Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Ao Ruang's consciousness began to stir. 

"Who do you think he is?" a concerned voice said clearly the sound of a young female.

"No idea, his clothing isn't from around these parts. All I know is he came stumbling into the camp and said something about food before passing out. Da Qiao...don't get too close to the lad until we can determine who he is and where he is from. Come get me as soon as he wakes I will be in the other room."

"Yes, father, I will tell you as soon as he wakes."

"Good girl" the low, but gentle voice said before the soft clack of a door could be heard shutting.

Ao Ruang had already awoken mid conversation between the two people, one who had a middle aged gruff voice and the other one of a young lady who couldn't be much older than himself. The two clearly belonged to the group he had approached.

Where he was their conversation gave no clues, but he was in a warm bed. The hunger he had felt earlier was silly gnawing at his reasoning faculties, but nothing to an extreme degree.

As soon as the two left to continue their conversation Ao Ruang opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings. The room was quaint and well furnished it was clear this family were from a line of carpenters all the furniture looked hand built. His eyes drifted around until he paused at a mirror that faced him.

The person looking back did not look familiar at all looking back at him was the same young boy he remembered back at YinWu, but gone was the previously dark brown hair and brown eyes. Gone was the tanned skin from living in the wilderness and in its place was white hair, crimson eyes, and fair almost ghostly pale skin. Despite the slightly otherworldly appearance he knew that his looks were now not just average like before, but stunning not a blemish could be seen on his face.

"What the hell...how am I to go out into public with those eyes." he said to himself aloud.

"Father, I think I heard something come from the room. He may have woke up." the young lady's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Shi--" Ao Ruang cussed at his carelessness. Laying back down in bed he closed his eyes acting like he couldn't open them yet.

The door creaked open and heavy footsteps could be heard "well young lad it looks like you are finally coming to. Sit up, come with me. We have food ready."

The fact that he said food enticed Ao Ruang deeply, but he quickly decided to act like he was blind. "I'm sorry sir to interrupt you and intrude more than I have, but...you wouldn't happen to have a veil to cover my eyes with or anything really?"

"Err I do, but is there a problem."

"When I was a child I had an illness that caused my eyes to be extremely sensitive to light so I need a thin veil in order to properly see where I am going or the light will be too strong for my eyes." Ao Ruang was extremely impressed with his skills at lying.

"Of course! I can help you with that. Da Qiao, go fetch one of your veils and cut it in half to cover this young man's eyes. Now as for you coming here I will help you to the kitchen at least." gripping Ao Ruang he lifted him up from the bed and led him into the main living area leaving him by the edge of a table he knelt down and waited for the veil.

The man was clearly large and burly; his silhouette reminded him of a bear.

Only a few minutes passed before the young lady known as Da Qiao came rushing in with the veil and helped him put it on. Once the veil was in place he opened his eyes.

While everything was blurred and not extremely clear he could still walk around should he need to which was good enough for now. That is until he figured out why his eyes were crimson.

Across from him sat a large bear-like man with a burly beard and a tunic that fit onto his white chest which was almost double the width of his own. Besides him was the girl known as Da Qiao in plain clothing and a simple robe. She clearly wasn't from some rich family, but despite her simple attire she still would be considered quite the beauty.

"I'm sorry for how I came here. I honestly am not sure where I am." Ao Ruang decided to break the awkward silence first.

"Well I guess let's move into introductions. I am Da Man and this is my daughter Da Qiao. You find yourself in the Da tribal village near the southern edge of the mountains of mist, part of the Liao empire. We found you not far from the Yin river where we do logging and water the Oxen. Honestly you were lucky to find us when you did." Da Man's gruff voice had a friendly tone to it which disarmed Ao Ruang immediately.

The southern edge? Ao Ruang knew that he was an extremely long way from home. The river had brought him incredible distance and no animals had gotten to him which was all the more impressive.

"I am Ao Ruang. I came from a town deep in the mountains and found myself to have fallen into the Yin river and swept downstream." Ao Ruang responded formally.

"Hmm. I don't know of any towns in the Mountains, but they are a large place and we don't worry ourselves over small places like that. Well Ao Ruang you are welcome to stay here for now, but we have no way of taking you back to your town. Honestly...your best bet is to go with us in two days to Firedawn city which is a four day trip by horse from here. There you can find someone that may be able to help you."

Da Man looked at Ao Ruang with a soft gaze; he clearly didn’t feel any threat from this young boy from the mountain.

“Welp!” Da Man called out slapping his thighs “Tell me a bit about yourself young man. Perhaps I’ve heard of your village and we can ask some of the other towns along the edge of the mountains if they have heard of anything.”

Ao Ruang put on an appreciative smile. “There isn’t much to tell. Grew up in the mountains cultivated from a young age.”

Da Man paused and a hint of shock could be seen on his and Da Qiao’s eyes.

“Is there something wrong?” Ao Ruang asked warily.

Da Man's voice cracked as he spoke up “ehem…no it is just that cultivators are extremely rare around these parts. Sure we all raise our level into iron warrior, but that is just natural for all humanity even if we just lived normally and ate normally. To cultivate actual cultivation techniques would mean your small village is quite rare and isolated.”

“Really? Does that mean that there isn't anything like my village in the southern tip of the mountains?”

“No. I’m afraid not, young man. I’m guessing the river swept you from far in the central regions minimum. Unfortunately I think the only way back to your home is to get to a city large enough to figure out what region you are actually from or to gain enough strength to make it through the beasts that prowl the mountain.” Da Man sighed a hint of disappointment behind it “I will think of taking you to Firedawn soon. We haven't made a trip in a while anyways.”

"Thank you very much." Ao Ruang bowed to Da Man before taking the tea that Da Qiao was pouring and drinking it rapidly.

The food had just been served and he was still famished after they all ate their fill. Ao Ruang still was hungry, but not quite as bad as before, but he still felt an unquenchable thirst that simply wouldn't go away. Like someone who had eaten a dry and salty food with no water.

"Well, the meal was good, thank you Da Qiao.” Da Man shifted his position to face squarely at who he was talking to. His eyes had a soft gentle look to them. “Ao Ruang, you can stay in the same room as before. Tomorrow I will let the rest of the village know what is going on with you. You are welcome to look around the village, just try to keep your nose clean. The village elders are rather unforgiving old men and untrusting of strangers."

"I will keep that in mind, thank you!" Ao Ruang bowed again as Da Man stood up to go into his room. Which left only himself and Da Qiao alone.

"Err. How are you? We didn't get much of a chance to speak since the meal started." Ao Ruang wasn't too adept at speaking to girls since no girls in YinWu town bothered ever talking to him.

"It is fine. My father likes to jabber when company comes over and can talk the ear off a donkey." Da Qiao giggled. "I'm curious what it is like to live in the mountains. I don't get to hear much about other places outside the empire."

"Nothing much to say honestly, we are far more isolated than even your small village so we are constantly short on news of the outside world."

"I see." Da Qiao said, downcast, clearly disappointed. Ao Ruang knew her feeling of being trapped in a small village isolated from the fantastical stories from the outside world was something he knew all too well. The merchants who came to visit his isolated village talked of heroic deeds and grand cities.

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"Well it is late, you woke up quite late. I recommend you rest a bit more so that you are fully recovered." with a bow, she got up and went to her room which was right next door to his own.

Ao Ruang was still thirting, but knew that no matter what he ate or drank the feeling would still be there so he got up and made his way onto the spare bed.

"Maybe my luck isn't as bad as I thought." Ao Ruang thought as his eyes slid shut his last lingering thoughts were on his mother...who was surely heartbroken by now.

 

…

 

Early in the morning the sounds of birds chirping and the men of the village leaving to go to their work and farms woke Ao Ruang as he opened his eyes. The night has been mostly restless for him as the hunger that was originally slightly appeased by the food he ate came back halfway through the night. Digging his fingers into his hands he tried to think of anything else besides the hunger he felt.

Propping himself up he put on the veil for his eyes and stretched his now white hair was a bit of a mess, but it didn't take long before he could fix it and let it fall down his back in an orderly fashion.

"Ao Ruang!" Da Qiao called out "breakfast is ready!"

The thought of food was nearly driving him insane, but he continued to try and keep his wits about him. Shuffling out of the room he sniffed to smell something sweet. The aroma was intoxicating, but unfamiliar to him.

"What are we having?" Ao Ruang said excitedly as he looked around for whatever was giving off that intoxicating smell.

Da Qiao smiled lightly as she brought out the food "nothing special, just a local river fish that was caught."

Ao Ruang had a slightly bad reaction. There was no way this fried fish was letting off such a sweet scent. With a sigh he quickly bit off a chunk of the fish. As the piece of meat slid down his throat he felt an instant repulsion.

*Acckk*

Ao Ruang ran from the table and threw up chunks of fish. The hunger he was repressing until now surged even more.

"Ao Ruang...are you okay?" A worried voice came from behind him.

With a weak smile he nodded "err yeah I just feel a little sick is all I will come back in a second."

"Oh..well just feel better. That is fine. Just let me know if I can help." Da Qiao spoke with a hint of worry in her voice.

Ao Ruang sat down on the floor as he took several deep breaths to get his bearings. 'What the hell is wrong with me? This has to be caused by what the thing did to me in the cave. I can't even enjoy a damned meal!'

*Ba dum*

A loud rhythmic thumping sound crashed into his head suddenly causing his head to snap in the direction it came from. Whatever it was it seemed like it was calling to him..like his entire being needed it.

*Ba dum*

"What is this noise?" he muttered to himself.

The sound rang out in a consistent pattern. The house was empty so it wasn't someone besides Da Qiao, but how would she be making this noise? Yet, she was the only one in the house so it had to be her.

Stumbling back into the room Ao Ruang's eyes landed on Da Qiao who was washing dishes in a basin. His eyes looked the pretty girl up and down. If he didn't have his veil on one would see bloodshot crimson eyes boring into the back of her neck. As if her skin had turned slightly transparent he could see the path of her veins web throughout her exposed skin not covered by her dress.

The overwhelming hunger continued to build as he took a step towards her; his desires had reached a penultimate state as he stood a mere three feet from her. He had approached silently like a predator hunting prey in the wild.

Da Qiao continued to wash dishes unawares, but like all prey she felt a shiver run down her spine as she turned around to see Ao Ruang stalking slowly towards her, his aura releasing a sinister aura from himself. An instinctive fear washed over her.

"A--Ao Ruang what are you.." she stuttered.

Before she could finish another word Ao Ruang pounced on her, letting two sharp teeth plunge into the nape of her neck. Using one hand he covered her mouth forcefully to suppress any scream that would be uttered.

With a quickly muffled groan of pain Da Qiao struggled to wrench Ao Ruang off her as she felt her blood being drained away.

Quickly she lost all will to fight and enough blood was gone she soon lost consciousness.

Ao Ruang felt his willpower return as his thirst was quenched. Looking at what he had caused his head to swirl in confusion.

What have I done? He thought to.himself as he began to get his thoughts in order. He had just drank blood but felt no revolting feeling about it. Instead a faint hint of satisfaction lingered on him.

These feelings were not natural. Walking over to her he felt for a pulse on her neck.

 While she had passed out from blood loss it didn't appear like she would die from the wound. So he quickly wrapped it with some rags and stumbled backwards, blood still dripping from his chin.

"Wha--what have I done? Why would I drink her blood...what is wrong with me!" Ao Ruang began to question the entire situation as it all swept him up again as he looked at the passed out girl on the ground. "I can't stay here. I will be strung up like a monster. I need to leave."

Ao Ruang nodded to himself before running to his room and packing any spare clothes or items he may need. Before he left he took several days worth of food and supplies in a pack and grabbed the only weapon he could find, a staff and a long kitchen knife.

Before the sun had even reached its peak Ao Ruang had taken a horse and was already far enough away from the village to where it was a mere dot in the distance. Ao Ruang sent a silent prayer hoping that Da Qiao would be okay.

Looking back Ao Ruang felt some guilt, but knew it was worthless to worry about now. Turning to continue down the path Ao Ruang followed down the grassy plains towards Firedawn city.

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