Small cuts and scratches covered his face and arms, they would probably not scar but Liang knew when they healed he would be covered in scabs. He and the old man were trekking through thick brambles growing in the forest for some reason unknown to him.
However, he had accepted the old man as his master the night before and would now listen to his orders, especially if it meant getting stronger, which apparently was the reason for this. Almost as if the thorns were afraid of the old man, they moved out of his way wherever he walked and took their frustration out on Liang.
He asked the old man several times where they were going, but the only response he ever received was, “We are going to get something so we can begin your recovery.” Though he would not say it, Liang was certain the old man was lost.
At times, they would head south, and then at other times they would head west before turning back north. His expression never changed but the old man would hum just before they changed directions as if he just thought of something.
Finally, he turned to Liang and said, “That damn thing won’t sit still, and it’s too quick. I wanted you to take part in capturing it but this thing keeps moving around. I’m also afraid your blood is going to attract something that will scare it off as well. Maybe it likes steamed buns. Hurry up and wash yourself off then start a fire.”
Liang soaked a rag with water and began wiping the blood from his body. He felt wronged but could only imagine what he looked like. The old man stared at him as if he was a phony salesclerk and was trying to distance himself as far as possible.
Liang could not think of any animals who preyed on steamed buns in the wild. However, the scent of food may lure it out, so he thought it might be worth a try. Dry sticks were everywhere in the forest so it was not long before a fire was lit and the food was heated.
“Alright, just let the smell spread for a little bit. I don’t know of any creature that can resist the smell of steamed buns.” The old man appeared confident with a smug look on his face, as if this was a time-honored technique passed through generations of his family. He waited patiently, sneaking a few buns while looking around and searching the sky.
It was midday and the sun was beating down rather intensely when it struck Liang, this is just lunchtime and the old man was hungry. Looking at the old man who continued to act completely innocent he was growing a little annoyed before out of nowhere, the old man threw a rock into the air and a loud screech filled the sky.
Squinting his eyes, he saw a large bird falling towards the ground in the distance. He turned back to the old man who was already staring at him and gave Liang a triumphant “Humph” before pointing to the bird telling him to retrieve it. He then began to scarf down the remaining steamed buns, leaving none for Liang.
He could only curse his luck that the bird fell into a large thicket of thorns. He was certain the buns did not lure this bird here and the old man waited until it was flying over the giant thorn patch. Either way he was just happy this trip would finally end. He wanted to remove the now torn and bloody rags as soon as possible.
It was a large dark brown bird with a golden beak and golden tail feathers. He had never seen a bird like this but it was nearly as large as he was. Thankfully, its body was light so after struggling to get it out of the thorn patch, he was able to carry it back where the old man had finally finished eating.
Almost immediately, the old man stood up and asked in an accusatory tone, “Did you get the wrong bird? I killed a Spotted Hawk, that’s a Gold-Tailed Eagle. You must have grabbed the wrong one, damnit; an eagle must have gotten in the way and sacrificed itself.”
He examined the bird by checking its wings as well as the wound he left and said, “Well maybe this is better for you anyways. Not better for me though, Gold-Tailed Eagles don’t taste particularly good, I didn’t think I would see one around here, but they do have some relation to the Roc. Anyways we only need the core; we can throw the body away. At least it’s an adult, a pretty strong one as well.”
Liang did not understand why this eagle would be better for him than the other bird, but he had never heard of either of them. However, he understood how lucky he was that the old man had mixed the two birds up. One was for taste while the other would help him somehow.
Trying to fix the misunderstanding the old man explained, “The Gold-Tailed Eagle is a degraded descendant of the Roc which is a divine beast that is known for its great power. Beasts that descend from the Roc are normally much harder to kill and a bit rarer than those that descend from the Vermillion bird like the Spotted Hawk. The Roc’s descendants will be more difficult to find in the future.”
“I wanted the hawk because that damn Vermillion bird is pretty promiscuous, breeding with almost anything it could so it has a lot of descendants. It wouldn’t surprise me if 9 out of 10 fire-based beasts were a descendent of that bastard chicken. Either is pretty good but for what would benefit you the most, it’s probably the Roc as long as you can find its descendants.”
He still did not quite understand but he was somewhat satisfied with the explanation. For some reason it looked like he would need to hunt the descendants of the Roc. It sounded difficult but the old man had told him that this journey would not be easy, so he was prepared to do whatever it took.
The old man looked in the sky once more before telling Liang to pack up. They headed back down the dirt road for two more days before entering Tian City. He sent him to get a room at an inn while he went to an alchemy shop returning with several bottles of purple, green, and red liquids while cursing under his breath.
Liang had never before seen poison, he was unconscious before he knew what happened in the village, but he remembered that poison was apparently purple. A little afraid, he asked the old man what he was doing to which he replied, “It’s time to start working on you” with a little chuckle afterwards.
Taking out the core the old man removed an almost impossibly thin blade from his ring and began to carve odd symbols that Liang had never seen before. His work was slow and meticulous and the symbols so small it was difficult to distinguish them without straining his eyes.
Watching the old man, he noticed he had beads of sweat forming on his forehead, most likely using some type of ability. After every symbol, he dipped the core into the three fluids, green, red, and purple in that order. The fluid went down every time and most likely, the symbols on the core were absorbing it.
After nearly six hours, the bottles were empty and the old man stood up. Raising his arms in the air, he stretched as if his body became stiff and gave Liang a smile. He took a thick piece of leather out of his ring then told Liang to take off his shirt. After laying on his stomach on the bed, the old man placed the leather in his mouth and told him to bite.
He then took out a thin silver knife and said, “Prepare yourself, this is going to hurt like nothing you’ve ever felt before” before stabbing Liang in the back.
