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"Da-ge…. Do we have anymore food…? My tummy…" Nie Huaisang softly whined, wiping at one of his drowsy eyes, while his other hand tightly clung to his older brother's robe sleeve.
Nie Mingjue paused and turned around, easing the rope-drawn bag off of his shoulder.
"There's one prawn cracker left. Do you want to eat it right now?" The older boy asked. He sounded like their father.. if he wielded the voice of a little boy, that is. No matter how much Nie Mingjue tried to mimic him, his childlike features were going nowhere so soon.
Nie Huaisang nodded after a moment of hesitation, almost watching guiltily as his brother opened up the bag to retrieve the last bit of food.
"Mnn… break it in half… Da-ge's hungry too…"
Nie Mingjue looked at him a while, before offering him the entire palm-sized cracker.
"I'm not. Eat. Or you won't grow." He ordered. Nie Huaisang was used to being ordered around by him.. it had always been this way. But it was truly all the younger boy knew. Nie Huaisang poutily puffed out his cheeks but accepted it, taking it into his small hands. He went to lean against a nearby tree to nibble at it.
Nie Mingjue already seemed to be scoping out the clearing they'd stopped in.. If not for the moonlight, it would be difficult to make out the shadows from the trees and rock.
Distantly, Nie Huaisang stared at the crafted wooden saber tucked into his older brother's waist belt.
"We didn't see any monsters at all…. I think they're scared of you." Nie Huaisang murmured.
Nie Mingjue continued his investigation of the vegetation around them, only responding after a minute or so had passed.
"They're not. They know my saber's fake. But I can still defeat yāoguài with it… Then I'll bring their heads back to father." Nie Mingjue explained, kicking a sizable stone in his path into a cluster of bushes. Nie Huaisang seemed to brighten up at the mention of their father.
"So he… so he'll give Da-ge a real one?" He chirped.
Nie Mingjue looked over his shoulder. He offered forth the smallest of smiles to the younger boy.
"Yeah, you remembered. Good work, Huaisang."
Nie Huaisang contently beamed at the small amount of praise he received. Truly, it meant the world to him when it came from his Da-ge.
The cluster of bushes Nie Mingjue had recently kicked the stone into suddenly began to rustle-- though it quickly spread to the entirety of dense forestry that surrounded the two boys. Countless pairs of luminous red orbs peered out from the shroud, followed by a distant guttural yipping sound. Nie Huaisang immediately grew uneasy, pressing his back flush with the tree he leaned against.
"Don't run!" Nie Mingjue immediately ordered, hastily stalking back over to guard his little brother. He withdrew the wooden saber and gripped the sanded hilt with both hands, swinging it downwards in a readied position. He already knew what these beings were… Duoji. They were practically invasive in the Unclean Realm, and Nie Mingjue had seen his father and other Clan cultivators take them on with ease in the past. He remained standing tall when he felt Nie Huaisang tightly hug him around the waist, whimpering into his back when the sounds grew in volume. Yes, the Nie heir had been confident before… until they emerged.
Duoji were a pack beast. They traveled in large numbers.. Their canid-esque heads bore wolven maws and teeth, with unsettlingly large eyes. Their bodies were more akin to a bear with patchy-fur, but their massive paws could easily crush the windpipe of a child. They poured out from the trees, the bushes, and they wouldn't stop…. Doubt crept into Nie Mingjue's mind.. and he felt his arms lock.
He couldn't move. He was… afraid.
When one of the snarling Duoji charged at them, Nie Mingjue's world slowed. It was running at them, but still.. his arms wouldn't move..! They couldn't run, this saber wasn't even real..! He could see the glint of saliva along the beast's massive fangs as it stretched its jaws wide for a strike…… He couldn't even blink.
The Duoji crackled out a wet yowl as a massive blade was plunged into its gullet, with such force, that it roughly deviated out of Nie Mingjue's path, and was pinned to another tree. The beast corpse was quick to grow limp, but this saber was unmistakable… Nie Mingjue was still in a state of shock when he finally registered their rescuer as their father. He sounded so far away when he began to bark out instructions to the rest of the cultivators Nie Mingjue hadn't noticed before….
"Keep them safe, keep them surrounded!"
And other muddled words were all Nie Mingjue could distinguish over the unhinged yowls and cries of the Duoji that now flooded the clearing. Like a well-oiled machine, the Nie night patrol fought and fended off the beasts. Though not without breaking a sweat. Nie Huaisang watched the carnage unfold before him with eyes as wide as his his brother's. He flinched when trace droplets of ruddy-colored blood spattered his cheeks, quickly ducking behind Nie Mingjue once more.
When the creatures stopped pouring from the shadows, the silence came. Duoji corpses were practically piled atop of one another, and their thick blood soaked the earth. Nie Mingjue was finally shaken from his stupor when the voice of his father startled him.
"Just what were you thinking?!" He shouted, approaching the young boy with a swift gait. Nie Guiren had long sheathed his saber, but his rage lingered.. it was palpable. Nie Huaisang immediately crouched to the ground, fearfully tucking his head into his arms. It had always scared him when father yelled. Nie Mingjue blinked once, his lips parting to attempt a response.
"I… I…"
"You what?! Thought you could hunt without a saber on your hip? You cannot even lift the weight of a true blade! And you endangered Huaisang as well..!"
Nie Mingjue felt his pulse quicken when his father grabbed him by the front of his robe, yanking him upwards. Now he could see his father's bloodshot eyes… feel the heat of his breath.
"Mingjue! Answer me!"
Nie Mingjue finally felt the bud of frustrated tears well behind his eyes,and he tightly grit his teeth. His far smaller hands went to grip at his father's wrist.
"I wanted to show you that I can do it! I don't need to wait! I can handle a saber, I can! I can…." The young boy shouted back. It was short-lived anger. And followed by a sniffle.
Almost immediately, the fire in Nie Guiren's eyes dissipated. His expression faded into something softer… and he slowly lowered the young boy to the ground. Nie Guiren then lowered himself to both of his knees, and hung his head with a ragged breath.
"Never again….." He breathed.
He swiftly, and quite suddenly, reached out to tug both Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang against his much larger form. Nie Huaisang immediately latched onto him and began bawling, and Nie Mingjue… found that the burning in his eyes had been joined by a sore throat.
"Never make me think I've lost you two again….." Nie Guiren gritted out, his large fingers going to cradle the back of their heads as he held them both. Nie Mingjue said nothing. Instead, he pushed his face into his father's bloodied clothes and hoped his tears would be snuffed out.