Traces

It was around noon by the time we returned to the abode - not to say that I was late since the others were only just waking up. In saying that… Thank heavens nobody jumped them while they were sleeping in their rooms, or it'd just be Tang Ye, Mountain Monster and I by now! As a matter of fact, I accidentally tripped over five or so faces, yet they didn't even wake up. The most I got was some "Screw you" and "You want to fight?!" type of cursing. God forbid I knew what they were dreaming about. I guess I should appreciate not having to explain what Tang Ye and I were doing, though.

"Big Brother Ming!" Su Xiao jogged over and looped his arm around mine energetically: "Ha, we're not dead."

Not the best way to greet someone first thing in the day, but I suppose it was understandable after what Su Xiao went through last night.

If the department existed, Su Xiao would be a mental energy genius. If it was anyone else - all else being equal - they'd be suffering post-traumatic disorder after facing off against a Divine Realm adept as Su Xiao did. As far as public opinion went, Tang Ye was the superior pugilist, yet he needed to spend a night meditating before he could show up to spar with me.

Su Xiao had such sound sleep that he still had drool by the side of his mouth. Having said that, as genius and idiocy are only a thought away, I suppose his state of mind could be a product of the latter.

"Big Brother Ming, what's the matter with you?"

"Huh?"

"Mm…" Su Xiao angled his head and asked, "Did you fight with someone?"

Okay, maybe he is trending toward the genius side.

"Hahaha, your face looks is hilarious."

"My face?"

I rubbed my face to find mud that must've smothered itself on me when I was sleeping. Tang Ye's palms must've smeared them into funny shapes or something. I guess that means he grew stronger.

"Kekeke, wait, Tang Ye, why is your face bruised?" Su Xiao questioned.

Lathering ointment on his face, Tang Ye projectile fired blood from his mouth then answered, "I fell when I was tumbling last night."

"You tumbled on your face when you were sleeping?"

"… I fell into a crevice."

"Must've been a tiger's cave," ribbed Su Xiao, face reading, "Keep acting, Lord San Shen. You got into a fight with someone, didn't you?"

Maybe Su Xiao was angry "Lord San Shen" didn't intervene last night.

"Can we stop spewing drivel here? His M-, Master must be awake by now," I interjected.

Boy, did His Majesty take much longer than we imagined to wake up. We waited for an hour before he assembled us. Dugu took east. Long Zaitian was assigned west. Tang Ye and Ye Luo were at the entrances to avoid any eavesdroppers. As he sat at the centre, Emperor Yuansheng heaved knackered and relieved breaths.

"This journey is a rocky one. Most of our plans have gone nowhere. Had Master Ming not been nearby, we might already be dead… Yan Ling, you don't look too bad; have you completely recovered?"

Though he had bruises after our five rounds, Tang Ye was in decent spirits. He spent as much time as he could recollecting my exchanges with Abels, analysing and breaking down every minutia to advance his own knowledge. His internal energy didn't improve, but the alterations he made to the way he controlled his