Chapter 419 Village Hearsay & Dinner

"Well," Lily scooted back to the armchair and plopped her butt on it. "There's the usual new Fox Spirit thing going around. You're obviously the third unique human to join the ranks after Zixin and Nabi."

"Third Biohuman?" Keng asked.

"Yup." Lily nodded. "Third Biohuman. You're the unique start of a whole 'nother generation of humans. But, I assume you know this part, they talk about you and your Vessel being able to take separate forms with a different personality each! That's what the people are really interested in. Some are baffled that a Fox Spirit and their Vessel could be separated from each other like that, but I tell them it's possible."

"You tell them that?"

"Of course I have to! I mean, Lord Rox'su did tell me to come play in the forest. I didn't think I'd get roped into killing a curse, but I did meet you and Lee Seng like he said! They all just have questions of how you two function."

"Function?"

"Mhmm." Lily nodded. "Fox Spirits are the embodiment of two people becoming one. Their personalities may clump together or one might be more apparent than the other, but they're still ultimately two people as one person. Dad says it's like a relationship. You like someone and they like you, you grow to love each other and do whatever lovers do. I dunno much about love so take it as whatever that means.

"But back to the point, people are talking about you two because you aren't a combination of both but you're separated all the time. That's why they're interested in the way you two function." Lily explained. Keng took a minute to soak the information in.

'Actual people are interested in how we function? W-w-we function like normal humanoid beings. What's so fascinating about that? Well, I guess the two separated one soul thing…' Keng scratched his head and shrugged it off. There was no use in thinking about scenarios when he wasn't even able to fully comprehend it.

"No point in trying to think about this anymore." Keng waved his hand in front of his face. "They'll get to see more of me for the next two years. Who knows, maybe I'll drop by your home since I'm not getting training from the Elder nor Gorrum anymore." Lily watched as he smiled at her. His eyes closing as his big grin took over the majority of his face. How could someone who was so upset become so happy all of a sudden?

'Boys are weird.' Lily thought.

Some time later…

Lily slowly moved through the garden as Keng looked around the garden. He had been back here a couple of times but the amount of different plants they had here were often strange yet healthy. Keng squatted down and poked the large leaves sticking out of the ground.

"Nessium Carrots." Keng recalled the name of the plant. He moved his fingers to move the large leaves. He wrapped his fingers around the orange carrot and pulled it up. "They're large carrots with large leaves on top. The leaves always remind me of mustard green leaves." The Nessium Carrot was quite large as he set it off to the side and grabbed another carrot. "You only want two? Is this gonna feed the four of us?"

"It always feeds the four of us." Lily replied. She stood up with a basket full of vegetables. "This should be enough. Let's wash these and cut them for the soup. Whatever meat they bring home, it'll be good with this combination of food."

The large cauldron sat over the large fire as Lily and Keng sliced through the vegetables they had picked out for the soup after a thorough wash. Keng hummed to an unknown tune from Earth as he quickly finished the last vegetable.

"We're back." Gorrum announced. Lily and Keng looked to their left and noticed Gorrum was carrying small brown and white mole-bunnies. He lifted them up. "Mole-rabbits tonight. It'll go well with all of that, don't you think?"

"Bring over here." Lily motioned. "Keng's finished so he can skin them and handle that." Gorrum nodded and set them off to the side near Keng.

"I'll leave it to you two. I'm going to step outside for a moment. Elder's still outside." Gorrum told them. Lily nodded and Keng gave a small nod before collecting the last of his vegetables and dumping them into a wooden bowl.

Keng handled the mole-rabbits with ease. He skinned the pelts off and set them on another counter away from the food. They would deal with it later after they've eaten. Keng deboned the rabbit meat and cut them into small chunks and set them aside. By the time he was finished, Lily was already grabbing the bowl and moving over to dump them into the cauldron.

"I can handle it tonight." Keng told her.

"It's fine. We can do it together. You might mess it up again." Lily replied.

"I only messed up once!"

"I don't wanna taste that again. Watch closely!"

Gorrum stepped outside and found Jyu'so sitting on the steps. His hands were together in his lap while his eyes were staring up at the sky. It was painted purple and orange. Gorrum cleared his throat and sat down, looking up at the sky.

"You aren't going to stay inside with them?" Jyu'so asked.

"No, I will stay out here with you." Gorrum replied.

"Do what you want." Jyu'so nodded. The two sat in silence for awhile until Gorrum turned to look at Jyu'so. He was staring at his palms.

"Elder, I think we both can agree we were too harsh on the boy. We worry about him too much and all of these small problems aren't that big of a deal." Gorrum was the first to admit his mistake. He had been harsh on Keng. He was worried about him and his worry came out angry. "We all know he's on a time crunch. I think putting more pressure on him will cause him to be more stressed. It's already apparent he's stressed."

"He's already thrown his chance away." Jyu'so glanced at Gorrum. "Why should I give an impatient boy a second chance? There are many people who wish to be under my tutorship. I could take someone else who will appreciate my lessons better."

"And what lesson are you trying to teach him with our anger?" Gorrum asked. Jyu'so's mouth twitched. Gorrum let out a sigh and listened to the wind rustle the leaves before continuing. "Sir, you've taught many students. You rarely have time for it because of your duties in Pea'ir, but you've been tasked with making sure he's fine. What are you going to do about the Merfolk if you show up without him?"

"We can find someone else. Someone more qualified."

"There's no one more qualified than the one who wields Hydrosphere. You know those who wield the god weapons are meant to aid the god's people in times of need. The Merfolk need him! I will apologize and clear things up with him, but you need to be forthright about your intentions before its too late and the Merfolk really do come for him."

"They've already come." Jyu'so waved Gorrum's advice off. He was acting like an old man. Gorrum sighed and stood up, turning to look down at the Elder. "I won't say anything unless he understands what he did wrong. We are only doing our jobs. I will not hold his hand."

"And you shouldn't. 'One shouldn't put their personal feelings above their duty.'" Gorrum raised his eyebrows. Jyu'so's eyes narrowed as he let out a groan. "You were the one who taught me that, Elder. It's best to finish our duty especially when the God King has decreed this of you. If you'll excuse me, I think the food is about done. I will help the kids with setting up. Come inside soon, sir."

Jyu'so waved Gorrum off as Gorrum turned and climbed the steps and entered the Tomb.

"Keng cooked this himself?" Gorrum asked. "Will it taste as bad like last time?" He chuckled.

,m "It didn't taste that awful! You guys are just overexaggerating it!" Keng shouted.

"Admit it, Keng, it was pretty bad!" Lily pointed.

"Just set the table." Keng grumbled.

"All right, all right. I'll help you with this since you two cooked." Gorrum chuckled. The three worked together to set the table. Keng scooped the soup into the bowls and gave them to Gorrum and Lily. The two moved over to the dining room table and set them, each in their specific spots. Gorrum grabbed some couple day old bread and moved it over to the middle. Lily filled their cups with water and before they knew it, the three of them were sitting in their spots, waiting for Jyu'so.

"Elder! The food is ready! Come inside!" Lily shouted. There was a moment of waiting before Elder Jyu'so stepped inside. Shadowy hands reached up behind him and shut the Tomb doors as he moved to sit in his spot. "Come let's all eat together!"