********* Forgotten Cultivator **********
I walk in with Yu. The others stay in the Residence, playing with Little Stripes. Little by little, she's getting used to them.
Using qi to create light is the most basic use. I think we should all learn it. Luckily, we have the twins.
It's humid and quiet. Yu walks in front. She's a little tense. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it. I suddenly put my hand on her shoulder.
"AAAAahh! Kong!!!" she screams, scared first, and then angry.
She looks at me angrily while I laugh. She puffs out her cheeks.
"Don't look at me like that. Ha, ha. I'm sorry, Ha, ha. I won't do it again."
"Fool!"
She kicks me and turns around. I hug her gently from behind.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. You're so adorable. What can I do to get you to forgive me?"
"Just don't do it again," she says, still in an angry tone.
"Okay."
I kiss her on the cheek. She breaks free from my embrace. She moves forward without looking at me. She seems angry. But I know she's not. It was just a little joke. And it's not the first time. And many times I've been the victim.
"And don't tell Yi."
"I promise."
It takes her a while to speak to me. Then, she seems to have forgotten about it.
"Aah!" she exclaims, stopping short.
Something has surprised her. But she moves forward. Although, slowly. Wary. We've reached a slightly larger cavity. It's a room. There's some pretty battered wooden furniture. In what used to be the bed, there's a skeleton. I guess that's what has scared her.
"Call the others. Let them see it, but they should be warned."
"No way," she refuses, with a mischievous smile.
The first to fall is her sister. She screams when she sees the skeleton. And because of her sister's attack from behind. She looks at us with a sour face when we laugh.
Shi, Song and Liang are just surprised. They aren't very scared. We're used to burying the dead. Even seeing skeletons. The twins seem a little disappointed. Maybe, next time.
"This sword is good. It's better than the one I have," Shi takes hold of a weapon.
"The spear is damaged, but only the handle. I'll try to put another one on it," Song contemplates a spear.
The twins decide to draw lots for the dagger. The one who loses will choose next time. There're no bow or arrows. There're several utensils, many of them damaged. Some perhaps recoverable.
"These pills must be valuable if they haven't spoiled," Liang adds, holding a small bottle.
They don't seem to be damaged. Although, none of us know very well what they are. For now, I keep them. I take a ring and apply qi. Luckily, it isn't protected. I take out some notebooks. Being inside has protected them.
One is a cultivation technique. It goes all the way to the Body realm. It's based on extracting the essence of beasts. I guess it makes sense for someone hiding in the forest. But it's useless for us.
"He must have been in the Soul realm. The dagger is too good for someone at Genesis, but a bit poor for someone at Body," explains Yu, who has won the dagger.
Her sister grumbles. Yu seems quite satisfied. She's very interested in weapons. She's studied several of them in the armory. Even if she can't take them with her, she can see and feel them.
"Who may it be?" Liang wonders.
"We'll probably never know," Song shrugs.
I put the notebooks away. Some might be interesting. We decide to clean up the room. And get one more ring. There's some money. In total, about ten gold pieces. A fortune for me. I could buy some cheap slaves, maybe myself. But I know how quickly they're spent. I've accompanied to buy to town before.
The clothes in the ring are good. I don't know about the quality. For me, they're a luxury. There're scraps of clothes outside. They haven't survived the passage of time. I wonder how long it's been here.
There's also a strange scroll. It looks like a piece of a larger one. And it's like it accepts qi. Not ours though. Like it's not suitable.
"Maybe, it only responds to a certain person, a certain lineage," Song suggests.
"Or you have to be in a more advanced realm. In the realm of the soul, qi is compressed, it increases in quality," Yi suggests.
"Who knows. Keep it. Maybe, it'll be useful some day," Shi suggests.