Sons of Nature

4 The Last Rose of Winter (9)

With Yue Ji staying quiet about his worries and yet reassuring Fu Yun that nothing was wrong and he had just been lost in thought for a moment, the two of them continued to the village.

When they weren't far away, Fu Yun stopped in his tracks and turned back to Yue Ji. "Let me go ahead first to see if the others are still awake. I'll take Petal along and have her fly to you when we've made sure that everything is clear. After that, she can bring you over. We can't look around much but I can show you my hut."

Yue Ji nodded and stayed where he was, quietly watching as Fu Yun hid Petal under the fur around his shoulders and left with her. Standing between the trees and not yet being able to see the village, he could only sigh to himself. Well, even if the time was short, it was better than nothing. He would cherish every single memory like the one they'd be making tonight and hold them in his heart. Thus was the only thing a spirit could do when falling for a human.

Fu Yun walked the rest of the way until he reached the last row of trees. He tried to seem as normal as possible as he stepped out from between the trees in case anybody was still up and outside. He looked around but couldn't see anyone yet. Heaving a sigh of relief, he walked further, even checking the houses next to his. By now though, it was already so late that nobody was outside any longer and some of them had even gone to bed already.

Fu Yun smiled to himself, feeling that he was truly lucky. He gently took Petal out from under the fur and motioned to the forest. "Go and get Yue Ji."

Petal nodded with a serious expression and flew off as fast as she could, a little afraid now that they were in the village. She had indeed come here before to take a look but she had stayed between the leaves of one of the trees on the edge of the forest, making sure that she was well hidden. Now that she was out in the open, she felt a lot less courageous.

Fu Yun watched her fly off in a hurry and shook his head. Then, he went to open the door of his hut and lit a lamp. He was afraid that one of the others would notice and come over to check but when he listened intently, everything stayed quiet. Heaving another sigh of relief, he put the lamp down on the table and went back to the door, waiting for Yue Ji.

The spirit appeared at the edge of the forest a moment later. He hid behind one of the trees just like on that first morning they had met and looked around vigilantly, making sure once again that nobody was there to spot him. When he didn't see anyone either, his gaze turned to Fu Yun and he smiled, hurriedly rushing over.

Fu Yun pulled him into his arms and ushered him into the hut, closing the door behind them and heaving a sigh of relief. "It's good to build our own place away from others. I really want to show you more of the village but this is a little too much excitement."

Yue Ji smiled and reached up to cover the arms around his waist with his hands. "Don't worry too much. Even if I am just a plant spirit, I've also lived for a long time. I know some ways to keep myself safe."

Compared to the people of the spirit beast tribes who were rather fierce, a plant spirit really couldn't be called well-suited to fighting. At most, they knew a bit of magic to influence the plants around them. In the forest, this would give him more than enough time to hide away. After all, he only needed to get out of sight, find some underbrush, and then he could turn back to his original form.

The humans that were worried about a spirit usually didn't know much about them. They definitely couldn't tell the tribes apart and thus likely didn't know he was a plant spirit who could turn into a plant. Thus, they wouldn't pay attention to any of the plants around them and just continue to look for the human-like figure they had seen before.

Fu Yun believed whatever Yue Ji told him when it came to the matters of the spirit realm and its inhabitants. So if he said that he knew how to keep himself safe, he wouldn't doubt it for a single moment. He simply nodded and then hugged him tightly before looking up. "Well, we're here now. This is the place where I grew up. The hut was built by my great-grandfather a long time ago. Later, my grandfather and then my father also lived here. Now, they're all gone but I have stayed until now."