55 Chapter 55: Long Awaited Reunion

The air between them was tense and solemn, their eyes concentrated on the rustling bushes. Long Yuyin's tail began to unwrapped itself and Feng Qin gripped the hilt of the Heavenly Yang Sword tightly, ready to unsheath it at a moment's notice.

Memories of the time when he fought against the Blazing Demon Lion King and its pack flashed in his mind, making his face hardened in determination.

The silence was soon broken however, not by some spirit beast's howl or someone's war cry, but the sound of a rumbling stomach. Simultaneously, the bushes stopped moving.

Both teens incredulously stared.

"....."

The silence was deafening.

"....Come out," Feng Qin let out a sigh of exasperation, "We know you're there."

"Dammit fatty, you and your appetite!"

"I can't help it! Whatever food they're cooking is just too tempting!" A boy's voice grumbled.

Slowly, three figures emerged from the bushes, all of them seemingly the same age as them. And the most eye-catching of them was a chubby boy with red hair, drool trickling down his mouth as his eyes aimed straight at the roasting chicken behind Feng Qin.

"Sorry about that," the handsome youth of the trio rubbed his distinctive silver hair sheepishly, "We were just passing through to look for some food to eat when—"

A pretty girl, with long flowing brown hair tied as a scorpion tail braid, her long legs and curvy behind was accentuated by her tight leather pants, cut in with a loud snort, "And then Fatty here couldn't resist the smell."

The chubby boy pouted at the name-calling, but his eyes were still fixated on the chicken. Feng Qin couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.

Long Yuyin, on the other hand, raised her eyebrows in annoyance. "Well you can't have it, it's mine and Feng Qin's. We've been exploring this forest for hours now, we haven't eaten lunch. Not only that but you're strangers as well. So I'm sorry if I'm not too keen on sharing our food right now."

'Damn, Yuyin. If you eat too much you'll become a pig, you know that?' Feng Qin jokingly said in his head.

"Beauty, can't you just take pity–"

"Screw off, fat fuck!" Long Yuyin shot the chubby boy a fierce glare, her teal eyes instantly turned blood red as her long and slender dragon tail shook, moving around as if it were a snake.

The silver haired boy immediately put his hands up in a sign of surrender, sensing danger from the girl's sudden mood swings. While the brown haired girl narrowed her eyes and the chubby boy's face turned red.

Feng Qin couldn't help but feel amused at Long Yuyin's fierce attitude. He knew she wasn't one to back down easily, especially when it came to food.

"You–!!"

"Alright, alright. That's enough. Let's not fight, especially not in this forest crawling with all kinds of spirit beasts." Feng Qin stepped in, holding his hands up to calm everyone down. "We can share, just this once. But don't make it a habit of taking food from strangers," he said, addressing the trio.

The chubby boy's face lit up at the suggestion, but the silver haired boy gave Feng Qin a grateful smile. The brown haired girl simply shrugged, apparently uninterested in the whole situation.

The group settled down around the fire, sharing the roasted chicken and some fruits that Long Yuyin had gathered earlier. As they ate, they introduced themselves to each other.

"I'm Oscar," the handsome youth with silver hair said, flashing a charming smile. "I'm from the Shrek Academy, a Tool Spirit Master."

The brown haired girl, smiling, then said, "I'm Xiao Wu, I'm from Shrek Academy as well. I'm a Battle Spirit Master."

"And I'm Ma Hongjun!" The fatty proudly introduced himself, slapping his right hand on his chest. "This father is also a student at Shrek Academy and the greatest Battle Spirit Master, my spirit is the proud and brilliant king of the bird, a true Phoenix!"

Feng Qin raised his eyebrow at hearing Ma Hongjun's spirit. If what he's saying is true, then his spirit stands as one of the top of the spirit master world. Like true Dragons and the Myriad Soul Gem, Phoenixes are extremely rare and powerful spirits.

Long Yuyin snorted, "What Phoenix? All I'm seeing is a fat pig, you sure you didn't categorized your spirit wrongly? Maybe it's a turkey rather than a Phoenix."

"Pfft–hahahahahahaha!"

Everyone burst out laughing, all clutching their sides as their eyes became teary eyed.

"O-Oh god! W-Why didn't I think of that....?! Hahahaha!"

"F-Fatty! No, Turkey! Yeah, that's your new nickname instead of that Evil Fire Phoenix–hehehe."

Ma Hongjun's face turned red with embarrassment as he pouted, opting to focus on his roasted chicken. "Fuck you guys.

I hate you both."

Feng Qin, wiping the tear in his eye, glanced at Long Yuyin. He was bewildered, she had never shown this much amount of hostility to someone before.

But thinking about it some more, it kinda made sense. There were legends about true Dragons and true Phoenixes as eternal rivals, each representing different elements and powers. Long Yuyin's spirit is a dragon so it's instinctive for her to act that way on Ma Hongjun.

"I'm Feng Qin, a Battle Spirit Master. And this here comedian is Long Yuyin, a Battle Spirit Master as well." Long Yuyin raised a hand.

"Hi."

Xiao Wu nodded at her while Oscar's eyes darted up and down for a moment before turning his gaze away when he saw Long Yuyin's eyes flashed red.

"So, you guys came here on your own to find a spirit ring as well?" Feng Qin asked.

"Ah well, yes and no. We came here with other schoolmates and a teacher. As we said, we were here to find some food for everyone else to eat," Oscar explained, winking. "but fatty here just couldn't help but beg for others' food."

"Hey!"

Feng Qin chuckled, shaking his head.

"But why are you guys here? Especially just the two of you, I'm guessing, you don't seem much older than us so your strength shouldn't be so strong that you can just be so lax and use a campfire to cook some chicken. " Xiao Wu asked, curiosity evident in her eyes.

"Same as you all, finding a suitable spirit ring," Feng Qin replied. "I'm searching for either a wind or lightning type spirit beast, specifically one that provides speed. As for why we're doing this on our lonesome, heh, sorry but that's a secret."

Oscar turned to a silent Long Yuyin, "What about you?"

"....I'm helping Feng Qin get his spirit ring." Long Yuyin coldly replied, making Oscar's face stiff.

"Right, right. Why else would you be here?" Oscar nervously chuckled.

Xiao Wu giggled, "Little Ao, you better watch out, Long Yuyin seems to have quite the fiery temperament. Don't want to get on her bad side, especially when it comes to food." She then whispered to him, "Plus, I think she's already in a relationship with him. Also, I thought you were pursuing Rongrong?"

Oscar rubbed his nose, "Well, I like her but not to the point of "loving" her, y'know? I mean, we've only known each other for a few days and her...."attitude" at that time was a bit of a turn off. What I mean to say is that, I want to keep my options for a bit. Just in case we won't end up together."

"Ugh, boys. Always so indecisive," Xiao Wu rolled her eyes.

Ma Hongjun chimed in, eavesdropping on them with a mouthful of roasted chicken, "Hmph. Like you'll understand the woes of us men when we're finding a relationship with a girl, well, Tang San certainly won't since he has you already."

"You wanna mess with this great aunt, Fatty?! Scram!" Standing up a red face, Xiao Wu unhesitatingly turned and kicked Ma Hongjun to his chin, sending him and his chicken legs flying up in the sky. She let out a huff and sat back down.

Both Feng Qin and Long Yuyin looked on, stunned, they turned towards Oscar for answers, but he shook his head and said. "Best you don't ask."

Suddenly, the bushes rustled once more.

*Rustle, Rustle* *Rustle, Rustle*

"Oh, what is it now?" Feng Qin muttered under his breath as he, Long Yuyin, Oscar and Xiao Wu stood up, combat ready. While Oscar took several steps back to stand behind Feng Qin and Long Yuyin, raising his right hand and was about to chant his incantations for his spirit, Sausage, that gives certain effects to people depending on the type of sausage he makes.

That was when someone's voice sounded out, one that was familiar to both Oscar and Xiao Wu.

"Oscar, Xiao Wu. What are you both doing here? You guys have been gone for a while, I thought you guys were going out to find some food?" A young man with black hair and black eyes, an ordinary face that you can find in the background, wearing all leather black clothes, stepped out of the bushes with a raised eyebrow. He then looked up, "....Why's Fatty up in the sky?"

"Ah, brother San!" Xiao Wu rushed towards the young man, a bright smile plastered on her face. "We ran into these two on our way to find food. And well, Fatty here said something he shouldn't have and, well, I may have kicked him a bit too hard."

Tang San sighed, shaking his head. "Xiao Wu, when will you learn to control your temper? And Fatty, you should know better than to provoke her."

Ma Hongjun landed on the ground with a loud thud, rubbing his chin in pain. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Just got caught up in the moment, you know how it is good brother."

Feng Qin and Long Yuyin exchanged glances, their surprise quickly replaced by understanding. So, these four were all from the same group, probably also searching for spirit rings.

Tang San, realizing that there were two more unfamiliar faces, turned his attention towards Feng Qin and Long Yuyin. "I don't believe we've met before. I'm Tang San, a Battle Spirit Master. These two troublemakers here are Xiao Wu and Oscar."

Feng Qin nodded, introducing himself and Long Yuyin. "I'm Feng Qin, and this is Long Yuyin. We're also Battle Spirit Masters, searching for spirit rings in this forest."

Tang San opened his mouth to speak when another voice interjected. Feng Qin's eyes widened, almost to the point of popping out.

"Good brother, have you found them yet? Teacher Zhao's temper is rising and I'm afraid that if they're not back, especially with some food, he's going to wake up the entire forest with his beastly roar." Followed behind Tang San was a unparalleled beauty that no one has ever seen.

With long flowing purple hair that reached down to her waist, and bright amethyst eyes, he exuded an air of elegance and grace. His skin was pure white, like milk. His figure was slim and perfectly proportioned, clad in a loosely fitting white robe with golden accents. He carried an aura of warmth and kindness that was hard to miss.

Long Yuyin was stunned to see such a beautiful person. She had never someone who could be this beautiful, to the point that she got jealous!

'H-How would Feng Qin....' Nervously, she turned to stare at the boy.

Contrary to what she expected, Feng Qin had taken a different reaction, taking a step forward, he then said.

"Meng Liu? Liu, is that you? It's me!"

The unparalleled beauty blinked his eyes, taking a moment to observe Feng Qin's features, his eyes widened and his face immediately brightened.

"Feng...Qin? Oh my, Qin?!"

.....

I won't be posting anything in the next week or two, as I will be focused on my other story "Heavenly Eyed Douluo". Available now on Webnovel. Peace ✌️

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