Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 89 The Lake Temple

"Well... I can't tell you about my clan," Jie said, "but my family was... nice. We were close. I used to walk with them in the pa... in a large garden. And my parents would tell me about the trees and plants there. One day a week we would have pizza day..."

"Pizza day?" Pan Tian asked as she tried the word as though sampling its flavor, "What's that? Some kind of combat trial?"

Jie laughed. "No. It's food. We would have it as a kind of family celebration I guess you could say. It's quite tasty," she said.

"A weekly celebration? Your people always sound so fun-loving," Pan Tian teased.

"It wasn't as big of an event as you're imagining," Jie said, "it was... well it was a lot like this. With us right now. It was... nice."

Somehow Jie's words seemed to make the other two girls sad. Particularly Pan Tian who seemed as though she were staring through her plate into another dimension.

"What? What'd I say?" Jie asked.

"Oh... nothing," Pan Tian said, "I just... that sounds nice."

"Didn't you ever have anything like that?" Jie asked.

"Sometimes with my mother... before she died," Pan Tian said.

"Oh. I'm sorry... and what about your father?" Jie asked.

"He's the family head... he can't show any favoritism. I sometimes get appointments where I report to him, but nothing like this," Pan Tian said with a wistful note in her voice and a thoughtful look in her olive green eyes.

Jie didn't know what to say to that and a silence followed, broken only by the sound of Xue munching on a bone.

Pan Tian shook herself out of it and her brilliant smile returned. Though this time, it seemed more like a mask to hide her sadness than a genuine smile.

"But, what about you Ithilix? What's it like in the hive?" Pan Tian asked.

"This one doesn't know much about the hive," Ithilix said, "this one was kept sequestered away from most of the hive."

"What? Why?" Jie asked.

"This one was born to fulfill this experiment mission. The hive took steps to ensure that if this one was captured and tortured for information, this one would not be able to reveal much," Ithilix said.

Jie shared a look with Pan Tian and it seemed neither of them knew how to respond to that.

Ithilix smiled at them softly. "Do not worry. This one had a pleasant life. This one was given many resources and training to prepare for this mission and this one is able to serve the hive with her life. What more could this one ask for?" she said.

They talked only a little longer before the eating and conversation died down.

"We should all get some rest and cultivate. It'll be another long, dangerous day tomorrow," Pan Tian said, "I have a few things to finish up here. I'll take first watch inside our tent. The formations and enchantments should alert us if anything intrudes on us, but there are ways of bypassing such things, so it's best to be cautious."

As Jie settled into her bedroll and pulled the soft, warm furs over her, she saw Pan Tian still sitting at the table, writing on a scroll of parchment with elegant strokes of her ink brush. An empty memory stone rested on the table beside her parchment. Jie wondered what notes she was making and what use she had for the memory stone, but decided it wasn't any of her business.

Knowing Pan Tian, she was recording the important events of the day. Perhaps for future treasure hunts, to sell her notes, or to gift them to her family. In any case, Jie felt too tired for more questions.