Maiden Of The Splitting Moon - Chapter 752: The Lion and The Dragon

While Ming Yue was busy with the pill, the Beast Continent had reached an odd silence. Nothing seemed to be happening at the moment, at least nothing big.

The many tribes were still at odds with one another. Some had settled down, content with what they had while others were looking to claim more.

While that was underway, the Den was the same as always. This bustling capital that was controlled by the Zodiacs was peaceful and away from all the conflict. Especially now that all of them had returned.

“Ah, back here, can’t wait to get a drink.”

Resting his saber over his shoulder, with his dark red scales and bronze armor, Ao Qin had arrived at the gates of the Den, casually strolling in with someone following behind him.

“Don’t you think that it’s good to be back?”

The dragon-kin glanced over his shoulder with a smile, looking at his comrade, Ruishi Lei.

“I suppose so.”

The lion-kin was still as imposing as ever, walking behind Ao Qin with a blank stare on his face.

“Chet, of all the people in our group, you’re the one who doesn’t drink.”

Ao Qin clicked his tongue while the both of them entered the city. As they walked through the busy streets, many of those living there stopped to greet them.

“Lord Qin! Lord Lei! Welcome back!”

“Back safe and sound! I’ve got a fresh batch of wine waiting for you!”

“Take this! I just picked them from my farm!”

While Ao Qin returned their greetings with a smile, Ruishi Lei quietly followed. By the time they reached their home, their arms were full of goods.

“Ah, damn, can’t even open the door.”

Seeing as he couldn’t knock on the door, the dragon-kin opted to kick it.

“Hey! Open up! It’s me!” he shouted, lightly kicking the door several times.

Moments later, the door was opened.

“Ah, you must be Ao Qin and Ruishi lei, please come in! Zhu Xie is inside, preparing some food for you.”

Both figures had a look of surprise as instead of the boar-kin greeting him, it was Elder Shen, a human.

“I… I see.”

The elder stood aside, letting them enter before closing the door behind them. They walked through the hallway and towards the kitchen where Zhu Xie was there, happily chatting with Shu Yi, the little mouse-kin on his shoulder.

“How was your time with family?” the boar-kin asked.

“It was good! Got to see the elders and the young ones, but I was certainly getting restless, my friend!”

“Of course, of course, we should dive into some ruins when everyone is here! Speaking of, you two are back!”

Zhu Xie looked over his shoulder while cooking, smiling when Ao Qin and Ruishi Lei entered.

“How was the journey out there?”

Ao Qin sighed.

“Eh, we couldn’t find anything but I did hear some commotion in the North. We’ll probably head there after spending the night. Also, the people gave us all this.”

The two of them placed everything down on the floor, bags of produce and meat. Zhu Xie looked at everything, bending over to inspect the contents of each bag.

“Oh wow, this is amazing! We’re going to have quite the feast tonight!” he said happily.

Ao Qin looked at the boar-kin before turning around to see Elder Shen and Hongyu hiding behind the old man. When his eyes fell upon the little girl, they flashed with realization.

“You…. you’re with Ming Yue?!” he suddenly exclaimed.

Even Ruishi Lei seemed a little off-guard when the dragon-kin pointed it out.

Zhu Xie suddenly looked up, his eyes went between his comrades and his guests.

“Ah, right, they came along with Ming Yue! Meet Elder Shen! A high-ranking member of Heaven’s Gate! And the girl whom I’m sure you two remember, her name is Hongyu!”

Ao Qin looked at the elder and the little girl with a smile before lowering his head.

“Ah, my name’s Ao Qin of the Longwang Tribe. Pleased to meet you”, he said.

Elder Shen chuckled before cupping his fists and bowing.

“Of course, of course, it is my pleasure to meet all of you.”

Ruishi Lei was quiet, looking at the old man before turning his attention to the little girl. Hongyu hid behind Elder Shen’s leg, peeking out and staring back at the lion-kin. She looked shy but ultimately very curious. Her eyes seem to glisten with interest at his mane.

“Oi, you’re scaring her.”

Ao Qin suddenly elbowed the lion-kin, scolding him too.

“Hmph, if they were here with Ming Yue, then where is she?” asked the lion-kin.

“Ah, I was getting to that”, Zhu Xie replied, “Since you’ve come back, you don’t need to go out to search for him anymore. Ming Yue had caught traces of him in the Den and she’s tracking him to the North.”

“Ah hah! So it was the North! Let’s go!” said Ao Qin.

“Wait, wait, I’m not done yet!”

The boar-kin straightened up and looked at them.

“She’s gone off alone and left these two under our protection. She doesn’t need any help so we’ll just stay put in the meantime.”

Ao Qin seemed a bit annoyed at the fact.

“So, she doesn’t want our help searching for her target but now wants us to watch these two?” he asked.

Zhu XIe nodded before explaining.

“The reason she’s doing this. It’s because there is someone after her and she’s not strong enough to face them. Whoever is after her might be coming after them.”

He glanced over to Elder Shen and Hongyu.

“She’s done a lot for us. The least we can do is keep them safe.”

The dragon-kin glanced at the Elder and at Hongyu before sighing.

“Alright, alright. so when the other four get back?”

Zhu XIe smiled.

“They’ll be back within the week. Lao Yang already settled into his rooms in the manor.”

“Wow, that old goat is out of his Pigeonhole? What a surprise”, the dragon-kin chuckled.

Their conversation continued as the group moved from the kitchen to the dining room.

“Yes, but he does frequent there, putting in new records and making sure everything is up to date”, said Shu Yi.

The mouse-kin ran down Zhu Xie’s body, standing on the top of the table, helping to set the plates and cutlery.

Suddenly, the doors opened once again as the figure in question arrived.

“Ahh alright, I’ve got all of that dealt with! Oh, who do we have here? The two of you are back I see! How was the outside world?”

Lao Yang came bursting through the door with a smile on his face. Several of his understudy’s followed him, carrying a mountain of things in their arms. The goat-kin stopped right as he passed by the kitchen, looking at Ao Qin and Ruishi Lei.

He then turned and glanced over at the people standing behind him.

“All of you can drop everything at my study room and go back to the Pigeonhole. Better yet, head home, there’s not much to do at the moment”, he told them.

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

All of his understudies had surprised looks as they glanced at each other but he didn’t say anything else to them. in fact, he went to join the other folks in the kitchen instead.

“Huh, so Zhu Xie really wasn’t lying, you actually left that cave you call the ‘Pigeonhole’.”

Ao Qin laughed while pouring himself a cup of wine.

“Ah, I met quite an interesting person at the library today. I would’ve stayed but I did have some matters to attend to with Elder Shen.”

Lao Yang looked at the old man who nodded.

“Right, yes, I suppose you want to learn more about the Six Kingdoms, right?” said the elder.

And just then, there was a tap on the door leading to the courtyard. Zhu Xie stood up to checking, opening it for Xiao Yin and Hei Yue to rush in. The Star Owl landed on the table before Elder Shen, showing the slip of paper tied to its leg.