Chapter 420 After Years (2)

Two days passed in the blink of an eye; Basil, Mei Qi and Xiu Li were still halfway to Huaxia. Had it been a normal time, they would have reached Huaxia by now. Unfortunately, they had to take a roundabout and long route, rendering Deacon's speed useless. Well, it wasn't technically useless since they still didn't have to spend weeks on the way thanks to it.

"It is time to rest, Brother," Xiu Li's voice travelled from the back to the front, reaching Basil's ears.

"We will stop at that forest ahead," Basil said, neither loudly nor softly.

Xiu Li sat in the backmost part of Deacon's back. He initially wanted to sit right behind Basil; however, he realized that letting Mei Qi sit in the back alone wasn't appropriate. The person herself, coincidentally, wanted to sit behind Basil, so he gladly forfeited his seat. Sitting in the back, he took the role of the rearguard.

For the past two days, the only person who had been conversing with Mei Qi was Xiu Li. Basil generally had no interest in talking to anyone, meanwhile, Mei Qi was too embarrassed to start a conversation with him, given how serious he always looked.

"I think it is fine to just stop and rest here. We are passing a territory that people rarely come to, so no one should see us," Mei Qi commented.

"There is a group of Paladins 70 kilometres behind us. They will be able to eliminate the distance within 15 minutes and I am sure that is not enough time to rest for us," Basil replied.

"So, are you going to use the forest as a hiding place?"

"No, I am going to usher the Demons resting there toward the group of Paladins."

"How did you even…no, forget it."

This was how the interaction between Basil and Mei Qi had always ended. They always had crossing opinions and Basil always proved to her from time to time why he was right. She didn't want to call this a conversation. Because of this, also, she was reluctant to start a conversation.

When they arrived at the forest, Basil immediately got down from Deacon without saying anything. He delved into the forest by himself and then returned with a horde of Low to Middle-Class Demons following behind him.

Stopping before Deacon, he let the Demons run past him; they didn't even glance at Deacon who was standing in their way as they ran past him. Seeing the scene, despite knowing Basil was special, still astonished Xiu Li and Mei Qi.

"Now, we may rest for fifteen minutes without worrying about the Paladins eliminating their distance between us. By the time we finish resting, they may still have to fight hundreds of Demons," Basil casually said, ignoring the look of astonishment the people gave him.

Leading Deacon into the forest, he stopped when they were a kilometre in. He had found the spot he preferred, which was why he decided to stop.

Sitting down under the biggest tree in sight, Basil immediately closed his eyes and meditated. It had always been the case, so none of his company was weirded out by that. They got down from Deacon and then laid out their eating sets. Deacon, on the other hand, laid down beside Basil and closed his eyes.

When everything was ready, the two began eating. Like it had always been, Basil didn't join them. As someone who had ever eaten with Basil, Xiu Li knew Basil didn't need a special time to eat due to Basil's eating speed. Because of that, he didn't even offer Basil food; he knew he would only disturb Basil.

Mei Qi, who was not that familiar with Basil, unlike Amara, his self-proclaimed adopted mother, didn't know of this fact. She decided things couldn't always go this way, so she stood up and then brought some food to the serenely meditating Basil.

"What is it?" Even before she nudged him, Basil opened his eyes.

"I got some food," she said stoically, failing to sound warm.

"I can see that with my own eyes."

"Well, don't you want it?"

"…I thought only kids flex how much food they have," Basil commented with a faint smile of amusement.

Mei Qi tried to keep her face stoic but her cheeks were getting red with each passing second. "It is…it is not that…." In the end, she spoke timidly as she covered her face in embarrassment.

Realizing what she was doing, she snapped back to reality. She uncovered her face and then cleared her throat graciously.

"Kuhum! I think there is a misunderstanding between…" she trailed off as she looked at Basil's extended hand. "Are you pitying me…?"

"Let us eat together."

Mei Qi's eyes lit up but her face remained stoic at Basil's words. She scoffed softly and then handed over the food she had to Basil. A few seconds after sitting down before him, she fiddled in her place. She nodded to herself afterwards and then sat closer to him.

As Basil looked at her in wonder, Xiu Li looked at the two in amusement. As an outgoing person, it was entertainment for him to watch two introverts trying to socialize with each other.

"Kuhum!" Mei Qi cleared her throat graciously, again. "So…what makes Anthony and Amara fond of you so much?" She didn't mean to say that even though she wanted to say that; however, her straightforward nature forced those words out of her mouth.

Her expression immediately turned sour when Basil quirked his eyebrow at her. "The fact that they are strange people, who have weird tastes."

At Basil's answer, Mei Qi was speechless. She had expected him to ask her what she meant by her question, not a humorous but slightly factual answer like that.

"Ah, I see…." She nodded not long after, realizing something. "Anthony and Amara also found my straightforwardness interesting. I guess that is what made them attracted to you. We are alike; you and I, none of us likes to snake around."

Basil, although he was a straightforward individual, still had times where he worked his tongue like a vixen. He wouldn't say he was an honest individual; however, he didn't deny or correct Mei Qi.

"Since we are alike, I will be blunt. Why were you willing to bring me and Xiu Li along?" Mei Qi asked unhesitatingly.

"I need your connection," Basil answered shortly.

"Heh…not outside my expectation." She forked a slice of meat and then continued, "Then, what do you wish to do with my connection? I know this sounds personal, so I won't blame you if you don't want to answer me."

As she munched on the slice of meat, she looked at Basil silently. He kept eating his meal as easy as he breathed—she ignored the rather surreal scene—so she concluded that Basil didn't want to talk about it.

Just as she was about to ask another question to clear the atmosphere that was getting murky, Basil stood up; he had finished his food, much to her astonishment. She quirked her eyebrow, wondering what he would do. Soon after, much to her mortification, Basil pulled his shirt up.

She dreaded what was going to happen but she was too curious to cover her eyes. She planted her eyes on Basil's abdomen which was decorated with impeccable muscles and enjoyed what she saw…that was until she noticed a rather horrifying detail.

"This is…" she put her hand on Basil's solar plexus in horror. Its colour was similar to that of a dead person's skin and it was decorated with countless black veins, making half of his torso look like a cracked sculpture. "You have too much Yin Energy in your body!"

"I need someone to get rid of it," Basil casually said, uncaring to Mei Qi's bewilderment.

The Dragon Curse that Bahamut's Soul Fragment, which, at the time, was possessing Charles, had cast on him forced his body to produce an extra amount of Yang Energy that made it hard for him to think rationally and would make him self-detonate when he became a Peak Stage Violet Core Knight.

To somehow suppress the effect, Basil killed Yamata no Orochi and inherited the Curse it had. The Curse attracted an extreme amount of Yin Energy into his body, which managed to suppress the overflowing Yang Energy he had for some time.

The more time passed, however, the more Yin Energy he had. It no longer was suppressing the Yang Energy. It was overwhelming the Yang Energy while slowly eroding his body. Regardless, he still had to prevent his Core from advancing since the Dragon Curse hadn't disappeared yet.

"There is only one way to heal you…" Mei Qi muttered.

"Reverse Cycle. That is why I need your connection," Basil remarked as he nodded his head lightly.

"I hope you already know the repercussion of using that method. If you haven't, I will tell you; you will become—"

"I know." Basil put his hand up, stopping Mei Qi entirely. "Also, your hand. I am going to wear my shirt back."

Flustered, she pulled her hand quickly and then covered her face with her hands. Basil didn't mind her in the slightest as he wore his shirt back, allowing her to quickly regain her composure.

Since Basil had already finished his meal, he resumed meditating as soon as he sat down. Silence filled the space between the two; however, it was no longer awkward like it had always been before.

As she ate her meal, Mei Qi noticed something was amiss. She turned around just to make sure and, true to her expectation, Xiu Li had gone. She didn't know where and when he had gone. She was too focused on Basil's condition to mind her surroundings.

"Do you know where he went, Basil?"

"I don't know. He was rushing earlier, so I guess nature called him."

"Ah, that makes sense. He must go to the place where he is sure we can't see him then."

The two's speculation was the most logical one; however, it wasn't what had happened. The real reason why Xiu Li had left was that he had misunderstood what Basil was going to do with Mei Qi.

The moment Basil pulled his shirt up, Xiu Li widened his eyes in shock. He became horrified when Mei Qi put her hand on Basil's abdomen and brought her head closer, which she had done because she wanted to take a closer look at Basil's injury.

He didn't know what had actually happened; his mind was too clouded by misconception to bother making sure of what was happening. Just like that, he ran away, so he could give them some space.

Luckily, the misunderstanding was cleared up when they reached Huaxia. Still, it dumbfounded Basil and Mei Qi when they heard it.