“Finally,” Wu Ying said and leaned against a nearby tree.
His once-pristine clearing was now trashed, the ground riven with holes from the boar’s striking feet, burnt grass sputtering, and the boar’s blood splashed everywhere. Only Wu Ying’s decision to hoist and secure his bags of provisions above the treeline earlier had kept them safe.
“This will not do for tonight’s rest.” Never mind how uneven the earth was now, the smell of blood would bring insects and bigger monsters. “Better find another clearing.”
Shaking his head, Wu Ying moved to pull down his bags. Rather than unhook the rope once he’d collected his bags, Wu Ying tied it to the boar’s body and hauled it up, allowing the monster to bleed out as Wu Ying bandaged his arms. Briefly, Wu Ying considered storing some of the boar’s blood but then shook it off. He had not brought a container for it. More’s the pity. Better to take the meat and be grateful that he had that much.
“Oh!” Wu Ying smacked himself on the head. “It’s a demon beast!”
Grinning, Wu Ying stared at the carcass. Somewhere in there, the monster had a spirit stone. His very first. While it was likely small and dim as befitted the smaller demon, it was still a demon stone. When he returned to the sect, he could trade it in for more contribution points. Worst-case scenario, it was still worth a decent amount of coin.
Smiling, Wu Ying settled down to wait, more content with the disturbance. He almost wished he would be attacked again.
Almost.
Chapter 12
As the rest stops along the road system were spaced roughly a day apart, Wu Ying decided to carry the meat from the boar to the nearest stop and sell it there. Since he managed to arrive around mid-morning, the owner of the stop was more than happy to purchase the meat to feed the lunch and dinner crowd. As Wu Ying stared at the taels he had been provided, he could not shake the feeling that he had been cheated. Certainly, paying the same price per cattie for spirit-infused boar meat as for normal pork seemed wrong. But in the end, Wu Ying took the funds and the hot meal gratefully. It was not as if he could actually carry all the meat with him, nor did he have the salt or time to smoke the boar properly. Better to sell it and earn a little coin than to worry about the matter.
Having properly consoled himself and eaten a warm meal, Wu Ying took off once more at a leisurely jog. While he received more than a few strange glances over the fact that he was running with a big bag slung over his back, since none of those individuals managed to overtake him, it was of little concern to Wu Ying. And really, while his cultivation and body were strong, that was only in comparison to the base ranks of the populace. Older and more experienced cultivators were able to do what he did with ease, and even among the commoners, the occasional gifted genius cropped up. As such, Wu Ying’s actions, while unusual, were not entirely uncommon. Especially since Wu Ying had yet to study or master any qinggong[21] skills to move lightly at superhuman speeds.
Along the way, Wu Ying paid attention to the traffic on the road. Even if travel by the canals was both faster and more convenient, many locations were not connected that way. As such, everyone from merchants, beggars, scholars, monks, government officials, cultivators, and more used the roads. The conveyances used varied depending on the individuals’ stations. Everything from simple wagons to carriages, horses, and rickshaws were seen on the road, though just as many were like Wu Ying, making do with nature’s most popular form of transportation.
Even though Wu Ying found himself surrounded by people, he spent no time talking to them. And while there were numerous kinds of travelers, the roads weren’t packed. More often than not, he saw people at clearings resting, or he would pass another group as he ran. On a few rare occasions, he was passed by those on horses or in carriages.
Wu Ying found the entire scene endlessly fascinating. This was a life that he had never been exposed to, and the traveling community seemed to have a series of mores that he was slowly gleaning. Many of these wanderers seemed happy, free from the social and economic restrictions that kept farmers locked to their land. It was an eye-opening sight for the young man, much like his first city. Once again, Wu Ying was forcefully reminded that the world under heaven held marvels and wonders galore.
Day after day, Wu Ying found his life repeating the same pattern. Run, eat, train his aura strengthening techniques and his martial art forms, eat, get attacked by spirit beasts. Not that he was attacked every night, but the attacks were more often than common sense would have suggested. On one particular day, Wu Ying found himself leaning on a shop counter, nursing a sore rib while talking to the rest stop’s proprietor.
“Are there a lot of demon beast attacks on the road?” Wu Ying asked, somewhat exasperated. If not for the fact that his body required less sleep due to his higher cultivation, there would be no way for him to keep to his current pace.
“Attacks? No more than usual,” the owner said, twirling his long white mustache. The old man cocked his head to the side, considering Wu Ying and his dirty peasant garb. “The weather has been good, so the berries and fruits should be blooming. But I did hear that a new spirit beast took residence on Mount Heng. Might have driven down a few more demon beasts.”
“A few?” Wu Ying said, shaking his head. “This is the fourth demon beast I’ve killed!”
“You’re staying alone in the wilderness, aren’t you?” When Wu Ying nodded, the proprietor snorted. “Of course you’re being attacked. The beasts know to watch the trails for people. They might not be intelligent, but demon beasts are cunning—and peasants with low to no cultivation are the best prey. Especially when they’re alone.”
“Alone…” Wu Ying blinked, realizing what the owner was saying. Between supressing his cultivation with his aura strengthening techniques and camping alone, Wu Ying was basically placing a giant sign above his head that said “easy prey.”
“Well, you’re obviously very skilled with that sword. But a young man like you, you should work on your cultivation more,” the owner said kindly. “It’s not seemly for one so young to have so little presence.”
“Presence?”
“I might not have the eye of insight of a real cultivator, but I’ve served enough of them in my time. The real ones have a presence. If you pay attention, you’ll realize that all cultivators have that too,” the proprietor said, smiling. “The stronger the cultivator, the stronger their presence. And yours is, well…”
“Weak,” Wu Ying acknowledged.
Of course it was weak. He was suppressing his aura! But thinking on the matter, Wu Ying frowned as he tried to sense the proprietor’s aura. After a time, Wu Ying shook his head, having failed. Perhaps he should do as the old proprietor recommended and test his sensing ability on an on-going basis, especially when he went back to the sect. His ability to read cultivations would naturally grow when he achieved the Energy Storage stage, but there was no reason not to practice it now.
“Thank you, Uncle,” Wu Ying said with a bow.
“Not at all. Now, for this wolf meat, it’s not the most popular. Especially the heart. But I can buy it for six taels,” the proprietor said, gesturing to the meat arrayed across his counter.
Wu Ying rolled his eyes but got down to haggling, while a portion of his mind continued to go over their conversation. Presence, eh?
Another day, another long run. Days blended together, the only change for Wu Ying the progress he marked on his map. What should have been a two-week journey by boat had become a two-week marathon trip through hills, forests, and plains with no end in sight.
As the sun crept toward the horizon, Wu Ying chewed on a stick of sugar cane as he ran. As a child, he had always loved the treat, and having found a grove of unattended sugar cane earlier in the day, he had chopped a plant down to take with him. It made the entire run more manageable. When a scream resounded through the low hills, Wu Ying dropped the piece of cane with surprise.