A Failure's hopeful Journey

You Xi Wang returned to his camping site and found his friends waiting for him somewhat anxiously. They all heaved a sigh of relief at his arrival, Yuki came forward and gave him a hug while Fenny jeered at him, "Baby Wang, you won't mend your ways right? Always making us worry by entering difficult situations."

He smiled sheepishly and told them why he entered the array. He handed the bags to Allan and said, "Put these medicines in our own bags and dispose of these, I suspect some people might be after what I found in the den."

His words piqued the group's curiosity and Neo asked him, "What did you discover in that place?"

You Xi Wang spoke in their minds, "Blood Shackle tree pod." everyone sucked in a deep breath, after a pause, You Xi Wang continued, "Keep this thing a secret. It can lead our families to destruction." he knew his friends will say nothing about this incident as they did not want their families to be implicated as for Yuki she had no duties towards the council so she will not leak it.

He then narrated the whole thing and Fenny spoke, "It may be a bag to disrupt the tracking chip inside the container when you took it out someone must have noticed the tracking signal."

You Xi Wang took out the bag from his emergency storage and showed it to Fenny who exclaimed from surprise but quickly calmed down and explained, "This stuff here is called Chhal or Guile silk, used for manufacturing stealth equipment and clothing, produced in the most interesting region of Metropia. The Novus sector, as the name suggests it is a very interesting place."

You Xi Wang kept the bag and just as he was about to speak something he saw Maya using her illusion to cover all the cubs making them look like ordinary Night hounds. He used the hood equipment in the battle suit and others looked at him in confusion, soon Fenny noticed one drone stopped transmitting and she said in a low voice, "We have company."

Others also wore the hoods and sat down making it look normal and before even a minute a black-cloaked figure appeared near them. You Xi Wang turned and pointed his spear at this figure and asked in a cold voice, "Who are you and what is your motive to approach us?"

The cloaked figure let out a hoarse laugh and spoke, "It is hard to see such alert people these days, but relax kid I only came to the river to collect some water and then I noticed human presence so I came by." this voice was hoarse making it hard to determine the figure's gender.

You Xi Wang did not reply but kept aiming his spear at the figure. The figure saw that this guy did not let his guard down and shrugged. This person was about to leave when the group of cubs came into sight. He laughed again and spoke, "What a find, hey kid, how much for these cubs. Name your price, I want them."

You Xi Wang only said, "Not selling" the figure replied, "Do you believe, I can have them after I kill you all?" at this threat all of them brandished their weapons, and You Xi Wang said, "Wanna try?"

The figure saw that all these kids were battle tampered and it would be hard to deal with them collectively as they stood in a formation, ready to go at it anytime. He shook his head and left. The group waited for a bit and found out that the person had already left. The group heaved a sigh of relief. You Xi Wang sat down on the ground.

"The threat which follows the treasure." others also nodded as Allan spoke these words. The cubs came by their sides, some of them snuggled while some just sat down next to the human partners. Maya climbed up in You Xi Wang's lap and laid down there with her eyes closed.

Neo Paul was lost in thought and said in a low voice, "Do you know what people pet Night Hounds?"

They shook their heads and Neo replied, "Dark dwellers above Core formation use Night Hounds to guard their hideouts. This is an information only a few people know. My uncle is a beast tamer in the Council. So I think we dodged a bullet there."

Yuki spoke, "Not really, dark dwellers are very stubborn and they don't give up. We need to be on guard against that person and also he was a core formation-level cultivator. Should we request back up from the Council?"

You Xi Wang said, "Call your parents, if they are not available, I will call Aunt Bei,"

Yuki nodded and called her parents by her Holo-phone, she told them and they both agreed to come and ask the kids to be alert and stay together. They will arrive in six hours.

The kids agreed and ate the snake meat You Xi Wang got them and Fenny was busy making some adjustments to their weapons, earlier You Xi Wang asked her to make some changes to the spearhead as it was too limited in its stabs as the spearhead pointed towards one direction.

The group was busy and You Xi Wang called Celestia and his sister was there too. He talked to them for a bit before he stood up to take the watch duty. The moon shone brightly in the sky and he held the newly adjusted spear in his hand. The spearhead was more like a star now, four blades in style similar to the main spearhead but smaller by three and four inches were prodding out two from both sides, forming a star.

You Xi Wang had a solemn expression on his face as he knew this night will not be as silent as it seemed, a storm was coming and the group will have to face it with all their might.

He took a deep breath and waited for the dark dweller to make a move on them.