Chapter 456: Kiddie Meal

Chapter 456: Kiddie Meal

Hui reduced his qi, retreating it into his core. His body went fully limp. Hui pushed his qi into his shell, reinforcing the cores tough exterior. Alright. Ill write my body off as a loss. Let the baby beasts eat it and find out its not tasty. As long as they dont destroy my core, Im safe. Once theyre done chewing on my limp body, I can regenerate it or grow a new one, either-or. Id rather regenerate than grow a body from scratch, but in the end, its only a matter of the quantity of life qi.

Actually, Ill probably wait until they fall asleep to slip out. The less attention I can gather, the better. I dont know what realm the beasts are, but the parents, at least, are stronger than me, and I really dont want to kill the babies. Plus, most of the beasts probably sleep at the same time. All in all, its going to be safer to explore on my own two feet once the beasts fall asleep.

The beast gave his body a shake. His limbs ragdolled around him. With a toss, it threw his body to the babies below. The babies cried out in joy and pounced on Hui. Razor-sharp teeth dug into his flesh as they took big bites of his plant flesh. One after another, the babies faces twisted in disgust. They spat Hui out and backed away, spitting, licking their lips, and shaking their heads.

Their parent grumbled at them. It lowered its head and took a bite of Hui, only to immediately spit him out, too. It nudged Hui a few times and sniffed him, confused.

Yes, yes, thats right. I dont taste good. Leave me! Hui said silently.

The beast huffed, then shook its head. It took to the air in a great gust of wind. The babies hunkered down on the side of the mountain, fur flying wildly, nearly blown away by their parents wingbeats. Their parents shadow retreated, and the beasts wandered back inside their cave, settling down to wait for food again.

Hui laid there, settling in for the long haul. Carefully, he guided his life qi to his wounds, sealing them shut. Alright. Now I wait for the beasts to fall asleep and sneak away.

I cant sneak away now, can I?

Overhead, a dark shadow blocked out the ambient yellow light. A beast circled by, watchful eyes casting around for any danger near its children.

Ah. Theres the other beast parent. Yes, yes. Its better to wait for night before I sneak away.

A quiet mewl caught his ear. Hui glanced in the other direction. Creeping out from behind the other three beasts, a tiny version of the other three snuck toward Hui. Compared to its siblings, this one only reached half as tall, ribs visible through its skin, its head too big for its malnourished body. The other beasts would have stood at Huis height, even the babies, but this one only stood tall enough to reach his waist.

It wobbled toward Hui, mustering up all its energy to reach him. Plopping down at his side, it reached out its head and took a single, pitiful bite. The same as its siblings, its face scrunched in disgust, but unlike the others, it didnt spit it out, but kept chewing, resolutely chomping at the plant flesh.

The runt? Poor thing. It isnt doing well, is it, Hui thought, his heart aching. He internally licked his lips, thinking. I dont want to watch it die, and it looks to be on the brink of death. Should should I use my flesh technique to give it a little meat? These beasts are carnivores. They cant survive on plants. Even if its human flesh, it doesnt hurt me, and I dont want to see it die.

Hui hesitated, then quietly changed a small part of his flesh to human, right as the beast took another bite. The beasts eyes went wide, and it gulped down a bite excitedly, splattering blood all over its face.

The other three beasts perked up from the nest. They rushed over to Hui, salivating. One knocked the runt out of the way, and it tumbled over, unable to catch itself. As the other three closed in on Hui, the runt laboriously climbed back to its paws.

Hui cycled his flesh back to plant. The three babies bit him, only to immediately spit him out. They grumbled at one another, eyeing the runt suspiciously. The runt backed away, ears and tail tucked, whole body trembling. It stumbled over its own big paws and nearly toppled.

No, no. Ill just lie here until the sun sets, and then

Wait. Does this place have a sun? Does the sun set?

I I guess Ill wait a few hours and find out!

The day dragged on. The parent beast brought its children food another two times, and each time, Hui cut a little hole for the runt to take its share. At last, the sky began to dim. Rather than one side or the other growing dark, the entire sky grew darker at once, as if someone slid a dimmer switch down on the mysterious light source. The parent beast led its three babies inside, but didnt even cast a glance at the little runt, who still curled up next to Hui.

Hui looked at the runt, then gritted his teeth, his mind made up. Im taking this beast with me!

True darkness fell. Hui rose, healing all of his wounds. The runt stood up, startled, but before it could cry out, Hui grabbed onto its muzzle and sealed it tight. He smiled and raised a finger to his lips. Shh.

The beast continued to struggle and grunt, fighting to break free and scream.

Well fair. It is a beast, after all. And a baby beast, at that. Hui took to the air, escaping with the baby beast. High above the nest, he finally released its mouth and petted it soothingly. Shh, shh. Ill take good care of you now.

The runt laid limp in his arms, too frightened to do anything but shiver. Hui looked at it with pity in his eyes. This poor thing. It has no idea that theres good in the world, or people that care for it. All its life, its been treated terribly. But thats okay. Ill take care of you now.

Its okay, its okay. He shook his head, looking down at the world below. Now what next? I might have acquired a beast, but thats not what I came here to do. I came in here to find Fen Long, and Im no closer to accomplishing that.

I guess the first thing to do, is to find the thickest qi in the area. Its not a guaranteed success, but its worth a try. Hui closed his eyes and sent out his mental energy.

The qi flowed around him, circulating in the secret realm. It flowed from beyond the mountains into the valley, a massive river that slowly passed Hui by. Hui opened his eyes, turning to face the source of the qi flow.

North. Come to think of it, thats the direction Senior flew. Hui pursed his lips, then sighed. Well, thats Senior for you. He flew northward, gently petting the runt as he flew.

The runt slowly stopped trembling. After a while, it began leaning forward in Huis arms and stretching out its little feathery wings, as if it could fly already. It looked up at Hui, its tongue flying in the wind, and flapped its wings some more. Pawing at the air, it let out a happy yip.

There you go. See? Its not so bad! Hui said, nodding at the runt. He sped up, arcing over the mountains. Cold rocks stretched beyond the mountains. Harsh and unforgiving, they marched on and on, as far as Huis eyes could see. He closed his eyes, confirming that the source of the qi remained up ahead, and sped up, flying on.

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