Chapter 8 - Different Races
Serpent species have tremendous physical strength, with the White Qui Serpents being especially powerful. The physical strength of a peak-Novice Magus level White Qui Serpent was ten times better than that of a Tenth-level Novice Magus.
Ji Hao had eaten an entire White Qui Serpent, which had improved his physical strength to another level. He stretched his body in the yard and cast a shout to the sky. He sensed great power rushing through his bones and muscles.
Yesterday, Ji Hao had become a Fourth-Level Novice Magus. Today he had gained another forty-thousand ‘Stones’ of strength after eating an entire White Qui Serpent.
Ji Hao laughed aloud happily. If he could eat ten more beasts like this White Qui Serpent before the worship ceremony, Ji Wu would no longer be a threat to him.
“A White Qui Serpent, has forty thousands ‘stones’ of power,” Ji Hao said to himself. After having exercised in the yard for a while, he took a deep breath, and gave an ear-piercing whistle towards the Gold Black Mountain. With the great internal power, gained by practicing the [Mantra Dan with Nine Secret Words], the sound of his whistle reverberated through the jungle without fading.
From a towering mulberry tree on the Gold Black Mountain, a gigantic Fire Crow rose high in the air. The crow hovered around the tree and flew towards Ji Hao, while its feathers were emitting a faint, fiery light.
The crow folded its wings, transformed into a beam of light and arrived above the yard in the span of few breaths.
Ji Xia stood in front of the door, nodded sincerely to the Fire Crow and said: “Mr. Crow, thanks for always keeping an eye on Ji Hao.”
The Fire Crow was hovering in front of Ji Xia. It narrowed its eyes, tilted its head, and cawed to Ji Xia.
Ji Hao hopped on the crow’s head, laughed and said: “Mr. Crow! Let’s go somewhere further today! Do you remember where we found the nest of the ‘Golden-Wing Bees’? Let’s go!”
With a long-lasting, piercing sound, the Fire Crow soared straight up into the sky, flicked its wings, transformed into a light stream, and disappeared quickly into the clouds.
Qing Fu slowly walked to the door, watched Ji Hao and the crow disappearing, frowned, and said to Ji Xia: “Jiang Yao came to our home and tried to attack Hao today...Xia, these people really want us dead!”
Ji Xia nodded, got on the bronze-furred bear’s back and left. He didn’t say a word, but a faint flame appeared around his head.
The bear roared, with a few threads of saliva hanging on the corner of its mouth, dashed towards the jungle. Ji Xia whistled a few times, hearing which a group of muscular warriors came out from the nearby cabins. They rode different contracted beasts and followed Ji Xia.
Qing Fu leaned against the door frame, still frowning, and stared to the sky. A wisp of dark-green smoke appeared between her eyebrows, for a fleeting moment.
“Jiang Yao...,” she whispered.
Up in the air, the crow was flying towards the South West. Ji Hao patted the crow on its head. The crow stopped flying forwards immediately, hovered in the air, turned its head around, looked at Jia Hao, and cawed at him. It looked quite puzzled.
“Mr. Crow, I know we have our ancestors’ rules to obey, so I can’t ask you to deal with Ji Shu and his people for me, but if I do it myself, no matter what you see, you won’t tell anyone, am i right?” smirked Ji Hao, and rubbed Mr. Crow’s head.
The Crow blinked its eyes and cawed loudly, while it showed a sly look to Ji Hao.
“Good! Good! What are we? We’re bros! You have known me since I was a baby; now there’re some people who want Abba, Amma, and me to die. You wouldn’t let them, will you?”
Ji Hao stood up, looked back at the Gold Black Mountain, and muttered: “I am known for always seeking revenge for even the smallest grievances. An eye for an eye! I don’t want to wait till tomorrow.”
Ji Hao pointed at a direction; the crow opened its wings and swerved in the air. It flew slowly, quietly and silently, to where Ji Hao had pointed. His fiery feathers turned back to normal.
After a quarter of an hour, the crow quietly landed on a mountain, hundreds of miles away from the Gold Black Mountain. Ji Hao leaped down from the crow’s head, after which he dragged a pile of vines off. An entrance to a cave became visible, up in front of them.
It was a cave hidden behind the pile of vines. The cave was nearly a hundred meters in radius. Dozen of big clay vats[1] were placed orderly in the cave. Every one of these vats was sealed with clay. Ji Hao checked them one by one, then choose one and carefully carried it on his shoulder.
After Ji Hao had brought the vat out of the cave, he covered the entrance again with the vines. He held the vat in his arms and hopped on Mr. Crow’s head. The crow flapped its wings, and rose silently to the sky. After a few minutes, the crow landed in a valley, which was a few miles away from the cave.
The valley was quiet and clean; white cobblestones were everywhere.
Ji Hao seemed very familiar with this place. He walked to a gigantic stone in the centre of the valley and violently kicked it.
The entire valley shook slightly. With a thundering noise, the gigantic stone moved and floated in the air. In the span of few breaths, the cobblestones nearby converged towards this gigantic stone and formed a pure-white stone giant ultimately.
The stone giant started to creak its body. Stones on his body began to move inward rapidly and his body was constantly being compressed. Soon, this stone giant was as short as Ji Hao, and its face and body became human-like.
“Hao...You naughty kid! You...looking for me?” The stone-man had a rough, yet clear face. He popped his eyes and looked at Ji Hao. Suddenly, its eyes moved and locked onto the clay vat, which Ji Hao held in his arm.
“Bo...oze...booze! Go...good! Wh...what you...want me to...do for...you...this time? Shield...you...again?” The stone-man smacked its lips and tensely shook his head.
“Last...time, I al...almost got killed by the old...old tree! I want two...vats, or I’m...out!”
“Hey, Stone! Where did you learn how to bargain? Who taught you this?” Ji Hao looked surprised at the stone-man, handed the vat over to him and continued, “Okay! I’ll get you another one tomorrow. Here, this is yours, and you only need to do me a small favor.”
The vat contained fruit wine, which had a bright-orange colour and smelled wonderfully, with a few fruits mixed in it. The stone-man opened its mouth, and drank the wine up delightfully in only a single breath. He smashed the vat then to pieces, and yawned satisfied.
“All...right...To do...what?” The stone man beat his own chest and said, “Are we going to...to chop the old tree’s branches? Or...or steal the mean woman’s eggs? Or...or something else?”
JI Hao narrowed his eyes and smirked: “No! We’re not playing those childish games this time. Some people want Abba, Amma and me dead. I’m going to kill them before that, and you will shield me. That’s it.”
Ji Hao paused for a second, slapped the stone man’s shoulder and said: “Stone! We need two more helpers. Where’s the evil girl? Is she at home at the moment?”
“Caw!”
The Fire Crow was quietly preening beside Ji Hao. When it heard Ji Hao speak about the “evil girl”, it shivered and cawed loudly.
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[1] A vat: a large open vessel for holding or storing liquids