Flying Fish (Part 1)

Mu Yu didn't have the foggiest idea where he was off to. He was already moving as fast as he could. Still, he lost Qiao Xue's tracks. She had the terrain advantage over him; hence, he couldn't catch up. He reasoned she had to go up in order to get out and chose his pursuit path based on one word, up. As he went further up, there were more rocks around, adding to his challenge. Thank heavens the leaves were fragile.

"Behave or I'll leave you on this mountain," warned Mu Yu.

"We're almost there. I can sense the pressure of the earth dropping off."

"Wait, something is off. The mud around is abnormally soft. Oh, crap, water!"

Once the grass squeezed out of the mud, it landed in water.

"Hmm? Are we in Qiao Xue's embrace?"

Mu Yu shook his head. He crawled out of the grass and jumped into the air. It was healing to stand in the warm and bright sun after spending so long in the dismal underground. The sound of running water and splashing indicated he was back at the waterfall they entered the underground via. He shouted, "Qiao Xue, where are you?"

If Qiao Xue used her water ability to travel via the water way, there was no hope of catching up.

Xiaoshuai shook the water off and grumbled, "Let's go. I hate the stuffy and hot underground."

Mu Yu tried calling for Qiao Xue again to no avail. It was vexing and frustrating to lose her when she was right in front of him. He ventured a guess that Feng Haochen couldn't locate her because some unidentified energy hid her presence. He prayed it wasn't the fiend race protecting her.

"Man, I said we're on the same side!" exclaimed Mu Yu, sitting down on the ground.

Mu Yu lingered at the bank for a few hours to rest. He had to work diligently from tomorrow to locate the two herbs he needed. As for Qiao Xue, he was just going to have to make use of what information was available.

Mu Yu had no idea how many days had gone by since he couldn't tell the time in the abyss. Referencing his map again, he flew toward the way he entered. The riverbank was day time when he arrived. Logically speaking, he should've been on the night time side. At that point, it was worth pondering if daylight and night time stayed still. He crossed over the river.

Out of nowhere, it bucketed down on the bank. Strangely enough, it didn't rain in the fiend race's territory. Maybe they did something.

The desolate wolf and banishing falcon had left. Mu Yu formed a barrier of spiritual energy to provide shelter from the rain and wind. He chose to follow another route. The fiend beasts that he encountered during his escape to the other side were nowhere in sight. Fiend beasts were supposed to be fans of rain, yet he didn't see any. All he saw were reasonably amiable small fiend beasts going in and out.

Xiaoshuai looked up at the flashing lightning. "Maybe they're afraid of lightning strike? Lightning strikes you down when you do bad things is what they say, isn't it?"

"Lightning struck you when you hatched. What did you do?"

"I told you already: the lightning struck me out of jealousy of my good looks," disputed Xiaoshuai, running his hand through his fur.

Boom! Blue lightning bolts flashed behind the clouds. One bolt cut down a tree up ahead and set fire to the branches, but the rain extinguished it.

"Hey, uhh," – Mu Yu gulped, "Lightning strikes narcissists, too, so be careful not to implicate me."

Mu Yu ended up creating a vine tent and lit up a pill flame stone to warm his hands. Xiaoshuai placed a drumstick on the pill flame stone and commented, "It'd be perfect if there was a fiend beast we could catch for dinner."

Mu Yu, eating a crunchy biscuit, admonished, "Always food with you, isn't it? You're about to empty out our rations."

"Eating is nature's design."

Rumble!Amongst the sound of rain falling pit pat on leaves, there were faint footsteps that didn't escape Mu Yu. The approaching footsteps were hasty. He also heard humming coming closer. He then heard a splash of water. It was hard to see in the rain, but he spotted a human silhouette. The individual struggled to their feet and kept looking behind them as they put one leg in front of the other. He was a young man, presumably from one of the sects that they travelled with.

When Mu Yu finally made up his mind to holler, he saw a colourful fiend beast resembling a koi, except one with wings instead of fins, circling above the youth. For whatever reason, seeing another unidentifiable fiend beast reminded him of the regret of not being able to clear the air with Qiao Xue. The youth's jade piece brought Mu Yu back to reality. The youth was vexed and exasperated, but he looked relieve when he got a grip on the jade piece.

The youth vengefully waved the jade piece at the flying fish and began to squeeze it. The flying fish flapped its wings, drawing lightning toward it. The rainfall enhanced the lightning bolt. It directed the blue lightning around it down to the massive puddle of water below, giving the youth nowhere to run to..

"What's he waiting for?" wondered Mu Yu.

The rain around the flying fish froze just as the youth did. The flying fish cheerfully flapped its wings and chirped.

"Its tweets sound nice. Wait, wait, wait. He's dead. How did he die? Did the flying fish kill him?" Mu Yu muttered under his breath.