Soldier Keep On Marching On

Chapter 6

Qiuyue Meiyi kept a tight hold on Qiuyue Cheng and Fang Ru once they said goodbye to the two young masters of Gusu Lan. She couldn't believe that she had lost A-Cheng for so long. Even knowing that Qiuyue Cheng could defend himself perfectly fine against a variety of monsters, she was completely unsure how he would take care of himself within the world of humans. 

As they walked through Caiyi Town to meet up with the rest of their group, she noticed that A-Cheng's hands were dirty. 'He must have used the dirt to show his name to the Lan boys,' she mused. She would have to show A-Cheng how to trace characters onto other people's hands so he wouldn't have to get dirt under his nails to introduce himself to others. 

Once the rest of their group came into sight, Fang Ru took ahold of A-Cheng's hand and ran towards the others. They were sitting at a large table on the outdoor porch of a small restaurant. Qiuyue Meiyi sighed exasperatedly at the energy of the two children, one whom she had just spent  shichen looking for, and the other whom she had been searching around town with. She sped up her walking to keep the two kids in her line of sight, greeting the owner of the restaurant before joining Fang Li and the rest of the kids at the table.

Qiuyue Meiyi let out a sigh of relief as she sat in the last remaining chair, and Fang Li chuckled from next to her. 

"You sound like you've had a long day A-Mei," she snickered.

"Indeed I did," Qiuyue Meiyi replied softly, "A-Cheng decided to run off while I was paying for some jewellery that I bought. I spent a shichen looking for him with A-Ru. I was lucky that the two young masters of Gusu Lan happened to come upon him, and took him with them to explore Caiyi Town, instead of some creep taking him up and running off with him, since I doubt A-Cheng can tell the difference between good and bad people. He can only see their spiritual energy, which, for the most part, should look the same for all humans, no matter whether they are good or bad. Unless they are possessed by a malicious spirit or they are experiencing some other spiritual circumstance that causes a change in their spiritual energy."

Fang Li nodded in agreement.

"The world of people is a nasty place, and A-Cheng is even more vulnerable than the average person there. At least A-Cheng isn't part of any of the major cultivation clans," she sighed, "I can't imagine how they would treat him, or how he would even cope living a life with politics controlling his every breath. He'd probably be hidden away like something to be ashamed of."

They both turned to look at A-Cheng who was munching happily on some spicy tofu while Fang Ju loaded more side dishes into his bowl, and smiled silently. Fang Miyu and Fang Ru huddled together around Fang Ru's book, Fang Liu was napping again and the rest of the children were happily munching on their lunch. The two women couldn't help but smile at the sight of their little mishmash of a family. They would make sure that all of these children grew up happily, with bright futures ahead of them, regardless of what path they chose in life.

The journey back to their house was much shorter than the journey to Caiyi Town. Fang Lei, Fang Miyu and Fang Chi all looked about ready to drop into a dreamless sleep. Fang Lin, Fang Ru and Fang Ju were walking together while whispering to each other, softly, fully awake although filled with much less energy than they started off the day with. Fang Lei was once again asleep, although this time she lay comfortably in Qiuyue Meiyi's arms, while Qiuyue Cheng lay comfortably in Fang Li's arms, eyes drooping after filling his belly with food. 

Once they arrived back at the house, the two adults swiftly put all of the children to bed, coaxing then into bathing and changing their clothes before they truly fell into a deep slumber. Afterwards, they washed themselves off and tidied up around the house a bit. Qiuyue Meiyi collected all of the dirty clothes to washed the next morning, while Fang Li wiped down the kitchen and made some tea.