Yu Sai took a glance at his new 'companions.'
He wasn't familiar with any of them, but with the recent events gutting much of the village's population, most teams were no longer intact.
Before, teams were usually divided based on the experience and age of their members in order to minimize friction between them as well as ensuring that proper nurturing of new Gu Masters occurred. Now, it was basically just whoever they could find for the job.
"What's got your mood so down?" one of his teammates asked. The man in question was in his early fifties and was probably the only one among them with a jovial look on his face. 'Glad to see someone's enjoying things,' Yu Sai thought.
"Nothing. I just don't really like going outside the village," Yu Sai said.
To be more accurate, he didn't like going outside his house either; going outside the village was a step further.
He also didn't see a reason for this mission. They were supposed to be going outside to scout things, though, from what he could tell, there was nothing to scout. Even if he didn't know what the actual cause of the ice was, it had killed most of the living things on Qing Mao Mountain. The few that had survived were not numerous enough to be of any threat to Gu Yue Village, at least not now. So why even bother sending them out like this?
"Oh, it's good to get some experience once in a while and some fresh air as well," the man who had been speaking to Yu Sai said.
"Or is this about something else?" another one of his teammates asked. "Judging from your age, is it about a lady, Yu Sai?"
Yu Sai tried to keep a poker face, but something must have given it away. "Aha, I knew it! So, it is about a girl. What happened? She rejected you or something? Don't worry, my lad," the old man said, with a dismissive wave. "With the current situation, we'll soon have enough mortal beauties to... satisfy us, if you know what I mean?" Then, he added, "Even I'm thinking of picking up a girl, or maybe two if they allow it."
Yu Sai shook his head. 'Oi! Aren't you too old to be lusting after young girls like that? Shouldn't you have learned some kind of restraint by now? Stop literally salivating at the thought, goddamn it!'
He wanted to say something, but someone else piped up before him. "Oh, stop it."
There was another member of their group, a man who had recently lost his wife and children. No doubt he didn't want to hear such talk.
The old man shrugged as they continued trudging along.
Their patrol was rather simple. It was only a short distance away from the village. They would go, examine the surrounding area, camp there for a night, and then come back to Gu Yue Village.
An easy enough mission in ordinary times. A Rank 1 Gu Master like Yu Sai would not have been picked for something like this; he would have been doing some kind of boring, but usually safer, logistical task.
However, there was a shortage of manpower, especially when one had to cover such large distances as the surrounding areas of Gu Yue Village.
'It's like walking into a wasteland,' Yu Sai thought to himself. He had not enjoyed the fact that he had been chosen for this mission, but with the current situation, Gu Masters no longer had the choice of rejecting a mission as they did earlier. Back in the day he could just decline missions and lounge around while his social standing degraded, not that he cared about that. Now, all missions were considered mandatory.
'What a drag,' Yu Sai thought. There really was nothing else beside the perimeter of the village. Without any Gu Masters to take care of them, the plants had pretty much all withered away from the cold, or wouldn't blossom until next spring. Since the plants were gone, none of the animals who fed on them, even if they had survived, stayed in the area.
And since none of the grazers were there, none of the prey animals were there either. In short, there was just a whole lot of nothing all the way from the village wall to the place where they were going to set up camp.
Once they reached the appropriate location, they then split up. Yu Sai was not asked to split up along with them, simply because he was Rank 1 and was asked to stay behind with their luggage. He didn't necessarily mind that, as he slumped down, trying to get his thoughts away from Li Mei.
Dinner was an unappealing meal of dried meat.
He couldn't help but remember that times Li Mei had made him something and was already missing her cooking.
This fact only made the dried meat taste worse, and he barely got any sleep that night.
Needless to say, he was rather tired when they woke up the next morning, finished their reconnaissance efforts, and then set out for the village. He was in such a mental haze that he was the last one to notice when it happened.
The man who was scouting out in front of them had a gu worm which allowed him to see much further ahead, and as such, was looking out for danger, even though there was basically none currently.
However, as he took two steps forward, a fountain of blood suddenly erupted from where his head had been.
It was clear that none of them were experienced fighters, because they were all slow to react.
Yu Sai had difficulty even processing what had happened. 'How had he died so quickly? What could have possibly killed him?'
The answer came soon enough, as a Gu Master leaped out from behind them. Two more leaped up from in front of them. Rank 3 and Rank 4 aura permeated from all around them, meaning that they were severely outmatched.
Yu Sai looked at what they were wearing. Nothing identified them as a member of any village, let alone one on Qing Mao Mountain.
As it was, there was no way that they were from the Bai or the Xiong clans. That could only mean that they were demonic Gu Masters.
"Well, look at what we have here," Zuo Chen said. "A couple of sheep ready for the slaughter!"
Finally, the oldest among them managed to get his senses together, and he ordered them to form up. What was the point of forming up against enemies who were this powerful, though? They were killed with barely any time to react.
Soon, it was just Yu Sai and another member standing there.
"I'm out of primeval essence - damn it! Kid, any cards you have up your sleeve?" the other Gu Master asked Yu Sai.
"I don't have any offensive Gu worms on me," Yu Sai muttered. It was true. He no longer had his Moon Gu.
"Are you serious?" the other guy said incredulously. He had not been expecting Yu Sai to pull out a miracle from somewhere, but he hadn't been expecting nothing either.
"Relax," Zuo Chen said, stretching his arms lazily. "We're not here to kill you, or at least we're not here to kill all of you. And, as it is, we do need some people alive. We have a message for your leader, Gu Yue Fang Yuan."
Yu Sai stiffened slightly at the mention of that name.
"Let him know that the legendary Blood Tiger, the Blood Path Gu Master who has slain countless villages, has decided to pay him a small visit. I looked around this mountain and thought that it feels like a nice place: nice scenery, nice weather, nice animals, nice living targets to practice my techniques on, you know... everything a man could want in a place like this. I was thinking of maybe even camping out here for a while. With that said, we could certainly be... encouraged to leave. Tell your clan leader that we want 100,000 primeval stones, three thousand Moon Orchid Petals, or else this kind of slaughter will continue."