Flamy swallowed its catch and said, "I just saw a huge whale flying in the sky . It was flying north . "
"A whale?" Silly startled from its sleep on Gao Peng's head and looked around in panic . "Where? Where is it?"
"It flew away," said Gao Peng, pinching Silly's head .
"Oh, thank god," it said, sighing in relief .
It then sprawled across Gao Peng's head, rumpling his hair in the process .
Out of the corner of its eye, Flamy saw a pillar of black smoke rising from a hole . Being a fire-type familiar, it was quite drawn to the heat that was being given off by the smoke .
When it breathed in the black smoke, it started coughing uncontrollably and immediately covered its nostrils with its wings .
Suddenly, a bony black hand clasped Flamy's shoulder . Dumby had appeared out of nowhere behind Flamy with a compassionate look on its face .
"It's not healthy to breathe in smoke like that," said Dumby, fierce flames crackling in its eye sockets .
Silly stared back at it dumbly .
Dumby let go of the bird and plodded towards the black smoke . Suddenly, the fire in its eye sockets burned even more fiercely as Dumby breathed in deeply, sucking in the black smoke through its nostrils .
Dumby turned to Flamy and said, "The smell's a bit difficult to handle, especially for a beginner like you . Come with me . "
Flamy's jaw dropped . There must be some sort of misunderstanding here, it thought .
When Dumby saw that Flamy was still standing there, it waved a hand at the bird and said gently, "Relax . I'm not addicted to this stuff . It's just that friends who like the same things I do are so hard to come by these days . "
Before it realized what was happening, Flamy found itself staggering over to Dumby's side .
Dumby bent down to open a wooden crate on the ground that was filled with rows of two-foot-long, seven-inch-wide packets . Each packet was mounted with strips of silver and felt rough to the touch .
Dumby took a packet from the crate and shook a small rod-shaped object out of it .
"Here, take a puff of this . It's made from powdered Yin cedar needles mixed with Spirit Fruit juice . Long-term use of it can help sharpen your senses and calm your nerves . Go on, try it," said Dumby, handing the rod-shaped object to Flamy .
Flamy blinked a few at times at it and shook its head furiously .
Dumby didn't try to push the bird to take the joint . "It's cool . I never smoke at home . I only smoke two of these at a time when I'm outside . "
"Why don't you smoke at home?" asked Flamy curiously .
"Xiao Hua doesn't like the smell," replied Dumby as it patted a bit of dust off itself . "Sorry, can you help me light this thing?"
With a shrill cry, Flamy spat a small fire at the cylindrical object in Dumby's hand .
Soon, green smoke filled the air .
Dumby leaned back on a stone wall, its black robe billowing in the wind . It leisurely breathed in the smoke while taking in the scenery around them .
"Goldie, why aren't you wearing your feather coat?" asked Flamy when it saw the naked duck passing by .
The seven-foot-tall duck coldly looked at it and patted the prayer beads it was wearing around its neck . "I don't need it!" Then it walked away with a humph .
Has it outgrown its coat? thought Flamy .
. . .
A Mountain Spirit was standing motionlessly on an empty patch of ground before Stripey .
The Mountain Spirit stirred from its sleep when it sensed Stripey's heavy footfalls . One by one, the black empty holes on its body flickered to life .
"Say, traveler, what brings you here?" said the Mountain Spirit slowly .
Stripey remained silent for a long while .
Gao Peng was growing restless . "Say something, Stripey . "
"M-me? Why do I have to . . . " Stripey sounded nervous .
"Aren't you the one who goes around telling people that you're my bravest familiar?"
"I'll let Da Zi have that title . I'll settle with second bravest familiar," stammered Stripey .
Why bring me into this? thought Da Zi, who was curled up in a corner . I would kick your massive behind for stabbing me in the back like that if you weren't already so massive .
"Just repeat what I say," said Gao Peng .
The Mountain Spirit seemed apprehensive at first about Stripey's proposition . It didn't think that it would have anything to talk about with the other Mountain Spirits .
Mountain Spirits never needed to make deals with anyone or anything .
"We can help you solve your Armadrillo problem," said Stripey .
The Mountain Spirit hesitated for a moment .
"We can also provide blood offerings for you . That way, you won't have to look for food every day, and you can just sleep there to your heart's content .
"We have two Emperor-tier familiars with us . We've also convinced ten other Mountain Spirits of our plan, so you don't need to worry about being attacked by others, and you can concentrate only on your evolution . "
The Mountain Spirit nodded slowly . It had finally decided to take part in Gao Peng's plan . Of course, Stripey's Mountain King Spirit aura had played a huge role in convincing it to agree .
"Okay, I'm in," said the Mountain Spirit moodily . "However, if you don't keep your end of the bargain, I'll be very angry . "
"You have my word," said Stripey .
Later, Gao Peng had Stripey go around convincing two other Mountain Spirits in the area to join their cause .
Gao Peng frowned at the setting sun . This is taking way too long, he thought .
In truth, the whole process had gone quite smoothly . Stripey's presence had also greatly contributed to this .
However, the Mountain Spirits were all scattered in different areas . They had wasted too much time going from one Mountain Spirit to the next .
"Stripey, can you sense where the nearest Mountain Spirit is?"
Stripey closed its eyes as it began feeling the earth's pulse beneath its feet .
Suddenly, it sensed a powerful throbbing in the ground not too far away . It was as if someone was striking the ground with a huge mallet .
"Master, I have a lead on one," it said .
"Then let's get a move on . We're going to be here for a while," muttered Gao Peng .
Chapter end
Report
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|