Chapter 26 - Celebration (1/2)

After walking for a couple of hours, they found a small wood and decided to search the area. Fortuitously they discovered a cave uninhabited where to spend the night. Therefore Kang told his subordinates that they would camp there for the night.

Although it was not the maximum of comfort, sleeping outside, at least they wouldn't have to sleep directly exposed to the elements. Furthermore, sleeping in the cave was easier to monitor than sleeping in an open space.

While the various Sons of Underworld's people split their tasks to prepare everything necessary to spend the night there, Hei took on the task of finding water in the surroundings to preserve as much as possible what they had brought with them.

He volunteered for this task as, in that way, he could take advantage of it to take the buffaloes out for a short walk so that they could eat and drink while the others finished their dinner preparations.

Once he had been given the various empty waterskins that they had, he then went into the woods leading the buffaloes. Obviously, his two little sisters and his mother were with him.

The various animals, hearing them approaching, all hid in their small burrows. It was rare for them to see powerful animals like the buffaloes, not to mention the albino buffalo, which was emanating calm and power at the same time. But in addition to that, they instinctively felt that there was something else they had to hide from, even though they didn't know what.

After all, small animals had to pay attention every day to avoid being devoured, and therefore they knew how to recognize when there was something dangerous nearby. Leaving aside the various tiny insects that approached exploiting the fact of being seemingly insignificant, Hei didn't encounter any inconvenience while driving the buffaloes.

Eventually, he encountered a pond during his scouting. The buffaloes placed themselves neatly side by side and began to drink to quench their thirst. The water didn't look clear, and it was a little muddy. However, it wasn't a problem for them to drink. Ye and Xing also came down from Hei's body to go drink.

Seeing this, Hei scratched his head, unsure about what to do. Drinking water directly could make him ill or so he had learned from his mother. It happened that Bao Bei purified with her spirit power the water she took before giving it to Hei to drink. This was done mostly when the water wasn't particularly clear.

But now he didn't have to take the water only for himself but also for all the others. So it didn't seem appropriate for him to disturb his mother with such a request. Therefore, he decided trying to purify it himself first.

So, both his hands emerged inside and took some water out. The water in his hands was murky and not attractive.

Trying to concentrate, Hei closed his eyes to perceive only the small amount of water he had in his hands, trying to grasp its essence by activating his spirit power. However, shortly after that, he had to give up because the process quickly consumed the little spirit power he had.

Seeing him dejected from the failure, Bao Bei told him to comfort him,

'What you tried to do is not something you can grasp immediately. It is an alchemy's basic technique, but also one of the most difficult: to make one's spirit power resonate with the object in question. With this technique, it is possible to change the property of the object or help it to merge with others. Purifying the water or creating pills that are useful in cultivation are among the things you can do with it, but all this requires precise control and perseverance.'

Hearing this, Hei gave a bitter smile and answered, 'I understand. I just wanted to give it a try, but I didn't think it was that hard.'

'Did you want to purify the water to bring it to the others?' Bao Bei asked, sensing the reasons behind her son's actions.

Seeing that he nodded his head, she came down from Hei's head, and, with the appearance of a tiny spider, she approached the water.

When she came down, the water buffaloes that were drinking suddenly froze. Among them, the albino buffalo was the most shocked of all. Without delay, it unconsciously bent its front legs together with its head as if it wanted to bow. The other buffaloes also followed its example.

At the strange behavior of the albino buffalo, Hei was speechless. He couldn't understand why it was behaving like that in front of his mother, considering it was the first time it saw her directly.

Bao Bei shifted her gaze to the albino buffalo and raised one of her legs to signal to it to stand up and stared at it for a few moments. Then she looked away and concentrated on the pond.

However, after getting up, the albino buffalo's eyes shone as if he had just been reinvigorated by something. It had had a similar reaction when Hei told him that he would release him and its companions and unconsciously trusted his words, restoring the vigor that was gradually disappearing from its body.

But now it was different. It seemed as if its whole being was bursting with joy and trepidation. In its gaze, instead, there was a resolute light. It was as if all the suffering it had endured so far was a prelude to this meeting. If a comparison has to be made, it will be as if a person found the purpose of their life.

While Hei, Ye, and Xing were still watching the scene numb, Bao Bei put one of her legs in the water, letting some of her spirit power escape come out.

After a short time, there was a change in the water. A portion of water became clear without the turbidity that was before. After doing this, Bao Bei motioned for Hei to come closer to fill the waterskins.

With his mind still thinking about what had happened, Hei did his job anyway and completed it. Now that he had done what he had to, it was time to go back to the others. But the curiosity was still present in his heart.

Seeing her curious children, Bao Bei smiled inwardly and said to them, 'Do you want to know why they knelt first? I will tell you, however, only after we have settled into a sect. All right?'

Since their mother had promised to reveal it to them later, the three of them nodded their heads and no longer continued the subject and resumed walking. It didn't take long for them to get into the cave where the others were.

When they arrived, they could smell a slight fragrance flowing from outside the cave. The people there had already started cooking. From the smell, Hei realized that they had caught some wild game nearby.

At that point, he began arranging the buffaloes just outside the cave entrance as there wasn't enough space inside. The albino buffalo beckoned that it was all right when Hei tried to apologize for this. Apparently, they wanted to sleep outdoors as they had always been forced to rest and spend most of their time indoors.

After setting the buffaloes, he brought back all the waterskins now full and positioned them in a corner of the cave. When he saw him coming back, Kang approached Hei and patted him on the shoulder.

”You found the water, well done. In that way, we should be good for quite a while. Come on. Dinner is almost ready.” Then he motioned for Hei to follow him.