Book 2 Chapter 81

The world was so pretty the day after a storm. The smell of damp earth and vegetation, the puddles of water reflecting the early morning sun, and the scenically broken up clouds in the sky.

Willow was glad that he got to rest today of all days. They’d established a pattern for intermittent days of rest in between his days of training, and the training itself had been much lighter the past few weeks.

He wasn’t being completely useless, of course. Living out in the wilderness meant there were always chores to do, but compared to his break-neck training pace, foraging for food with his friends was far more pleasant.

His spirits floated around him in a loose cloud, each of them enjoying the scenery in different ways. The only one of them that could’ve potentially been unhappy was Eos, but even they were just happy to be a part of an adventure with him. It was surprisingly nostalgic for him to be out exploring and gathering with his fiery friend again.

Which really helped to drive home how stifled he’d felt in civilization. Willow couldn’t freely let out his friends in a town, and he always had to be careful and aware of his surroundings whenever he did let one of them out, lest his secret was revealed.

He was growing hopeful that the time for secrecy would be over soon.

His friends were growing stronger with each passing day, and while he didn’t feel fully confident in his abilities, Willow was more sure than he was that he could keep the twins safe.

The gathering of the Wanderers was still a couple years out, if he was remembering right, but he hoped that he could be more free with his secrets sooner than that.

He was so tired of hiding his friends and who he was from the world.

Willow continued to gather berries and edible mushrooms as he moved along the sparse paths of the mountainside. His sensory capabilities combined with his increased knowledge of the properties of wood qi allowed him to recognize which plant life was edible and which would be dangerous to consume.

He was watching Calypso splash around in a puddle when he sensed something worrying at the edge of his perception.

A powerful spirit of unknown temperament and what he could only guess was their binder nearby due to the similarities in their qi.

The alternative was a situation similar to Old Ping’s, a dark thought insisted in his head.

It was probably better and safer to either ignore them or simply report their presence to his grandmother.

But what if they were in danger?

What if his inaction led to another death?

Before he could talk himself out of it, Willow began to jog in the direction of the potential threat, his friends confused by the sudden urgency with which he was moving, but following along anyway.

He should have brought his shield, but he wasn’t expecting to have to run towards danger today. Which was a stupid mistake to make, he should always be prepared for a fight. He’d have to make due with his basket of forageables.

As he drew closer to the two concerning qi sources he slowed down and began to creep forward to get a clearer picture of the situation. Unfortunately the rocky outcropping they were in made it difficult for him to get a clear line of sight on them.

He wasn’t currently sensing anything untoward happening, but he still wanted to get eyes on the situation to better judge what was going on.

Willow crept closer to the rocky outcropping, harmonizing with his environment and pulling his friends back into their spaces. Not for the first time he was thankful for Harmony teaching him this technique, as it was extremely useful for situations like this.

“Child, are you sure this is wise?” Said spirit decided to ask as she fully parsed what Willow was doing. “It might be better to warn your grandmother about whatever danger you have sensed.”

He shook his head. “There’s a human with the spirit, I’m just checking to make sure it’s not time sensitive. I’m not confident I can take whatever this is in a fight, but I can’t let them hurt whoever is in here with them.”

Change sighed. “Just be careful, friend. I know your heart is in the right place, but you’ll be able to help more people in the long run if you don’t throw yourself into danger at every opportunity.”

Willow held back a nervous chuckle, unsure if it would be heard through the technique he had running. He knew his friend was correct, but what kind of hero left someone in potential danger like this?

He finally had eyes on the spirit, seemingly hunched over the form of an unmoving person covered in makeshift furs and ragged cloth. Piercingly cold and faintly glowing blue eyes peered out at the entrance, and Willow was briefly worried that he’d been spotted when they seemed to stare at his exact location.

Thankfully, moving around didn’t seem to alert them at all, so he was safe to get a little closer. The air around the two figures was chilly and tinged with an unfamiliar concept, yet he wasn’t seeing any signs that the looming spirit was actively harming the gently breathing figure.

At this point he was more curious than concerned about the stranger near his grandmother’s hiding place. So he crept even closer to get a good look at them.

And froze upon finding a familiar pretty face, slack from sleep, though clearly having troubled dreams.

That can’t be him, could it? His spiritual senses had been damaged the last time they’d met so he couldn’t compare what he was sensing now to his memories. Yet he doubted there were many black haired young men saturated in yin qi wandering around in the wilderness.

His mentor had said the world could be surprisingly small, despite its actual size, and Willow supposed it was time for him to experience that for himself.

Instead of revealing himself then and there and startling what could only be Li Wanyu’s new spirit bond, Willow decided to exit the rough shelter before releasing his harmonization technique and walking up without attempting to hide his presence, trying to portray himself as harmless as possible to the powerful spirit standing guard.

Which seemed to have the intended effect, but a surprising result.

The spirit appeared almost immediately in front of him when he came into view, wary, but not entirely hostile.

Go away. Friend/Warmth sleeping.

Oh! They could talk, that made things somewhat easier.

“Don’t worry, I don’t mean you or him any harm.” He spoke softly so as not to incur the spirit’s ire. “I might have met your friend before and wanted to confirm that fact with him before going on my way.”

Willow felt like he probably should’ve been more afraid of the powerful ice spirit, but something about them felt friendlier than their outer appearance would suggest. A part of him even seemed to resonate with the concept inherent to the being in front of him, and he was curious what that meant.

The spirit stared at him unblinkingly, likely considering his words before nodding.

Stronger than you. Will kill if harm him.

That was certainly blunt, but he genuinely couldn’t imagine a world in which he was the aggressor in the coming meeting so he just nodded back.

“I promise I don’t intend to harm him.”

The spirit nodded again before vanishing back to their binder’s side, poking his cheek as Willow entered their temporary shelter.

“Bingxin, what is it?” He asked while shaking away the fog of sleep. Immediately stilling as he noticed the intruder nearby.

Willow gave him a shy wave.

“Hiya Mister Li. Been a while, huh?”