Be Gentle, Immortal Master

Chapter 186 – Unwelcome Reunion

The Misty Mountains remained warm and humid even in winter, and I had to shed a few layers immediately after I landed. Fortunately, it meant that the forest hadn't changed at all since the last time we came, so I had no trouble finding my way to the cave entrance where we saw the bixie. Parting the undergrowth as I walked, I searched the area carefully, looking for signs of the guardian beast and her cub.

I didn't see even a footprint of a beast though. After a long while, I started to wonder how large a guardian's territory was—could it be wide enough that I couldn't possibly search the whole area in the amount of time I had? I considered it for a moment, then put my outer robes back on and summoned a cooling spell on myself. Bai Ye had mentioned that spiritual power fluctuations attract guardian beasts. Hopefully, this would help lead them to me.

I continued forward, using my spiritual power to enhance my hearing as well. All was quiet around me for a long stretch of distance. I reached out with my consciousness, probing the surroundings with my power, until finally, I felt a faint but familiar presence drawing close.

My head snapped in that direction. It was the cub! Before I knew it, I had started running. Would they still remember me? I prayed that they did. Bai Ye wasn't here this time, and I wouldn't be able to explain his condition to them all that well, considering mythical beasts relied on their own ways to figure out a target's energy flow. But if the mother bixie still remembered us, then—

An ear-shattering roar came into my ears. I halted in my tracks, surprised at the sudden sign of danger that I didn't notice while my thoughts wandered. My hands moved to my swords, and the next moment, a figure leaped at me from behind the shrubs next to me. I drew the blades at once, but when I saw what it was that bared its teeth in the air, my motion froze.

It was the mother bixie, her fangs glinting and ready to sink into my neck.

"W-Wait!" I shouted, raising my sheath to block her. "It's me! I'm not here to hurt you!"

But she didn't slow. With a guttural growl, she landed on top of me, and the momentum sent me stumbling backward and falling onto the ground. She bit down, and her jaw snapped over my sword hilt.

"Please!" I shouted again, raising the other sword to block her next bite. I turned it backward though, so that the tip of the blade didn't face her—after absorbing the power enhancer, I was strong enough to fight against a bixie by myself now, but I didn't want to act hostilely and let her mistake my intention. "Please, I know you can understand me. I was here just a few months ago, and I saw you and your child at—"

The sound of a cub's mewl came into my ears as soon as I mentioned her child. I braved a glance in the direction where the sound came from. Not far from us, the little fuzzball—now twice the size as before—squeaked at us, as if begging its mother to let go of me.

The mother wasn't swayed, however, and she roared at me again. This time, I understood the meaning of her words: "I remember you. I also remember telling you to never return, and never come near my child ever again."

Oh … Right, I was the one who forgot about all that in my excitement over the clue. "I-I'm sorry," I apologized, and my heart sank at the turn of events. "I'm sorry … I returned for a reason, and I swear I mean you no harm—or your child in that regard. I only came with a question, and I would be forever indebted to you if you could help me."

I regretted then that I didn't take Bai Ye's advice and think this through before leaving. I should've remembered the bixie's warning … or at least prepared something to bargain with. She had no obligations to help me, after all, and the chances weren't in my favor given that she already disliked my presence.

The bixie growled again. But before I could make out her words, the cub padded closer to us and stopped by my side. It let out a little growl back at its mother—though it was too cute to sound angry—then rubbed its head against my cheek.

I looked at the cub speechlessly. What had I done to gain so much affection from this adorable thing? Was this my two lifetimes of rescuing fuzzy little animals paying back? I resisted the urge to pet the cub's head, knowing that it would only anger the mother more. Instead, I begged her again in the softest, most harmless voice I could manage. "Please … all I need is an answer, and I swear never to trouble you again after this. It's about yazi's venom … If you could tell me how to use it—"

"To save the man that came with you last time?" The mother hissed, not loosening her claws pinning me onto the ground. "You cultivators are the worst of all evil. You ravage my home, steal my children … I can't be more thrilled to see you perish one by one in the most miserable way, yet you expect me to help you?"

I stared at her in disbelief. "Who stole your children?" I asked. No wonder she was so protective of her cub from me … But guardian beasts were considered protectors of their area. Who would be so audacious as to steal one of them?

The mother bixie bared her fangs once more. "Don't pretend you are not one of them. Didn't you come with a bait stone yourself? How else would you explain why my child is so drawn to you?"

"…"

Heavens … The bait stone … I widened my eyes, and now I really didn't know how to explain my way out of this anymore.