Chương 45: Injured Wool Bug

All of a sudden, Shen Tianyu stopped running and started to look around. Luo Shue, who had been behind the pair the entire time, and Rong Jian stopped also and walked up to her.

"Miss, is there something wrong?" Luo Shue questioned.

"Did you hear it?" Shen Tianyu responded with a question.

Luo Shue furrowed her brows and frowned. "Hear what?"

Rong Jian sharpened his senses to try to catch what Shen Tianyu was talking about. He had been paying attention to the road and her so he hadn't noticed any small changes or disruptions.

Shen Tianyu held her hand out. "Shh... I'm hearing it again," She whispered.

Rong Jian and Luo Shue tensed up, concentrating on their ears, trying to pick up a sound.

Bzzz..

There was a faint sound form their right. It was a cross between a bee's buzz and a ballon deflating.

Frowning, Luo Shue warned. "We should leave it alone. It's none of our business."

"It sounds pretty weak so it might be injured. I think we should help it. Who knows, we might get a favor out of it." Shen Tianyu started walking towards the faint buzz.

Luo Shue sighed and Rong Jian shrugged as they followed her. Shen Tianyu found a something the size of a chihuahua in the underbrush. It looked like a miniature sheep with all the fleece on it's body. It's exposed snout had charcoal-black skin. On it's back were eight string-looking things, four pointing towards the left and right. She assumed, those are it's wings. However, the side it was laying on was bleeding heavily, the blood soaking into the soil and it's soft-looking fleece.

"Hey, are you okay?" Shen Tianyu asked as she slowly walked up to it.

"It's a demonic beast. It won't be able to answer you." Luo Shue said as she followed.

"How do you know that? High-level demon beasts can speak the human language, right?"

"Well, but the looks of it, it's probably not a high-level demon beats." Luo Shue bent down as Shen Tianyu tried to turn it over. Luo Shue examined the demon beast and frowned.

"It looks like it was heavily injure during in a fight, but it's blood smells... weird." Luo Shue reached into the magic bag at her waist.

"Could it just be because it's a demon beast?" Shen Tianyu sniffed it.

"That's not it. I think it may have been poisoned. Either during the fight or when it was running away." Luo Shue took out a porcelain bottle containing some kind of hardened, yellow liquid.

"Hm... really?" Shen Tianyu scooped up some of the blood oozing out of it with he rforefinger and licked the blood off of it.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Rong Jian panicked.

Shen Tianyu concentrated on tasting the blood for a little before spitting it out.

"Pei! Pbt!" She wiped her tongue with her sleeve. "I think it's hemotoxin, Viper poison. Why would a demon beast lose to a viper snake?"

"That's not of importance right now. If you're so curious, just ask it later when it comes to." Luo Shue replied as she applied the salve onto the bleeding demon beast.

"Hm... That's true. Do you really think I'd say that?! I don't speak..." Shen Tianyu gestured at the demon beast. "...whatever that speaks. Anyways, are you doing okay? Can you even see it's would with it's fleece in the way?"

"Yes, I'm doing fine." Luo Shue said simply.

"It's a Wool Bug." Rong Jian who had kept silent all this time finally spoke.

"A Wool Bug?" Shen Tianyu tilted her head to the side. She then put one of her fist in her other hand. "Ahh... A Wool Bug. The ones that absorb the cold right? They don't have a lot of combat power but are useful for keeping warm... eh?"

Rong Jian looked at her. "Hm?"

"If they have no combat ability and their special ability is only just absorbing the cold... how could they become demon beasts? Wouldn't they have been wiped out by now?"

Rong Jian stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it..."

"I'm done treating it." Luo Shue suddenly got up. "What should we do now? Keep it? Or find it's family?"

"Eh... Let's just bring it with us and see if we meet it's family along the way." Shen Tianyu replied as she carefully picked up the Wool Bug. Just as she was taking a step forward, she heard another noise. This time, it was a mass of loud buzzing. "Ah? Looks like it's family came to us instead." She turned to face the direction the loud buzzing was coming from.

A few seconds later, one zhang (1) in front of the three people was a dense mass of black snouts and fluffy, white fleece.

"Ah... There's a lot of them, huh? Is that why they haven't become extinct yet? Their high procreation rate?" Shen Tianyu mused calmly.

"Perhaps." Rong Jian put his hands on her hips. "How about we try and see?"

Shen Tianyu elbowed him in the stomach and he doubled over, holding where he was hit and groaning.

"Shue'er, what do you think?"

"I'm human doctor, not a demonic beast expert." Luo Shue retorted.

The trio chatted leisurely until the mass of Wool Bugs stopped one chi (2) away from them.

"Whoa. Close." Shen Tianyu commented as she held the Wool Bug in her hand out towards them. "Is this one of yours? We found him on the ground. We treated him." She wasn't sure if they would understand but she tried anyways.

"You mean I treated him." Luo Shue interjected.

"I found it." Shen Tianyu retorted.

The mass of Wool Bugs wordlessly gathered around the Wool Bug in Shen Tianyu's hands and lifted it up. Then, they left as if the trio was never there.

"Che, not even a nod of gratitude." Shen Tianyu complained as she turned around.

…

Just like that, half a month passed. The trio managed to encounter some demonic beasts, but not many. The ones they did met, luckily enough, were quite tough so Shen Tianyu managed to get some training in as she initially intended when she entered.

"By the way, I've been wondering, what's your status in Lavender Palace?" Rong Jian suddenly asked Shen Tianyu as they were scavenging for food.