Frostflame Bear King
Frostflame Bear King
His father was in deep thought, talking while trying to formulate a plan.
"Yes, it's true. It wasn't just one report but multiple ones detailing the same thing. A Frostflame Bear that is different from the rest. It towers over its kin, the rest have no choice but to follow its call. The flames coming from it are white, strong enough to freeze anything in an instant. Not even a cultivator of the Ice Dao can go against it", he explained.
His son just stared at him in disbelief before Xing Hou asked another question.
"But why? How?..."
Their father could only sigh helplessly, shrugging his shoulders at those words.
"One must've lived long enough to reach that level of power. Or perhaps it was born that way and we just didn't realize it until now. Although we keep a watchful eye over their territory, none of our lookouts have ventured deep."
After saying this, he took another look at the reports before lifting his gaze up to his children.
"I know what the two of you are thinking and I forbid it! Neither of you will go there, it is simply too dangerous for the two of you. Think of how powerful this one bear that you fought was, do you think you can even survive the encounter with a Frostflame Bear King?"
He was swift and firm, his word came down like a hammer. Neither of them could protest or even say anything back to their father.
However, the look on their faces showed their thoughts clearly.
Even if Ming Yue wasn't there, a Frostflame Bear King was a danger to the kingdom. To these two, this was their home and they couldn't tolerate letting something that dangerous roam freely.
Their father just stared at their expressions, taking a moment to get a good look at their eyes. And then he sighed.
"I may be your father but I'm still the king. A Frostflame Bear King hasn't appeared in the past several hundred years. The other tribes should've received that same report and we'll be gathering a group of experts to go and hunt it down. Not just any experts but those who have personally hunted a Frostflame Bear before."
There was some chuckling coming from the side as their grandfather smiled.
"Mm, interesting. Does that mean that I can join as well?" he asked, pointing at himself.
All of their heads turned in disbelief at what he said.
"Father-in-law, you can't be serious. When was the last time you had gone out to fight?"
The king just looked at him, unable to tell whether he was serious or not. Even his wife couldn't help but question her own father.
"But your weapons and armor, you haven't donned them in years! You're rushing into things!"
But the old man just laughed before revealing a rather mischievous look.
"Are you sure about that? Do you think that I don't have my own ways? I can come and go when I please, you know. Besides, even if I haven't been out much, do you think you can have a proper match with me?"
The mischievous look stayed but the air around him suddenly changed, transforming into a foreboding aura. The others suddenly flinched but held on. It was just for a moment, but that old man seemed so much larger than them.
His aura changed back which brought on a collective breath of relief from his family.
"Any complaints?"
He grinned, looking straight at the king, his own son-in-law.
Both Xing Juren and Xing Hou looked at their father who sighed in defeat.
"Fine, you can go, you're welcome to lead the group as well."
The old man shook his head at the offer instead.
"Hah, my days of being a leader are over, I'd rather stay as one of many warriors."
"Fine, fine, do as you wish but Juren and Hou'er are not going and you will not bring them with you. That is something I will not budge on."
The king looked back at his father with sharp eyes as he said this, almost saying it like a threat.
But the old man just laughed.
"Alright, alright, do as you wish, they're your kids after all."
He turned to leave but not before looking at Xing Juren and Xing Hou from the corner of his eye. His mouth curled up just barely before leaving the room.
"Alright, if that's all you have for me, the both of you could go back and rest for a bit. I'm sure that things have not been easy for both of you. Take this time to relax. After that, we should have dinner together, it's been quite some time since we've done that."
The two nodded before leaving and the king was now alone with his queen.
"I'm going to have a few guards stationed by their rooms. I can't help but think that they aren't going to stand still."
His wife walked up to his side, placing both hands on his shoulders to comfort him.
"They are our children, they're like us when we were younger. Full of energy, full of courage..."
"Also stubborn and stupid."
"See, just like us when we were younger", she answered.
"Hah, the Ten-Year Trial is one thing, I understand that. It is something that we all went through but... going on to challenge something that spells certain death? I just don't see why they'd do such a thing."
As said this, he grabbed a cup from his desk, drinking some cold tea.
"It shouldn't take long for the group to gather. There aren't many that have fought and killed a Frostflame Bear. And there are probably even fewer who'd want to challenge a king of those beasts. I just hope that nothing goes wrong."
Taking another sip, he looked at the cup of cold tea before looking at the scattered documents on his desk.
"I'm finished. I can't look at these anymore. Let's go brew some tea together.
He looked up at his wife lovingly while she had a surprised but happy smile.
"Alright, let's go!"
She suddenly grabbed his shoulders, pulling him out of his chair and practically, dragging him off to the kitchens.
And the days came by quickly as experts from other tribes arrived at the Xing Clan's territory. In total, twenty had shown up to fight but these warriors didn't come alone. There was a group of old men and women, all of whom seem rather fragile.
"Ah, they're here, those damn sly foxes. They're probably going to get me to try to marry one of them."
Xing Hou watched from afar, looking at the group in annoyance.
"Ehehehe, don't worry about it, The day you leave for your trial is the day we leave for the Frostflame Bear. At least you managed to delay it!"
Sitting cross-legged next to her was her grandfather, eating a bowl of noodles while looking at the group. His eyes were wide open as he looked in curiosity.
"Mm, there's a few good ones there. Some of them might be a match for your brother!" he added.
Whilst he was busy sizing them all up, her thoughts wandered off.
"I know but Ming Yue... will she be alright? She should've been able to escape right?"
Speaking of the cultivator, she was certainly not alright nor did she choose to escape. Within the Frostflame Bear's territory, there were corpses everywhere, all of which were Frostflame Bears.
There were varying wounds on all of them, some were clean cuts while others were messy and rough. The scent of blood was thick enough to form a light red mist, dying the ice in the blood.
One could hear constant roaring as trees fell and shattered like glass.
It looked as if there was a war between bears, ferociously fighting over territory.