremely long one. She felt that she was not getting near to her destination at all. The worse thing was, she had the inclination that she had been walking for days. With that, she immediately checked her smartphone for confirmation!
4. 19 a.m. It is just the next day. Thank goodness! Hana patted her heart in relief. The dream was extremely realistic, yet very plain. She wondered, if she will ever reach the red star. Once she reached it, what will happen? It was a very suspicious dream.
Then, she realized her nails were a little bit too long for her liking! All her nails were an inch longer than usual. It was glaringly obvious when swiping through the apps inside her smartphone. Hana tried to recall when was the last time she clipped her nails but couldn't. She always hated long nails because dirt will automatically collect underneath and might tainted the food she was cooking. Arash always had to listened to her nagging as he always left them a little too long to her liking.
Strange, I thought it was shorter before I went to sleep!
She might've missed grooming herself as before she was transported here, she had just been pulling all-nighters straight for a week to care for her previously ill little one. The aunty did not realize that even her own hair which was tucked inside the messy loose bun had also lengthened for more than ten centimeters overnight. It was a sign of her own body's metabolism being stimulated with the energy from the spiritual herb she consumed.
Hana stretched her body languidly and heard her bones popped especially on her back and waist. She felt great and refreshed! Her back pain had greatly reduced somehow.
A single thumb-sized bubble flew not too far towards Hana, pulling her gaze towards it. It then suddenly popped, scaring the aunty greatly. However, the pop sound was very faint and didn't have strength behind it like the ones beside the stream. Hana massaged her heart in relief.
Behind the popped bubble was a series of tiny bubbles floating in a line towards her new fish friend. At the end of the line, Hana could see the football sized pink tilapia fish swaying inside the suspended water bubble.
It seemed that her new friend was trying to catch her attention suspiciously.
What is she trying to do? Can she just called me and not scared me to death T___T
…..
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