Beware Of Chicken-Novel

Huo Ten was generally quiet, and when he did speak was a rather gruff fellow. He was content to sit in the cart full of Steam Furnaces Xianghua was pulling, whittling or just staring out the back at the scenery passing by.

Wei had imagined a giant tree house; something that they would find in the mountains. Instead, Huo Ten had directed them through the most subtle and powerful wards Wei had ever sensed, a formation that defied his every attempt to comprehend it.

And then, instead of the expected treefort came a little cabin; and now… now he was underground.

Deep underground in a massive vault, equal to the old fortress that Rags and his crew lived in. They were all sitting at a round table, one used for grand meetings. It was exquisitely crafted. Perfectly circular and level, intricate designs of knotwork were carved into its face in inlaid patterns of gold, silver, and gemstones.

“Truly, the world is vast and full of unfathomable mysteries,” Tie Delun said. Even the Young Master of a sect based around mining was humbled. He looked half in awe… and half like he was close to spitting blood as he looked around at the sheer amount of crystals on display.

Loud Boy could only nod dumbly as he looked upon the most wealth he had ever seen in his entire life. Fire crystals, Water crystals, Ice crystals, Recording crystals, Quake crystals—crystals whose nature was totally unknown to him! He wanted to just start filling his bags, then cut and run.

But he wouldn’t. He was better than that. Miss Cai had put her trust in him. Tigu had put her trust in him. Their goal was to make the Hills a better place—and he wasn’t going to be the one to ruin things by going with his gut impulses.

Even if he knew few others would have absolutely nothing against strip mining this place.

Loud Boy forcefully dragged his attention away from the temptations that were littering the ground and over to what they were here for—the old monkey, Master Gen, who was deep in a whispered conversation with Huo Ten. He debated trying to listen in before deciding that that it would be rude, returning instead to being bored and looking around at the rest of his companions.

The others who didn’t look nearly as shocked as Loud Boy felt.

“Thank you, little one,” Xiulan said as a small creature with golden fur and blue skin walked up with a teapot. The monkey nodded and poured her some tea, which their leader took with her normal sublime grace. She somehow managed to not look out of place or awkward at all—instead, it seemed like this was something that happened all the time to her.

Tigu and Yin, who lived with Spirit Beasts, were similarly unaffected. Tigu was examining the table’s decorations with a critical eye, while Yin had somehow already gotten dirty, a miner’s helm on her head as she cracked open geodes.

Xianghua had gone so far as to have one of the monkeys on her lap and was petting its fur. The creature had supremely bushy sideburns and looked a bit like Gou Ren—and there Loud Boy stopped himself, deciding it best not to think anything uncharitable. Both of them were good people. Xianghua especially had been kinder than he ever imagined her to be.

But what surprised Loud Boy the most was the Torrent Rider. The kid was super raw, having just become a cultivator—but unlike the rest of them, he just looked a bit interested, rather than awed.

“Man, you're an unflappable kid,” Loud Boy said to the kid who had nearly the same name as him. “A mountain full of Spirit Beasts and you look like it’s just another day!”

“Eh?” The kid perked up. “Master Bi De was the first cultivator I met. It makes sense that there are a lot of cool Spirit Beasts. Is this not normal?”

Zang Wei pursed his lips. How did he respond to such honest confusion? Rags simply chuckled from beside them.

Finally, the monkeys seemed to stop their conversation and Master Gen stepped forwards, bowing low.

“Neither Master nor Bi De want anything. You gave them the crystal, they gave you back what you were owed,” Tigu said, shrugging as she recited what Master Jin had told her to say.

The monkey, though, seemed aghast upon hearing that. “There must be something we can do for your Master!”

“Ah! Right! There is one thing!” Tigu said, and the monkey leaned forwards eagerly. “Master wants you to come over for dinner some time!”

The monkey nearly tripped. It took all Wei had not to burst out laughing. Indeed, it was utterly absurd. It went against everything he—and every other cultivator within this grand vault—knew to be true. But instead of interjecting that maybe the monkey could help them… they all remained silent.

It seemed that virtue had its own reward. Wei and Rags fist bumped under the table. He wanted to be a better person, but one should also be happy when they receive a gift!

“Now… do tell this old man, what are so many youths doing traveling together?”

All of them turned to Xiulan. No less amused than any of the previous times they’d left her to explain it, she began to speak..

Gen Ten was in a good mood as he looked on at his kin and at the strange humans that were with them.

Tigu and Yin were both sorting crystals with Huo Ten, Ye Ten, and Yu Ten. The big lad, Delun, had a pile of iron ore in front of him that he was bending and kneading with his bare hands, to apparently check its quality. Rags and Loud Boy were filling entire sacks with scrap crystal, the amusing scamps entirely too happy about the fact that Gen had told them they could take as much of that trash as they wanted. Xianghua was being used by the children as a tree, while the small boy, the Torrent Rider, had Pi Ten in his lap and was picking through his fur, while Do Ten beside him was grooming the boy’s shaggy white dog.

And finally… finally, there was Cai Xiulan. Drinking tea with a serene smile on her face.

Gen Ten sighed. It was an utterly mad plan, and he hoped they wouldn’t get burned attempting to accomplish it.

The old monkey shook his head and turned to the crystal in his hands. A gift he had never expected to receive. It was strange, to spend nearly a century looking for lore on your old masters… only to have it drop into your lap.

He gave his thanks to the heavens as he dived into the crystal.

He saw it all. His Master’s Master, building a formation for an Emperor. His kin, at the height of their glory. The world as it was, before the Breaking.

All his life he had searched for this knowledge, and now he had it.

Gen Ten pulled back from the crystal and let out a breath.

He had seen the works of the Ancestors and understood them. He had seen his kin, his clan, working hand in hand with humans and accomplishing wonders under an Azure Banner.

And with comprehension… came power.

He felt it. A bottleneck that had been there for years strained and shattered like glass. With it, he could ascend to the Fifth Stage… no, to the Profound Realm.

Yet Gen Ten, leader of the monkey clan, did not. He had seen the clan. He had seen them whole, all of them, rather than as pale shades barely hanging on through his power.

His family, his clan… they would not be just pale shades.

His power swelled within his body… and then flowed out into his connection with all of his kin.

Their movements before their sparks had been awakened were ever so slightly unwieldy, their minds not fully able to handle such precision, lke they were not in full control of their actions. And though their eyes held a spark of intelligence, it was merely the intellect of a particularly smart animal.

Delun jumped in his seat and turned to look at the two monkeys that were gossiping in the corner. There was a complicated expression on his face, while Rags looked like he was struggling to hold in his laughter.

Because on that night, over a hundred monkeys became Spirit Beasts.

Xiulan and all her companions had a spring in their step as they marched along the road and away from the Crystal Hill. The feast yesterday had been something… something indescribable. Like something out of the old tales, as an entire clan of Spirit Beasts showed them their hospitality.

And how Master Gen had stood up and proclaimed something that had shocked her.

She hadn’t been expecting them to pledge their assistance. But they had… and all of a sudden Xiulan had felt extremely foolish.

For all her talk of uniting the Hills, all of her thoughts had been on the human component, the sects. And yet… the Azure Hills once named Spirit Beasts among their number as equals. Ruimblin’ Yao, the Queen of the Forest, the Antidote Serpents, the Blade Wolves… and the Monkey Clans. All of them, together, formed the Azure Hills. She did not know if they could be reasoned with any more. She did not know if they would be open to dialogue. But she was already attempting one impossible task.

Why not attempt another?

With new resolve, she faced the coming days and let out a breath before turning to her companions, who were similarly in a good mood.

All except one.

“What troubles you, Xianghua?”

“The monkeys beat me to it,” she said, irritated.

“I beg your pardon?”

“The Misty Lake Sect was supposed to be the first to aid our cause!” Xianghua snapped.

Xiulan chuckled. “I wasn’t expecting your entire Sect, Xianghua; we were just supposed to—”