Hui reduced his qi, retreating it into his core. His body went fully limp. Hui pushed his qi into his shell, reinforcing the core’s tough exterior. Alright. I’ll write my body off as a loss. Let the baby beasts eat it and find out it’s not tasty. As long as they don’t destroy my core, I’m safe. Once they’re done chewing on my limp body, I can regenerate it… or grow a new one, either-or. I’d rather regenerate than grow a body from scratch, but in the end, it’s only a matter of the quantity of life qi.

Actually, I’ll probably wait until they fall asleep to slip out. The less attention I can gather, the better. I don’t know what realm the beasts are, but the parents, at least, are stronger than me, and I really don’t want to kill the babies. Plus, most of the beasts probably sleep at the same time. All in all, it’s going to be safer to explore on my own two feet once the beasts fall asleep.

The beast gave his body a shake. His limbs ragdolled around him. With a toss, it threw his body to the babies below. The babies cried out in joy and pounced on Hui. Razor-sharp teeth dug into his flesh as they took big bites of his plant flesh. One after another, the babies’ faces twisted in disgust. They spat Hui out and backed away, spitting, licking their lips, and shaking their heads.

Their parent grumbled at them. It lowered its head and took a bite of Hui, only to immediately spit him out, too. It nudged Hui a few times and sniffed him, confused.

Yes, yes, that’s right. I don’t taste good. Leave me! Hui said silently.

The beast huffed, then shook its head. It took to the air in a great gust of wind. The babies hunkered down on the side of the mountain, fur flying wildly, nearly blown away by their parent’s wingbeats. Their parent’s shadow retreated, and the beasts wandered back inside their cave, settling down to wait for food again.

Hui laid there, settling in for the long haul. Carefully, he guided his life qi to his wounds, sealing them shut. Alright. Now I wait for the beasts to fall asleep and sneak away.

I can’t sneak away now, can I…?

Overhead, a dark shadow blocked out the ambient yellow light. A beast circled by, watchful eyes casting around for any danger near its children.

Ah. There’s the other beast parent. Yes, yes. It’s better to wait for night before I sneak away.

A quiet mewl caught his ear. Hui glanced in the other direction. Creeping out from behind the other three beasts, a tiny version of the other three snuck toward Hui. Compared to its siblings, this one only reached half as tall, ribs visible through its skin, its head too big for its malnourished body. The other beasts would have stood at Hui’s height, even the babies, but this one only stood tall enough to reach his waist.

It wobbled toward Hui, mustering up all its energy to reach him. Plopping down at his side, it reached out its head and took a single, pitiful bite. The same as its siblings, its face scrunched in disgust, but unlike the others, it didn’t spit it out, but kept chewing, resolutely chomping at the plant flesh.

The runt? Poor thing. It isn’t doing well, is it, Hui thought, his heart aching. He internally licked his lips, thinking. I don’t want to watch it die, and it looks to be on the brink of death. Should… should I use my flesh technique to give it a little meat? These beasts are carnivores. They can’t survive on plants. Even if it’s human flesh, it doesn’t hurt me, and I don’t want to see it die.

Hui hesitated, then quietly changed a small part of his flesh to human, right as the beast took another bite. The beast’s eyes went wide, and it gulped down a bite excitedly, splattering blood all over its face.

The other three beasts perked up from the nest. They rushed over to Hui, salivating. One knocked the runt out of the way, and it tumbled over, unable to catch itself. As the other three closed in on Hui, the runt laboriously climbed back to its paws.

Hui cycled his flesh back to plant. The three babies bit him, only to immediately spit him out. They grumbled at one another, eyeing the runt suspiciously. The runt backed away, ears and tail tucked, whole body trembling. It stumbled over its own big paws and nearly toppled.

The largest of the three babies huffed and walked away, dismissing the runt. The other two glanced at it and followed, haughtily ignoring the runt. It trembled for another few seconds, then wandered over to Hui. Casting side-eyed looks at the other three babies, it settled into a nook in Hui’s arm, as if protecting him.

How cute… wait, hold on! I need to escape these beasts! I can’t have one sleeping on me! Hui immediately killed his plans to feed the runt a little more meat. Hopefully it’ll leave by night. Dammit, I’m my own worst enemy, sometimes!

The little runt shifted slightly. It closed its eyes and nuzzled up to Hui, leaning its head on his chest. Slowly, it fell asleep, breath deep and even.

Hui’s heart melted. The desire to pet it welled up in him. No, Hui! Keep playing dead! You don’t want to be gnawed on any more, do you?

But it’s so cute! I want to pet it. I bet that tiger fur is so soft. And those cute little baby wings…

No! Play dead! Stay still! We have Zhubi at home. We can pet Zhubi once we leave this dangerous realm, where it’s nice and safe!

But Zhubi has scales. This beast has fur. It feels so soft already… soft and warm. Pet it… I want to pet it! There’s only babies around. I bet they won’t even bother me. Just one pet…

The parent beast landed again with a hearty thump, instantly ending Hui’s inner debate. It threw down a bloody boar, its big body flopping down. The three babies instantly leapt at the boar.

Sitting up clumsily in Hui’s arms, the runt sniffed the air. It stood upright, then carefully snuck over to the back of the boar’s body. It opened its jaws wide and took a big bite, but its weak mouth slid off the boar’s hide.

Hui bit his lip. He extended his qi a tiny amount and flicked his finger at the boar’s back. A qi blade cut the boar’s hide open.

The runt leaped in place, startled. It looked around, but Hui played dead again. It hesitated. Its mouth watered, and it gave in, falling upon the boar. Wiggling its maw inside the boar’s hide, it chomped on the flesh, slurping and chewing it down.

Hui smiled on the inside. Good, good. Eat up and get big!

But not right now. Stay small right now, so I can escape easily tonight.

The runt chewed at the boar’s back while the larger babies ate the other side of the boar. At last, the runt ate its fill. It stumbled back over to Hui with a big, round belly and a bloodstained muzzle, happily licking its lips as it came. It turned a circle twice, then laid down beside Hui again.

So cute!

No no no, Hui. Stay focused. We have to find Fen Long and figure out a way back out of here, and first of all, I need to get away from these beasts! I can’t steal one of the beast’s babies.

But it’s adorable and sweet… and they aren’t caring for it properly. They won’t even notice if I kidnap it—ahem, gently take this beast and introduce it to my clone family.

No, no. I’ll just lie here until the sun sets, and then…

Wait. Does this place have a sun? Does the sun set?

…

I… I guess I’ll wait a few hours and find out!

The day dragged on. The parent beast brought its children food another two times, and each time, Hui cut a little hole for the runt to take its share. At last, the sky began to dim. Rather than one side or the other growing dark, the entire sky grew darker at once, as if someone slid a dimmer switch down on the mysterious light source. The parent beast led its three babies inside, but didn’t even cast a glance at the little runt, who still curled up next to Hui.

Hui looked at the runt, then gritted his teeth, his mind made up. I’m taking this beast with me!

True darkness fell. Hui rose, healing all of his wounds. The runt stood up, startled, but before it could cry out, Hui grabbed onto its muzzle and sealed it tight. He smiled and raised a finger to his lips. “Shh.”

The beast continued to struggle and grunt, fighting to break free and scream.

Well… fair. It is a beast, after all. And a baby beast, at that. Hui took to the air, escaping with the baby beast. High above the nest, he finally released its mouth and petted it soothingly. “Shh, shh. I’ll take good care of you now.”

The runt laid limp in his arms, too frightened to do anything but shiver. Hui looked at it with pity in his eyes. This poor thing. It has no idea that there’s good in the world, or people that care for it. All its life, it’s been treated terribly. But that’s okay. I’ll take care of you now.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” He shook his head, looking down at the world below. Now… what next? I might have acquired a beast, but that’s not what I came here to do. I came in here to find Fen Long, and I’m no closer to accomplishing that.

I guess… the first thing to do, is to find the thickest qi in the area. It’s not a guaranteed success, but it’s worth a try. Hui closed his eyes and sent out his mental energy.

The qi flowed around him, circulating in the secret realm. It flowed from beyond the mountains into the valley, a massive river that slowly passed Hui by. Hui opened his eyes, turning to face the source of the qi flow.

North. Come to think of it, that’s the direction Senior flew. Hui pursed his lips, then sighed. Well, that’s Senior for you. He flew northward, gently petting the runt as he flew.

The runt slowly stopped trembling. After a while, it began leaning forward in Hui’s arms and stretching out its little feathery wings, as if it could fly already. It looked up at Hui, its tongue flying in the wind, and flapped its wings some more. Pawing at the air, it let out a happy yip.

“There you go. See? It’s not so bad!” Hui said, nodding at the runt. He sped up, arcing over the mountains. Cold rocks stretched beyond the mountains. Harsh and unforgiving, they marched on and on, as far as Hui’s eyes could see. He closed his eyes, confirming that the source of the qi remained up ahead, and sped up, flying on.

Fen Long… I’m coming for you!