The Fox Hunter's Unexpected Love Story.

Long Haoyue and Wei Lian disguised themselves and boarded another carriage . And after a long arduous journey they arrived safely at Gloomhaven,a place they were destined to spend a significant part of their lives in. The town had a strange aura as often heard or described in stories. The two boys freaked out having not been able to spot any friendly faces around. The people there glanced at them weirdly hinting some kind of hostility towards them. The two had a lot to handle before settling down and blending with the surrounding. Most importantly they required a place to stay. If they spent their money staying at an inn,then they would go bankrupt after a few months. Shocking enough,there were no houses to rent either.

*****

"I'm hungry let's find something to eat first,"Long Haoyue suggested,his hands clutching around his tummy.

They had spent the entire day wandering around with empty stomachs.

The two found their way to a food stall and ordered their meal.

While they waited to be served,Long Haoyue grew curious of the surroundings. He was a very picky when it came to many things. He wiped the table's surface with his two fingers and collected a ton of dust.

"This place is unhygienic we can't eat here,"Long Haoyue pointed out his face displaying total disdain.

"Your Highness we've already ordered. Also look at the people around ,they don't seem like they eat out so it's normal for the tables to be unused for long."

"You're quite observant."

The food stall owner brought them two bowls of noodles and a pair of chopsticks for each. The owner was an old man and like every other resident,he rarely interacted with them.

Using his chopsticks,Long Haoyue pulled a large amount of noodles from the bowl because he was famished , lifted them and slurped them but the moment the tasteless noodles came into contact with his taste buds he spit them to the ground.

"Your Highness what's wrong?"

"They are tasteless no wonder no one eats out at these foodstalls."

"Your Highness try and put up with it or else you won't be able to sleep through the night."

"I'll just starve to death. I'm not eating anymore."

Wei Lian was born loyal like a dog and compassionate as fuck. He would rather die than see his master suffer. He even offered to feed him just like how he fed him bitter medicine when he was sick maybe it would add some some flavour and give him morale to even have a few bites that would sustain him through the night.

"Your Highness have this,"Wei Lian said lifting noodles towards Long Haoyue's mouth.

"I'll feed you too."

They each had their own bowl but chose to eat from each other's bowl by feeding each other. The way they enjoyed the meal one would think it was some kind of delicious meal prepared by an elite chef but they were just two bowls of soggy, saltless noodles.

*****

Before darkness completely covered the earth they left the food stall and roamed around like a bunch of beggars. It was getting late and with their young age they urgently needed a place to crash. The food stall owner had just closed up his stall and was on his way home and Long Haoyue happened to spot him. The two agreed to sneakily follow him maybe he would show some mercy and offer them a place to stay.

"Kids,how can I help you?"

For the first time the old man's facial muscles moved and his face managed to have an expression on it.

"Sir ,would you be kind enough to give us a place to stay over the night?"Wei Lian requested.

Without responding,the old man led them into his tiny,shabby pavilion. He ushered them inside without speaking a word. On entering inside,the interior wasn't any better than the exterior. Small holes had drilled on a significant part of the walls and old paintings were mounted on the wall.

"Grandfather you're back,"A group of six kids shouted delightedly and showed up . They were four boys and two girls with a height difference of an inch or two.

Long Haoyue was smart enough to analyse and imagine the condition of the rooms. He couldn't imagine the thought of sharing old mats with a group of untidy kids.

"Sir how about your woodshed?"

"You want to sleep at the woodshed?"

"Yes."

Wei Lian didn't understand why Long Haoyue made that decision but he chose to go along with it in compliance.

The old man took them to the woodshed and offered them two old light quilts.

*****

The following morning,Long Haoyue and Wei Lian returned the quilts the old man had lent them and thanked him. What was surprising enough was that the old man didn't mind to ask their identity or at least ask why they were in that state.Given the large number of trumps roaming around the streets,the old man was probably used to it and found it unnecessary to ask the reasons why beggars ended up in such situations. He himself had a handful of kids to feed , probably no different from a beggar.

Long Haoyue and Wei Lian walked away from the market center and headed towards a less populated region. The farther they walked the landscape became hilly with many bushes. They walked and panted stopping from one point to another till they spotted a large old building from far. Loaded with curiosity, they approached the old building which looked very shabby. There was an old barely visible nameplate bearing its name"TianShan Temple."

"It's an abandoned temple. We can stay here for a while,"Wei Lian suggested sounding a little optimistic.

"Isn't it dangerous to stay here? Plus with these bushes I'm sure there are wild animals around,"Long Haoyue complained.

"Well there's no other place we can stay."

Like every other building in Gloomhaven there were long talismans with strange characters inscribed on them hanging from the doorframes.

After a while of reasoning together they chose the temple as their new home. They tried tidying it up a bit and just the two of them would stay there supporting each other. After tidying up,they rolled out the mats they had just bought and sat down to eat the steamed buns they had bought from the market.