After the plant's short argument with his master, he had to resort to giving her the silent treatment.
Master is so foolish! he thought.
Only when that evil fox eats her up, will she understand!
Li Meirong wasn't bothered by her spirit plant's unresponsiveness. It was a refreshing change not to listen to him constantly talk about eating others.
She instead focused her attention back at the cub. He blinked his big round eyes at her, making him seem all the more lovable. She gave him an affectionate squeeze.
Chou must have lost his mind, to think this tiny baby could be harboring evil thoughts! Li Meirong thought as she shook her head in disbelief.
Li Meirong assembled herself. She quickly got to her feet and, still carefully holding the cub in her arms, hurried back up the uncharted path. As soon as she came into view, her senior sister Ying Yue was badgering her once more.
"Why are you so slow?!" She scolded.
Li Meirong ignored the senior, for whom her dislike only seemed to deepen with every interaction, and kept her own steady pace. As she walked, she tried to brush off some of the dried "blood" from the little fox's dirty fur.
Ying Yue was about to scold Li Meirong again, when she finally noticed the wounded beast cradled in the girl's protective embrace. She tugged at her husband's sleeve to draw his attention to this new obstacle.
Senior Wei glanced back, and reassured his wife. "Eh, don't worry about it. It's just a regular fox."
They had to make sure Li Meirong would not receive any assistance, but it wasn't like a little wounded animal could possibly pose a threat to two martial arts expert cultivators.
The forest path grew darker still. No spirit beasts appeared. In fact, if there were any beasts of any kind in the vicinity, the travelers would have no way of knowing it. Not an owl's hoot, nor a crow's caw could be heard in the oppressive, deafening silence under these trees.
The silence felt deafening. The rising temperature certainly didn't help the mood. Li Meirong felt nervous, the further they walked, the more hostile the environment seemed. All that was missing from this perfect "scenery" were some witches and ghouls jumping from behind a tree to give her a heart attack.
They had been walking constantly for more than several hours now, since her last stop since she picked up the fox. Li Meirong, who had only ever tended to her garden and dealt with cooking meals for the last five years, , found this hike particularly strenuous and exhausting. She felt as though she was back in the Wild Lands sect acceptance test all over again.
Feeling as though her unpracticed body was being strained to its limit, and rather unnecessarily so, she decided to take a break and sit down, right in the middle of the trail. Her feet were incredibly sore, she was hungry and thirsty, and her arms and back ached as well from carrying her backpack as well as the fox cub's now added weight.
Transmigrating into a different world hadn't changed her lazy personality. She was accustomed to comfort. If need be, she would go out of her way to achieve something, but only if it was absolutely necessary. Otherwise, why should she put any effort?
In all honesty, this place gave her a bad feeling. She had wanted to get her own spirit beast, but at this point, she would rather backtrack and look for one in a friendlier part of the woods. Even when she met Chou, it hadn't been in a creepy location such as this.
After wiping the sweat off her forehead, she lowered the fox and settled it on her lap, making sure tp keep its back in as painless a position as possible. She was in serious need of a break, and she no longer wished to go forward.
Enjoying a few moments of peace before the others noticed she had stopped walking, she couldn't help but notice the cub seemed to be quite pleased, lying comfortably in her lap. It reminded her of the way her lazy spoiled cats used to act when they were contentedly sprawled on her knees.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt she wanted to part ways with her seniors.
The respect she felt from them when they had requested her assistance on this journey was long gone. She was doing them a favor, after all, helping them find this herb. Yet she felt now as though they viewed her as a burden, someone they were forced to drag along with them to the end of this trail. She may not have great physical prowess as they have, but they could have at least acted more considerate during their journey.
She called their names in order to gain their attention. Enough was enough.
"Sister Ying Yue, brother Wei!"
They both turned around. She waved her hand over her head to help them spot her, sitting comfortably in the middle of the path.
"This pest!" Both seniors whispered to each other.
After coming to a decision, they made their way back towards the unruly girl.