"Red Headband?" Ying Hua's voice was not very audible because the thief was still holding her mouth shut, and was still watching the royal soldiers who seemed to be looking for someone.
Meanwhile, the bandits seemed to be getting closer and trying to slash the thief. But before that happened Old Man Mo had already come to fight them.
The bandits looked shocked when they saw him darting so fast that he couldn't even be seen at all. What they saw was suddenly the bushes from one direction were moving, and Old Man Mo's figure was standing in front of them, carrying a stick.
"Get out of the way, Old Man! We have nothing to do with you!" said one of the bandits.
The thief immediately turned to see what was happening, and then found the bandits who had been chasing him. "Damn it! They're still after me? Argh!" The last groan occurred as Ying Hua's palm emitted embers. It stung him causing him to back down and fall to the ground. "Hey, Demon!" His voice suddenly turned soft when he saw one of the royal soldiers turn toward them.
The soldier announced something to the others, then pointed at Old Man Mo and the bandits.
"Damn it!" cursed the thief again, then crawled to hide.
But one of the bandits tried to slash at him, bypassing Old Man Mo who they thought was a weak old man.
Old Man Mo swung the stick and sent him flying very far.
The other bandits looked at Old Man Mo's appearance.
"Hey, Feminine Old Man! Get out of here! Don't interfere in our business if you don't want to get hurt!" said one of the bandits.
"I protected my lady," Old Man Mo said, making the bandits pop their heads to look at Ying Hua.
"We don't want to attack her. Our target is that guy!" he pointed to the thief. "He has stolen our loot. At the same time, we want to reclaim the hair accessories that he has stolen."
"It doesn't belong to you," Ying Hua said, holding the thief in her hands. "So you don't deserve it."
"We were sent by the noble's daughter. She saw us fighting with the thief in the forest. That's why we wanted to seize him so we could get paid."
"Sorry, but I will return it to the princess."
"Are you also paid by her?" asked one of the bandits in response to Ying Hua.
"No," she shook her head. "I did it sincerely."
"Just leave it to us!" said another bandit. "Because she told us to. If you don't believe me then you can follow us to meet the princess. But you can't ask for part of the payment we get."
"It's not about money," she said. "So I'll take it." Now she looked at the thief, demanding that the hair accessory be returned, as the royal soldiers drew near.
Seeing this the thief immediately pushed Ying Hua and ran away again.
A soldier looked at him. "There he is! Prince! Stop!"
"Prince?" they all frown. The bandits immediately ran after their discussion.
"Looks like it's Prince Dwei!" said one of the bandits.
"He's a prince who likes to run away and mingle with the commoners right?"
"Yeah, you're right!"
"Well, if we manage to help the royal soldiers find him, we can get a big reward."
"Or we can ask for a big reward."
Their leader finally ordered, "Forget about those hair accessories! Let's focus on finding Prince Dwei! We must be able to find him!"
But they all failed to find Prince Dwei, who was like being swallowed by the earth. The royal soldiers had also circled in almost all areas, combing the bushes and hollows as well. But they failed to find him.
The bandits were the same. They even often got lost and ran in circles at the same point. Even though they already knew the forest area by heart.
Meanwhile, Ying Hua and Old Man Mo were standing on a large tree, seemingly observing their surroundings.
One of the soldiers nudged his friend. "Do you think that two demons kidnapped the prince?"
"How did you know they were demons? They didn't even do anything weird. They were probably just swordsmen."
"That poor girl might be an ordinary person or a warrior in disguise. But the old man must be a demon. I've seen demons in the past so I'm pretty sure of that."
"Our emperor is no longer obliged to kill demons. As long as they don't do anything bad then we are not allowed to harm them."
"Did you hear that?" Old Man Mo's voice sounded very clear to their ears, even though they were quite far away. "You are not allowed to harm us. So keep the order!" And soon he disappeared with Ying Hua.
The two royal soldiers gaped and then ran to catch up with their friends.
Ying Hua opened her eyes and found a dark place. Beside her was a very large tree trunk. Even though it was dark there, there were a few points of light that allowed them to see quite clearly.
"I'm sure he entered by accident in this place," said Ying Hua, starting to walk down the place to find Prince Dwei.
"His aura is indeed very strong, Princess. Maybe that's what makes him stronger than normal humans." Old Man Mo banged his stick on the ground making long the tip of his wand lit a light, making their journey easier.
"He is the reincarnation of the Red Headband."
Old Man Mo blinked quickly, as they turned under the curved roots. Various centipedes as well as ground insects spread out like they were coming out of a nest. "So you have to save him? But what about Princess Ren?"
"I will take the hair accessory from him and give it to her. After that, I will save him. I'm sure he will need my help here."
"Oh!" cried Old Man Mo, looking up and seeing many human bodies hanging down with bodies clad in cobwebs. They were like an empty cocoon, aka dead. "Yes, I remember who the ones that live here are. They love human flesh very much. It seems it is now clear how the Red Headband got into this dimension. He must have been framed."
A moment later they found a door made of giant roots wrapped around each other. The more they walked inside, the more human corpses were found hanging and wrapped in cobwebs. Skeletons were scattered on the damp ground, some of which had even merged with the ground. Their clothes were torn and scattered, silent witnesses of a very tragic death.
Ying Hua raised her hand, and whispered to Old Man Mo, "Turn off the light! Prepare your weapon!"
A second later he turned off the light on the tip of his wand, while Ying Hua opened the door in front of her.
***