Chapter 11 - Do you want to be my knight? (1/2)

Five years had passed since Hei with Ye and Xing had begun to frequent the Leaf Village.

At first not used to the new environment, they gradually gained familiarity with the village thanks to Lei Lei and Lei Bai, this father-daughter couple who had welcomed them since the beginning with kindness.

Due to the frequent visits and being a student of Lei Bai, Hei became soon known by the other villagers.

The strange child with silver clothes, who went around with a spider and a snake on his body, immediately aroused the inhabitants' interest.

Some of them were curious about the origins of this child, who appeared out of nothing. Others instead were wary because they knew nothing about him.

However, Lei Bai had some influence in the village and had proposed himself as his guarantor in case anything happened. So, Hei was accepted without too many uproars.

Soon, the sight of him wandering around with Lei Lei became familiar, and the inhabitants eventually began to consider him one of them despite not having a house in the village.

Every time Hei went to the village, he paid attention to return before evening to the outer limit of the Multicolored Leaf Forest, where Bao Bei would wait for her cubs to come back.

Despite having a great time in the village and being accepted by the inhabitants, Hei's heart was always with his mother. Lei Bai and Lei Lei had offered him several times to stay for the night and sleep in their house. But, Hei had always refused their invitation, wanting to go back to his mother instead. However, the next day, he would return in the morning at dawn if he wasn't busy with training.

In this regard, seeing that Hei, Xing, and Ye were so happy about spending time in the village, Bao Bei decided to reduce their training load. After all, they were still young, and she thought she could give them more time to play.

If possible, she wanted not to deprive them of the possibility of going to the village every day, but she knew that it wasn't advisable to cancel the training altogether. Therefore she could only reduce their exercises by a little.

During these years, Hei, who was now 12 years old, had grown a lot since the first time he came to the Leaf Village. Whether it was due to the regimen of training performed or the mixture of milk and blood provided by his mother weekly, Hei looked more like a young man of fifteen-sixteen years old rather than a twelve-year-old.

Regarding his personality, Hei had further developed his kind and polite behavior. He would always treat everyone with respect and listen to what he was told, carefully keeping in his mind the lessons he learned. But at the same time, he had also developed a wild feeling like a lurking beast ready to act at the slightest signal. Usually, it wasn't visible, but it could be noticed from time to time in his eyes. And it was this sharp contrast that had caught the attention of many young girls in the village.

It had to be said that over the years, the villagers had speculated about its origin. The most quoted hypothesis was that he was the son of some martial artist in reclusion near the village. Or at least the son of someone who had awakened his or her spirit power.

It must be known that it was a common belief that the children of those who had developed spirit power were more likely to awaken it. So Hei, who was rumored to be the son of an expert, had become an excellent candidate for the various families in the village, considering that there were only a handful of people who had developed it without achieving significant results, though.

After all, as a family, who didn't dream of giving birth to a descendant who could overcome their condition as humble people and become an important person known far and wide.

But Hei was, in the end, still too young to fully understand the relationship between a man and a woman, not to mention that, even if he had been aware of it, he wasn't the type to bring anyone close to him.

Although he was friendly with everybody, it didn't mean he would lower his guard and his defense.

Bao Bei had taught him that a spirit beast must always be vigilant because, at any time, there could be a danger. Therefore, since he considered himself a spirit beast with a human body, he would never forget this principle. For him, the words of his mother were the same as laws.

The only ones to whom he wouldn't apply this rule to some extent, in addition to his family, were Lei Lei and Lei Bai. Being the first to accept him and due to their relationship as student and master, Hei would lower his guard with them. Even Ye and Xing were quite at ease with them nearby, unlike with the other inhabitants. However, he had never revealed what Bao Bei forbade him to tell.

As for Ye and Xing, the two little spirit beasts, they too had grown, doubling their size. Luckily for Xing, Hei hadn't cut his hair in these years, so they had consequently become long enough to get under his neck, and she could still hide herself using Hei's hair as a hiding place when he wasn't wearing a hat. Ye, on the other hand, didn't have these problems because she could coil herself several times around Hei's neck if it was necessary and hide under his clothes.

Therefore, their movement formation had become a routine, and the three of them felt more comfortable moving around like that. Hei also liked to carry them around in that position since it reminded them when their mother carried them on her back around the forest.

Even today, he was transporting them in that way as he approached the village.

It was still dawn, but you could already hear people at work, breaking the silence that had reigned during the night. However, there was something wrong with those noises.

'Strange... even if the inhabitants are early risers, they are usually those who have to go to the fields while those who work in the village tend to get up later. But loud noises are coming from the village plaza... '

Since there was no smoke or sign of alarm, Hei judged that nothing dangerous had happened and went to Lei Bai's house. Maybe he could answer him.

When he reached his master's house, the figure of a young woman welcomed him. She had long brown hair tied in a ponytail. She had a light white dress with flower-shaped embroidery that revealed a bit the curved shape of the girl's body. On her head, a small straw hat to protect her from the sun. In her hand, she held a ceramic vase containing water that was being poured onto the plants planted on the ground. While she was watering the plants, on her face, you could see a slight smile with here eyes containing some satisfaction for how the plants were growing.

This young woman was none other than Lei Lei, the young girl who had met Hei as a child many years ago on the outskirts of the Multicolored Leaf Forest.

Over the years, Lei Lei had become a young lady very much appreciated by everyone, especially by the young men of the village, considering she was in a suitable age for marriage. She had a toned and well-proportioned body due to the various jobs she did during the day that kept her in shape. But it was her gait that made the difference.