4 The Brilliant One and The Red Puppy

A bolt of crimson flashed through the forest in a heartbeat.

Kokuo extended its chakra, trying to find a route without people around. Even though they had gotten quite far from Iwagakure, there was still a possibility that a hunting squad was still trailing them. They couldn't stop just yet.

Instead of going in a straight line, they took a winding pattern, zig-zagging around the trees. Whenever they encountered a trace of civilization, they would move around and find another path.

Yao Huang had no idea about the topography. Everything was different from what he'd remembered. In the end, he just left the navigation to Kokuo.

"This place is so fertile," Yao Huang commented.

Trees. It was all trees. No matter how far they'd gone, the land was entirely covered with blooming forests. Even the Heaven-blessed central plain wasn't abundant to this extent. It was simply mind-boggling!

"Is it not normal for the Land of Fire to be fertile?"

Kokuo replied half-heartedly.

"Land of Fire?"

Was that another nickname? The spirit beast did call the U-Tsang's northern mountain as 'Land of Earth'. Perhaps this Land of Fire thing was just a fancy way to call the place that he knew.

What, though?

'Hmm, whatever, I'll just figure it out later.'

He decided to focus in their escapade first.

Dusk descended into night, night gave way to dawn. It was now a new day, and the sun climbed the sky energetically until it returned to its throne up above the clouds.

They had been running for an entire day at this point. The distance they had covered was immense, thanks to the help of Kokuo's inexhaustible chakra. Even the beast itself was surprised with what it could pull off when it wasn't distracted by fighting!

"It should be safe after going this far, right?"

The crimson streak landed near a small creek. Alongside a swishing sound, Kokuo's red chakra dissipated, finally revealing Yao Huang's physical body. The kid quickly fell on his knees, suddenly feeling really exhausted. Steam, the aftereffect of Boil Release, emanated off his body,

"Hungry... tired...painful..."

His muscles ached all over, and his stomach felt like a knife had been plunged right through! Not to mention, the wounds on his body opened up once again, dripping out blood that soaked through his clothes.

This sensation... he had almost forgotten about it.

Back then, as an immortal, his body had been entirely remade out of qi, so he didn't have a need to rest or eat. Gathering more qi from his surrounding was more than enough to rejuvenate him. Any other mortal annoyances like pain and fatigue was also nonexistent, unless it was caused by another immortal's techniques.

But now, he was mortal once again. After thousands of years, he was finally able to relive the feeling of having a corporeal, physical body. He didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.

"So this is being alive... how nostalgic."

While he was still drowned in the onslaught of sensation, Kokuo materialized itself, clapping its hooves on the stream with apparent glee.

"Well?" Yao Huang grinned at the sight. "I did keep my promise, didn't I?"

The spirit beast was still embedded within his soul, and since taking it out would result in his doom, they still couldn't be separated yet. He could only hope that Kokuo would be satisfied with this arrangement for the time being.

Stepping closer toward the kid, Kokuo lowered its head.

"Your name."

"Eh?"

"Tell This One your name," Kokuo repeated. "Do you prefer This One to call you 'kid' all the time?"

"Oh!"

Yao Huang pointed at himself with a thumb.

"My name is Yao Huang!"

...

His words before the name were normal, but when he reached the last part, his pronunciation returned back to his old memory's language.

Kokuo couldn't catch it.

"...Pray repeat it again."

"Yao. Huang."

"..."

Kokuo was in a dilemma.

It was proud of its intelligence, capable of besting humans in terms of linguistic abilities. However, right now it felt like its figurative tongue would get tangled up if it tried to imitate those words.

"How... to write that?"

In the end, it went for the easier route. As long as it knew the kanji, it should be fine, right?

Not thinking too much about it, Yao Huang wrote his name on the dirt with the help of a branch.

姚 煌

"..."

Ah, heck, now it can't even read...

"Kid, how do you read these characters? What do they mean?"

Yao Huang pointed at the first character.

"This is my surname, Yao. I don't know what it means, since I just merely continued the lineage."

He then moved to the second character.

"This is my given name, Huang. It means 'brilliant'. My mother hoped that I'll grow into a strong person who'll be able to protect my family, just like the sun."

He felt a pang of longing in his heart. Remembering his mother had always made him a bit sentimental, even after he had turned into an old coot. Weird, considering they had been separated for thousands of years...

Kokuo had been paying attention to the kid's explanation. Aside from the two words, everything was said in plain common tongue, so it could finally see the reasoning behind the name.

"This One understands."

It proceeded to write another character with its hoof.

光

"Light (Guang)?"

"From now on, This One shall use this name and call you, 'Hikari'."

Yao Huang felt something weird with the way Kokuo said it, but he shook it off. Perhaps it was caused by his cultural shock. This era's language was really different, after all.

"Then, please take care of This One."

"Ah? Yeah, leave it to me..."

The tailed beast lifted its hoof, which Yao Huang grabbed, imitating a handshake.

Suddenly, Yao Huang shivered.

"Uh... Venerable One..."

"Hnh?"

The kid gave the white beast a pitiful look.

"I have to go for a bit. Nature's call."

In the blink of an eye, Yao Huang leaped into a nearby tall bush.

"..."

That kid... Kokuo's real body was still inside, so it didn't really matter whether it could see or not, right...?

Oh well. Humans. Whatever suit their fancy.

The white beast played a bit more with the clear water when suddenly a loud shriek came from within the bushes.

Kokuo stood on alert, ready to conjure chakra balls, when it saw the kid bursting out with convulsing body.

"Kid! What's wrong? Iwagakure pursuers?!"

"E-e-e-e-"

"Eeee?"

Kokuo galloped toward him.

"Eunuch..."

"????"

Yao Huang's eyes slowly returned back into focus. When he saw Kokuo standing over him, he quickly jumped up and clung to the beast as if his life depended on it.

"Venerable One! It's a disaster! It's gone! It's gone!"

"?!?!"

One of Kokuo's tail jutted out in an instant, and then flung out like a whip, crashing on Yao Huang's head with a loud smack.

"Calm down, kid. Tell me, what is gone?"

"The- the- the-"

"The...?"

Kokuo was getting impatient. Its tail began to swing out randomly. Remembering the pain from before, Yao Huang replied in reflex.

"The little sword is gone!"

"Little..."

The white beast's eyes turned into swirls.

"Venerable One! Tell me! Is sealing a spirit beast like you inside one's body can turn you into an eunuch? Is that the price that has to be paid?!"

"Alright, calm the heck down."

The tail finally lashed out again, knocking the kid down to his knees.

"Answer This One: what is an eunuch?"

Eh? The spirit beast didn't know?

"Obviously, it's men who'd gotten their 'thing' cut..."

"..."

Kokuo regretted ever asking.

"So... you're saying that your... 'thing'... is gone? As in, you lost it?"

Yao Huang nodded furiously.

Kokuo felt his head pounding.

"But... human, logically, it's easier to think that you don't have one in the first place."

Yao Huang froze.

Ah.

That's right.

It is a distinct possibility...

It was also the possibility that Yao Huang had tried to reject the most. He had been male for thousands of years, damnit! He couldn't just entertain the chance that his reincarnation would be... would be...

While the kid was still standing like an idiot, Kokuo gave a strong push with its head, throwing the kid into the creek.

As he lifted his head off the water, a reflection slowly formed on the surface.

With a large, round eyes and soft features, a little kid's face was staring back at him. The shoulder-length brown hair clung to his neck, still dripping water down his shoulders.

Ah, wrong. It wasn't 'him' anymore, but 'her', right?

After all, what looked back at Yao Huang was clearly, a girl's face...

She blinked a few times, then turned back to Kokuo. The beast just gave her a slow nod.

A bright smile blossomed on her face.

"Hueh..."

And then, she promptly fainted.

The creek produced a huge splash as her lifeless body majestically dropped like a plank.

"..."

"This. Kid. So. Annoying...!"

Pulling the kid off the creek by her collar, Kokuo dragged her into nearby bushes. Although the beast could just wake her up by force, her fatigue still had to be dealt with. A few hours of sleep should be fine before they had to move once again.

The white beast shrunk down into a tiny version of itself, small enough for the bush to conceal, and then laid beside her, deciding to take a quick nap.

"..."

"..."

"...?"

It suddenly raised its head.

Without a warning, the bushes parted ways. As Kokuo readied itself to fight out the pursuers, what showed up defied its wildest expectation.

*Bark!*

"A small... dog...?"

Covered in white fur and decorated with a pair of drooping ear, the little creature strut closer toward the fainted kid, sniffing and nudging with its nose, tail wagging all the way.

"...Lesser beast, go away."

Kokuo glared at the puppy, emitting a suffocating pressure with its chakra.

The little puppy noticed it immediately. Its fur stood up on its end as it stared at the ethereal horse-like creature. It wanted to feign bravery with barks, but what came out were mere whines. It retreated one step, two steps... Finally, it couldn't take it anymore and leaped toward the fainted kid, hiding behind her body.

"..."

While Kokuo was thinking about the best way to chase out the puppy, weighing the pros and cons of shooting chakra balls at it, a voice suddenly rang out.

A human's voice.

"Akamaru! Where did you go!"

There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and then the bushes parted once again.

Kokuo quickly dissolved its projected form, returning back into the kid's soul.

As for the puppy, it let out another bark, a happy one this time as if it had found its salvation.

"There you are! Why did you suddenly run... huh?"

That day, a boy who'd initially only wanted to walk his dog... had ended up finding a human instead.