Chapter 75: A Brief Parting

Chapter 75: A Brief Parting

Bran walked alone, with the Black Cat Huahua, singing a song that no one could understand. The chatter and venting from the night before had made him feel much lighter and happier. As for what his cousins were feeling, that was outside his consideration. With Danny escorting them for part of the journey, he had done his duty as a host. And he was heading to the final destination on the Fertile Plains Grassland—Jade Water Pool.

He knew his words last night were a bit harsh, but that was fine. Because as relatives, the blood connection could never be severed, and they would inevitably, willingly or unwillingly, have various interactions. So, it was necessary to show some bottom lines about certain things.

Dia watched Danny seeing Bran off and explained, “I’m really not like that.”

Danny smiled. “I know, and Bran knows too. He just wants to be alone. He’s gotten used to being alone these years.”

“Really?” Dia said uncertainly.

“Mhm. After spending so much time together, I can understand some of his strange talk a bit.” Danny laughed.

“He didn’t say anything,” Dia said, curious.

“The song he was just singing. He’s like that sometimes. He says things he doesn’t want to tell others in strange ways, talking to that cat. Don’t overthink it; he didn’t take it to heart.” Danny looked at Bran’s figure gradually swallowed by the grass and withdrew her gaze.

…

Bran left, and his cousins were quite pleased. Bran’s personality wasn’t likable. Often, he seemed out of place with his surroundings, and sometimes he even brought an inexplicable pressure to those around him. Especially when both sides weren’t familiar, the sense of distance from Bran was particularly obvious. It was just that his cousins had been tasked with looking after their younger cousin, and now they hadn’t completed it, which annoyed them a little.

Now Bran left Danny and went alone. Not having to see Bran sticking close to Danny, and especially not having to see Bran being held in Danny’s arms as if it were perfectly natural—that disgusting sight—made them very happy. Now Danny belonged to them, at least that’s what they thought.

Dia was very puzzled by Danny’s action of giving her weapon to Bran last night. Even for an Attendant relationship, it shouldn’t be done. As soon as Bran’s figure disappeared into the grass, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked, “Sister Danny, why did you give your weapon to him last night?”

Danny gave Dia a somewhat regretful look. Although these young girls hadn’t treated Bran well at all, they genuinely liked her later, even trying to please her. So she explained, “Right now, if anyone in the Castle heard him ask for a weapon, they would only be happy. No one could refuse him. You missed a good opportunity.”

“How could that be? Your weapon is considered a masterpiece even in our Northlands. How could you just hand it over to him like that? And no one could refuse? Impossible!”

Danny said with a smile, “My weapon was made by him.”

“What? Say that again!”

Danny advised, “Go after him. He’ll be waiting for you not far away, but he won’t wait long.”

Then she watched as the teenagers ran off in the direction where Bran had disappeared.

“I suggest you go too.” Danny looked at the Western Territory Warriors and said, then fell silent. She remembered what Bran often said: some things depend on chance; don’t force them.

…

Bran felt truly at ease. Now he felt the Fertile Plains Grassland opened its arms to him; here he felt freedom. This place was no longer full of dangers; here there were countless treasures. The glow from the blade in his hand still lit up from time to time. Adapting his body was a long process; he still needed to maintain a certain intensity of training to speed up this adaptation. But it was different from his previous mindset of struggling to survive.

Bran decided to broaden his horizons and go to the Territories of some truly powerful beasts. Jade Water Pool was very safe, that was true, but the path would pass through the Territories of some powerful beasts, so he decided to take a look along the way.

…

Four-Sided Cliff, a not very large hill, was named for its square shape. According to records, there was a huge, ancient Snow Falcon on the cliff. Bran wanted to see the figure of that Giant Falcon soaring in the sky. Just thinking about it made his blood boil with excitement.

But Bran was disappointed. Even after standing at the base of Four-Sided Cliff, he still hadn’t seen that legendary giant figure. This wasn’t normal, so he decided to climb to the top of the cliff to see. He walked around the cliff, carefully observing its condition, looking for a good surface to climb. He didn’t want to intrude into some raptor’s nest during the climb and provoke an attack. And he set the climbing time for Night, which was more advantageous for him. Now Night and day didn’t affect him much; after gaining his senses, the Night could no longer block his vision.

When the moon reached its zenith, Bran climbed up Four-Sided Cliff. The night wind blew, and everything seemed perfectly normal. A few weak cries from afar reached Bran’s ears. Following the sound, Bran found a dying chick in the grass, a young falcon. Only this chick was rather large; if not for its fluffy down, Bran would have had a hard time classifying it as a chick.

After giving this chick simple aid—or rather, after feeding this chick with a big appetite and a big size—Bran began searching along the edge of the cliff. The chick seemed to know that following him meant getting meat, so it followed closely behind him. Finally, Bran found his target in a huge eagle’s nest: a massive, hill-shaped figure that had completely lost its vitality. Time had left too many marks on this giant bird. Bran carefully examined the bird and found no fatal wounds; it must have simply died of old age in its nest. This disappointed Bran and made him feel a bit lost. Such a formidable raptor had died silently…

…

Now Bran had turned back and caught up with Danny, bringing along that oversized chick and recounting his experience: “You know, it’s impossible for me to carry such a burden, but I couldn’t bear to leave it to die.”

But Danny clearly wasn’t concerned about the chick. Instead, she pressed, “Is this what you call safe? You entered the nest of a legendary Giant Falcon and came back with a chick.”

Bran scratched his head. “It didn’t seem that dangerous…”

Any chick was actually quite cute, regardless of size. So now his cousins were gathered around the young falcon. If not for the chick’s high vigilance, pecking at the little hands reaching out from time to time, who knows how many claw marks would be left on it.

Faced with Danny’s gaze, Bran felt a bit guilty and tried to change the subject. “That’s not the point, Danny. This is likely the Bloodline of that legendary Giant Falcon. If we raise it, think how exciting that would be!”

Danny reached out and pulled Bran into her arms, saying nothing more. So Bran quieted down, not defending himself further. In fact, many of his actions were no different from other children’s. After something happened, he started looking for excuses and reasons to justify himself. The only difference was that he was causing his own trouble.

Seeing Bran’s reaction, Danny said, “This is a good falcon. Look at its eyes—alert and spirited. You’re lucky to have met it when it was weakest and most in need of help. We’ll raise it, just like you raised Huahua.”

“Mhm. We’ll raise it, safe and sound.” Bran added.