The night went on as they shared a bit more about what had happened since they arrived here.

  "I am sorry about what had happened to you before coming here Si Luo. If there is an opportunity, I will help you reclaim your heritage if it has truly fallen to someone else’s hand. " Li Yu said. "And Bai Ruo, it would seem that returning back to Si Luo’s realm is also returning to your realm so that will be good for the both of you."

  "That would be great if possible. However, we are both well versed in the void and have found no solutions so far." Si Luo said while sitting up straight again. She adjusted her dress slightly with the black silk shimmering in the fire light. Li Yu’s gaze flickered to the movement instantly. It was like a reflex he still couldn’t control.

  Si Luo saw it once again. She smirked. "You really like this dress, don't you, Li Yu?"

  "It's... unique," Li Yu managed to say. "Definitely have not seen such a thing before. Very... breathable."

  "It is my battle armor," Si Luo said as amusement danced in her eyes. This distraction helped to take her mind off of what was happening with her family and her betrayal. "In my culture, distraction is a weapon. If an enemy is looking at my chest, they are not looking at the razor-thin thread about to take his head off."

  She winked at him. "It seems to be working on you, Li Yu. Should I be worried about my safety tonight?"

  "No!" Li Yu said quickly, both his hands shooting into the air with haste. "I am a gentleman. Mostly. I would never do such things. It is against my morals."

  "How boring. Morals are what bad men talk about before they take advantage of you." Si Luo scoffed. "Besides, why hide a masterpiece under a tarp?"

  Bai Ruo giggled into her stew. "He's turning red again, Si Luo. He might be powerful but he is still young. Leave him alone. He cooked us dinner. And technically he could command you to force yourself onto him!"

  Si Luo was momentarily stunned by Bai Ruo’s words. She had nearly forgotten that she was technically under his command now. He had treated them so well and as equals she had forgotten.

  "Fine, fine," Si Luo relented and began leaning back. "But yes, we survived. We couldn't enter the settlements because we look... well, monstrous in our true forms. So we stole out of curiosity. We scavenged. We built a nest in the First Void Layer and began trying to find a way home."

  She looked at Li Yu, her expression turning serious.

  "And then you came along. With your scary old ghost friend."

  "Khaos isn't a ghost," Li Yu said. "He's... well, he's complicated. However, he has my best interests at heart, well maybe my interests are second to his own.... But my promise stands. If I find a way to that Beast Realm, I will take you back."

  Si Luo looked at him. The firelight reflected in her milky eyes.

  "You seem to possess an ancient and powerful Leviathan type physique," Si Luo noted, much to Li Yu’s surprise that she knew. "I felt it while I was hanging on your neck. I have felt a very powerful and ancient Leviathan type before. He was the heir to a Beast King of the sea. His physique was considered extremely powerful already.”

  “The bloodline I feel from you is already much stronger, more ancient, perhaps more primal. That is a bloodline of the highest order in our realm most likely. How someone like you having it doesn’t make sense. If you go to my Beast Realm... you might be treated as a king. A god. Or a threat. Probably all three or maybe none at all. How do you have it while being a human?"

  "I'm used to being a threat," Li Yu said but his curiosity was piqued. There were a few mysteries surrounding him that he didn’t have answers to at the moment. "I'm usually the one people underestimate until it's too late. My young looks are disarming."

  "Like a trap-door spider," Si Luo nodded approvingly. "I can respect that."

  The fire crackled, popping a spark into the air.

  "So," Li Yu said, changing the subject before she could catch him staring again. "What can you two actually do? Besides stealing spoons and distracting young men? It would be good to know each other's abilities for future use."

  "I am a Weaver," Si Luo said. She raised a hand and invisible threads danced from her fingertips. "Besides all the normal cultivator-like abilities. One of my strongest points is that I can create things with my web. Be it a place, weapon or armor. I can create traps, bind enemies and cut through touch armor with a flick of my wrist. And... I can navigate the void currents. That’s probably my second strongest strength, attunement to the void."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "And I," Bai Ruo piped up, "am a Tunneler! I can chew through barriers! Spatial locks, physical walls, formations... if it blocks a path, I can eat a hole in it. And I have a perfect internal map. I never get lost. Those are the unique abilities anyways."

  Li Yu nodded. They were great additions to his toolkit. They can help him with void techniques since they can already get to the second layer of the void.

  "Good. We will need that. The lands ahead… my path ahead… they aren't as friendly as Glint-Edge."

  He went on to tell them the story of his life up to this point. Many points shocked them such as learning about the ten guardian beasts, Li Yu’s quest for vengeance with beings on a similar level and lastly that he had already begun to walk along the River of Laws.

  They talked into the night with both ladies revealing more about their lives. They had much more to tell as they were much older. After a long time they had covered a lot and had a much better understanding of one another.

  "Then we better get some sleep," Li Yu said. He tossed a handful of sand onto the fire, dimming it to a low glow. "We move at dawn." They didn’t really need to sleep but Li Yu enjoyed keeping to such a schedule during his mortal travels.

  Si Luo stood up and she looked at the hard ground.

  "I do not sleep on dirt," she declared.

  She raised her hands. In seconds, she wove a hammock of shimmering violet silk between two ribs of the giant skeleton. It looked impossibly soft. Li Yu wanted to ask her to make him one but he was too shy to do so at the moment.

  She climbed in and the silk molded to her form. She looked down at Li Yu.

  "Goodnight, Li Yu," she purred. "Try not to dream of me too much."

  Li Yu shook his head in defeat. "Goodnight, Si Luo. Goodnight, Bai Ruo."

  Bai Ruo simply dug a small hole in the sand and curled up inside it, looking perfectly content. Li Yu was about to ask Si Luo to make her a hammock too but then saw her strange actions.

  Li Yu leaned back against the bone and pulled his hat over his eyes.

  'She is doing it on purpose,' Li Yu thought. ‘It’s okay though, I will use her to temper myself against such things. Next time this happens with a real enemy, I will be prepared.’

  'Affirmative,' Tekton replied. 'Her heart rate indicates amusement. Yours indicates physiological stress. Do you require a sedative perhaps?'

  'I require you to shut up, Tekton.'

  The next morning came with the relentless efficiency of the desert sun. They packed up camp. It mostly involved Si Luo dissolving her hammock back into energy and Bai Ruo dusting herself off.

  The two transformed back into ornaments. He felt the familiar presence of the spider and the worm against his chest.

  "To the North-West," Li Yu said to himself while checking his map.

  He walked for hours. The terrain shifted from the hard-packed salt flats to rocky canyons made of red sandstone. The heat was still oppressive but Li Yu’s passive adaptation kept him cool.

  Around mid-day, the smell hit him. It wasn't the smell of ozone or dust. It was sharp, acidic and strangely mouth-watering.

  "Vinegar?" Li Yu sniffed.

  He crested a ridge and looked down into a valley. It was green. Not the lush green of a forest but the waxy, hardy green of succulents and cucumber vines. A small river wound through the center of the valley and lined along its banks were hundreds of massive wooden barrels.

  A town sat in the middle of this oasis. The buildings were made of dark wood and stained by years of fumes.

  "Is that... a pickle town?" Li Yu asked, delighted.

  'The sign says Brine-Hollow,' Si Luo’s voice projected from the necklace. 'Though to me, it smells like rotten fruit.'

  'It smells like preservation!' Bai Ruo countered. 'Pickling is a noble art! Don’t look down on delicious pickles!'

  ‘Indeed it is,’ Li Yu smiled. He adjusted his pack. ‘I've been eating dried meat and cactus for days. Being able to enjoy various different types of pickles here will be wonderful.’

  “Bai Ruo since you enjoy pickles as well, come on out and let's walk this town together.” Li Yu asked her.

  “That would be great!” Bai Ruo responded and then appeared next to him.

  They started down the path toward the town gates. The guards at the gate were interesting. They didn't hold spears like normal. They held long wooden paddles that looked like they were designed for stirring giant vats. They looked bored and were leaning against a stack of empty barrels.

  "Halt," one guard said lazily. "Traveler. Merchant? Taster?"

  "Physician," Li Yu corrected. "And hungry travelers."

  The guard sniffed. "You don't look sick or anything. Go on in. But don't touch the Reserve Barrels. The Mayor is fermenting a batch of Thunder-Melons for the festival and he's touchy about contamination."

  "Thunder-Melons," Li Yu repeated. "Sounds... explosive."

  "Only if you eat them before they're ripe," the guard grinned, revealing teeth stained slightly yellow. "Welcome to Brine-Hollow. Try the spicy radish. It’s one of the best."

  The two walked through the gates. The air was thick with the scent of dill, garlic, chili, and vinegar. To anyone else, it might be overpowering. To Li Yu, it was perfume. He greatly enjoyed pickles.

  "New ingredients," Li Yu whispered. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into here."

  On his chest, the little spider ornament glinted in the sun and for a second, Li Yu could have sworn he felt a phantom sensation of amusement radiating from it.

  'Just don't stare at the melons, Li Yu,' Si Luo’s voice teased in his mind.

  Li Yu stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet.

  "I hate mental communication sometimes," he muttered while marching toward the nearest market stall.