XIAO SHUXIANG'S

20 - Forest Chicken Hunting [Revised]

In the evening, as usual Xiao Shuxiang would train. This time he was accompanied by Qi Xuan and Jing Mi, the three of them were doing warm-up moves and flexing the body, such as Forward Roll or roll forward and Back Roll or roll backwards.

Jing Mi refused, she was horrified to do so. While Qi Xuan could only roll forward, he felt unsure of being able to roll backwards.

Repeatedly Xiao Shuxiang convinced the two. It's just that his way even more makes his two friends afraid.

"You don't be so timid, your bones won't break if you do! If it breaks, the pain will not make you die. Trust me," Xiao Shuxiang put on a very serious face and it made Jing Mi and Qi Xuan pale.

Jing Mi shook her head quickly, "I-it's even worse than death. I don't want to!!" he even ran and directly hugged a tree very tightly.

"Come Brother Jing... You said you'd be a strong swordsman, right? This time you're scared..." Xiao Shuxiang tried to pull Jing Mi, but the boy insisted on not wanting to do so.

Jing Mi almost cried as Xiao Shuxiang continued to pull her and tried to let go of her hands that were hugging the tree.

"No Brother Xiao, I don't want to! We can learn something else. Chases, push ups hundreds of times, games catch thieves, or whatever. But I don't want to be told to roll back and forth! I'm afraid Brother Xiao...! What if my neck is broken?"

"Brother Jing, your neck won't break if you do it right. You're a strong boy, I trust you..." Xiao Shuxiang embraced Jing Mi's waist then pulled her, yet the boy seemed to be clinging tightly to the tree trunk. This overwhelmed him.

"Sa-Brother Xiao, I don't want to practice anymore. You can flip around, roll back and forth, turn your head or whatever... But don't involve me. Do everything with Brother Xuan,"

!!

Qi Xuan who heard Jing Mi remark suddenly flinched, he immediately ran towards Yang Shu and Xiao Lu. "I think it's time to go to sleep. You two better get some sleep, too,"

Xiao Shuxiang knew that it was only Qi Xuan's reason alone, "Haah. All right.. let's go to sleep...!" he no longer tugged at Jing Mi, himself following Qi Xuan to Yang Shu and Xiao Lu.

Jing Mi was relieved, she finally survived Xiao Shuxiang. He removed his hand from the tree he was holding, then walked after his brother.

Yang Shu gave several explanations to his four disciples before they went to sleep. "Listen to Grandfather, there are many wild animals in this forest, some of them are Demonic Beasts. Not like the Fire Lizard we've ever met... The Demonic Beast here has a large body shape."

Yang Shu said, "The Demonic Beast that often roams in this forest is a Silver Horned Wolf. You must be careful and be vigilant because the Silver Horned Wolf is more active at night. That is why the safest bed is on a tree. You understand?" he looked at his four students. The four children immediately nodded as a sign that they understood.

Tonight was very long for Yang Shu and his disciples, Xiao Shuxiang was lying on one of the branches of a tree that was quite large, he was trying to see the stars hidden in the gaps of the leaves.

Slowly his eyes closed, he could feel the Qi around him. "Qi here is much more than in the village. From numbers one to ten... The Qi density here is two. But even though the Qi here was a little more than that village... I haven't been able to use it to replace my dantian. I need a place with a lot of Qi density."

While daydreaming about the place with dense Qi, Xiao Shuxiang began to fall asleep.

Sleeping on a tree was the right choice for Yang Shu and his four disciples as it was right under the tree they were sleeping in, ordinary wolves, and even Demonic Beasts.

It is quite dangerous to sleep on a tree, they could have fallen while they were sleeping. Yet Yang Shu, Qi Xuan, Xiao Lu and Jing Mi were already used to doing so. In fact, you could say they are more comfortable sleeping on a tree than on a bed.

And to Xiao Shuxiang, sleeping like this was nothing new. In his first life, since he was seven... Xiao Shuxiang was already used to sleeping like this. It lasted until he was 39 years old.

Yang Shu and his four disciples slept so soundly, they were not even bothered with the roars of wolves and the barking of coyotes. Even the sound of birds active at night can not interfere with their sleep at all. It must have been because they were too exhausted that any sound could not make them wake up.

Yang Shu and his four disciples had just woken up after the sunlight that escaped from the crack of the leaves lit up their eyes.

Yang Shu slowly woke up, as did Xiao Lu and Qi Xuan. They were both seen rubbing their faces and eyes. While Jing Mi yawned several times, she was still trying to gather her soul that was still in the dream.

Xiao Shuxiang was different again, when Yang Shu and his three friends had already woken up and were getting ready to wash their faces in the river. Even his snoring voice grew bigger.

Xiao Lu called his sister from under the tree. "Xiao...!"

Jing Mi, "My brother...! Come on...!"

Qi Xuan, "Brother Xiao...!"

Xiao Lu, "Xiao'Er...!! Oh my... Hey..huh...! Come wake...! You're this...!"

The three of them tried to wake Xiao Shuxiang up by calling out to him. Even Xiao Lu threw one of his shoes towards Xiao Shuxiang, but his sister was completely unwilling to get up.

"Just let Xiao'Er fall asleep, Grandfather reckon... He was too tired at the moment," Yang Shu rubbed his beard and mustache. He began to invite his three disciples to go to the river, they let Xiao Shuxiang sleep a little longer.

After washing the face-Yang Shu, Jing Mi and Qi Xuan together caught some fish. While Xiao Lu went to meet Xiao Shuxiang.

Xiao Lu called out his sister's name from under the tree, but Xiao Shuxiang was not yet awake. Xiao Shuxiang only muttered softly then lazily moved his hand as a sign for Xiao Lu to leave and leave him alone.

Xiao Lu, who was annoyed by his sister's difficult behavior, suddenly shouted.

"XIAO 'ER! XIAO SHUXIANG!!"

Xiao Lu's shout made Xiao Shuxiang aghast. With a look of annoyed face Xiao Shuxiang looked at Xiao Lu.

"You're This...! I Still Want to Sleep, There! Hush hush."

"Xiao 'Er...! You're the Outrageous Child!!" Xiao Lu took off the side of his shoe and directly threw it at Xiao Shuxiang, but quickly the boy was able to catch his shoe using his left hand.

"You love to bother me, Tsk. I'll wake up!" Xiao Shuxiang threw back Xiao Lu's shoes, he then descended from the tree slowly.

Xiao Shuxiang followed this chatty girl to meet Yang Shu who was in the river along with Qi Xuan and Jing Mi.

After washing his face, he helped Yang Shu, Jing Mi and Qi Xuan to catch fish. The result is quite good, they can catch six fish and two medium-sized crabs. Yang Shu then made fire using his Qi. What he did made Jing Mi, Qi Xuan and Xiao Lu never tired of being amazed.

A pity... The three children could not imitate Yang Shu. They didn't know how Yang Shu did it. Even though Yang Shu explained to the three of them, still they did not understand. This is because the old Bangka always says words like 'Swush' or 'phoft'.

Despite eating the fish, neither Yang Shu nor his four disciples felt full in the slightest. That's why he again invited his four students to find food in the forest.

They divided up the task, where Yang Shu hunted the jungle chicken while Jing Mi, Xiao Shuxiang, Qi Xuan and Xiao Lu looked for fruits.

While searching for fruits, Jing Mi's gaze unintentionally caught a partridge. He then patted the shoulders of Qi Xuan and Xiao Shuxiang.

"Brother, look at that." said Jing Mi in a soft voice.

Qi Xuan and Xiao Shuxiang also looked at the forest chicken. Simultaneously, the three looked at each other like they were thinking the same thing.

Qi Xuan, Xiao Shuxiang and Jing Mi then walked slowly closer to the chicken. Xiao Lu who saw the three of them only let out a slow breath, he was too hungry to follow his three classmates.

"I'd better go to Grandpa's..." Xiao Lu walked away leaving Qi Xuan, Xiao Shuxiang and Jing Mi who were stalking the Forest Chicken.

As if realizing that someone was after his life, the partridge immediately ran before Jing Mi, Xiao Shuxiang and Qi Xuan jumped to catch him.

Jing Mi, "Based on bad chicken!"

Xiao Shuxiang's. "Back here, I just want to eat you?!"

Jing Mi and Xiao Shuxiang chased after the forest rooster, followed by Qi Xuan who was some distance away from them.

Several times Jing Mi and Xiao Shuxiang jumped to catch the chicken, but it always escaped. Qi Xuan also tried to catch the chicken by squatting down while praising it as a sweet and kind chicken.

As the chicken slowly approached Qi Xuan, Jing Mi suddenly jumped at him. The shocked forest chicken immediately ran away.

"Brother Jing, I almost caught him...!" Qi Xuan pouted and was a little annoyed.

Jing Mi as if not hearing Qi Xuan, her gaze continued to focus on the Forest Chicken. He went back to chasing the chicken with Xiao Shuxiang so that the animal could not run anymore because one of his legs was entangled with vines. Immediately Xiao Shuxiang jumped up and finally he managed to catch the Forest Chicken.

Xiao Shuxiang patted the chicken head gently with his left hand, "You dare to bother Xiao Shuxiang once," he then turned to look at Jing Mi who was looking at the sculpting.

"What's wrong with you, Brother Jing?" Xiao Shuxiang looked at Jing Mi in astonishment.

"Sa-Brother Xiao, you're moving slowly here and there..." Jing Mi lowered her voice and requested that Xiao Shuxiang walk towards her.

Xiao Shuxiang frowned, he really felt astonished by the behavior of this fourteen-year-old boy. "Brother Jing...? You That's Why...? What's up?"

"Sa-Brother Xiao, shh... Keep your voice. Ce-quickly walked over and did not look back.." jing Mi's voice sounded trembling and it made Xiao Shuxiang confused.

"Why did he ask me not to look back, there was indeed what was in-" Xiao Shuxiang's eyes rounded as he looked back, where Jing Mi forbade him.

About six meters from where Xiao Shuxiang was, there was a wolf with a large size, larger than ordinary wolves in general.

The wolf had brown fur, with a silver horn on its forehead. The wolf opened its eyes when it heard Xiao Shuxiang's voice, but fell asleep.

Xiao Shuxiang and Jing Mi breathed a sigh of relief, they almost woke up a ferocious beast.

Xiao Shuxiang then walked slowly closer to Jing Mi, but suddenly Qi Xuan ran towards them while calling out the names of the two.

"Brother Jing?! Brother Xiao?! Did you guys get it?!"

Jing Mi and Xiao Shuxiang gasped in shock, soon the two of them marked with their fingers to Qi Xuan.

Qi Xuan had yet to see the silver-horned wolf, he was only perplexed by the mannerisms of Xiao Shuxiang and Jing Mi.

"What Are You?!" Qi Xuan again exclaimed, he walked up to his two friends.

"Gsssssttt...! Brother Xuan, lower the sound-"

Grrrrr

Jing Mi, Xiao Shuxiang and Qi Xuan gasped. They suddenly stared when they heard a growl. The Silver Horned Wolf that had been asleep was now awakened and looked furious.

These wolf eyes were a fiery red, he stared intently at Jing Mi, Xiao Shuxiang and Qi Xuan. This wolf shows its sharp and slimy teeth.

Jing Mi could not feel her legs, while Qi Xuan felt her heart as if it had stopped. This was the first time the two of them had seen such a large and frightening looking animal.

Xiao Shuxiang's breathing seemed to be choking, "I-this is serious...!"

***