Murim Recurve

Re'Kha relayed the information about the two Golpa to her brothers as she entered the village to rest. She knew that she had to rest appropriately if she wished to battle later. And, now that her brothers were there, she could relax a little.

Even though they acted cowardly, they were capable enough to pull through when necessary. Though, she hadn't seen them fight personally, as both of them weren't the type to mingle around. Re'Gra was an inherently lazy individual while Re'Dha was antisocial.

So, she never got a chance to see them fight.

The village head's house had an extra room within which she stayed. It wasn't much but was enough for the time being. She quickly fell asleep as her body trembled from time to time. She wasn't inflicted by anything dangerous through Fear Qi but was just experiencing confusion and a chaotic mental state after encountering two disasters—the Rua and the Ras.

She woke up later during the day and noticed that her brothers were conversing with the villagers. They had already killed the two Golpas, causing the villagers to thank them profusely. When Re'Kha exited the house, they waved at her, showing to her with pride the two Golpa corpses near them.

Upon seeing the corpses, Re'Kha verified that they were the same Golpas she had seen before. She then looked at the village head, "Were there any causalities?"

"There were three, my lady." The village head replied with a bow.

"When were they killed? Did anyone witness their deaths?"

"Five days ago, the two Golpas attacked our village. And among our fighters, one was killed and taken away by the Golpas. We couldn't give chase since they were able to leap on trees and escape." Upon hearing Re'Kha use the term, the village head used the same to refer to the Golpas. He then spoke, "But, three days ago, we lost two of our members during the night when most of us were asleep. The two had been on night watch and had disappeared without a trace."

'Two people, disappearing without a trace.' Re'Kha frowned, extending her hand to touch the gem on the village head's Tikka jewellery, noticing that it was normal. The Water Qi in it was considerable while the other three blank spaces were sharp. 'Even if it had been damaged, three days is more than enough time for the Tikka jewelleries to recover.'

"Were there no signs of battle? Not even a single sound?" Re'Kha inquired, only to see the village head shake his head, saying none of them heard anything.

'There is a definite possibility the two were lured by the Rua and made to eat each other.' She thought as she spoke, "Is there any cave near here?"

"There is one on the other side of the forest." The village head said, "We never go that far since there are a lot of Golpas on the hills on the other side of the forest."

"Alright, we'll return by evening." Re'Kha looked at her brothers, motioning for them to accompany her. The two didn't say anything as they silently followed Re'Kha. They didn't wish to make a scene before the villagers.

Hugging the thigh of Re'Kha during normal times was something they would have done without any hesitation. But, that was only in the case they were within their house. But out in the open like this, surrounded by commoners, their pride wouldn't allow them to do so. That was, until they left the line of sight of the villagers.

Leaving their horses in the village, the three of them carried their weapons and some tools with them and proceeded into the forest. While travelling, Re'Kha asked them, "How much are your Water Qi reserves?"

"I have all 22 filled up," Re'Gra replied, flashing his bracelet, "Though, I had used this a bit already."

"I have all 10 filled up too," Re'Dha said, "I hadn't used any Pranic Arts in the previous mission. So, I haven't wasted any Water Qi from my bracelet."

"It's for the best that we maintain full reserves all the time." Re'Kha said as she spoke, "Based on what I observed in the Gro Mining Village, the Ras lived within the cave. As for the Rua, I am not sure, but it would indeed need a place to hide within during the day. And, there is a good chance it would lure people to its place. So…"

She spoke, "The clues we need to see are if there is any rectangular hole in the ground. And, it should be a place rich with Earth Qi and…Treka Qi."

Upon hearing her, Re'Gra and Re'Dha wore solemn expressions. Then, they heard Re'Kha continue further, "And, in the case we encounter the Rua, send your Pranic Avatars towards it while we'll use mine to escape. Don't bother fighting against it until big brother Re'Rel arrives."

"I have contacted him," Re'Gra nodded as he spoke, "He said he would return within four days and urged us to be careful."

Eventually, during noon, they arrived before the directed cave as Re'Kha faced her back towards her brothers, using her Wind Qi perception to scour the place. All she noticed within were a couple of eggshells at the very end, "Screw them!"

It was enough for her to verify that the two people that went missing in the village had been caused by a Rua. And, one of them had eaten the other and successfully managed to birth a Ras. And, the Ras had even laid a couple of eggs that had hatched.

And, all three of them had escaped, possibly with the Rua that created them. Re'Kha sprinted into the cave as Re'Gra and Re'Dha followed suit. Soon, she reached the end of the cave, scowling the moment she smelled an intense stench of blood.

Looking around, she found some traces of claw marks and deep footprints in the ground. It was easy to judge that they were from the Golpa. It seemed the Ras had primarily fed on the Golpa to develop.

"Dammit!"