CHAPTER- 6 Three reasons
"Oh, no need for your thanks—they were surprisingly...springy"
"Springy? what sprin–WAIT WHAT!?" Vivianne yelped in horror. Placing a hand on her chest protectively, as if they might drop at any moment.
"Y-youu you!" she pointed a wobbly finger at Rahu as if he were the biggest villain in the world.
"Pipe down, kid, what kind of man would I be if I didn't give those buns a bit of squeeze?, And yet you still dare blame me? Rahu shook his head wryly, still grilling the barbecue meat with the same laid-back attitude.
"You! Shameless humph! And why am I the one being blamed here?" She shot back, unable to believe how shameless a guy this was! First, you grope me, and now it's my mistake to blame him!? Excuse me?
Any goodwill or gratitude she felt for this guy just vanished in a puff.
"And don't call me a kid! I'm a lot older than you, handsome bastard!" She huffed,
Rahu just chuckled and finally raised his gaze towards her, his violet orb shining with a raw intensity that made the woman shudder.
"Come here."
Lost in those mesmerizing eyes, she started walking towards him before she even knew it.
"W-wait, why am I even…?"
"Sigh, maybe I should just cover my face from now on, perhaps my charms are too much for these lambs…how sorrowfully hard my life is."
"Wha-Rascal! How can you be so narcissistic!?" Vivianne blurted out a laugh. For the first time in her long, boring cultivation years, she let out a hearty chuckle. Relaxing, ever so slightly.
"For a woman alone in a forest, with a guy like me in a cave, you sure are relaxed." Rahu also chuckled, gesturing for her to come closer.
"Cut the meat in half, give me the half, and the rest you can stuff into that fat belly of yours."
"My belly is not fat! Yours is!" she retorted with a pout, puffing her cheeks. She snatched the knife and swung at the poor meat as if it had been the one to wrong her!
"Hmph, I'm only doing this to repay the debt!"
Despite all the complaining (which were all huffs and puffs), she cut the meat gently and delicately into pieces.
Then she took a few pieces and gave the rest to Rahu, who was patiently watching her, like a husband hungry after a day of work.
Rahu picked the pieces, opened his mouth wide, and gobbled up the meat like there was no tomorrow. Totally ignoring Vivianne's astonished face.
"How can a guy be this mannerless! That handsome face is wasted on you!" She shouted with a bit of indignation in her voice. Seeing him not even glance at her, she also picked a piece and gently took a bite.
"Mhmmm~"
Tasteful, Rich, and dense Mana filled her stomach. Filling her with a sense of euphoria, so strong that she let out a moan.
"This! This is so tasty, what did you add to this?" she asked excitedly.
"Oh, A spirit lotus."
"Ahh! no wond- WHAAAT!?" her eyes widened in absolute horror, her heart was drumming so fast that it could blast out any moment.
"NOO! You bastard, fight me to death right this instant!" she roared, her eyes red with rage and…well, even more rage!
"Relax, I just added a single petal; the rest are safe." Seeing her actions, Rahu let out an amused sigh.
╭(°ㅂ°)╮`
"This infuriating little fucker!, I will definitely kill him someday, or my poor heart will be blasted before I even notice."
She tore through the flesh like a caveman, her cheeks puffing as she stuffed the meat in her mouth.
Seeing this, Rahu shook his head," What are you? A caveman? Aren't you from the great Divine Sword Sect? Where are your manners?"
"..."
She just ignored him because she didn't think she could hold herself back this time around!
"Alright, alright, I was joking, now tell me the reason why you guys entered this forest and foolishly risked yourselves?" He calmed her down, after all, too much teasing can lead to the opposite results (which he just did), so he wanted her to relax before inquiring.
Vivianne, sensing that there was no humour in his tone, also straightened her back. Taking a deep breath.
"...As you already know, I am from the Divine Sword Sect. I came here for a mission. That is to retrieve the Spirit Lotus, an important ingredient to make a special pill. The details of the pill are not privy to me, so I don't know." She paused, letting the information sink in.
"My master asked me to bring it in the form of a mission. A few of the other disciples and I came looking for the herb–" Her widened comically, as if she'd suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, where are Liu Ming and Bai Ming?"
"Dead"
"What? Dead? How? Where?" she stammered, not particularly caring about their lives, but at the end of the day, they had followed her into the forest; it was her responsibility …or her pride.
It showcased her inability to lead the people, and lastly, she also lost the fight against her opponent, not to mention the spirit lotus that she had failed to acquire.
"I-I am really a failure, I not only failed my mission, but I also lost miserably in the fight." At the end, her eyes moistened ever so slightly.
Rahu observed her face; he didn't offer any comforting words or any sweet words; he just sat there, watching her.
"Indeed, you failed–not because of the above reasons you mentioned, but for three main reasons," he said in a measured tone, raising three fingers with a small smirk.
Vivianne blinked, not expecting such an answer, she thought he would comfort her and offer some insights, but the cold, logical reply of his inexplicably soothed her; her ears perked up attentively.
"Recklessness, guilelessness, and foolishness," he said flatly.
"When you saw the Spirit Lotus, you just rushed in to fight the ape without a proper plan, it would've been alright if you had more strength than it, but no–Second, instead of sending those fools to retrieve the Spirit lotus you could have just baited them and ambushed when it lowered its guard slightly" he paused letting the words sink in.
"Thirdly– It was foolish of you to just stay there and fight it to the end, you could have retreated and attacked it when it was recovering, or could have prepared a trap to isolate it, and honestly, there are many other ways."
"Now…do you understand, kid?" his lips curved upward into that oh-so-infuriating smirk of his.