Ling Qi looked up at the wide low hill rising before them. The rocky soil was dotted by tall trees with long trunks, and steam rose from cracks in the stony earth. Thick scrub brush grew over the rest, giving it a mix of dull green and brown colors. The faint scent of smoke seemed to cling to the air and the natural qi alike. A glance to her left and right saw small formations totems lining the base of the hill, marked with characters for the containment of fire.
"It smells good!" Gui chirped, startling her as he began to trundle forward faster.
Well it might not be pretty like the vale Heizui lived in, but she supposed if her little brother liked it this was fine. "So, what should we do first?" She called back to Xuan Shi.
The boy picked up his pace, the rings on his staff jingling. "Thy little brother shall dig his nest. It will be our task to find the choicest cuts from the wood," he said, almost cheerfully.
"Do not forget tasty cores for Zhen," the second half of her little brother hissed. "Lazy Gui will chew on trees, but not Zhen!"
Ling Qi laughed as his two heads fell to bickering again. Thankfully her storage ring was full of quality second grade cores and even a few low grade third ones. Yet another boon gained from her liege.
The rest of the morning and much of the afternoon was spent on that hill, working together with Xuan Shi to carve and move cuts of qi infused wood to the edges of the ever deepening pit Zhengui was digging for himself. She was rather displeased when her little brothers digging pierced an underground valve, releasing both boiling water and the unchecked scent of sulfur, but she endured it anyway as he splashing around happily in the growing pool of hissing bubbling water at the bottom of his nest.
