Following that night, after a warm meal of black steeled wolf, Grey sat down on the floor quietly to cultivate. His gaze lingered on the bed across him. He then heard the low voice of the Captain.
"You should try and sleep tonight on the bed instead of cultivating." His voice resounded in his ears.
That's right, Grey had not slept on the bed ever. In fact, he hardly slept ever since he transmigrated. Instead he would cultivate throughout the whole night.
Although cultivation had a refreshing feeling, it couldn't be compared to actual sleep. Which he had not felt in a long time.
His previous fear of dirtying the beddings was gone. After all, he had finally taken a bath and aside from his face and hair which was dirty, his entire body was still clean.
He hesitated for a few seconds before he went to wash his face and hair in the bathroom. Soon after, he came out and went to lie down on the soft bed.
As he fell into the soft embrace of the bed, he felt all the tension and ached begin to wash away as his consciousness drifted away and his vision darkened.
***
The next day when he opened his eyes, he found that his vision was clearer. The hidden tension that had been lurking in his bones had dispelled and he felt free.
'I'd almost forgot what real sleep feels like.'
His brain took a few moments to register where he was before he darted out of the room and his figure could be found outside. Just in time to seeing the Captain's cold and icy gaze over the scavenger camp.
The dark circles under his eyes were even more evident than yesterday. His hair had grown longer and was slightly disheveled.
After the sun rose over the horizon, he calmly stepped down from the sky with icicles under his feet. He looked to not be of this world.
Seeing this scene, Grey remembered the conversation between the old man and the Captain as knew questions popped up in his mind. Why had the Captain been exiled? Where had he been exiled from? Who exiled him?
Those questions resurfaced in his mind but once again, he did not have a single answer to them. They did not have time for breakfast as they left for Luo's places in a hurry.
Following from behind, Grey noticed that the Captain's aura seemed a but restrained. Just looking at him gave him a chill that seemed to seep into his bones itself, but there was also more.
The Captain's aura was like a caged beast waiting to be uncaged. He didn't know what gave him this feeling, but he felt that the Captain before him was even more dangerous than normal.
But he didn't ask a thing despite how much his curiosity bit at him. After all, he wasn't a kid that couldn't hold his inquisitive nature.
After a short time had passed, Grey saw Luo's shop and saw the Captain leave into the distance with a sigh. After Grey's eyes lingered on him for a few seconds, he turned his gaze away and walker into Luo's shop.
There, he saw Ange reading the Dao of medicine book on top of the counter. She beamed him a friendly smile and he nodded his head curtly as a sign if greeting.
"Morning. What are we doing today?" Grey said when he was close. He looked at the Dao of medicine and saw Ange reading about a special herb.
The amethyst sand plant. He gave in to his curiosity and began to read more.
The Amethyst Sand plant was a peculiar plant that could only be found in a corroded zone that was still in its nascent stage. This plant would only grow when a single grain of Amethyst shard fell from the red sky. In two weeks, it would grow to become a small amethyst crystal herb which could be harvested and added to the refinement process of pills and further improve their quality.
'Is this amethyst sand grain the purple crystal I found?' Grey thought inwardly as his mind delved deeper into his memories.
'But the purple crystal is way too big for a Amethyst sand grain, and the grain would dissolves after a few hours if it doesn't germinate, so it can't be it.'
He continued then shook his head. Despite how similar the description was, it wasn't the same as the purple crystal which had a very powerful healing effect and some other features he hadn't fully explored yet.
Grey gave a low sigh before he continued to study the Dao of medicine. Ange heard his soft sigh and her face turned to look at him. Because of their close proximity, she was looking up at him from her sitting position.
When she realized how close they were, get face blushed crimson and she turned the other way, wanting to avoid looking at him.
Grey noticed this but couldn't guess the reason why she was reacting like that. It was only after a few seconds did he realize. His cheeks had small blush to them but Ange's face was turned the other way so she couldn't see them.
Of course he wasn't doing this on purpose so he naturally had reasons to be flushed as well.
'Geez, now she'll think I'm some kind of a play boy.' He rolled his eyes before leaving to carry a stool and sat down beside Ange.
And together, they both learned the Dao of medicine. With Ange teaching and Grey raptly listening. And before he knew it, evening came and his stomach growled lowly.
He just remembered that he hadn't eaten anything today. He was currently thinking of what he would eat when Ange brought out a couple of buns and gave Grey.
"Hm?"
Grey said when she passed him the hand sized buns.
"Yes, you haven't eaten anything. So eat these buns." Her hands were still outstretched with a small smile on her face.
Grey's heart was touched. He promised to repay her in the future whenever he could. With a small nod, he took the buns and devoured them quickly. Ange stared at him for a few seconds in surprise before bringing out a couple more buns which Grey did not hesitate to eat but slowly after seeing her stunned expression.
After an unknown time had passed, the Captain had still not come. Grey looked outside with a concerned expression as Ange and Luo locked up their shop.
"The Captain's not coming back this night, kid. So you're staying with me!" Luo suddenly said and the last sentence while pointing at herself. More or less her chest but you get the gesture.
Grey had a complicated expression on his face while Ange was stunned. Luo sighed when they did not say anything. She then pulled out a dark cloak and gave to Grey to cover his resplendent hair.
"Thank you for your hospitality but are you sure it's okay for me to go with you? I'm fine staying by myself." Grey said as he walked beside Luo who was in the middle of Ange and him.
"What are you talking about? The Captain said you should stay with me! Besides let me tell you something big is going to happen soon so be prepared!" Luo scoffed and folded her hands over her chest which forced Grey to look away.
"Something big huh? Does it have anything to do with that old man we saw a few days ago!?" Grey asked after pondering for a while.
"Oh, so you are perceptive! Well it has something to do with that but that's not it." She then sighed. "You know what, forget about it. It too late to be thinking about such anyways.
Grey nodded under the hood and in the time it takes for a candle to burn out, they had reached Luo's residence.
It was a simple house made of of bricks and stone but gave a homy feeling. It was also bigger than the Captain's residence by far.
Luo and Ange cooked a delicious meal in a jiffy and they everyone ate dinner in silence. Soon after making some small chat, Luo went to her room after changing into her night wear.
Ange stayed to talk to Grey a bit longer before going to her own room with a sleepy expression. Her door closed shut and he was left alone in the parlour.
"This will be a long night."
Confused at what to do, he did the next thing he could think of and sat down cross legged and began to cultivate.
Because of the sleep he had gotten the night before, he had no problems entering a meditative state after a few minutes as he entered a trance like state.
He felt the spirit energy nourishing his body feel much more denser and potent than yesterday. After breaking through to the fifth level of Qi accumulation, he became sensitive to small things like this.
'Is it because of the locations?' He came to that conclusion and cultivated the whole night in silence.