The night had come. Dark overcast skies looked upon them all. Even the moons had hidden themselves behind the clouds. It was too late, this was going to be their death—the man landed at the foot of the mountain and only looked back once. There was nothing that chased them down from the summit and somehow they were back on the safer lands.

"Is something the matter?" Setsuko asked him. "Are you cold?"

The demi-fox girl had already learned how to control her transformation properly and had reverted to her human form.historical

Li Yang shook his head. "No, nothing in particular. Maybe I was just overthinking." He had made sure not to touch or come anywhere near that place so surely it meant that he didn't trigger it himself.

.

" Are you sure we can't have a camp, Mitsuko?"

The Priestess glanced at Li Yang and Setsuko being lovey-dovey and shook her head. "No, we've already been delayed for far too much. The High Priestess will be displeased if we stay here any longer."

The man may have hurried them down the mountain, but if the two had the chance to be like that—then she didn't get why he was nervous earlier. Or at least she hoped he hadn't done anything stupid while he was at the mountain and tried to get them away from it.

Regardless, Mitsuko didn't want to stay another night with those two in her open view. "I'm sure that everyone else can still run for the entire night. I didn't beat any of you that hard—"

The earth trembled and shook. Priestess Mitsuko immediately swerved back to the mountain and expected an avalanche—

The man immediately glanced up, but only came upon the sight of another magnificent looking caterpillar. Although grotesque might have suited it better. It looked intimidating with its dark red and black stripes, it had numerous tendril hairs that stuck out menacingly around it.

One of the Priestess wiped her sweat and happily patted the insect. "Well, we've finally gotten ourselves a ride now—this thing is a bit slow, but it can keep moving all night. I'm too tired to run anymore."

"Are you sure that you can control that thing?"

"Yeah."

"Ugh, it's the Hirari Devil Caterpillar." Setsuko grumbled underneath her breath. She grabbed his robe's sleeve and said, "Easy to tame with one's Ao, but not the most comfortable ride—try not to get stung when we ride it, alright?"

"How come?" Li Yang asked. He looked back at it and hoped that all of them could fit there. "Is it poisonous?" The idea that it was summoned to serve them as a carriage didn't make much sense if that was the case.

"No, it's just very hairy and stings a little when you ride it, but I guess there's not much of an option."

"That's fine with me, let's go." He beckoned her to come with him. "The faster we get back, then the faster that the both of us can rest." It was easy for them to hitch a ride and he ensured that neither he or she got stung by the spines.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get in bed with you—" Setsuko paused at her words and studied his expression. She quickly pouted and lightly knocked her fist against his shoulder. "I really just mean the bed! I'm tired after looking for you."

"I never questioned it." Li Yang raised a brow and smiled briefly. It was difficult to relax for him, when all he wanted to do was look back and check that everything was truly safe.

Setsuko shook her head. "Your expression says otherwise."

Behind them, a couple of the others were coaxing Mitsuko to get on. The Priestess came up last to join them and she scrambled up carefully down the creature.

"Be a bit careful Mitsuko—"

She still slipped. Li Yang reached out and grabbed the Priestess' hand before she fell back, the woman luckily tried to find a spot close to both him and Setsuko. She then situated herself behind the two of them and sighed. "Thank you, I've never ridden in such a thing like this before."

"Neither have I," he said.

"That's not quite true, while it wasn't exactly the same variety—we also have ridden on other giant beast insects like this one while we were hunting before." Setsuko reminded him. "How long till we get back to the temple though?"

"Do you really think that you'll be able to get inside of the temple without being reprimanded at all?" The Priestess managing the caterpillar looked back at Setsuko. "Your consort might also get in trouble for sneaking out—"

"That's enough, Ulva. You should let the rest of us some peace and quiet, the High Priestess will decide the appropriate punishment for the two when we get there," Mitsuko said. She clicked her tongue. "There is no use in contemplating otherwise."

"O-oh, of course, Mitsuko. I'll stay silent, please have a good rest. I'll take care of our ride all the way back." the insect-controller nodded and turned back to managing the insect's direction.

Li Yang glanced at the Priestess but before he could say a word—she beat him to it.

"I am worn out from dealing with this issue today, please don't speak anymore." Mitsuko narrowed her gaze at him. "I was supposed to take a break from you, and yet I keep getting myself—nevermind it."

She refused to say another word again and stared at the trees that they passed by.

Behind them, some of the Priestesses were leaning against one another and resting. Whereas, Mitsuko herself stood up straight and firmly in her position and stood unwavering. He wanted to say that it didn't seem restful, offer the same, but heeded her request for silence.

It didn't even take another second for Setsuko to snuggle up to him once she sensed his sigh and reluctance to relax. Somehow, it felt like they were closer than before but a terrible wedge was still lodged in between them.

This was a frustrating thing for Setsuko to realize and she wanted to blame Mitsuko for it. But then she remembered how the Priestess helped her find Li Yang, and so, she would let the woman off just this time.

—-

Slap. The thwack echoed inside the temple's quiet halls.

The entirety of the women gathered in the hallways did not know how to react and it even felt like they weren't supposed to be seeing this. Mareena, Tomura and others who were close to Leila didn't dare approach right now. Some of them tried to get away and return to their chambers lest they get involved, but the rest were rooted in spot.

"Why did you do that, Priestess Rei?" Leila's eyes brimmed with tears. She clenched her fists together and tried to look at the other woman. A bubble of emotions sprang up within her. "Is it because of me? Is it because I didn't use the Beast Cores like you wanted me to? That I lied to you about studying with Mitsuko?"

This was ridiculous.

The sting on Priestess Rei's face didn't hurt quite as much as the sight of her junior looking at her betrayed because of the man. She had already dealt with the rebuke of the High Priestess Rhelea earlier, but now Leila was upset because she gave Yang a map when he himself had asked for it?

What a strange thing to be in right now. It wasn't as if she truly hated the man or anything like it. She had even asked him to take care of Leila for her and ensure that she was properly educated. So why was it backfiring on her right now?

"Why won't you speak up—"

"I gave it to him, yes." Priestess Rei admitted. She raised her head and stared at the ceiling and tried to keep her composure. The woman squeezed her eyes shut. "I did not expect.."

Her voice trailed off and she couldn't quite say a thing.

Why had she even done this in the first place?

Leila had no trouble speaking her mind. She spoke far too easily with her and probably the rest of the Priestesses. "But you shouldn't have done that! Did you want to get rid of him? You did—didn't you? Because Lady Setsuko and him got your room and—"

"Shut up," A voice finally said.

It wasn't Rei's but her sister's instead. Her twin looked at Priestess Leila without the same amount of concern that Rei had for the younger woman.

"If you have time to throw accusations at a senior Priestess then surely you have enough time to get out of my sight." Kei Kitagawa's voice dripped with venom.

Leila stared up at her in fear, then looked at Rei—those words spilled out of her mouth far too easily, didn't it? She never realized how careless such words might be. And yet, she bowed and held her hands together. "Thank you for your instruction, I'll be leaving now—"

"Scram." Kei Kitagawa had no patience for that brat. Instead she grabbed Rei's shoulders and carried her away from the rest of the Priestesses and into her room. She didn't say a thing.

The silence weighed heavily between them.

Between the two of them, it was Rei who spoke far more. Her sister had the kinder heart between them, and much softer too. Kei didn't consider herself the same even though people were prone to assume otherwise.

"It's that couple's fault, isn't it?"

Rei didn't quite register her sister's word, still caught up in her own world, but then looked at Kei. "What did you say?"

"—started falling apart."