The Princess And The Lord

The General's group wasn't as fast as Zhao Li Xin's group who managed to outrun them in less than a minute. The sun was setting when Zhao Li Xin's group found a small cave to camp for the night. The Mong brothers prepared the tents while Bei Li Yan took up the fire duty and Jin Hao provided a small table, wine, and meat buns.

Lory secured her bow and arrows and headed towards a small pond she found in the cave. The water was cold and clear. She splashed some water on her face and neck and took out a towel from her ring to wipe it off. She took out another clean towel, soaked it in the cool water, and handed it to Zhao Li Xin to refreshen himself. 

Zhao Li Xin accepted her kind gesture with a warm smile. She then took out a waterskin from the spatial rings and drunk from it. Lory found it to be very useful and was grateful to Zhao Li Xin for gifting it to her.

Darkness came and Girsha stayed outside to keep watch. Zhao Li Xin placed a protecting array around their camp with Lory dogging his steps as she wanted to learn how they worked. Zhao Li Xin used a crystal, wood and some type of gemstone to make intricate symbols around the camp and included the trees surrounding the cave. Lory didn't understand how the array worked but could feel the change in the energy around them.

The quiet night enhanced the noise from the owls and crickets. A million glowing stars brightened the night. Lory still managed to eat well for dinner which compromised of meat buns and fish soup. The mood around the camp reminded her of Fred and Clift who were always well prepared. The two ArchKnights had a tendency of making every trip feel like a vacation.

"It is a beautiful night," Bei Li Yan plopped himself on her left.

"It is…" Lory smiled at him as Zhao Li Xin sat on her right. Zhao Li Xin poured himself some and handed her sweet warm tea. Lory sipped the tea, "Thank you."

"Ehm… Ri Yi, when we were fighting the fire monkeys... You seemed…used to it," Bei Li Yan couldn't hold back the question that had been hovering around his lips. He knew he had to ask to risk a sleepless night. Zhao Li Xin didn't stop his question this time around because he was also curious. The other high cultivators, Jin Hao and the Mong brothers tuned out their ears to eavesdrop from a distance.

Lory chuckled. She didn't want to hide forever but it was also not easy for her to talk about her past. A bitter smile touched her lips, "Hmm, I'm used to it…not by choice though… It was more like…mandatory."

"Did your family force you?" Bei Li Yan asked carefully. He didn't want to upset her.

Lory laughed and licked some lip off her lips. "No…it is not like they forced me. Well… How do I explain this…? I have...this family legacy which comes with certain obligations...This is why I became this way. No one forced me but I still wanted to make him proud…"

Lory stared into space as she got lost in her thoughts.

"Who…?" Zhao Li Xin asked with concern. He prayed she wasn't going to talk about a lover or something close. 

"My father…" Lory gave him an innocently smile. It was the first time since she came to this world to mention her father loudly. A surge of sadness enveloped her as she thought of her father. She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky to stop her tears from falling.

Zhao Li Xin held her hands gently as he could see the sorrow in her eyes. It seemed like she had loved her father very much. However, he didn't know how to comfort her as he never experienced parental love. He didn't understand what she had lost but he guessed it was something precious. 

"He taught you how to wield a bow and hunt beasts?"

Lory sighed as her father's stern face came to mind. He would watch her practice with Fargo with an unchanged expression. It never reacted when she was kicked or thrown to the ground. Her father's face would only relax when she successfully struck her opponent. He would nod proudly making her forget all the pain. Such a gesture from him would make her grin happily. She did many things just to get a nod from him.

"He taught me many things," Lory thoughts turned to the things she went through after her father died. She always wondered if her father knew what would come to pass and if it was the reason he was so hard on her and Lucas.

"Someone once told me, a good father would protect their children but a better father would prepare his children…" Lory said softly.

"Prepare for what?" Zhao Li Xin asked with a low voice.

"For the day he will no longer be around..." Her mind brought out the memory of when her father pulled his clothes from her clenched hand and disappeared in the smoke. The screams of her people and the burning kingdom.

'You are the king's daughter'. Those were his last words to her. They were heavy words. A burden she had to carry on. She never knew the weight of those words until that moment.

 Tears fell like pearls on Lory's cheeks. Zhao Li Xin panicked and gently wiped the tears from her face. Lory gave him a questioning look and only realized she was crying by seeing his wet finger.

"Don't cry. Your father would be sad if he saw you cry…" Zhao Li Xin said the first thing he could think of to comfort her. He never feared anything but her tears scared him. He always turned hopeless whenever she got hurt. His master used to brag of being smooth with women when as a young man and Zhao Li Xin thought of seeking his master's guidance for once on how to deal with Lory.

Lory chuckled and the thought of the awkward man trying to comfort her wholeheartedly. His actions took away her sadness. She teased, "Really…?"

Zhao Li Xin gave a firm nod, "Hmm, really!"

"Silly!" Lory snorted as her body suddenly shook with laughter. Bei Li Yan turned around to hide his laughter, while Jin Hao helplessly shook his head and the Mong brothers thought their lord needed a lot of practice.

Lory wiped away the remaining tears. She couldn't tell if the memory of her father could be considered sad or funny. Nonetheless, she was much better. She gave Zhao Li Xin a gratefully smile, "Thank you!"

Although Zhao Li Xin was relieved to see her smile once more, he was also curious to know why she laughed at him. Her mood had changed so quickly from crying one moment to laughing and finally thanking him. He thought of his master once again. He made a note to seek out his master once they finished dealing with the ancient tomb issue. Zhao Li Xin had a lot of things he needed to ask his master. This was the first time for Zhao Li Xin to eagerly seek out his master as a disciple. 

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On a mountain peak, a certain master stirred from a deep meditation. A chill suddenly traveled down his spine. It was a sign imminent danger was approaching. He pondered on this, "I sense a bad omen…"

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"Miss Luo, what would you like to do with the dead monkeys?"

"Oh, yes!" Lory clapped her hands and rose abruptly at his reminder. She ran towards Mong Yi who had neatly placed the monkeys' corpses on the ground. They were three dead monkeys which were all she needed.

Lory took a knife and cut the monkeys' flesh. She took out a small bamboo tube and captured some of the dripping blood. Lory was curious to learn of the monkeys' origins especially since the blood smelled like a chemical waste.

"What are you doing? Let Mong Yi do it," Zhao Li Xin could smell the reek from afar. He was amazed she could stand the smell but he still didn't want her to handle the corpse.

"Miss, let me do it," Mong Yi also felt bad seeing her doing the work. Women in this world cared so much about their image and would never hold anything dirty or smelly. They needed to maintain their beauty and manners at all times. 

Lory didn't necessarily think it was a bad thing to do so as women in her world 'Verrion' were the same when it came to tackling dirt and smell. Many especially those from noble or very rich families would avoid handling smelly things. 

Lory, however, was raised differently. She was not raised to only be a beautiful princess but to also be a strategist, a warrior, and a leader. She only realized she was raised differently when she ran away from home and discovered the other princesses had a different upbringing. It took her a while for her to understand why her father raised her the way he did.

"What is that for?" Jin Hao's suspicion toward Lory had lessened after he listened to her talking about her father. Even a person as cold-hearted as he was felt pain when he listened to her. In his opinion, a person who loved their father like she did couldn't be that bad. Lory almost sounded innocent and pure when she talked. She didn't pretend or scheme like many women he had met.

"I can't fight like you guys so I need to be creative when I fight," Lory gave a cunning smile. "By the way, do you have any poison on you?"

Jin Hao was intrigued, "What kinda poison do you want?"

"What kinda poison will work for a 'Holy Shit' leveled beast?" Lory propped her chin with her palm.

"Holy Shit?" Jin Hao frowned. He wondered why she decided to curse.

"Oh, sorry! I mean high-leveled beasts. You know like the profound levels and beyond," Lory hadn't memorized the beast level of this world.

Jin Hao understood what she wanted. He took out a few bottles from his spatial ring and handed them to her but was still curious with her wordings, "What is a Holy Shit level?"

Lory laughed slyly, "Well if you suddenly meet with…uhm…a saint level beast, what would you say?"

Jin Hao tilted his head and quickly said, "Holy Shit!"

"See what I mean?" Lory raised her eyebrows.

"Aah…well thought," Jin Hao rubbed his chin in approval.

"I know, right?"