NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27 - Racing Games
It took a week of nothing but bathing and showering the two girls. Massive tubs of water lugged in and out every single day, multiple times a day without once worrying about what others would say. A few villagers had come asking. Trying to figure out what was going on, but they were mostly shooed away.
One particularly annoying fellow had to be dragged out of the courtyard after he jumped the walls. Jun had been merciless with him. Beating him good. Yin Hu had to separate them lest she kill him. Her guardian persona had taken over.
She ended up snapping his arm before he got to them.
Hu Shui, on the other hand, had been having the time of her life inside of the courtyard. Dressing in her new robes and play fighting the whole day. But even she had been faced with problems Yin Hu had not been expecting. Small things that gave him a bad taste in his mouth.
The little girl was now dressed too well. It made her stand out among her old friends. So much that they ended up ostracizing her. Talking behind her back. Unwilling to play with her because she had supposedly changed and could not be part of their friend group any more.
Yin Hu suspected the parents had something to do with it. But did not look to prove himself correct.
Jun had taken care of the issue. Not by her usual crusader ways of breaking peoples limbs and smashing their faces in. But instead, playing a completely different role. One he had not seen her do before. She played the motherly, older sister role. Whispering to the unconsolable Shui and letting her cry on her shoulder. Hugging her and being there for her.
He had no clue what to do in such a sensitive moment.
So he left it in Jun's hands.
Yin Hu couldn't help but be impressed with the older girl and how many roles she had taken. Being everything Shui needed when she needed it. A mother. A guardian. A cultivation master. Teacher. Mentor and more he had yet to get a chance to witness. She was everything to everyone, but almost nothing to herself.
He could still see the worry in Jun's eyes. Even if she tried to hide it from him and Shui with an exterior of joy or stern wrath. He could see the way her eyes snapped at any sound. How she shivered when Shui touched her. Even during the period she allowed the little girl to hug her and recover from bad friends.
Keeping it hidden with a force of will.
It was so bad it required him to look at her from the side of his eyes when she was occupied with other things. His gaze seemed to make her lose the ability to walk straight. Rigid. Robotic and broken. Sweating a bucket full. Luckily their new robes were self cleaning just like his. Yin Hu, also, wasn't sure why nor did he truly want to figure it out.
A cultivation world was made to be brutal.
The only thing he could do for her was provide better options. Grow her strong enough that she could fight whatever demons that existed in her spirit and mind. Defeat the traumas she may have experienced. He recalled what she said when they first had time alone.
She survived a culling. He had no clue what Jun had seen during the destruction of the Hu clan. But it could not have been anything good. Particularly if Demonic Cultivators that like to build pyramids out of screaming heads were involved in any form.
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He would do his part. Turn her into a nuke that could erase mountains.
I really hope this doesn't go wrong.
The girls had been getting stuffed with pills. Each one had taken nearly twelve each that he had purified and made into miraculous versions of D.E.Y.M.P. that were made for body cleansing and purification. It would take more time just to prepare their bodies just to start the true process of removing contaminations from their body and core.
After that was the meridians. Then the process to strengthen and expand their meridians. Clean them. Prepare them for the sudden surge of power and strength boost they would gain from using a process that had been the sole ownership of Emperors to keep their throne seats without anyone daring to contest them.
He didn't have that type of ambition though. Conquering the world seemed like a boring thing to attempt to do. No time to enjoy himself. Too busy waging war and killing hundreds of thousands of people to enjoy jade beauties or develop his own nukes.
The thought of relying on someone else with his rice bag or the developmental process did not sit right with him either.
Yin Hu shook his head. He turned back towards Hu Jun and Hu Shui.
The girls had finished up their latest medicinal showers and baths. The last one before finally removing deeper contaminations in their bodies and spirits. It wouldn't fix them, but it would set them up for greater things down the line. If the Compendium was to be believed that is.
If not, then he was about to turn them into grenades. Ones he had no clue that they were ticking to explode.
Both Hu Jun and Hu Shui had taken their time enjoying every moment of the lotions, salves, and everything else girls liked that he had set up for them. Each one beamed and glowed. They were currently applying some liberally to their arms and legs, having done the rest of their bodies already right after the bath.
Shui had complained that the amount of Qi that they had been absorbing into their limbs had made her feel tired and exhausted all the time. Yin Hu had been extremely worried until he returned to search within the Compendium. It was supposedly a good side effect for kids. A sign that the Qi was being absorbed rather than rejected.
Jun laughed. Showing Shui how smooth and bright her skin was after just she finished applying the lotion.
Hu Jun had transitioned into the best friend mode. Connecting with Shui and helping her get over the little mean things her supposed friend had been doing to bother her or ostracize her with. Simple things. Distracting her. Laughing and giggling or playing. Things that seemed benign but were the world to little Shui.
"Girls," Yin Hu said from his seat on the porch. He hadn't moved his cushion an inch since the first day. "Come here."
It was time to get them stuffed with Body Contamination Purifying Pills and a variation of a dozen or so different medicines. They would not be happy, considering what the Compendium was saying it would do to them. Sludge, black, odious waste would leak out of all their pores. It would be hideous and disgusting. Requiring multiple medicine showers made specifically for it to just remove the stench.
But that would only be momentary. Maybe a few days that they would have to suffer and he would suffer the stench. Then he could finally start teaching them to box. Real martial arts. Not the fake kung fu and tree poses Jun had been doing. Deadly without a single wasted movement. No mercy to anyone who attempted to harm you and your family.
Most importantly, protect your ancient ancestor above all else!
I'm going to need to fill a few of those scarves with perfume and oils. Fight the stank so I don't have to suffer with them.
The two girls finished up their last bits of unlotioned areas. Then they had a race. First to get to him and sit on their cushions. The two rumbled towards him without any thought to brake or slow down. Not when competing.
"I win!" Shui shouted.
Jun let her win. Only issue was that Shui wasn't a humble winner. No grace in victory. Instantly ridiculing the older girl and laughing at her. Pointing and giggling. Jun acted defeated and sad. Fake hiccups that made Shui freeze.
"I didn't mean everything I said, Jun." Shui poked Jun's shoulder.
"No," Jun made a scene of it. "I'm the worst at racing."
Shui looked towards Yin Hu for help. He shrugged at her. That wasn't his problem and he wasn't going to intervene in Jun's ploy. Let the girls be girls. Have fun, mess with each other, grow without having to worry about where their next meal came from or if a Demonic Cultivator was going to execute the entire village.
Just be normal kids their age.