Wait I have all that fruit from Xiaoyue! Feng Wu promptly brought her spiritual force into the ring and brought out several fruits. She wasn’t stingy so of course she shared some with her new companion. Tian Ke’s face was slightly red in embarra.s.sment from the sounds his stomach was making, however he promptly broke out in a grin at the fruit offering. Although his hunger was mighty, he didn’t forget his manners. He only bit into the fruit after whispering a few words of thanks. The juice gushed into this mouth overflowing and dribbling down his chin nearly choking him a bit.

Aye! So juicy! There was a milky aftertaste that he couldn’t quite identify. This must be high grade stuff! Tian Ke didn’t hold back and slurped the juice out of the fruit enthusiastically. This must be the stuff the talented people in the city eat. Can’t waste any! Thinking up to here Tian Ke didn’t stop until there was only a husk of a fruit left in his hands.

Eventually the night pa.s.sed and a new day dawned. At around late afternoon Feng Wu risked climbing out of the well to take a look. All around her were charred remains and rubble. Even the land looked as though it was dyed red. Feng Wu stood gazing at the once familiar village with a complicated feeling in her heart. With little bun in her arms she wondered at how so much change could happen in just one night.

Shortly after Tian Ke used the pail rope to climb up as well. His reaction was stronger and more emotional than Feng Wu. This was the place he grew up and it was all he’d ever known. Now all of it was gone! Although his six year old heart was in turmoil he was wise enough to know he needed to move on. Being only six he knew he needed to cling to someone, and since Feng Wu was the only adult figure he had left, he was going to definitely cling on to her!

“Sister Feng, what are you going to do?”

After thinking for a moment she could only shake her head. Her house was burned down and she had nowhere to go. She didn’t know where Auntie Lian lived either, so it wasn’t like she could ask her for help. Hm.. what to do?

“Sister Feng, why not go with me. I have an aunt that lives in Zhongyang city. She’s kind and nice. Not like my horrible uncle at all.” Thinking about his loving aunt made him want to cry. He suffered so much injustice from his uncle’s family after his father pa.s.sed. He originally persevered because he wanted to wrest back his birthright from his uncle. Who would have thought that before he could grow up to do so his uncle’s family would perish, not leaving a single soul for him to claim his vengeance against. After losing his goal in life, he didn’t know what to strive for in the future. The only person he could count on was his aunt. He firmly believed that his aunt wouldn’t treat him with the disregard his uncle’s family had.

Should she go with Tian Ke? It was as good an idea as any other to Feng Wu’s mind. She agreed, and with little bun in her arms and Tian Ke by her side, the trio decided to leave the desolate village.

“How do we get there?”

“...I don’t know either. I only know that it’s far away from here.” Tian Ke answered after some thought.

Although they agreed on a destination, neither she nor Tian Ke knew how to travel to the city, or even where it was. Tian Ke only knew that Zhongyang city was very far away and was a long journey even by carriage. As for Feng Wu, she had absolutely no idea. Her soul had only stayed in this world for a little over a month and the farthest she ventured was the nearby mountains.

Tian Ke watched Feng Wu carefully. Since their destination was so uncertain he was afraid that she would abandon him. He didn’t want to travel alone!

Fortunately Feng Wu didn’t have such complicated thoughts. She only asked, “What should we do?” Although she was clearly the elder in the relationship, she was still asking a child to decide. Feng Wu’s thoughts were straightforward indeed. If she didn’t know, then she would ask. If she didn’t ask, then she’d never understand.

Tian Ke was a very bright child and after some thought came up with a plan. “Aye it’s simple. We go to the nearest city and find a map. From there we can set out properly.” He also realized that this older sister may not be so reliable after all...

The situation was made very clear to Tian Ke as they walked forward on their journey. He was a realistic child and quickly adapted after accepting the truth, and the truth was indeed very simple: Feng Wu was incompetent. Hungry? Well then it was time to hunt. Can Feng Wu do it? Not so well. Prep the game? No. Cook the game? No. After experiencing Feng Wu’s nearly lethal dark cooking “skills” he decided to take matters into his own hands. As a result all these tasks (including diapering duties) fell onto Tian Ke’s shoulders. Feng Wu’s only responsibility was to feed little bun, which she did very well!

It took three days of walking before they finally reached a town. “Sister Feng how much money do you have?” Upon hearing her reply he asked the townspeople directions for the best lodgings available. There they paid for a room and promptly made themselves comfortable.

After getting two barrels of hot water for bathing, Tian Ke took hold of little bun and proceeded to wash the grime from his body. Little bun was too small to wash safely in the rivers they pa.s.sed on their journey. They also had a hard time finding a private spot to bath properly as there were many other travelers on the road. As a result they had acc.u.mulated many days worth of grime and crud. After bathing they ate a meal prepared by the lady innkeeper. After feeling cleaned and full they decided to take a nap to re-energize.

Feng Wu had a change of clothing since she packed everything before leaving that night, however, Tian Ke did not have any luggage. Fortunately the lady innkeeper had a son who was slightly bigger than Tian Ke. She was more than happy to give them several sets of boys clothing. Tian Ke was really grateful to have clean clothes to wear and so blabbered his thanks with a red blushing face.

News of the robbery and ma.s.sacre of the village had spread so most people around the area knew of it. The lady innkeeper knew the children had to be survivors of the ordeal and so treated them with care making sure that their meals were tastier and of a larger than usual portion. Feng Wu had a good image of her and felt that she was very kind person so she took the opportunity to ask how to get to Zhongyang city.

This question really surprised the lady innkeeper. “It’ll take several years if you go by foot. Using a beast carriage would shorten the time, but it will be much more expensive.”