Finishing off the last bite of food he had on his plate from the spicy pork and spinach dumplings with soy dipping sauce he made earlier, Xinya glanced at the clock.
After seeing that one hour has already passed, he went into the living room, to see if Wei was still glued to her cell, only to find it empty.
There was only a plate devoid of food, left on the glass table in front of the couch. Knowing that she must have already gone back to the game, Xinya just rolled his eyes and gathered up the dish to the kitchen to be clean with the others.
Once in the kitchen, Xinya grabbed the dish bucket off the counter and started stacking the dishes he used into it, before carrying it over to the dishwasher to be cleaned. After they were loaded, he proceeded to wipe the table, stove and counter down of any mess left on them.
Looking at the sparkly clean kitchen, he smiled to himself. He felt proud for some reason, it wasn't new for him to do these types of chores, but still, it was a job well done. Now that everything was clean, he felt that it was alright to head back inside of the game.
Getting into the pod, Xinya once more logged into Haven Online. When he appeared he saw that everyone was waiting for him. They were all standing near the harbor where they had logged off at. Wei and Wandering Sound were talking to each other about, from what Xinya could make out, the treasure dungeon, while Melting Snow was looking into the water at something.
"Hey guys," Xinya said as a greeting. Hearing his voice everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.
Melting Snow after seeing Drifting Cloud, bounce over to him and said, "I'm so glad you have finally logged back on, I thought I would be stuck here with the flirting duo for longer."
"Hey! We can hear you!" Wei shouted Melting Snow with no real anger.
"I know," Melting Snow said as he made a face at them. "That's why I said it."
Laughing at Melting Snow's silliness, Xinya pretended to scold him, "Now, now, don't make fun of the two lovebirds."
"Come on guys, stop teasing us," Wandering Sound told them, secretly liking the way Roaming Wind was blushing.
Wei just looked at Wandering Sound knowingly, "Let's stop messing around. Drifting Cloud, how near is the treasure dungeon to Errinisworth, because with what's going on there now, maybe we should wait."
Xinya knew that Wei was trying to change the subject, and he was fine with it. They did need to start talking about the treasure dungeon, he felt that it was long overdue. With everything that happened to them in the Baldahurh forest and now with Errinisworth.
With the fighting that was now happening in Errinisworth, because of the monster horde, Xinya knew that if the treasure dungeon was in close vicinity of Errinishworth than it wouldn't be advisable for them to be going there now. Luckily for them, it wasn't, from what he read on the map it was located in the very outer edge of the town in Laetus forest.
"Don't worry, the place where the dungeon is located, we won't see hide nor hair of the horde," Xinya told them.
"Where is the place, your talking about?" Wandering Soul asked.
"Laetus forest," Xinya said, "It's located by the borderline of Errinisworth and Garmsby, the town that is known for its beer."
Curious, Melting Snow asked, "Is the beer in Garmsby that good?"
"It's not like you can have any, so you don't need to know," Wei told him.
"It's virtual beer, of course, I can have some." Melting Snow told her snootily.
Smiling, Xinya rubbed Melting Snow's head, before saying, "I doubt, your brother or cousin would like it if you did so."
"Let's see if they could stop me." Melting Snow said as he batted Drifting Cloud hands away from his head playfully.
"Whatever you say, Melting Snow," Xinya said while lightly laughing. "So I think we need to start walking, It will probably take a whole day or two to get there."
"Would we be able to get there by ship?" Wandering Sound asked."
After checking his map, Xinya said, "Yeah, we would be able to, why do you ask?"
Smirking Wandering Sound took out a familiar rectangular looking object and pressed its button. The bunny-shaped house boathouse from Errinisworth appeared right in front of them again. Xinya felt extremely confused as to why Wandering Sound brought it out and how he did so when it was the property of Errinisworth.
The confusion must have shown on his face because Wandering Sound said, "I didn't tell you two when I rented it but this houseboat is a transformable one. It can either be stationary or it can turn into a boat that can be used as transportation."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Wei asked.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Wandering Sound said. "I wanted to see your faces when you felt the boat move, as we relaxed inside."
"So, you know how to sail a boat?" asked Melting Snow.
Shaking his head Wandering Sound, "Nope, but I don't have to, the boat is computer operated. You just have to punch in the coordinates and it will take you straight there. It's too bad players can't buy these types of boats, it would make sailing a lot easier."
"Your right about that," Xinya said. He would love to have one of these types of boats, it would be great to have when he got his fishing level high enough to do scuba diving. He guessed he would have to learn sailing after all.
Xinya watched as Wandering Sound pressed the rectangular button once more and the bunny boathouse became longer until a wheelhouse appeared. He had thought the house part of the boat would have disappeared, but that didn't seem like the case.
He was glad that it wasn't, this way he could restock his potion supply in the comfort of the boathouse instead of on the road where he would have a harder time concentrating. Plus the rest of his party would be able to train some before they arrive at the forest.
~
Getting onboard the houseboat, Wei took Melting Snow inside to show him how the living room can transform into a gym, while Wandering Sound took Xinya to the wheelhouse. Once they were there, Xinya saw that it looks the same as the one on the Mayor's boat, the only difference was instead of a steering wheel, there was just a panel of buttons.
Wandering Sound went over to the panel and typed something in, before looking to Drifting Cloud, "Just punch in the coordinates and we will be all set."
Moving closer to Wandering Sound, Xinya looked down at the panel and put in the coordinates that would take them to Laetus forest. As soon as he did, the boat engine roared to life and begin to move.
As they were about to exit the wheelhouse, Xinya held Wandering Sound back. "Wandering Sound, I need to talk to you."
"What about?" Wandering Sound asked. He was confused as to why Drifting Cloud needed to talk to him alone like this.
"About who you were before you joined up with us," Xinya said. From the shocked expression on Wandering Sound's face, Xinya could tell he knew what he meant.