True Hunt

At the very least, Yin had succeeded in keeping him occupied. She hadn’t expected all that debacle to occur, but it was a welcome event. Otherwise, they might have already reached the other, more hidden lake, and if there had been nothing of interest there either, she could have only tried convincing him to check out random areas of the woods to find caves that might lead deep underground.

But with the Seeder-Herr and his beast pet showing up, that should keep them busy for a little while…

As she thought about this, the tomboy approached the water, feeling a slight chill course through her spine- She had somewhat understated just how frightened of water she was. When it came to water that she either could not see perfectly through, or that she had not filled up herself, like a tub, her instincts simply did not trust in the least.

Especially that lake, with its odd underwater growths of trees and plants. Even if one would usually assume that there wouldn’t be anything else apart from what they had already discovered, as, if anything that was about on the same level as the octopus existed in there, surely, it would have shown itself to take a bite from the beast pet before retreating at the very least.

But Yin did not trust underwater dwellers to abide by any logic.

She glanced back. Edrick was barely within sight. Yin could only spot one of his elbows peeking out from behind the carcass from time to time as he was busy butchering the slain creature.

‘Oh gods… Maybe I should have asked him to pay attention to me... What if something grabs my ankle and drags me deeper into the lake?’ she once again shivered, but steeled her resolve. Somehow, being seen in the nude by Anoteros felt worse than being attacked in the water. The former would kill her with embarrassment.

So she peeled away her bloodstained robes, dropping them to the ground as they produced a sloshing noise.

The creature’s blood had seeped all the way onto her skin, so she had to get rid of her undergarments as well. Carefully taking a step into the water, unwilling to go very far from the bank. The water was rather chilly, and the lake, which was already not that clear to begin with, became obscured as blood began to rise from her body, the area directly around her becoming nearly opaque.

The sanguine substance was still fresh, so it was not hard to wash off at least. Yin crouched down, and after hesitating, as well as looking back to make sure Edrick still was not looking, she put her head and hair under water for the slightest of moments before pulling it out, and thankfully, nothing horrific happened during that time.

Glancing further to the side, Yin’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest, but she stood still, realising that it was just a small fish and nothing more.

‘I need to get out of here…’ not wishing to linger any longer than was necessary, she quickly exited the water. And after drying herself up, she put on a new set of robes. Which, as one might expect, were just the same inner disciple robes she always wore. Her closet literally had nothing but those inside.

They were comfortable and allowed one to move freely. What was there not to love about them?

Afterwards, she joined Edrick in the butchering of the octopus. Then, they sat around the campfire, cooking what they had caught, which included the catfish and snake from earlier.

“You even brought some spices? Just how much space is there in that bag of yours?” asked Yin after Anoteros offered her some salt. Which was not quite spice but rather a seasoning. But he did not bother correcting her.

“Linmin insisted that I should bring some. He doesn’t want me to eat poorly... Isn’t that adorable?” he replied, pulling out some actual spices and even some herbs. His second wife took the job of cook very seriously within the household, and Edrick having to eat bland food was likely something Linmin would consider blasphemy.

“As for the bag… Fanqia made it from another bag I used before. It doesn’t use the best materials available, but it does its job very well, and you know what they say, it’s also made with love” he chuckled.

Both of them sat around the campfire at midday, eating away at all the meat they had gathered. The two of them were basically athletes, so they ate a lot every day to maintain their physiques… And speaking of physique, Anoteros couldn’t help but notice that due to her skin being slightly moist, Yin’s robes were sticking closely to her body. It was usually difficult to get a good idea of what someone looked like, as robes were thought-out to conceal most of one’s body.

It helped better conceal movements during a fight, and also allowed one’s skin to breathe better. Right now, for the first time, Edrick was finally getting a good idea of what the tomboy’s body looked like.

Yin was definitely more on the lean side, not exactly bulky, but that was mostly a matter of her body shape and being a woman. As tomboyish as she might appear, if one were to peel away that layer of clothing, they would definitely find feminine curves hidden underneath.

But most importantly, even if lean, her muscles were definitely well-defined. He couldn’t make out too much, but to his expert eyes, it seemed obvious that there was no need for Yin to flex for her muscles to show clearly.

The girl seemed none the wiser to Edrick’s astute attention to her body, not even realising that her clothes were sticking closer than usual. For one, Anoteros was rather skilful at gawking without making it obvious, and secondly, she was actually busy with the same activity herself.

Ever since he had gone into the water, although Edrick had had a change of clothes, he had not bothered to put something on to cover his upper body. Yin had never actually seen his body in such a bare state before, having only heard about it--Against her will--From Hui.

She had thought that the librarian was exaggerating a bit about how perfect her husband’s physique was... But to Yin’s shock, Hui had actually undersold it, and of course she had! The bookworm did not engage in enough physical training to truly understand and appreciate all the finer aspects of one’s musculature…

It was actually incredible just how glorious the noble scion’s body was. From what she could see, there was no singular muscle that seemed not to have been trained to perfection. Simultaneously built for explosive power, endurance, and flexibility all at once. It was like he had begun his training from scratch and only employed the best methods without any mistakes or oversight.

And that was just his upper body! Those legs of his had to be quite the sight as well…

‘And those veins… Those hands… Oh gods…’ she exhaled, as though trying to push out the warmth that was settling within her. But it was not going away. On the contrary, it only grew fiercer… She just couldn’t stop looking.

She hoped that it was not too obvious on her face that something was happening to her right now, as Yin felt that her well-practised poker face was slipping off.

Edrick casually moved closer to her, sensing that the hunt was nearing its climax…