Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

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Ming Yue stopped and looked at Xiao Bai. 

"Really? They're just ordinary wolves from the Savage Lands?" she said. 

The boy nodded. 

"They transformed, they can go berserk. That is what creatures of the Savage Lands are like. I saw one of them when I went to the Bazaar and this is just a normal wolf. I've seen some beasts large enough to swallow us whole", he answered. 

"Did it take a lot of people to kill it?" 

Ming Yue was curious now. Exactly how strong were the denizens of the Savage Lands? The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to know. But for now, she had other matters to attend to, like the deer. 

The Nine-Colored Deer stood there, looking at them, watching Ming Yue take the wolves away. As she finished, she took something out and walked towards the deer, startling it a bit. 

But her voice came out very gently as she held out a healing salve, pointing at the deer's wounds. 

"You're injured, please let me help you." 

The deer looked at her strangely but walked closer, allowing her to do her work. She revealed a little smile and began to apply the medicine to the deer's wounds. As she did so, the deer lowered its head and its tail wagging happily. 

A little while later, it was bandaged up and it looked at Ming Yue, lowering its head as if to thank her. Their eyes met. The shimmering irises drew her in for a moment and her sight seemed to flicker for an instant.

All of the sudden, the deer was no longer there. Instead, it was the True Idol, staring at her strangely. But it was only a flash and the Nine-Colored Deer was back again. 

Ming Yue couldn't help but reach for her sword but she stopped herself from pulling it out. 

The deer looked into her eyes as if to try to calm her down. 

Her breath quickened and her heart raced but she forced herself to breathe deeply, closing her eyes and calming herself. Her hand clung tightly to the hilt of her sword. 

Opening her eyes, she stared back and let go of Blood Moon. The Nine-Colored Deer seemed to linger on her before turning and leaving, vanishing into the forests. Xiao Bai saw them both and walked up to her. 

"Are you okay?" he asked. 

Ming Yue looked at him before turning away. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay. Let's go back to your home, I'm sure that your mother will be worried about you."

After speaking, she started to walk, heading back to the clearing Xiao Bai. The young boy followed from behind, looking at her with curiosity and awe. With each passing moment, she seemed even more mysterious to him. 

"Who is she?" he wondered. 

However, he didn't dare ask her, not after what she displayed in her fight. She was quick and ruthless. Even as Xiao Bai hid by her and closed his eyes, he'd open them for a mere second. Each time, he'd see Ming Yue fighting and killing. 

Her face was devoid of any emotion, her eyes were cold and focused. 

It scared him a bit, seeing that side of her coupled with the spilled blood. 

They walked back to the house quietly and Xiao Bai's mother waited for them by the doors. But her face dropped as she smelled the blood coming from them. She slowly walked forward to check her son before looking at Ming Yue. 

"What happened?" she asked 

"We were attacked by wolves", the cultivator responded. 

Xiao Bai nodded, confirming it with his own words. 

"They were wolves from the Savage Lands", he said. 

"The Savage Lands? They've come this close already?" 

The mother looked with disbelief, not expecting this to happen. 

Xiao Bai nodded. 

"Yep, they were hunting down this Nine-Colored Deer that bumped into us while we were checking the traps. There were a lot of wolves but Ming Yue managed to beat all of them. We even have them with us." 

He turned to look at Ming Yue who was a step ahead of him, taking out and laying the wolf corpses on the ground. And she finally took out the pheasant, giving that to the little boy. 

"This is what we caught in the traps."

His mother looked at the wolves with a bit of fear but hid it as best she could in front of her son. She knelt down and looked at him holding the pheasant. 

'That's great. Let me prepare it and we can have some roasted pheasant for dinner, how about that? Just go and clean yourself up first", she said to him. 

"Really, okay!" 

Xiao Bai ran off, leaving the two women alone. 

His mother watched him go before looking back at the wolves in fear. 

"This isn't good. We'll have to move soon", she said, "The tribes must know as well."

"Is something wrong?" Ming Yue asked her. 

The mother sighed and looked at her. 

"These wolves from the Savage Lands are the problem. Nothing from the Savage Lands should be here, at least not yet. We should've still had at least five years before but it seems like that was a mistake. Those beasts are expanding their territory even quicker than before."

She explained, pointing at the wolves. 

"They're just the start. Those wolves are just scouts. Soon, even stronger beasts will come and every tribe may be forced into one home."

"And you can't fight back?" Ming Yue asked. 

She shook her head. 

"Of course, we can fight back but there are so many more beasts than beast people. A single wolf takes several men to kill and a group of this size can destroy the smaller tribes."

"Then the bigger ones... Have you ever seen them?" 

Sucking in a cold breath, it was as if the mother had relived some terrifying memories. And after a few seconds, she answered Ming Yue's question. 

"Yes, I have and there is so much out there in the Savage Lands. Massive birds and dragons that could swallow dozens of men whole. Horses whose steps cracked the ground. There are even fish powerful enough to cause crashing waves in the waters. Even the insects themselves are capable of killing. This is an uphill battle, rather an impossibly tall mountain."

"But Xiao Bai told me about the Seekers. Could they not help retake that territory?"

"They are strong, yes, but those monsters out there, the only things capable of killing them are other monsters. If you go out into the Savage Lands, you will truly know the danger out there."

There was a moment of since between them before Ming Yue nodded in understanding.

"Alright, we can put those wolves aside. They'll serve as a warning to the other tribes. Let's just have the pheasant and enjoy tonight."

The mother moved off to kill and clean the pheasant preparing to roast it while Ming Yue returned the wolves to her ring. 

And Xiao Bai had just come out cleaned up and in fresh clothes, running up to his mother who quietly watched over the pheasant as it cooked over the fire. Ming Yue sat with them as well after checking on Hei Yue and Xiao Yin, who seemed to be recovering well. 

They enjoyed a nice dinner that soon ended in silence as both Ming Yue and Xiao Bai's mother were deep in thought. But the both of them had differing ones. 

"They don't have to move", Ming Yue thought, "Not yet at least, not when I'm here." 

Although she had been here for a few days, she felt as if she needed to protect it. Staying here, gave her peace and it was something that she sorely needed.

And the more she thought about it, the more determined she became. 

"I'll defend this place.. No matter what."