Chapter 44: The Sacred Field

Nox was thinking on his own. He looked at the fading moon, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

He choked out a bitter complaint, "Damn Goddess, you played with us."

In the morning, the star lily sanctuary was bright with sunlight.

The first ray of sun touched the dew on the petal and it shimmered in a glow.

Ugo’s eyelashes fluttered.

Once.

Twice.

For a moment, he thought he was still in his dream realm where he met the little Moon.

The expanse of the green leaves and white flowers filled his vision with great fanfare. Like they were greeting his return.

He blinked his eyes.

Then, he felt the water rippling where his waist was submerged under water.

A little gray toad jumped out and sprinted on his belly, looking at his green eyes with amazement.

Ugo’s lips twitched in a smile.

"Just a dream," he muttered.

’Where is this?’ he thought, then looked around.

He felt a sting on his chest.

The pain was sharp, but the weakness was gone. In fact, he felt lively and refreshed.

The skin around his deep wound was no longer black. A patch of green herbal paste was still there.

He tried to lift his arm, but his body felt heavy, as if his muscles were packed with wet sand.

"Don’t move," a calm voice came from the bank. Ugo shifted his neck slightly.

Moon was sitting on a flat stone nearby. His clothes were still slightly damp. His hair was tied back casually. Moon shook the leaf a few times and stood up. Closing the distance, he said again, "Don’t move, your wound will reopen."

"Moon..." Ugo croaked. His throat was dry.

"Where are we?"

"Heaven. We died and now met in the afterlife," Moon said, rubbing his jaw with one hand and crossing his other arm over his chest.

His face was devoid of any emotion. So much so that Ugo got confused. ’Were we really dead?’ he thought.

Looking at his bewildered and confused face, Moon felt amused. He sighed and crouched down. Lifting Ugo’s chin, he looked into those green eyes.

"Did you become silly?" He let go of the face and went down into the pond. "The bottom of the Sea Gorge. You almost turned into a pile of rotten flesh and became dinner for the scavengers," he chuckled.

Ugo let his head rest back against the edge of the pond. The spiritual energy was soothing.

It kept washing over his deep wound.

"Where are the others?" he asked, looking at Moon’s now soaked body in the pond, who was searching around the water.

"Nox is checking the perimeter," Moon said. He picked up a small seed. "He woke up an hour ago and went to find food or anything that can help."

Ugo closed his eyes. "And the others?" His voice trembled slightly. Moon couldn’t tell if it was because of his weak body or from worrying about his kin.

"They are safe," Moon answered shortly. "Don’t talk too much, either. Just try to sleep and relax. All is fine now."

Soon, the sound of rustling bushes broke the silence. Nox walked out from the dense treeline. His tunic was unbuttoned and his boots were covered in dry soil. Two little rabbits were in his hands, along with some dry tree bark.

As he came closer, his pace halted upon seeing Ugo. Then, his pace became faster. A faint smile touched his lips.

"You woke up?" Nox grumbled.

He walked over and dropped the rabbits and wood on the grass.

"Did you find anything?" Moon asked, finally looking up.

Nox shook his head. He sat down on the grass, rubbing his wrist. "Mooney, my wrist is still hurting. I feel so weak!" he whined, tilting his head.

Moon totally ignored his whining; he knew better that Nox was just messing with him at this point. It had started since the morning he woke up, as if his mind had become silly from the trauma or the sudden relaxation.

Nox chuckled and didn’t go further with his own fun. "It’s not a dead end. The mountain behind the treeline has a path to go further. I still feel like it has a connection to the realm we were in."

"The rock entry we came through is sealed tight. The Alpha’s guards won’t find this place. We are totally safe here. But..." Nox looked at the lake. His brow furrowed.

"But?" Moon lifted his head.

"But the air is shifting. The lilies are drooping more than last night. They will really wither soon."

"Then we have no time to waste." Moon dipped back inside the pond.

He started checking the roots for the leaves. He had learned the basic herbs and their usage, and he was looking for the dropped seeds that would not bloom. He wanted to take them back.

He reached out his hand and touched a stem.

Instantly, a cool, refreshing flow of Qi entered his palm. It was pure water attribute energy.

It felt incredibly smooth.

’Goddess,’ Moon called out in his mind. ’How do I harvest these without destroying the essence?’

[Find out yourself.]

The soft, thin voice echoed in his head.

’Tsk, I know it. I was just checking if you would still answer,’ he chuckled. He had already figured this out. Use your divine sense. Wrap it with Qi. Do not pull the root. The power is in the heart of the flower and the seeds. The leaves are for purging poison. The seeds are for core cultivation.

His unrefined meridians began to warm up.

’Can these seeds help my five-core?’ Moon asked.

[They can. But child, refine what you have first. You know your core essence is messed up.]

Moon understood. He gathered three variations of leaves.

Some were dark green, some were pale, and some had silver veins.

He sorted them carefully on the large flat stone. Nox watched him from a distance without disturbing him. After a while, he picked up the rabbits to grill them.

After setting the fire and the grill, he went back to the edge of the pond to check on Ugo’s wound.

"How do you feel?" Nox asked, touching Ugo’s forehead.

"Better," Ugo muttered.

His eyes rolled toward the flat rock where Moon was carefully placing the three different types of stardust leaves.

"But I feel like a useless sack of sand right now."

Nox let out a low rumble of laughter. He looked back, his gaze tracing Moon’s movements.

"Ugo, when this mess is settled down, let’s hold a mating ceremony."

Ugo exhaled. "He will not agree." ℴ

"We will make him agree," Nox retorted.

"Don’t do foolish things, Nox. This is not something you get just by saying." Ugo closed his eyes again and didn’t pay any more heed to Nox.

Nox didn’t understand his brothers either. They had clearly fought and ended up in cell because they were trying to get Moon out, yet they simply would not admit it. Totally foolish as hell.

He stormed back to his grill.

The entire morning, Moon was busy sorting his herbs and organizing his plantation knowledge. By noon, when Nox could not bear the loneliness anymore, he pestered Moon to eat meat with him.

But after eating, Moon went right back to the rock. He sat cross-legged on the damp turf. His divine sense was wrapped tightly around a cluster of the silver seeds he had skimmed from the surface. He could feel the water energy inside them. It was calm and smooth.

Moon smiled and took out the cauldron he had robbed from the Grand Witch.

"Heh! Now no one can stop me from being an alchemist," he let out a jeer.