[Whoa.]
[What the heck?]
[Frosttusk, why am I sensing your particular brand of Chaos but...angrier?]
[Think... Patriarch...Zhen...Shi...not...in...a...good...mood...]
[Oooh...should we wake the maestro up for this?]
[Nah, let him sleep. We got a big day tomorrow anyways.]
[Fair.]
...
In the dead of night, the Fourth Young Master of the Zhen Clan stirred from his sleep.
Not because he sensed sothing was wrong...but because he needed to use the restroom.
"Freaking a..."
That said, he did have an inkling that sothing was going on, but he was too damn tired to give a shit.
"Toilet to the right..."
Besides, he had to be sowhat cheerful due to tomorrow’s activities.
________Eight little hours later, because people actually sleep healthy in this world...___
"Father..."
"Hermit Zhong Wei..."
"Why do you guys have black eyes?"
both old n said in huffy tones of voice that were ill-fitting for people their age.
Then again, a lot of things got said last night...and soone might’ve been punched in the gonads at so point...so let it just be known that when old n argue about sothing kind of dumb...it’s best to let things go.
Back to the matter at hand though...
In the bright early morning hours at Stone Claw City, the Zhen Clan gathered in front of what was once a tapped out opal mine.
The mine used to be a source of inco for the city, but like every mine, it eventually ran out of minerals and was converted to cheap real estate around the sa ti then Mister Zhen Shi and Miss Bai Hua first ca into town.
They bought up the place, built up their ho and the rest was history.
However, due to reasons beyond their understanding, that abandoned mine’s entrance had suddenly transford into the telltale tear in space that were commonly associated with wandering ruins.
Unlike the one that was previously used for the Prospector’s Challenge not too long ago though, the energy emanating from this particular entryway felt significantly purer and a touch more formidable.
To the untrained warrior, this particular type of energy would’ve evoke feelings of elation and joy, as these were the signs that sothing truly formidable and rare was hidden on the other side.
To the inford mbers of the Zhen Clan though, this aura just reinforced that this was a really dumb idea. Then again, that could’ve just been the jitters talking...or the fact that Zhen Liu hadn’t summoned his overpowered puppets yet.
The Zhen Clan had opted to double check everything that they were bringing, supplies and equipnt, just to make sure that they were prepared for what was going to co next. After all, wandering ruins had a tendency to be a little...weird. Evidently, one of those double checked items was Zhen Liu’s puppets.
"Hey Xiao Liu? I don’t an to rush you, but would it be possible to..."
"Have the puppets summoned as a form of reassurance?," Zhen Liu finished his cousin’s question before he could complete it. "Technically yes, but on the chance that this rift in the universe acts up, I’m going to wait until after we cross it to summon them all."
"Oh. Okay..."
"Wait, didn’t you have that jade one summoned when we went through that one during the Prospector’s Challenge?," Zhen Yue pointed out.
"That one wasn’t radiating a weirdly intimidating aura that makes feel like I’m staring into the eyes of a soulless beast."
"Fair enough."
Eventually though, the prep work ca to an end, and the Zhen Clan had to be on their rry way.
"Alright, if everyone’s ready. Let’s go," Hermit Zhong Wei declared once he saw that everyone was more or less prepared.
This would usually be the part where he would give so sort of speech or a reminder to everyone on their tasks, but frankly speaking, he was still sowhat sore from the night prior and had little desire to talk until it was necessary.
Which would be rather soon.
...
As the Zhen Clan made their way through the rift to the wandering ruins, Zhen Liu turned inward as he did. He didn’t need to participate in as a friend though.
’Double checking sothing, really quick, did grandpa and that hermit dude fought each other last night?’
[We think so.]
’Okay...why didn’t you guys wake up to tell about it?’
[We figured you needed to sleep.]
’Fair enough.’
_____One warp through reality and space-ti later...________
’Vlergg... I’m never gonna get used to the feeling of my stomach being my where heart is pumping after a warp, aren’t I?’
[Probably not.]
[Nope...]
[Once again, I am thankful I don’t have any real organs...I think.]
[Producer. We’re ready to be summoned whenever you are.]
’Aye...’
...
"Whoa..."
"Damn..."
"This place is way bigger than I thought..."
"Ey yo! Xiao Liu, you good?!"
When the Zhen Clan crosses the rift’s threshold, there was a small anticipation that the entry was going to be anything but smooth.
Wandering Ruins were known to warp in their visitors in all sorts of situations, ranging from being underwater to in the middle of a nest of Scorching Hell Hornets. Granted, the most common ans of entry had always been mid-air drops.
Much to the pleasant surprise of the Zhen Clan though, it was none of these.
Instead, as the scouts reported, the scions and elders of the Zhen Clan had simply appeared on the top of a large cliff overlooking a large tropical jungle and a mysterious stone temple that had a heavy monkey motif to it’s design.
That being stated, the temple wasn’t going to be their target...yet.
Funnily enough, it was at this point in ti that Hermit Zhong Wei decided to do that debriefing that was ant for before they entered the place.
Better late than never though.
Hermit Zhong Wei called out with an aether enhanced voice, prompting the elders and scions to turn towards him. Once all eyes were on him, Hermit Zhong Wei proceeded to produce a bundle of maps from a spatial storage ring, that he then distributed to everybody present. As he did, he explained the map’s contents.
Nobody verbally said anything, but the Zhen Clan elders and scions did exchange looks suggesting they knew what he was talking about about on a personal level.
Zhen Liu grumbled as he removed each of his accessories and placed them in the palm of his hands. Once he took off about five of them, he counted them all in his palms.
He didn’t have to do it like this, but he needed to play up that these accessories were puppets and not anything more... sentient.
"One, two...cool. Summon!"
With a flick of a wrist, and a toss of the accessories, five incredibly distinct puppets appeared one after the other, right next to their assigned groups.
As weird as it sounded though, the elders and scions of the Zhen Clan swore that they saw the puppets look oddly excited about their upcoming venture, despite not showing any facial movents.
...
[Finally, a real fight!]
[It has been a while since we actually got to go wild sowhere...]
[It’s...warm...here...]
[Having been born in the middle of a war, not really seeing the fondness for it.]
[I get you, I prefer the stage to the...huh?]
[What’s up?]
[Nothing major, but I get the feeling sothing amazing is about to happen.]
...
With maps distributed,goals reminded and "puppets" summoned, the groups of elders and scions proceeded to mingle with one another one last ti before heading off in their assigned directions.
It was during this period that Princess Jinju Ren decided to sneak up on Zhen Liu, while he was in the middle of discussing their plan of action alongside his father, Jin Fang and Rianna.
"Hey, darling," Jinju Ren said as she tapped on Zhen Liu’s shoulder, prompting to turn around.
"Hmmm? What’s up, Jinju-Mmmf?!"
*CHUUU!*
The next thing he knew, the dragon-blooded princess from the Pearl Scale Empire decided to boldly kiss him in front of everybody after grabbing his collar and pulling him towards herself.
A few cheers, jeers and exaggerated sounds of disgust quietly echoed through the groups at the public display of affection.
After all, in a place like this, it wasn’t unwarranted.
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