107 Memories (2/2)

”This is not going to work!” Hei Gou was nervous. He knew that although a few humans had been killed, it was far from enough to deal with all of the human forces. Their only option was to flee.

Hei Gou looked around and saw that humans were closing in from every direction, trying to make a pincer attack on them.

”So, my body mutated through the blood brother ceremony. I know for a fact that I have gotten wings now. I am not sure how they work, but I think it is our only chance!”

Hei Gou looked at Xue Wei, and then his eyes turned solemn. Suddenly, black fur started sprouting all over his body, and his arms turned into sturdy, massive front paws with claws. His face turned into that of a dog. His eyes, however, stayed the same post-transformation.

Hei Gou looked very similar to how he had been before, but there was one massive difference. Not only was his fur much more glistening and healthy-looking than before, but he now had a pair of wings attached to his back.

These wings were so large that they seemed to fill up the entire shop, and the large Primordial Beast instantly grabbed the collapsed Xue Wei, placed him on his back, and then gave the sign to the Fierce Beasts with strength equivalent to Heavenly Warriors to shatter the roof of the shop. In a rain of splinters, Hei Gou took to the sky.

The Primordial Beast Hunters were all Heavenly Warriors, and all of them were capable of flight. However, although they were able to fly despite their human nature, their speed was many times worse than a flying Primordial Beast – even worse than a flying Fierce Beast, which was why the Fierce Beasts which could fly were seen as treasures in the Heping Kingdom.

Hei Gou was not used to flying. In fact, he had never tried so before, but when he started swinging his wings, he found that it was much simpler than he had expected.

He soared into the sky, followed by all the flying beasts that were in the beast horde, and then he cut the connection to the Fierce Beasts, allowing them to flee whenever they felt like it.

He then started flying at his highest speed far away from Lingyun town. With him came all the flying beasts. The humans were not willing to give up just like this, so they all followed suit.

Although their flying speed was much slower than Hei Gou's, Hei Gou was still new to flying, and thus the humans managed to barely keep up.

In Lingyun Town, the beasts, which had now been freed, did not scatter erratically. Instead, they did everything in their power to stall for time against the humans. Even though many of them threw themselves at death's door, none of them seemed to care about it as they continued to slow down and kill one hunter after another.

Hei Gou could feel that Xue Wei was trembling. He could feel that there was something seriously wrong with his friend. Urged by his worries, he managed to bruteforce mastery of flight.

The longer the chase became, the more the humans fell behind, incapable of keeping up. When their chase had gone on for half an hour, the humans were finally completely out of sight.

With Xue Wei and Hei Gou now out of harm's way, the beasts that had followed them all started flying their own ways too. After a final glance at Xue Wei and Hei Gou, they chirped, roared, and screeched their farewells in unison before they returned to the Northern Taiga from where they had originated from.

Hei Gou flew past many forests. He flew past mountains and rivers, prairies and meadows.

It was not before he found a naturally made cave on one of the mountains that they passed that he stopped his frantic flight, flying into it. It was an empty cave that seemed to have housed an expert in the past; the cave was equipped with a stone bed, stone chairs, and stone tables.

Everything was covered in dust, and Hei Gou instantly entered, placed Xue Wei on the bed, returned to his human shape, and began cleaning.

He would constantly glance at Xue Wei, worried about his friend. He was aware that what his brother was currently going through was something he could not help him with. It was something Xue Wei had to fight and conquer on his own.

Hei Gou gave a final glance at Xue Wei before he descended from the mountain and started searching for food in the wilderness.

He hunted a mortal beast, found some herbs, roots and other plants, and found a stream of fresh, clear water.

He quickly packed everything up and returned to the cave as soon as he could, only to see that Xue Wei was still drenched in sweat, and his face was pale.

”You have to pull through this!” Hei Gou said anxiously. ”I will cook you some good food, so don't care about anything else, just get past this and return. I do not wish to be alone again!”

The travels with Xue Wei had truly changed Hei Gou, and by now he valued Xue Wei as a genuine brother of his. Seeing him in pain truly was painful for Hei Gou as well.

While Hei Gou was worried, Xue Wei was deep within his own world of dreams. This was a place where he did not know what exactly was reality, what was memory, and what was illusion.