Aimless Ascension

After about an hour of creeping around the mountain range, Gale was sure Vale was playing with him. For the last hour, he had been running in circles, chasing the signs left behind by Vale.

By the forgotten gods, Vale was too intelligent to lose his way, nor was he trying to run away as he hadn't hidden his tracks or warded the bond. Could it be that he was chasing after something?

Unwilling to waste any more time, Gale raised his speed, gliding through the tall trees with the help of his third fate-lock, Stormsong. On his good days, Gale's speed could be comparable to a fucking train, but he had to leave behind those days before coming here.

Now, Gale hardly had enough Qi to go on like an unfettered train for no more than a few seconds, but with his natural Qi regeneration speed, gliding at low speed wouldn't be a problem.

Besides, from above, Gale could avoid encircling the same spot again and again and choose the straightest path leading to Vale.

It was by the evening, Gale had a tingling sensation, showing Vale was close. The sensation only got stronger as both parties wanted to find each other. A loud bark sounded out and then a small bonfire came into view as Gale sped up. Near the fire stood a man and a white furry hound.

"Woof!" Vale barked in joy, sensing Gale through the link.

Gale landed a respectful distance away, trying to appear as harmless as possible. People tend to do stupid things in fear or when threatened. Gale had a fair share of that experience.

Vale lunged in the air, woofing all the way to jump at Gale in glee. The scene was quite like a lost child finding their parents. Vale licked Gale all over his face as the tired man caressed his friend.

I always forget how young Vale is, Gale thought as his back hit the ground, Vale on top of him. No matter how magical and strong he was, Vale was still a juvenile, not even three years old.

"Alright, alright, boy," Gale said, embracing and caressing Vale. "Looks like you have had enough of adventuring. What happened?"

Vale stopped licking and looked at him intelligibly.

"You got lost," Gale said.

The dog nodded.

"That doesn't happen often, does it?" Gale muttered and stood up. He already noticed Shi Fan standing near the fire, evident uncertainty in his eyes. "Well, looks like you have found Shi Fan."

The youth perked up at the mentioned, still looking lost on how to go on with the conversation. His mind told him to run away at this very moment, but then again, Twilight was lurking right around here somewhere.

"Good evening, lad," Gale greeted Shi Fan. "Looks like you still haven't found time to practise. Your emotions are visible like a beacon to a Master. But don't you worry, I ain't no master. I can't really feel the fear you hid underneath the courteous facade."

Shi Fan breathed heavily, as sweat appeared on his forehead even though it was quite cold in the mountains. Some practitioners were terrible at hiding their nervousness, and Shi Fan was clearly one of them.

He seemed to have created a facade as a defence mechanism, much like Gale in his younger days, but he was too passive and nowhere near as resourceful as Gale.

Unfortunately, no master could teach things like those, though they could provide a lesson or two on hiding your emotions and intent.

It took Shi Fan several seconds—and discovering how Vale was giving Gale a mean look—to find out the weird senior was merely jesting.

"I guess your master wasn't a big fan of concealment or aura training," Gale said and sighed. "I swear I've seen tavern wenches better at that than you. Don't worry, boyo. I'm not here to steal your stuff. Well, that reminds me, you left behind some of your stuff at Xiaolin's house. Will you take those back, or should I consider you left those behind for charity?"

"I planned to move them after finding a suitable spot," Shi Fan said, taking a deep breath.

"What? Here?" Gale looked bewildered. He guessed Shi Fan was going the old sage way of seclusion training in the mountains. Well, it's not bad, the mountain could provide him with a challenging environment to refine his spirit arts. "It's your decision. Come back to take your stuff whenever you like. I'm going to shift here . . . Probably this week."

"Shift?"

"Yup, I brought the land. Turns out the land here is quite cheap." Gale laughed and rubbed Vale on the head.

He found the meat Shi Fan was roasting. Three were actually a lot, too much for one person. Gale thought about joining and helping the boy with something, but decided against it, finding how uncomfortable Shi Fan was by his presence.

"Your meal will be wasted soon. You better get busy with that."

Shi Fan spun instantly. He totally forgot about the boar meat. It was almost ready. Shi Fan got them off the fire drudgingly. "Senior," he said with courtesy, "do you want to try some?"

"I would like to, but I can't. I need to return. People are waiting for me."

"That's a pity." Though his aura told otherwise.

Gale smiled. "Anyway, you took care of Vale in my absence. Thank you for that."

"It's nothing really, Senior," Shi Fan said. "It is a junior's duty to listen to their seniors, even though sometimes the instructions are unuttered."

"That seemed like a profound saying. I wish I could agree." Gale stretched as he continued. "I don't hold much respect for the elderly. Still, benignity is a virtue to have, never lose sight of it."

"I will put senior's advice to good use," Shi Fan said genuinely.

Gale scoffed. "Even the likes of me can spout out good advice on rare occasions. The point is: never give up. Try a bunch of them. Maybe one of them will stick."

Vale nudged him on the leg as if telling Gale that he was ruining the moment.

"Anyway, we're off. Good night, boyo. Don't forget to work on your aura control. Feel free to ask me for any help."

Saying that, the man and the beast disappeared into the darkness.

Shi Fan sighed in relief and turned, only to lunge up in horror. His shy friend was standing right behind him, watching the distant darkness.

"What that man said is true. You truly need to have some control over your emotions."