Present Time. The Traveler's Path.
Kai shook his head, pulling himself out of the memory. He capped his canteen and stored it away with a thought.
"We're back in the world of men, Xiao Bai," Kai said, dusting off his simple robes. "No more sleeping in badger holes."
He began to walk down the rutted dirt road.
It didn't take long. Less than an hour later, Kai heard the rhythmic clopping of heavy hooves and the creaking of wooden wheels. He stepped to the side of the road, keeping his posture relaxed but his muscles primed to explode at a moment's notice.
A small merchant caravan appeared over the hill. It consisted of three large, enclosed wooden carriages pulled by massive Horned Earth-Oxen, beasts known for their incredible stamina. Six mercenaries rode alongside them on horseback, their armor dented and their eyes weary from the road.
When the lead mercenary saw Kai standing by the road, he immediately raised his hand, signaling the caravan to halt. He drew a rusted broadsword, pointing it at the boy.
"State your business, boy!" the mercenary barked, his eyes darting to the thick brush behind Kai, suspecting a bandit ambush. "You're a long way from any village."
Kai held his hands up, keeping his face calm and unthreatening. He had practiced this persona.
"Just a traveler, sir," Kai called back, his voice steady. "My group was scattered by a Spiked Bison herd three days ago. I've been following the road ever since, hoping to find a ride."
The mercenary sneered, eyeing Kai's surprisingly clean clothes and lack of heavy baggage. "You survived a bison herd with nothing but the clothes on your back? And a pet fox?"
"I ran fast," Kai said simply, giving a self-deprecating smile. "And I hid well."
An older man, plump and balding, poked his head out of the lead carriage. He wore the silk robes of a merchant, though they were currently stained with travel dust.
"What's the holdup, Captain?" the merchant grumbled. He looked at Kai, his merchant instincts calculating the boy's worth. "We don't pick up strays. It costs extra food and slows the oxen."
Kai didn't argue. He knew the language of the human world perfectly well.
He reached into his pocket—accessing his spatial ring discreetly—and pulled out two small, solid bars of mundane gold. He didn't dare pull out Spirit Stones; that would instantly mark him as a wealthy cultivator and a target for murder. Gold, however, was just the currency of mortals and low-level mercenaries.
He tossed the two gold bars underhand. They landed with a heavy thud in the dirt near the mercenary's horse.
"I can pay for my space," Kai said smoothly. "I just need a corner in the back of a wagon. I have my own rations."
The plump merchant's eyes lit up at the glint of the yellow metal. "Ah! Well, the laws of the road demand hospitality, of course!" He waved his hand frantically at the mercenary. "Captain, let the poor boy into the third wagon. There's some space among the wheat sacks."
The mercenary grunted, sheathing his sword, though his eyes remained suspicious.
Kai walked past the armed men, nodding politely, and climbed into the back of the third carriage. The interior was dark, smelling strongly of dry grain, unwashed bodies, and stale ale.
There were four other people huddled in the wagon. Two looked like hired hands, sleeping against sacks of flour. Another was an old woman clutching a wooden staff, and the fourth was a rugged man with a scar across his nose, cleaning a dagger.
They all looked up as Kai climbed in.
Their eyes immediately went to Kai's shoulder. Xiao Bai sat there, her pristine white fur practically glowing in the dim light. She looked around the dirty carriage with an aristocratic air of disdain.
"That's a rare looking beast, kid," the scarred man muttered, his eyes lingering on the fox a second too long. "You'd fetch a good price for a pelt like that in the city."
Kai sat down on a coarse burlap sack, leaning his back against the wooden wall. He didn't smile. He didn't reach for his weapon. He simply looked the scarred man in the eye.
Kai didn't say a word, but he let a fraction of his heavy, thick blood pump a little harder. Thump. A faint, chilling aura of the wilderness leaked from his pores.
The scarred man swallowed hard, a sudden, inexplicable shiver running down his spine. He quickly looked down, returning his full attention to his dagger.
"She's not for sale," Kai said quietly.
Kai knocked on the wooden partition separating him from the driver's seat.
"Excuse me," Kai called out to the driver, a skinny youth holding the ox reins. "How long until we reach Black-Iron City?"
The driver didn't look back. "If the weather holds and the beasts don't ambush us... about two weeks, kid."
Kai leaned his head back against the bumpy wooden wall and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Another two weeks," he murmured to himself.
Outside, the mercenary captain shouted a command, and the driver cracked his whip. The massive Horned Oxen groaned, leaning into their yokes. The carriage lurched forward, the wooden wheels groaning as they began to roll over the gravel path.
Kai closed his eyes, feeling the rocking motion of the wagon. The scent of blood, mud, and pine needles was slowly being replaced by the smell of commerce and humanity.
The wilderness had forged him. It had tempered his body and awakened the darkness in his blood. He was no longer the frail, caged bird of the Lin Clan. He was a predator who had survived the Azure Wilderness.
'Two weeks,' Kai told himself in the darkness of the wagon, a cold, sharp smile playing on his lips. 'We are coming, Black-Iron City. Be prepared.'