Across the forest, Ji Yao who had been stuck in a stalemate with the horde of creatures heard the ear piercing roars coming from the other end of the forest and couldn't help worry for Rui Fei.
It had to be him messing with the creature, right?
It was the only thing that made sense. Out of all his crew besides Huishe Yue, Rui Fei had to be the only one who would face off with that creature. Since these creatures wouldn't dare attack him without orders Ji Yao simply decided to walk away. He had to back up Rui Fei anyway so he leapt up to the sky and followed the sound.
The creatures that had been staring at him all bug-eyed had no choice but to follow him from the ground. The creatures were camouflaged in the trees below as they followed behind Ji Yao.
Apart from the occasional rustling leaves one wouldn't be able to tell that they were ugly creatures following behind him.
With the loud cries acting like locators Ji Yao soon found where the creature was hiding. As soon as he landed on the ground he found Rui Fei standing there with his foot on top of the abdomen of the creature that was squirming like a rat caught in a trap.
His eyes were emitting an inky blackness like that from the abyss as he studied the funny looking viscous liquid at the tip of his fingers. Surrounding him was a natural aura that darkened and corrupted everything around him. His entire body emitted a sadistic air that never presented itself in Ji Yao's presence.
Lack of empathy, blunted emotions, lack of conscience. These were some of the words that popped into Ji Yao's head when he saw him but he wasn't reluctant to approach him as before. Whatever dark sinister person Rui Fei was or would become he was the one that made his heart flutter whenever he saw him.
This meant he didn't care. Even if Rui Fei went crazy he would just lock him up and keep him to himself ridding the world of their trouble. Yes, Rui Fei spend most of his life locked up but Ji Yao was fairly certain if he did the locking up Rui Fei wouldn't mind. In fact, he would probably chain himself up and ask Ji Yao to whip him. Okay, maybe that is a little exaggerated but it wasn't far from the truth.
The moment Rui Fei finally sensed Ji Yao's presence he swiftly tucked away his hand behind his back and put up an innocent front like he wasn't the one who was torturing the creature just now. He felt like a dog that had been caught ripping the fluffy cushions and gave itself time out with a guilty look but his expression was so innocent.
Ji Yao saw this and couldn't help but be amused. He was like an entirely different person the moment he faced Ji Yao making a total one-eighty degree turn. "Yao-ge, I was..... I uh..... I," he stammered having not thought of a good explanation.
Ji Yao lazily waved his hand as he said, "No, please do carry on. I am fine being a bystander." His attitude towards this gave Rui Fei a sense of uneasiness. He couldn't help but ask himself if it was a trap and if it was how best should he approach this?
Choosing to not act at all he said, "No, no please don't mind me. I was just warming him up for you. You can... you can carry on from where I left off."
Ji Yao knew exactly what he was playing it but what was there to hide? He had seen all the different faces of Rui Fei. Granted some of them he saw at a glimpse but it didn't matter. He still loved this cute cub regardless.
With a blank expression on his face, Ji Yao strode over giving Rui Fei a sense of unease. He wasn't certain what Ji Yao was going to do. It was for this reason he didn't move an inch as he watched the man get closer and closer.
Ji Yao grabbed his hand that was hiding behind his back but when he tried to pull it Rui Fei's muscles tensed up refusing to move. Now, this surprised Ji Yao more than seeing him torturing the beast.
Ji Yao's brow furrowed as he said, "What are you doing?" He pulled again but Rui Fei refused to barge.
"There is nothing interesting behind me. Yao-ge instead of wasting precious time with me why not finish off that beast," he said trying to stop Ji Yao from seeing his filthy hand.
Ji Yao knew he had to prioritize killing the creature more than worrying about Rui Fei but he couldn't help it.
He wanted to scrub that hand clean but since they weren't anywhere near water he had to settle with wiping the youth's hand instead but Rui Fei was being stubborn.
Ji Yao tried to go behind him but Rui Fei turned his body to the side blocking Ji Yao's view. When Ji Yao moved to the other side Rui Fei shifted again. "So annoying," said Ji Yao before taking a step back. He was obviously upset.
Rui Fei stared at him with a helpless expression as he said, "It doesn't matter for now. We are still going to have to finish this off so it will only get dirty again," but Ji Yao ignored him as he drew his sword once more. It was as though his face was saying let's finish this quickly so I can deal with you sooner.
The creature that had been tormented by the agonizing pain had somewhat recovered while these two love birds were acting coy. It channelled all the energy it could gather into the keystone within its body as an exchange.
The keystone thrived on be it spiritual, magical, Qi or seraphic energy. It accepted it all and in return, the creature would receive a drastic increase in power.
Having accepted the sacrifice the keystone activated shining a bright light from all the orifices of the Aoyin creature. In a matter of minutes, the body of the creature began to transform growing bigger and bigger with a crackling sound.
The two people who were just flirting just now, "....."
If they learnt anything from this experience was that they should never partner while engaged in a big fight otherwise they would distract each other and something like this would happen.
"How do you want to go about it Captain Ji," asked Rui Fei as he watched this creature grow to the size of Red Bane.
Ji Yao, "..."
Who the hell did he think he was calling captain Ji? He wanted to ask, "Who is your fuckin captain?" but since things had gone this far he decided to ignore it as he analysed their current predicament.