Deep in the dark forest...
Under the giant tree canopy, the crescent moon was glittering like a ray of hope in the darkness.
"Are you alright, Ting?!!", asked Xiao Fei right after she was awake from her slumber.
At the same moment, Ting returned to human form.
"Master! I am saved and sound! Thank you for saving my life!", Ting answered cheerfully while bowing at Xiao Fei with respect. "Master! You are truly the best of the best! We avoid calamity due to your excellent magical prowess!"
Ignoring Ting compliment, Xiao Fei asked curiously, " Ting, why the sun never show up here? It should be morning already!"
"Master, this is a dark jungle region where the sun didn't exist, only darkness!! It's part of the lower demon realm!", Ting answered as a matter of fact and grimaced. "I warned you that this area is dangerous! We entered it from a loophole of a void array that only exists every hundred years. Master..., we stuck in this dark forest for a hundred years, until another loophole shows up!"
Xiao Fei sighed hard while closing 'her' eyes to feel the dark surrounding with her mental power.
No danger lurking around them, however 'she' felt that something or someone was watching them...
'She' opened 'her' eyes gradually with furrowed brows. "We are lucky that I could use my magical power here! Ting..., do you know where is the Azure dragon dwelling?!"
Ting walked toward her master in two steps and sat down just next to 'her' while taking the thin grass nearby to chew it playfully due to her stress, and she answered in a soft voice," No one ever comes out alive from this place, master! Thus, I don't know anything about this place besides that it was the most dangerous area that we, magical beasts avoid at all cost because of its dark evil aura!"
Ting shivered.
Xiao Fei taped Ting head gently to calm her down and 'she' vowed," Don't worry, Ting! We will survive and get out of this caliginous sky after we save my brother!"
'Huang Ke.., wait for me! No matter how long.., I definitely will save you!!'
Lurking in the dark, a pair of bright eyes were looking at them with great interest. After all, the merman was able to defeat the giant spider within a short duration and thanks to 'him', he was saved. However, he was not sure whether they could be trusted. He lost all of his companions due to their distrust and wariness. Instead of working together to survive, they abide by the jungle rule ' survivor of the fittest!'. One by one, they died in the hands of the dark monsters, illusion arrays, and poisons. He was the last survivor from his group of a hundred people after a hundred years. The last of his group survivors of 20 people died by the giants spider for reason unclear to him. They were heading out to the loophole location but suddenly they lost their consciousness and awake inside the giant spider cocoon as its food. Every day, the giant spider ate one of his comrade carcasses. While all of his companions died without food and water, for ten days, he had survived because he owned a special spatial ring that could save organic matters, such as fresh food and water.
In a blink of an eye, the merman was no longer within his view. Blaming his daydreaming, he was scanning around the area within his perimeter.
Did 'he' found out of his whereabouts?
Before he could react, a hand with scale skin was pulling his neck close to 'his' lean body in a threatening way.
In a rasping voice, he asked, " Who are you?!!"
Nervously he answered," I am just a traveler..., I am sorry for spying on you but I have no bad intention!"
He was impressed that the merman was able to find him with 'his' magical power even after he hid his aura proficiently. Even though he would be able to escape 'him' with his martial art, he decided to hide his strength and be 'his' ally.
Xiao Fei let go of the body in front of him with a gentle push when 'she' was sure that he was harmless and not a threat due to his lack of magical power.
Recognizing his voice, 'she' asked, "Are you the one calling for help earlier?!"
"Yes, it was I. Thank you for your help! My name is Wen JunShi! May I know my savior name?!"
"Wu Hu Fei!", answered Xiao Fei with a sense of alienation, only Huang Ke and 'her' teachers could call her Xiao Fei. "How long have you been here?!"
"Hero Wu..., It had been 100 years, I am the last one to survive!"
"Tell me what you know of this dark forest!", inquired Xiao Fei while heading back to where Ting's at, followed closely by the man in the dark robe.
Before the man could answer, Ting approaching them enthusiastically. "Master..., you are back!!! Who is this handsome man?!!", Ting was winking her eyes playfully and licking her lips with anticipation, after all, it was still her mating season.
Away from the dark area and under the moonshine, clearly, they could see that the man Xiao Fei saved was quite attractive and good looking, his golden skin was appreciated by his dark robe and a tidy bun on top of his head, but still, Huang Ke appearance was unbeatable compare to him.
"My name is Wen JunShi! From now on, I will follow hero Wu until we escape from this dark forest!"
Ting was looking at him with adoration and she was posing beautifully to send him a signal of temptation to bed her. However, the handsome man ignored her completely and only paid attention to her master. She gave up trying and sat on the ground nearby her master while thinking,' Do I really need a love poison just to mate??'.
Xiao Fei looked at Wen JunShi indifferently. "My destination is dangerous. I am looking for my brother and I won't get out of this dark forest until I found him! So, Mr. Jun, you can still withdraw your intention to follow us!", Xiao Fei said leisurely while standing by the tree trunk with her arms crossed, then her eyes were wandering deeper into the forest ahead of them.
"I missed the loophole to get out from this forsaken dark place and have to wait another hundred years! Without magical power, I can only depend on Hero Wu protection to stay alive. I don't have any other options besides traveling alongside hero Wu. After all, I knew every corner of this dark forest like my own home!" Wen JunShi's magical power was securely locked inside his inner body core because the potent toxin in his body would flare out of control if he used his magical power. His identity was not simple, thus he needed to hide it until he could trust his new companions. His old companions were people he met by chance, however, no one in his group knew his real identity but his personal aide twas gone without any trace while entering the dark forest.
"Why are you here, Mr. Wen?!", Xiao Fei asked with suspicion. 'She' could feel that his new companion was hiding something from her.
"We were hunting for Precious herb! I am just a lowly herb gatherer! Please call me JunShi, hero Wu!".
Xiao Fei was looking at the man with scrutiny. His hands were too soft without callous, even though it was old and used, his dark robe was made from expensive material, definitely, he was not a lowly man. However, 'she' won't voice 'her' suspicion, not only that 'she' needed his help as a guide, but also 'she' believed that he didn't have bad intention. Teacher Wu Ming had told her that 'She' was born with a third invisible mental eye to see the good and bad in people, this ability had helped her avoid the death trap in her life. Since the bad villagers couldn't bully her due to her superior magical power, they tried to befriend 'her' in order to trap 'her', no one was able to succeed, thanks to her ability to distinguish bad people no matter how they covered it perfectly with their friendly smile.
'He had his reason to hide his identity, I would just play along since he had no bad intention', 'she' thought inwardly and said upfront, "I will protect you in exchange for your service as our guide! You can call me Hu Fei! After all..., we would be a travel companion for at least a hundred years!"
"Hu Fei, I, JunShi, would be forever in debt with you! May I know where do we head to?!!"
Xiao Fei answered with compassion," Azure Dragon lair! Do you know where it is?!!"
JunShi glared at Hu Fei with disbelief, of course, he knew where the Azure Dragon lair at. After all, twas the reason why he came to this forsaken dark place. However, unable to penetrate inside the lair due to the potent poison in his body that caused his inability to use his magical power, he had decided to leave the dark forest and return after he was able to repel the poison in his body.
He answered in an icy tone, "The Azure Dragon lair is another loophole that only shows up every other year, it was a dangerous place with many illusion arrays! Many of my companions died because of this sinister arrays! We missed the loophole yesterday and the next loophole won't open for another year, but we need this time to prepare and plan accordingly so we could get in safely".