Chapter 33:

Chapter 33

~~~~~Yu Zong~~~~~

It is terrifying what good leadership does to you. It took us less than a month, two weeks actually, to get dependent on the good decisions of another and less than a day without it to make it clear.

We were meant to separate into groups based on our abilities, each group possessing one individual whose main purpose is fighting, another whose purpose is social interactions and another whose main concern is navigating nature and it took a few hours without us being gently nudged into following this rule for distrust to make us no longer follow it.

It was my fault in a sense, partially at least. Ever since both of us have been able to cultivate there's something making Bao Xiaoli and I get on each other's nerves and now that Tai Su was not around to smooth things over. Due to this, the two of us have decided to no longer be in the same group to let our tempers cool and she decided to take cute little Ya with her to have 'someone close to her heart' with her.

Bitch. Now I can't fluster Ya with hugs and watch her blush cutely and stammer whenever I get close to her.

Now I have to walk through the forest with a creature which isn't going to try to kill Da Xiu and I only because the cost-benefit analysis it has to run in social interactions are telling her it would be more advantageous not to kill us. She's willing to take the ice blooded in, she should be the one looking after her!

Not that she would be able to, Da Xiu is either the best in our group at fighting and I am no slouch, but it is still disturbing to think that I have to call a comrade a creature that is incapable of even feeling bad for killing and betraying you.

"How does the whole reserve system even work? You told me that your and Tai Su's fathers were put into the reserves and that gives you a spot? Why are you doing the Trial then?" The thing asked my husband.

She took the opportunity to ask while I was busy putting down the arrows to guide us back to the camp.

"No, that's not how it goes, if it did we wouldn't be taking the Trial. General La can't keep an entire banner running with the funds she gets from the local taxes, so half of what would normally be her bannermen get some light training and a deal. Act like a proper bannerman should and teach your children well, and one of you children will get a posting befitting their skills. That's either a guaranteed spot in the banners if you know how to fight and aren't an idiot, an apprenticeship in whatever industry the banner has friends in or the backing of the general, if you try to get an education and apply for civil service." Da Xiu answered.

That turned her pensive and it made my skin crawl. That thing is far too good at mimicking emotions.

"Then how is it that it applies to you entering and those boots?" She asked again.

"The boots are a sign of status, informing the sect of the fact that the General approves of us being here and to inform the sect to assign us in the future to tasks related to our respective banners." He answered.

"Sounds like a shitty way to repay decades of unpaid service if it doesn't guarantee you a spot." She replied airily.

"It doesn't, Da Xiu's father still has a posting for one of his children to receive. Him being given the boots and the approval of the general is a sign of political allegiance." I interjected before Da Xiu would have done something regrettable.

I do not have little Ya's or Tai Su's ability to read emotions or whatever it is that they are feeling but I knew my husband well, better than he knew himself even, and he was the same as the rest of his family. Any badmouthing of general La where a Xiu can hear it will get you a beating and if the Xiu were generous you might even survive it.

It's better if I take over the conversation before Da Xiu gets angry. We do not need to anger Tai Su or Mei Lin's brothers by creating a physical altercation.

Da Xiu grunted and turned away from the conversation without a word and decided to ignore her comment.

General La keeps the south in order with half the funds she would need for the job, organizes the men to respond to disasters, gives and has given them purpose for the last century and has never broken a promise to her men. For this she has earned their and their families loyalty to what I see as an unhealthy degree, but I know better than to say that outright.

The Ice Blooded's head swiveled slowly between me and Da Xiu as she realized she overstepped some unseen boundary.

"Ah, I see now, sorry for doubting her then. But I am curious what would said political posting give you, and why haven't you and Bao received it as well?" The Ice Blooded asked me.

Da Xiu just grunted at her apology and the Ice blooded stopped regarding him after the obvious dismissal.

So she and Bao are on first name basis now? Is she overstepping where her senior can't see it or is Bao Xiaoli the sort of woman to just let a thing like her close to her heart?

I probably shouldn't be surprised, her husband hoards any discarded thing with even a little bit of shine to it he can find. It wouldn't be surprising if the wife does similarly.

"The ones with the backing are those the Banner guarantees for, they will be assigned to groups of those like them and form a close kinship. Those they guarantee for will follow and it will be like a guild with members looking after each other's backs. I did not receive the backing because I have no parents in the Banner, Bao did not receive it because her older brother who is in the banner did not approve of her becoming a cultivator. It doesn't really matter that much, we'll be included in the same kinship thanks to our husbands." I answered.

The regulations around joining the Banner are infuriatingly simple and with little in the way of wiggle room. If one wants to join the banner then if they have an older relative in the banner already, said relative can block it and do the same for any benefits the presence of a bannermen in your family could have brought you.

This was done to ensure that a family does not mooch off their bannermen parents and older siblings if they have been poor examples of a family. Theoretically the older bannerman acts as a reliable judge of character, so if they say no to their family joining then the Banner will acquiesce, even if they'll ignore the yes if it's convenient.

"So her father approves, but because he's in the reserves, her brother's voice counts for more despite him having gotten the position due to his father. Sounds like a mess of a family situation." She observed.

I nodded at that, yes that whole situation was a mess. Bao and I have been talking for some time about our lives hoping to find common ground and any way to get along. Whatever progress we made before cultivation messed with our head was lost and now we keep our interactions to an absolute minimum.

I don't like Bao Xiaoli and she doesn't like me despite our husbands being friends and our best attempts at fixing that. But even I can't help but feel some sympathy for her situation.

That's not how family should act and the fact that she never named her brother as she talked about him told me all I needed to know.

I put another arrow on the tree trunk with the writing coal. I looked at the sky that hid behind the canopy. I could not tell for sure but I think it was noon and my stomach certainly believed it is lunch time and I learned to trust that a lot more than my eyes.

We'll need to turn back soon in order to return to camp before the sun falls.

"Let's take a short break, I'll climb on the tree to look for any clearing in the forest then we eat lunch and return to camp. We've been walking for six hours and we'll need at least six to return." I said.

"We'll do that." Da Xiu said and all three of us stopped at his word.

I doubt we'd find anything, same as before, unfortunately the tree line is of all things not linear, the taller trees break the line of sight unless you can find the tallest trees, but unfortunately the tallest trees are also the hardest to climb as their tips can't hold the weight of a human and act as an impediment to sight when you do find one that does support human weight

I looked at the nearby trees, hopefully the first one I find can provide me a proper vantage point.

~~~~Bao Xiaoli~~~~

"I think I see something." I muttered.

The damn tree I picked was the tallest that could hold my weight above the tree line. The issue was that said view was masked by other tree branches being just below my eyes. I am pretty sure I am seeing grass there though

'Why couldn't this be one of those pine forests where the tallest part of the tree is the trunk as opposed to these thin branches I am forced to use?' I whined in the privacy of my mind.

Coming down from the trees was an experience. I do not know the name of these trees, I do not know if they produce fruit or how long they live. I do not know what history they hide, but I do know that I hate them.

Their bark is smooth, Even the oldest of them had extremely smooth bark that made me need to watch my step lest I slip and break something, probably my neck, and it is infuriating as I got little in return for the risk.

Landing with a soft thud was a welcome reprieve from the stress of being one mistake from serious wounds. I prefer walking the ground,to tree climbing even on a good day and today was not a good day.

"Bao! Come down here, I managed to find a bit of jerky hidden in my pouch! I saved it for you." Little Ya said.

Calling her little is a funny thing as she is taller than me and a year older, but she's so easy to fluster I can't call her anything but my little cutie.

"I don't believe you little Ya, show me!" I shouted as I headed towards my two squad mates.

I was struck speechless at the fact that Ya Xue did not lie. In the wooden bowl with some rice was a piece of jerky.

I immediately jumped to her and hugged her deeply and the woman as always froze up.

"Thank you, thank you, you're the best junior I could have." I exclaimed happily.

I could feel her heat up and try to mumble something about it being nothing. To my periphery I could also see Haoran Lin snicker and do some hand signs of encouragement.

'Oh, the little smarmy bastard. The jerky is not hers, but his.'

It's probably from what little reserves they had left after the cherry skirts decided to rob them. We never did check them for hidden supplies after all.

This had Mei Lin written all over it.

I haven't known her for long, but the woman is a manipulator by trade and manipulates people as easily as she breathes.

"Thank you little Ya, and thank you Haoran Lin." I said with smirk.

I could feel Ya deflate from under my hug and Haoran Lin chuckled as he rose his arms in a sign of surrender.

Tai Su and that annoying Yu are extremely thorough in their inventory, if they said we had no more meat and are forced to live on rice and berries then that meant they emptied every single one of our backpacks and pouches several times to make sure nothing was there. I look over them too and I certainly thought we ran out of meat days ago.

Ya Xue's bag was emptied several times over to make sure what the two tried to pretend happened doesn't.

"I am not mad at either of you for hiding food and pretending otherwise, we never did properly itemize your belongings, so you didn't do anything wrong Haoran Lin, and you are forgiven little Ya, for giving me meat and pretending it came from you." I declared magnanimously.

The two chuckled as I started eating.

"Sorry." Little Ya said timidly.

"N-ne of that." I said in-between bites.

I am not the best at social stuff, Tai Su is the one that can make friends with ease, all I do is put one foot into my own mouth and use the other to start digging, but that doesn't mean I can't learn a bit.

Tai Su never acts angry when he wants things to go well. Even when he's truly angry, he'll bite down the anger and do his best to remain cordial and grant forgiveness if it will stop people from fighting and allow him to add more people to his hoard.

The Lins are just the latest example of people he added because he needs more people, as five of us is a small number to have at your side when you need something stabbed and your enemy could outnumber you two to one, and so they were taken in as long as they were useful and whatever mistakes they did would be forgiven as long as they weren't done out of malice and nobody got hurt.

"Did you find anything?" Haoran Lin asked.

Little Ya continued remaining silent as she fought a silent battle with herself the same way my teeth were fighting this jerky. Like me she will win her fight, but it's up to her to decide if the result of it will be the one she wants.

"Maybe, the trees are slippery and what height I managed to get up to did not rise above the tree line much. I think there's a clearing that way as I'm pretty sure I saw grass." I answered and pointed behind Haoran.

The man turned back and tried in vain to look in that direction to see if perhaps he could see it from here as well. He gave up and turned back towards me and Ya Xue.

I took a sip of water and awaited for the two to digest my words.

"What do we do? We're a bit past noon by now, we should start getting back to base." Little Ya asked.

Haoran Lin remained silent but a slight nod told me he thought similarly that we should return.

"We'll walk for an hour or so still and see if I can't verify it if I get closer or find a better vantage point. If I can confirm it we start running back to camp and head back tomorrow and we don't lose time." I answered.

My meal was done now, and my spear was by my side. All that was left is let my food rest a bit in my stomach and then we'll head out.

"What do we do if we find people?" My junior asked.

"We talk." I replied with a shrug.

What else are we supposed to do? Unless they're cherry… oh so that's what she's worried about.

I could see she was unconvinced.

"We don't go to the clearing if its there, We just need to move a bit closer for me to confirm that I am not just imagining it. I have no intention of actually going there without the others." I continued and tried to assuage their worries.

Leadership is hard, especially when I can't cheat like Tai and know exactly what others are feeling.

Haoran Lin nodded, but to my side little Ya looked uncertain.

"Do you sense something off?" I asked.

Ya Xue's Qi senses have a longer range than Tai's, even if they are not as exact, if she feels something then that's something I should be taking into consideration.

"Sometimes I hear whispers, I am not sure if I am imagining them or not but it feels like they are getting more common the more we walk." She answered.

I looked at Haoran and his eyes told he wanted back and I nodded.

"That's a sign if I ever heard any, we're going back now. Next time you think you hear something tell us Ya, don't bear everything yourself." I said sternly and got to my pouch to put back the rice sticks and bowl back in.

"I am not even sure if I am hearing something or it's just my imagination." She replied hurriedly.

She acted as if her having a say was something of a bad thing or a risk. She was a part of this squad and we don't ignore each other's worries. Not even Yu would let her get away with looking down on herself like that and so it's my duty to lay down the law on her self-doubt.

"No, you heard something neither I or Haoran Lin can hear, that means beasts or worse. We are not taking any chances if it's a beast or an Aspirant or something else. We return with everyone else if we decide to come back, Haoran Lin please mark the direction, then we're going back to the others." I declared and looked straight into her eyes.

That was an order, and whatever protest she wanted to give died in her throat. Her eyes were looking behind me however.

"Greetings." A male voice said.

I turned back quickly, my spear at my side as I took in the interloper. Green shirt and pants, normal work boots and the man looked embarrassed more than anything.

"Greetings, this one is Bao Xiaoli, to my side are Ya Xue and Haoran Lin, it's a pleasure to meet a friend in these forests." I replied.

Haoran Lin and little Ya arranged themselves to each of my sides as I lifted myself up using my spear. None of us were holding our weapons out aggressively yet, which made me hope this could be resolved peacefully.

"A pleasure to meet you friends. I am Huang, no family name I am afraid." He said back.

"Well met Huang, we've just finished our lunch and are getting ready to return to our own group, if you're alone you can come and with us, I am sure we can spare some food as it looks like the cherry skirts left you without much same as my friend Haoran Lin." I offered.

The man looked even more embarrassed at my words which did not bode well. He started scratching his left cheek and chuckle softly.

"I am really sorry, but I will have to insist that the three of you return with us back to our camp." He declared.

From his side four men and two women came holding knives or axes and seemed unsure, but still ready for violence. Thankfully none of them had any spears or cherry boots.

'At least they're not cherries.' I thought tiredly.

I really wasn't in the mood for this sort of thing