My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

145  Calm before the storm n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Han Li and Yue Li ran once more, this time, he didn't carry them on his back but instead walked behind them. He often changed his position just in case some other crazy Cultivators planned to attack him.

Demons were sane cultivators, but for them, killing people for no reason when they find themselves in unknown circumstances was an ordinary thing.

Wasn't it logical?

If not, it was very logical for them.

To kill for fun or just for a better sense of security.

Not all of them here would be sane, especially if they had any knowledge of where they were and what might await them. That also went for if people had found any Life-Type Magical Resources already.

If anyone had found it and the news was out, it would only get more rowdy, especially because of a simple fact that Han Li was all too aware of. Sacred Talent cultivators were arrogant almost all the time.

From their earliest ages to this very day, they probably didn't see any other Sacred Talent Cultivator or anyone who could actually put them in their place at their own level. And when they see someone running at them or someone they perceive as "Interesting," they would attack.

He knew how far such idiocy went.

Or there could also be the other type, the type who would lust after his mother. Or even… Ruo. She was a child barely at the age of 13 at the moment, but not all of the people here would see her the same as he did. Especially Demons. They would, at most, see her as a beautiful tool at best.

And in a place out of sight of forces like the Demon Restraining Temple who would list them as wanted Demons across the continent once they go against the law, it would become all too clear, very soon, how far even the 'righteous' men could go. Han Li didn't speak on the way while Yue Li held Ruo safely in her grasp and walked forward. No matter what was happening, she felt secure as long as her son followed them.

Even though she felt as if corpses were pulling her leg from the ground, she pushed that feeling away for now. Her conscious felt torn between her son and morality, but her son had way too much of an advantage when it came to her mind.

"There is a stream near us, to your left, walk to the left," came his transmission straight to her mind, and she walked to her left without a word.

They soon found themselves near a stream. It was a small stream surrounded by some meter-tall buffs; Han Li sighed to himself as he told his mom to go and wash Ruo clean. She looked at him for a second and went down to wash Ruo.

At the same time, Han Li turned his focus to his surroundings.

His gaze was deep red; it roamed left and right while his Soul Sense covered the whole area in a 10-meter circle around himself. No matter whether they were a threat or not, they would be killed as long as they entered it. But he hoped no Power Born would come with his deepest heart. 'I should quickly try to find another Life Type Resource. Only then will I have something to use against the Power Borns if it all goes down. And then there is also Ruo…' He turned towards them but smiled and looked away.

His Mother was covering them with a cloth that they had taken on the way and cleaning the dirty swamp mud from her. He wondered when his own mother had grown so untrusting of himself.

'Or maybe she is doing this to avoid others seeing anything they shouldn't if they come?' he thought of that and felt much better. Overall though, even he could tell he was avoiding thinking about his first conversation that would soon follow with Ruo by thinking about all of such things.

Deep feelings lay buried in his heart, and he knew his first conversations would poke a hole in his defenses. But this was not a place for the weak; he was just one of the small players in this game, and he had to be cautious.

Even if he gained a Life-Type Resource, there was nothing that could outright protect him. All of the Life-Type Resources were utility sort most of the time; at best, potent poison or something similar would be the best choice to trade with, but even that had its limitations.

Life-type resources were rare, but that didn't mean they were the best for all situations.

It was related to Life, and they were life forms; that was it.

Light would have been much better.

After thinking while being just as alert, Han Li thought of what to trade for and just then, his mother called for him. "The clothes you took are far too big for the girl but enough to cover her, but don't go steal them from other children," she said and walked out of the small stream with a dressed-up Ruo.

Just the sight of her now clean face and wet white hair made Han Li remember the last time he saw her. A cold corpse hanging from the tree.

But even now, the girl's eyes were blank; she looked at Yue Li with a rather strange gaze, but Han Li could guess what she must be thinking. 'Why is this woman not beating me?'

"Mom, handle her with care…" he said softly, "she—"

"Don't teach a mother how to care for children."

He nodded.

"Now what?" Yue Li asked.

Han Li took a deep breath and looked at Ruo. He had the urge to say, "It's just mere Life-Type resources that we would lose; let's go find a hidden place and spend the day there; we will complete the Trials tomorrow safely without putting ourselves at risk and go home."

But he knew what these 'mere' Life-Type Resources could do. The lack of one had cost him his Mother's life last time, and he didn't wish to go back without atleast one in hand.

As much as he craved to make Ruo at him, he knew they were just emotions, and he had experienced pushing away similar emotions many times. He knew how to handle it in such situations.

Pulling his eyes away from the dazed girl. He took a deep breath. "I want to find a Life-type Magical Resource, but it is quite dangerous from now on… maybe, some of the Power Borns have already realized that there are Life-Type resources around; if so, it would be…"

Yue Li looked at him with a pale smile.

He sighed.