Chapter 93: Unrest

Chapter 93: Unusual Movements

Ye Tian carefully tidied everything up. As for the dead Razor-toothed Fish, he sprinkled some salt on it and left it to air-dry, planning to take it to the old man at the general store later. The other thing Ye Tian had fished up was a purple coin.

He examined it repeatedly but couldn't make sense of it. The coin was slightly larger than a copper one, but twice as thick, weighing about two taels. The most striking thing was that it emitted a faint purple glow. Yes, the coin glowed on its own.

Ye Tian didn't ask Layton about it, fearing he might spread word of it, especially since this was the grounds of Feipuli Academy—no need to risk trouble. He put the coin away, dried himself, dressed, and stuffed the roasted meat into his clothes.

"Gray, what was that?" Layton, with his keen eyes, had noticed Ye Tian slipping a white object into his shirt. He'd been puzzled, not having noticed it before, and quickly asked.

"Why so many questions? Want to be tied to a stake?" Ye Tian replied grumpily, silencing him at once.

"Gray, why haven't any magical beasts come by?" Layton asked during dinner, gnawing on roast chicken. "This is Beast Territory, after all!"

"Oh, I sprinkled some Beast Repelling Incense," Ye Tian answered.

"What's that?" Layton asked, puzzled—he'd never heard of such a thing.

"It's made from the dung of high-level magical beasts, with a few extra ingredients I added," Ye Tian explained.

"No wonder," Layton realized. So other magical beasts must think a high-level creature is hanging around where they are—no wonder none dared approach.

Low-level magical beasts were abundant and traveled in packs, but they wouldn't trespass into a high-level beast's domain. As for the high-level ones, as long as you didn't threaten them, they were too lazy to bother—better to sleep than look for trouble!

"That's a clever trick!" Layton gave a thumbs-up.

"It's only a temporary measure. If a high-level beast does break in, it won't help," Ye Tian said. "But usually, it won't happen. We're only at the outer edge of Beast Territory. There shouldn't be any magical beasts above level four," Layton replied, smiling.

"Who knows? Still, better to be cautious. Layton, you don't need to climb up tonight—let's sleep down here," Ye Tian said with a sly grin.

"Really?" Tears of joy welled in Layton's eyes. After so many days, he could finally sleep in a bed!

"Really. But be careful," Ye Tian said, still grinning.

Layton shivered. This scheming fellow—what trick was he playing now? Suddenly, food lost all flavor.

"Gray, are you sure about this?" Layton sat up nervously.

"Don't worry, just sleep," Ye Tian replied, tying a rope to a stake, the other end attached to a large stone.

"Gray, how am I supposed to sleep like this?" Layton was close to tears.

This wretched Gray—of course he couldn't let him sleep in peace! First he planted a stake at the foot of Layton's blanket, then tied a rope to it, with a stone dangling above Layton's head!

"It's fine," Ye Tian assured him, "the rope is secure. Just a little movement and the stone will fall."

"Fine? That's the problem!" Layton roared.

"This is training," Ye Tian said.

"Who trains like this?" Layton was on the verge of crying. "Gray, if you just want to mess with me, just say so!"

"Heh, your mouth is getting sharp," Ye Tian patted his shoulder. "Relax, this really is for your training—it's about instinct and intuition, the most basic, primitive things. You'll understand in time."

"You're just fooling the undead," Layton muttered.

Ye Tian scratched his head, grabbed a handful of grass. "Guess how many blades I have here?"

"How would I know?" Layton replied.

"Just guess," Ye Tian smiled.

"Twenty?" Layton hazarded, seeing not too many ends sticking out.

"About fifty-six," Ye Tian replied, spreading his hand and counting them one by one in front of Layton—fifty-seven. Only one off from his guess.

"Impossible! You didn't even count them!" Layton was shocked; Ye Tian had just grabbed them at random and guessed so accurately.

"True, I didn't count, but my first glance told me the number, so that's what I guessed," Ye Tian said seriously.

"Masters have strong intuition. For example, when stepping somewhere, they generally know what's underfoot. When danger comes, their bodies instinctively dodge—it's human nature. So believe me, this is for your own good. Go on, get some sleep. Sweet dreams!" With that, Ye Tian lay comfortably on the shell of the green-haired turtle by the fire.

After Ye Tian's long-winded explanation, Layton lay down helplessly, staring wide-eyed at the unmoving stone, anxiety mounting.

"How could anyone sleep like this?" Layton got up in frustration, only to see Ye Tian already asleep. Annoyed, he grabbed a stick and threw it over.

Bang! Just as the stick was about to hit Ye Tian, the latter rolled aside and dodged the blow.

"Sigh!" Layton gave up and lay down again, but sleep eluded him. Night deepened.

Gradually, Layton's eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off. Suddenly, a gust of wind—thud! The stone crashed down beside him.

Layton bolted upright in terror, eyes fixed on the stone—his head had nearly been cracked open! Beside him, Ye Tian was still snoring away. Layton couldn't sleep after that, eyes wide until dawn.

"Morning!" Ye Tian stretched lazily, greeting the sleepless Layton.

"Yeah, morning," Layton replied weakly.

"Go do your exercises. I'll get breakfast ready," Ye Tian yawned, heading for the lake to wash up.

Layton stumbled over to the plum blossom stakes and began pacing atop them. He could walk them easily now, though he still couldn't run. Soon, Ye Tian returned with a long snake. "We'll have snake stew today!" he declared, heading to the lake to clean and prepare it.

Layton ambled down to wash his face, feeling a bit better.

"Didn't sleep last night, did you?" Ye Tian sliced off the snake's head, skinned it, and cut out the gallbladder. "Eat this—good for your eyes."

"No way!" Layton shook his head violently at the black gallbladder.

"Scared? You're a grown man!" Ye Tian slapped him on the back, paralyzing him, stuffed the gallbladder in, then pressed Layton's throat so he swallowed it.

Ye Tian released his acupoints. Layton staggered aside, coughing and trying to claw the gallbladder back out.

"Don't waste it. Snake gall is a rare medicine, clears the mind and sharpens vision," Ye Tian explained.

"But I don't like you!" Layton retorted, then resumed dry heaving.

"You lot like rare beef, don't you?" Ye Tian continued cleaning the snake, indifferent.

"That's different," Layton protested.

"What's different? It's all raw. Enough of that—go wash up and rest," Ye Tian replied.

Layton dry heaved a bit more but couldn't bring it up, so he lay by the fire, exhausted.

"Really, was all that necessary?" Ye Tian muttered, tossing the snake meat into the turtle shell to make stew.

"Gray, what have you been through?" Layton asked suddenly.

"Oh, everything you have, I've been through—and things you haven't even seen," Ye Tian replied, lighting the fire.

Layton was a bit skeptical.

"I'm an orphan. Sometimes I didn't even know how I survived. For survival, what do you think I did?" Ye Tian gazed into the fire, voice calm.

Layton fell silent. Compared to Ye Tian, he realized how fortunate he was. He'd always thought he was unlucky, but beside Ye Tian, he was nothing.

"Gray—"

"Say no more. Sleep a while. We'll talk tomorrow," Ye Tian interrupted him.

After breakfast, Layton finally drifted off, exhausted. Mages really had weak constitutions—despite Ye Tian's efforts to toughen him up, it wasn't something that could change overnight; it would take time.

Ye Tian had considered using medicinal herbs to help, but decided against it—what comes easily goes easily. Medicine has its risks, not all rare treasures can be consumed recklessly. Of course, Charles was an exception.

Layton lay comfortably on his pack, when suddenly he heard a noise. Opening his eyes, he was startled to see the green-haired turtle spitting magic spheres at Ye Tian!

"Is it mad?" Layton scrambled for his wand, but froze—Ye Tian was dodging the whistling magic balls with his eyes closed!

Yes, eyes closed—Layton saw it clearly. Ye Tian looked almost asleep, his body drifting like a leaf in the wind, or a boat on the sea, swaying with the waves yet effortlessly avoiding every strike.

"Instinct! Intuition!" Those words flashed through Layton's mind—it was really possible. Layton watched in earnest; Ye Tian wasn't using any fancy footwork, just pure evasion—yet so poised, so graceful.

Layton realized once more how outclassed he was. Compared to Ye Tian, he wasn't even worth mentioning!

Suddenly, the green-haired turtle spat out two massive magic spheres, which exploded in midair, showering Ye Tian with corrosive liquid.

Layton's eyes widened as Ye Tian sank, swept his arms, and the corrosive liquid gathered along his hands, forming two large balls! Ye Tian moved in a strange way, and oddly, the corrosive orbs moved with him like crystal, never rupturing.

Slowly, Ye Tian tossed the two corrosion balls aside.

Sizzle! The grass blackened instantly and the water plants withered. Ye Tian struck a finishing pose, then exhaled deeply.

Layton quickly feigned sleep, but inside he was anything but calm.

"Could I ever be as strong as him?" The scene replayed in Layton's mind, leaving him speechless. But he understood—this man before him was truly powerful.

Suddenly, angry roars echoed from the woods, followed by crashing trees and pounding footsteps—something was charging toward them!

"Layton, up!" Ye Tian leapt to his side, startling him. Before he could react—whoosh! A massive figure flew past!

"Watch out!" Ye Tian grabbed Layton and rolled him aside. The figure skidded across the grass and, before Layton could recover, loomed above them with a thunderous roar!