Chapter 6: Dinner

Finding a marked prey is not difficult. The difficulty lies in locating and killing it. The good news, however, is that while the prey is formidable, it is also gravely wounded.

Su Ziye tracked calmly and moved stealthily, eventually finding the prey hiding inside a massive tree and killing him before he even realized it. Su Ziye did not strictly need to do this; even without his intervention, the target would have struggled to survive in this forest, let alone pose any threat to him. The only reason they dared to enter the Forest of Fading Glory to hunt Su Ziye was that the forest's barrier could only be breached by those with power beyond the Heavenly Realm. Now that their Heavenly Realm protector had been slain by Xingxi, they had no way to escape alive.

Although Su Ziye did not mind weeding out the roots, hunting them down specifically was not his style. The reason he acted was simple: the target was still useful.

After severing the head and burning the corpse, the youth ascended into the air. With little effort, he found the territory of the Shadow-Chasing Pegasus. Since Xingxi’s territory was adjacent to that of the Shadow-Chasing Pegasus, the three men had been able to flee there seeking her protection, even if they hadn't realized it at the time.

"Zhuying, I have a gift for you," Su Ziye said, holding the head in one hand as he stood in a clearing within the woods. Though his voice was soft, it carried far. Su Ziye knew Zhuying could hear him and was certain the creature would respond, for he had offered a contract the beast could not refuse.

Indeed, within a single breath, the massive white pegasus appeared before him in a flash. It descended from the sky and folded its snow-white wings. The steed was unimaginably majestic and breathtakingly beautiful.

"I have killed the three trespassers you wanted," Su Ziye said. He held one head in his hand, while two piles of unmelted, snow-white ice crystals hovered in the air—the remains of the other two bodies. It did not matter; Su Ziye knew the Shadow-Chasing Pegasus could scent them.

"I accept your gift," the Pegasus replied, its voice filled with delight upon confirming the identities of its former prey. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing," Su Ziye smiled, drawing the Blade of Illusory Annihilation. "Your choice to leave previously must have had something to do with this blade."

"How much do you know about this Blade of Illusory Annihilation?" Su Ziye asked, getting straight to the point.

Seeing the eerie, divine weapon, Zhuying instinctively took a step back. "I knew the former master of this blade. He was a terrifying human."

"That human is dead," Su Ziye said flatly. "I am merely curious: how could the master of this blade possess a Shadow-Chasing Pegasus as his steed?"

As soon as Su Ziye spoke, the pegasus's eyes turned cold. "Whoever asks this question dies."

"However, since you brought me a gift, I will reluctantly let you leave." With that, the pegasus turned, spread its wings, and soared into the sky, vanishing from Su Ziye's sight in an instant.

Watching the creature flee, Su Ziye chuckled. "I hadn't even said I wanted to catch you as a mount yet; why the rush? But there’s no hurry; we can take our time."

...

Xingxi had been gone for six hours. When she returned to the Forest of Fading Glory, Su Ziye was roasting meat. The campfire was built in a standard ring, with branches added to the outer perimeter to ensure a steady, continuous flame. The vibrant red embers rose, their heat licking the skewers of meat dripping with fat above. The youth ate heartily while roasting, sipping occasionally from a bottle of "Happy Water" produced by the academy.

As night had fallen over the forest, this was the scene that greeted Xingxi upon her return. She was slightly surprised, but before she could speak, Su Ziye smiled. "Do you want some?"

Xingxi shook her head silently.

"Then what will you eat?" Su Ziye continued.

Xingxi looked at him, as if contemplating something, but ultimately ignored the youth and vanished in an instant. Su Ziye sighed, sitting where he was. He had hoped she might sit and share the meal, but he knew that for the girl, such a thing was fundamentally impossible.

He could only eat his roasted meat in solitude, occasionally sipping the cold, refreshing soda. It was a pleasant feeling, yet tinged with loneliness.

On the other side of the forest, the silver-haired girl sat quietly on a high tree branch, her legs dangling naturally. She did not wish for any further contact, and since she was far from the youth's campfire, there was no risk of him finding her. After the death of Xinghe, she spent most of her time in this forest; to her, interacting with the wordless magical beasts was far easier than dealing with the humans of this world.

With this thought, Xingxi took her dinner from her robes and began to eat. Her meal consisted of sliced meat—frozen, raw. Long ago, she had survived on such fare when she and her companions were cast into a similar forest and forced to fight beasts for sustenance. That was when she began storing food this way.

Later, after completing her training, she was sent to Xinghe. For a long time, she neither spoke nor ate properly. It took the man a long time to correct her, teaching her to sit at a table, wait for food to be prepared, and use utensils.

But then, Xinghe died.

And so, she returned to the forest, returning to these raw, finger-thick slices of frozen meat. Before he died, Xinghe had hoped she would find someone else to cook for her, though Xingxi never believed she could find such a person again.

Just then, a black tombstone slowly emerged before her. Xingxi immediately put away her unfinished meat, knelt respectfully on the branch, and awaited the next command. This was, perhaps, the entirety of her future. Even if she had hundreds or even thousands of years left to live, her life was one that could be seen to its end at a single glance.

"Where is the Prince?" the tombstone asked.