The friends split into the assigned groups and took farewell after deciding on being back at the palace in a week, or else they would go look for each other if someone would be missing. It was quite early in the morning when they took off, three groups into three different directions. The cold morning breeze kept them from falling asleep as they travelled, making their senses on top. For all but Lu Han who were sleeping in the chariot that his group had taken as a transportation tool towards their first stop: Joon Myeon’s home. It was a long way there so they had packed all the necessities they thought was needed before leaving the palace grounds. They marked every place they had to go to on the map, and then calculated which roads that would be the quickest to take and in which order they would visit the different places.
 

The group that Jiao Lin was in took another of the chariots and quickly started on their way to Zi Tao’s hometown, the furthest from the palace and also the most hidden. Zi Tao didn’t let their group spill any time as they hurried through the woods of the north, going on the narrow paths in between an alley of tall trees and bushes.
 

The third and last group had decided to take the southern path from the palace grounds and through the misty lands of the forgotten plains. Baekhyun’s hometown was the one nearest the palace and so they decided to go by horse there. Jong In had been a bit skeptical to mount the dark brown stallion at first; being his first time to actually ride one, he had tried changing his teammates’ decision. But with the mischievous smirks of Chanyeol and Baekhyun, Jong In knew he wouldn’t get away from this fate and that if he tried, then his teammates would probably for it for the rest of his life.
 

He considered using his teleportation powers, but that would only unnecessarily drain his energy, and Jong In didn’t want that in case they would have to fight on their way. Therefore, he had no choice but to get on the horseback.

“It’s this way!” Chanyeol happily announced as he pointed in the direction of the swamp at the right, a huge grin on his face.
 

“No. It’s this way. That way leads to the old witch in the forest of the damned…” Baekhyun sighed, now remembering why he didn’t like going anywhere together with the giant.
 

It was not only because of Chanyeol’s bad sense of direction, or his clumsiness, it was actually his love for adventure and his never-ending search for new interesting things to experience that made Baekhyun regret going together with him.
 

As Chanyeol opened his mouth to argue, Baekhyun glared at him with narrowed eyes, immediately making him shut up and pout unhappily.
 

“Are you done? Then let’s get going before the night falls over us.” Jong In let out, getting the attention from both guys.

Living near the palace was both a good and a bad thing. The good thing was that Baekhyun could visit his friends at any time and also that he didn’t have to go far to join the festivities at the palace around the year. The bad thing was that whenever they needed help at the palace, Baekhyun was the first one they sent after. So whenever he wanted to just relax and take it easy, they would always find something for Baekhyun to do. That was something that really irritated him, especially since he liked to just be lazy and do nothing whenever he could.
 

It took about an hour or two to reach their goal, a somewhat large city with nearly two thousand inhabitants. Even though Baekhyun was born in Korea, he always thought this city to be his hometown. He’s been living there since the age of three together with his father that passed away two years ago. His grandfather took over the mansion after his son's death, taking care of the home that once had his dear son and grandson in it. Baekhyun and Chanyeol met at the age of seven, and have ever since been best friends. Crazy best friends…

“Wow! Look Baekhyun! The statue we ‘fixed up’ is still there!” Chanyeol chirped as he happily pointed at the object he talked about. A sculpture of the founder of the city, painted in all kinds of different colors and with a necklace out of vines around its neck.
 

“Well, I think we did a masterpiece out of it anyway.” Baekhyun answered proudly, making Jong In stare at the two weirdly.
 

“Did you two, actually, make this?” Jong In questioned almost too hesitantly, as he examined the pink colored clothes on the statue. And with a grimace on his face he also noticed the pink shoes.
 

“Isn’t it cool? We did this when it was Yi Fan’s 18^th birthday, just as a birthday present kind of. But… I don’t think he ever truly liked it though…” Chanyeol said as a flashback of the said day came in mind and he could vividly see the look on Yi Fan’s face as he had laid his eyes on their so called masterpiece. His face had crumpled into a look that said: What the heck is this?
 

Jong In felt happy for once that exactly that year when Yi Fan became eighteen, he had been too sick to be outside and had therefore been staying inside his room all that week. Unable to see the said episode and also unable to feel the embarrassment that it would have taken with it.
 

Chanyeol shook his memories away after remembering it so clearly, like it had happened just yesterday. A huge smile spread on his face again and Jong In could only widen his eyes in confusion.
 

“Let’s go, we don’t have time to reminisce about the past right now.” Baekhyun interrupted and got down from his white stallion, leading the horse instead towards the final destination because of the narrow streets.
 

Jong In and Chanyeol shared a surprised glance before joining their teammate on the ground, leading their own horses closely behind.

After walking through countless small paths and roads they finally arrived at a mansion like building near the town square, just behind the largest sundial Jong In had ever seen. The large piece of stone was in the middle of the town square and indicated what the time was at the moment with the help from the sun. Jong In stared amazed at it for quite a while before Chanyeol nudged his arm, motioning him to follow inside the mansion instead. Jong In nodded before tying his horse at the fence and then trailing behind the giant and his friend.
 

It was strangely silent inside, making Jong In a bit surprised to be honest. He was used to seeing butlers and maids swarming around the mansions that he had earlier visited in his life. But this was the first time he had ever visited Baekhyun’s home though.
 

“So… where’s everyone?” Jong In slowly asked as he looked around the main hallway, not even a single bodyguard in sight.
 

“Hmm? Oh, my grandfather is away on a small trip at the moment and will be back in a few days…” Baekhyun absentmindedly told him before leading Chanyeol and Jong In upstairs, towards what seemed to be the library.
 

“But, what about all the maids and such?” Jong In questioned after entering the library, admiring the well organized books in the somewhat small room.
 

“My grandfather always dismisses them whenever he’s going somewhere far, letting them visit their families and friends.” Baekhyun announced while flashing him a smile. “I think I hid it here somewhere…” He then continued as he walked over to the shelf nearest the small window at the back of the room, crouching down to reach underneath it for a red box.
 

“Oh! That’s mine!” Chanyeol happily let out and hurried towards his friend to take the box from him.
 

Jong In could only wait patiently as Baekhyun reached for the second box, which was a yellowish white color. He couldn’t help stare at the giant as he noticed Chanyeol hugging his jade box in a creepy kind of way that made Jong In get goose bumps.
 

“I guess we’re done?” Baekhyun finally uttered after a moment of silence. An announcement that made Jong In strangely glad to soon be back at the palace, hopefully with a good amount of distance from the weird giant.
 

“Well then. Shall we return then?” Jong In tried not to sound too eager, but the smile that threatened to take up half his face gave him away quickly. Chanyeol raised his eyebrows in an amused gesture and a sly smile spread on his handsome face.
 

“Maybe we should show our little friend around for a little while first? I mean, since we’re already here…” Chanyeol let out and chuckled when the expression changed on Jong In’s face to one mix of disbelief and slight fear. “I was just joking! Don’t freak out! I know you want to go back as soon as possible. And I also know that you must think I’m strange and all that-“
 

“What? No! You’re not strange at all!” Jong In interrupted the giant heatedly, a bit flustered from being found out. “I mean… maybe a little bit…” He ended up saying after a short while, not able to lie towards him at all. Especially not with those big and dark puppy-like eyes of his.
 

“It’s okay, there’re a lot of people that thinks that anyway. Don’t worry about me; I’m used to it…” Chanyeol tried to assure Jong In with a small smile, which instead made him feel guilty for his thoughts.
 

“I’m sorry… I-I… really didn’t mean to… you know… think that about you…” Jong In rambled on, a pink blush on his cheeks as he bowed down to ask for forgiveness. An act that made Chanyeol flustered too.
 

“Don’t! You don’t have to, really! That’s just unnecessary-“ Chanyeol blurted out and then shut up as soon as Baekhyun shot him a look.
 

“Are you two done yet so we can go?” Baekhyun tiredly let out with a hint of annoyance in his voice, making both guys nod in unison. “Good. Let’s return to the palace then.” He finished and then motioned them to follow him out once again.

At the opposite direction of Jong In’s group were Zi Tao and his group on their way to his hometown. It was a long way to go compared to where Baekhyun lived, a road with more dangers too. But Zi Tao knew every path and hidden passageway, he also knew were the least dangers were. Making it much easier for the group to travel there.
 

The chariot that they had taken was a bit crowded even though they were only four people this time. But with the long limbs and tall height of the prince, they couldn’t really expect any less. And Zi Tao was tall himself, which made the space even more restricted. But at least they had shelter if it would start to rain.
 

The driver of the chariot didn’t make much noise; just a couple of sneezes and coughs were heard. No complaints were made from him either, even though the lack of light in the forest made it somewhat difficult to see anything. The further north they came, the colder it became. But they had to go through this to be able to reach their destination. And they had prepared for the cold, warm blankets and enough with clothes to last even in the coldest of weather. 
 

The princess sat next to Yi Xing for once, chatting away about his powers and she asked about how it was like being a healer. Zi Tao kept on staring at the two in total silence, not uttering a single word even though he listened to everything they talked about. He had to keep his alertness on top, just in case they would be ambushed or something. They didn’t have that time to spend so he planned to just wipe the enemies out as quickly as he could, if they would ever appear that is.
 

“How do you think it’s going for the others?” Jiao Lin suddenly questioned, turning everyone’s attention towards her.
 

“They’re probably doing just fine.” Yi Xing shrugged, smiling reassuringly.
 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about Baekhyun and Chanyeol. If something would happen to them then Jong In would teleport to wherever I am and tell us.” Yi Fan answered calmly, trusting his companions completely. “If you want to worry about someone, then worry about Sehun…” He continued with furrowed eyebrows.
 

The statement from the prince made realization hit the rest of the group. A sudden feeling of concern for the youngest was shared amongst them. Even Zi Tao felt a sudden sorry for leaving the guy behind with the greatest danger for him.
 

Lu Han…

Author's note:

Finally they're on their way! :D I'm trying to speed things up a bit more, seeing that the beginning was probably far too slow... And I want to see more interactions between Sehun and Luhan xD

Next chapter will be about the last group, hopefully a bit of comical action from our dear HunHan ;)

I want to thank every single one of my readers and commenters once more! Without you I wouldn't be writing this story ^^

/Angela90s