Chapter 104: Yukimaru's Appearance
Zhenquan was startled awake the moment the sunlight shone on her. The first thing she did was to nervously look at the spot where Ling had been the previous day. After finding that Ling was still sitting there, breathing evenly, she let out a long sigh of relief. She carefully folded her outer garment back to its original shape and placed it beside the dying fire with only a few embers left. Then she stepped aside and took out the leftover dry rations from the previous day and started to chew on them with effort.
After Zhenquan finally managed to finish the cold and hard dry rations, Ling finally moved. He packed up his belongings, put out the fire completely, and then left silently.
This strange pair walked for four days before reaching a small coastal town in the Land of Lightning. During this time, Zhenquan stumbled along and fell behind more than once. But whenever she felt like crying, she would see Ling's crow and manage to find her way back. She always woke up earlier than Ling did.
Zhenquan wasn't stupid. On the contrary, compared to her peers, she was very smart. So even though Ling hadn't said a single word to her in the past few days, she knew that Ling was tacitly allowing her to follow. Therefore, when she saw the small coastal town, she couldn't help but run in front of Ling and grabbed the corner of his clothes.
Ling stopped in his tracks, lowered his head with a smile, and said, "Oh? So you've been following me all along, miss? That really gave me a scare."
"Thank you, really thank you very much!" Zhenquan withdrew her hand and bowed to Ling. "May I know your name? I will definitely repay you!"
"Yare yare... Wouldn't that just make it more of a hassle?" Ling slightly shook his head and took another step forward. "Forget about the repayment. After all, I haven't really helped you with much. But please don't follow me anymore from now on."
"Yes, thank you again."
Zhenquan bowed again. But when she looked up this time, Ling had already disappeared from her sight.
...
Yata watched the figure walking towards the town and then turned to Ling and said, "You're kind in every sense of the word, eh?"
"Really?" Ling tilted his head slightly. "If the false kindness of a executioner like me can be considered kindness, then I guess I am a kind person... Well, we've wasted quite a bit of time. Let's pick up the pace a bit from now on.
I'll leave the task of gathering information to you, Yata."
"That's what I should do, eh." Yata flapped his wings and took off. "But I hope you can teach Sanshu how to read properly when we get back. Otherwise, it's really exhausting to rely on me alone in situations like this, eh."
"Alright, thank you for your hard work. I'll keep an eye on Sanshu when we get back." Ling nodded slightly. After hearing the sound of flapping wings fade away, he let out a long sigh. "The supplies have run out much faster than I thought. Speaking of which, in a coastal city, seafood should be relatively inexpensive, right?
Sigh... If I don't have enough cash, I'll have to take on a mission at the black market. What was the secret password for the black market this month again?"
I haven't come here since I got injured. Now I've almost forgotten about this place...
While Ling began to look for a suitable shop to purchase supplies, the Uchiha clan's team staying in the Land of Lightning also started to march towards the Iron Country. Uchiha Yakuki even received a [condolence message] sent by Uchiha Hiro through a summoned beast.
This incident made Uchiha Yakuki deeply realize the wisdom of his long - standing vigilance. Along with the [condolence message], there was also a short message from Uchiha Akihiko to Ling.
"You came at a bad time. Ling left a few days ago," Uchiha Yakuki took out some dried fish and handed it to the little white kitten in front of him. "I only know the general direction he left in, not the specific location."
"What a hassle, meow," Yukimaru hugged the dried fish with his paws and gnawed on it. "Who knows how much effort I put in to get to the Land of Lightning, meow."
"Rather than that..." Uchiha Yakuki stroked his chin. "Doesn't Ling have a summoned beast? Didn't Hiro tell you?"
"He did, meow. But the crow left behind is too stupid and hasn't learned the [Reverse Summoning Jutsu] yet, so it can't contact its master," Yukimaru bit the dried fish angrily. "And the one that can perform the reverse summoning has been in a summoned state these days and is impossible to contact, meow."
"Ah... By the way, is it something very urgent? If so, I can go find someone," Uchiha Yakuki looked down at Yukimaru. "Did Hiro and the others say how to handle it?"
"They did, meow," Yukimaru pushed aside the half - eaten dried fish and started licking his paws. "Well, Hiro told me to take the short message back if I couldn't find the person - meow. You know, it's really a pain for me, meow.
Do you have anything to say, meow? I can take it back on the way - meow. But remember to give me dried shrimp later, meow."
"I don't have anything... Ah, right," Uchiha Yakuki turned his head and raised his voice towards the window. "Madara, do you have anything you want to tell your family in advance? There's a ninja cat here to deliver a message and can help you take it back."
Hearing the voice, Madara, who was practicing attaching chakra to throwing ninja tools, couldn't help but stop his movements and quickly ran over. "I have some local specialties from the Land of Lightning that I bought before. There are a bit too many. Can you deliver them?"
"Sure, meow," Yukimaru patted the [Scroll of Seals] beside him. "Just give the dried shrimp as payment to Hiro later, and let him pass it on to me, meow."
"Okay, then I'll go get them right away."
Watching Madara trotting away, Uchiha Yakuki's gaze fell on Yukimaru again. "I'll add a commission too. When you go back and see Hiro, scold him for me. One catty of dried shrimp for that."
"Deal, meow," said Yukimaru, hugging the dried fish again. "For your good sense, I'll scold him twice for you, meow."
Uchiha Yakuki grinned. "Thanks then. I'll visit the Cat Village with dried shrimp later. By the way, do you have any recommendations for ninja cats that can use the Mystical Palm Technique?"
I've also been thinking of finding a summoned beast to give me a hand lately..."
"Well, I really know quite a few ninja cats that can use the Mystical Palm Technique, meow," Yukimaru finally finished munching on that dried fish. "But they're all my close fellows. It'd be tough for me to introduce such a risky job to them... You know what I mean, right?"
"Yeah, I get ya," Uchiha Yakuki reached out and gave the little kitten's fur a good ruffle, smiling. "You want more money."