“Don't worry, I'll get Ye Zi to make a new weapon for you once I get back. I promise that it'll be ten thousand times better than the one wielded by the fake Divine Envoy right now.” Yun Jiuge was not exaggerating when she said that.
She knew that Zi Shang was planning to do things in a flashy way when he said that he was going to build a town for the human-beast hybrids. She was certain that he would definitely place a lot of emphasis on crafting weapons.
This was also where Yun Jiuge differed from Zi Shang. Zi Shang only thought about how he could make use of the human-beast hybrids to achieve his goals quickly.
On the other hand, Yun Jiuge was more concerned about the lives and health of the human-beast hybrids, and she wanted to help change the Secret Realm for the better.
Thankfully, their ideologies did not clash. They would even complement each other if they worked well together.
“Is Lord Ye Zi able to craft weapons as well? He's such a talented man!” Advisor Jun's face lit up in an instant. His respect towards Ye Zi just went up by yet another level.
“There's nothing that he doesn't know how to do,” said Yun Jiuge proudly. It was almost like she was talking about herself.
The pair conversed for a little while more before Yun Jiuge noticed that the light was beginning to dim and the skies had turned dark. It was clear that night was about to fall.
“Why aren't A'fei and A'ping back yet?” Yun Jiuge looked outside a little anxiously.
“I'll go take a look.” Advisor Jun stood to his feet and flew out of the cave. It did not take long before he flew back with A'fei and A'ping.
Both A'fei and A'ping were carrying bundles of Sisi Gra.s.s on their backs as they stepped into the cave. However, the Daqing Gra.s.s that hung from the Sisi Gra.s.ses were pathetically little.
“This area is exceptionally big, and there isn't anything around too. We had to fly a long distance before we could bring back this much Daqing Gra.s.s,” A'fei said with a voice full of shame.
“Don't worry, that's enough.” Yun Jiuge took the Daqing Gra.s.s from them and placed them at the side.
“Hurry up and weave curtains out of them so that we can block out the wind,” Yun Jiuge said.
Advisor Jun immediately picked up the Sisi Gra.s.s and began weaving a curtain adeptly. A'ping and A'fei took a seat next to him and began weaving at a very fast pace as well.
Shortly after, A'hui and A'gu returned to the cave.
A'gu was carrying a large bundle of withered tree branches, whereas A'hui was carrying a beast skin bag that was filled with clean water.
Yun Jiuge took the beast skin bag from A'hui and poured half of the water into a stone bowl.
With the addition of A'gu and A'hui to the team, the curtains were finished in no time, and the finished products looked just like two green plank doors.
Advisor Jun then proceeded to make a few holes on the curtains. The holes would allow them to observe their surroundings and ensure that the place was well-ventilated. Thereafter, he flew out of the cave and hung them up at the entrance of the cave. The wind instantly became smaller once he did that.
Once he was done, Advisor Jun lifted the curtains and made his way back into the cave. By then, A'hui had already made use of the leftover stones that were not used by Yun Jiuge previously to build a square hearth. He then started a bonfire over it.
The cold cave instantly turned warm. The five human-eagle hybrids stayed around the entrance to the cave, leaving most of the s.p.a.ce in the cave to Yun Jiuge.
Yun Jiuge did not say anything in response to their actions. She placed the stone bowl on top of the hearth before she poured the Rice Herbs and beef jerky into it and began cooking up a bowl of meat porridge.
The light yellow Rice Herbs moved up and down in the boiling water, and the brown-colored beef jerky also turned mushy after being stewed for a long time.
Yun Jiuge took out a long wooden ladle from her bag and began stirring. She was trying to make sure that the porridge would not stick onto the bottom of the bowl.
The aroma of the meat porridge wafted through the cave, and Advisor Jun could not help but salivate after smelling it. Neither he nor the other human-eagle hybrids in the cave had been able to enjoy meat ever since the Black Rain Disaster.
They felt content to be able to eat Rice Herbs and Potato Herbs everyday, but they were still carnivores after all. The aroma of meat was driving them nuts, and they found it a torture to have to suppress their urge to eat the meat.
A'hui looked the least affected of them. He did not show any form of emotion on his cold, stoic face. The only reaction he gave was a slight movement of his throat.
A'ping and A'feng were both young human-eagle hybrids, and their desire to eat meat was the most prominent of the group. Their eyes never left the bowl of meat porridge, and their throats could not help but throb constantly. Their saliva was almost on the verge of flowing out of their mouths as well. It was easy to tell how much they craved meat.
Lady Yun would definitely not be able to finish such a large bowl of meat porridge. It would be great if they could just have a little bit of that porridge from her once she was done, they thought to themselves.
How they longed to take even the smallest of bites of the meat porridge!
“Aren't you lot hungry? Why aren't you eating?” Yun Jiuge asked as she stirred within the bowl.
“Ah, yes. We'll dig in right now.” The human-eagle hybrids took out their dried Potato Herbs and began eating. Having to eat the Potato Herbs while smelling the meat porridge tortured them immensely.
“Lady Yun, why aren't you eating?” Advisor Jun realized that the porridge was ready to be served, but Yun Jiuge did not look like she was going to eat it at all.
“I'm not hungry,” Yun Jiuge shook her head.
“Why did you cook such a big bowl of porridge if you aren't hungry?” Advisor Jun did not think that Yun Jiuge had cooked the porridge for them either. If she had, she would definitely have asked them to eat the porridge earlier.
“I prepared this for Guo'er and the rest.” Yun Jiuge lowered the wooden ladle onto the table before she turned to the stone wall in the dark corner of the cave and said, “What's your answer? Have you thought things through carefully? I'm sure you can come out to meet us now, right?”
Before Advisor Jun could comprehend what was going on, he heard thumping sounds coming from within the stone wall.
He then watched as the stone wall broke down, revealing a brain-sized tunnel before them.
“Guo'er!” A'gu shouted emotionally at once.
“A'gu.” A small white rabbit crawled out of the tunnel. It was Guo'er who had taken on a beast form.
A'gu was just about to move towards it when Advisor Jun pulled him back saying, “Don't go over.”
The area near the stone wall was very small and cramped, and Yun Jiuge would not have anywhere to sit if A'gu went over.
“Come on out, Elder!” Guo'er turned its head to the side and directed its words at the tunnel.
Thereafter, a feeble old rabbit tottered its way out of the tunnel, and its eyes that teemed with wisdom rested on Yun Jiuge.
“Elder, this is Lady Yun whom I mentioned to you previously. Lady Yun, this is the Elder of the human-rabbit hybrid clan,” Guo'er introduced.
“Nice to meet you, Elder!” Yun Jiuge smiled and said, “My name is Yun Jiuge, and I come from the outside world.”
“Lady Yun, why did you make your way into a barren land like ours from the outside?” The Elder Rabbit's voice sounded very different from Elder Bai's.
Elder Bai's voice always sounded desperate because all he thought about every single day was how to lead the human-eagle hybrid clan to survive.
In contrast, Elder Rabbit's voice sounded extremely cool and collected, and it gave others the impression that he was an extremely wise rabbit.
“I came here because I'm trying to find someone,” Yun Jiuge said with a serious tone.
“And who might that be?” The Elder Rabbit pressed.
“Now's still not the time for me to tell you that. I'll ask for your help when the time is ripe.” Yun Jiuge smiled lightly in response. She did not mind the Elder Rabbit's outspokenness towards her.
“Lady Yun, since you're with the human-eagle hybrid clan now, you should have an idea as to why their prince is able to take on a complete beast form, right? What are your thoughts on it?” The Elder Rabbit switched to a different question.
Yun Jiuge contemplated for a moment before she went straight to the point, “The prince of the human-eagle hybrid clan is only able to take on a complete beast form and shoot out fireb.a.l.l.s from its mouth because there is an orb of golden light in his brain.”
“The members of the human-rabbit hybrid clan also possess this golden light. However, you lot possess a lot less of that golden light than him, and it's spread throughout the bones in your bodies. This is the reason why you're stronger as beasts,” she continued.
“You're the most candid person I've ever met,” said the Elder Rabbit. It did not expect that Yun Jiuge would just speak the truth without asking for anything in return.
“This is an issue that concerns the human-beast hybrid clans. You've a right to know about it,” Yun Jiuge replied. That was her opinion on the matter.
“Thank you.” It was clear that the Elder Rabbit was not as antagonistic towards her as before.
“Well then, Elder. Can you tell me where the golden light in your bodies comes from?” Yun Jiuge asked right away without beating about the bush.