The sound of vines erupting from the ground shook the surrounding area between the two Tanzanies, Xun and Xun's army of gorillas. As the vines broke through the ground, the wooden figure of a woman stood in front of Hajime and Yul.
The vines ran at high speed, heading straight for Xun and the gorillas. Vines start from the ground and impale the gorillas on the ground and branches. Xun quickly retreated towards the white deer, and thirty vines went straight towards Xun.
When the combined vine was about ten feet away from Xun, the white deer took a step forward and came to Xun. The combined vines split into all directions when they collided with the white deer. When the vines passed by Xun and the white deer, the vines circled back and struck hard at Xun and the white deer, but the vines were again unable to cause harm to the white deer and Xun.
The white deer said, "You can't defeat them, so brother, come with me. Only with my help will you have a chance to destroy them."
Xun sighed angrily at his shameful failure, grabbed the white deer's right antlers, and led the deer away from Hajime and Yul.
"They are running away?" Michio turned to look at Abrafo and U-ri.
Abrafo yelled, "Yul, don't chase them."
"Why?" one man asked.
"Chasing a wounded enemy is as dangerous as asking for trouble," Abrafo said.
Hajime closed his eyes, and the vines quickly shrank back into the ground. Hajime stretched out his right hand, and a small female wooden figure appeared on his right hand. Hajime opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He turned to the right and found Yul was standing next to him. He turned to Yul and smiled at Yul, but then his vision became blurred, so he shook his head twice to try to clear the blurred vision. When he was about to shake his head for the third time, he felt his body being lifted into the air.
"Yul..." Hajime murmured.
"Don't move," Yul said, holding Hajime in his arms and walking back to the three Tanzanies and the group of villagers.
Knowing that he was now safe in Yul's embrace, Hajime finally closed his eyes and passed out.
Yul, still holding Hajime, stood a few feet away from the three Tanzanies and the villagers.
Abrafo asked, "Why did you stop?"
Yul looked at Abrafo and others, and then sighed. "We can't get in, there seems to be something blocking us from entering."
Abrafo said, "We just walked over not long ago, so was Hajime. How come you and Hajime can't walk over."
Michio looked at the villagers, then at Yul and Hajime. He turned to look at the villagers again and asked, "Do you know why we can walk over, but they can't?"
One of the villagers said, "We don't know. All we know is that if we get to this old pavilion, the Taka won't be able to chase us anymore."
Abrafo said, "Is it possible that only Dongxue villagers are recognized here?"
U-ri thought for a while and said, "We are not villagers in Dongxue Village, and neither are the three monks, but we can walk over, so there must be other reasons." He turned to the villagers. "Is there any practice that only your village does?"
The villagers fell into silence. After a while, they looked at the three Tanzanies and shook their heads.
U-ri suddenly remembered that when they walked to the old pavilion, walking among them were the rescued villagers. Could it be that they were walking with the villagers so they could get through, but Yul didn't walk with any villagers, so he couldn't walk past the old pavilion.
U-ri looked at the two young villagers and said, "You two walk up to them, and then walk back with them." The villagers standing around three Tanzanies looked at U-ri. "I predict that the reason why we are able to walk past the pavilion is because we are walking among the villagers. If my prediction is correct, there should be no problem if you two crosses over with the villagers."
The two villagers walked quickly through the twenty steps that separated them from Hajime and Yul. The two men stood on either side of Yul and walked past the old pavilion without any problems.
Abrafo sighed happily and patted U-ri lightly on the shoulder. "Old man, your brain works wonders," he said with a smile. "I'm glad that His Highness has forced you to embark on this journey with us." He cleared his throat. "Choose you, not force. Hehehehe..."
U-ri said, "Put Hajime on that wooden bench. I'll take a look at him."
Yul carried Hajime into the pavilion and placed Hajime on the long wooden bench in the pavilion. U-ri quickly checked Hajime.
U-ri got up and said, "Hajime and the child are fine. Hajime is just tired. He used too much energy. Let him rest first. He should get better after he has had enough rest."
Abrafo looked at the villagers and said, "We will wait for Hajime to wake up. You take the children back to the village. When Hajime wakes up, we will follow you. You don't have to wait for us."
Niǎo, who was older than the rest of the villager men said, "We will wait with you. It should be safe now. Those who want to rest can also rest."
Abrafo said, "It's almost dawn, there's no need to light a fire." He walked into the pavilion and sat across from Hajime, Yul, and U-ri with Michio. "I'll keep watch."
The villagers were sitting around the pavilion. All the villagers had fallen asleep. Only Niǎo and the four Tanzanies were still sitting in the pavilion.
Michio looked at the young villagers and smiled. He sighed and said, "This must be a safe place, unless they won't fall asleep so easily." He looked at Niǎo.
Niǎo looked at the five Tanzanies and asked, "My name is He Niǎo, and the villagers call me old Niǎo. Excuse me, what are the names of the saviors? Where are you from?"
"The monk is Michio. Over there are Yul, Hajime, and U-ri. I, I am Abrafo. We are from Tanzang Kingdom," Abrafo said, pointing to everyone sitting in the pavilion.
Niǎo said, "I have never heard of this kingdom."
"A lot of people we met said the same thing. We are from the north," Abrafo said.
Niǎo said, "No wonder, I have never heard of this name. Although we live in seclusion, there are also brave villagers who leave the village to seek knowledge. We don't know much about the land in the north, but we do know a lot about the southern part of the land."
Yul looked at Niǎo and asked, "Sir Niǎo, how far is it from Dongxue Village to Dreake Kingdom?"
Niǎo said, "I don't know how far it is, but as far as I know, it takes two months to travel from here to the nearest village, but as for which way to go, I don't know." He looked at the five Tanzanies. "Uh...you're going to Dreake Kingdom?"
U-ri laughed and said, "We are going there after saving the villagers. As for the reason, it is because we heard that this kingdom is full of wealth...so, we want to explore it."
The four Tanzanies continued chatting with Niǎo until dawn, before they decided to take a rest, and then walked to Dongxue Village.
When the birds started chirping in the forest, Hajime opened his eyes and found himself lying on a wooden bench with his head resting on Yul's left thigh. He slowly sat up, which woke Yul.
"I passed out, didn't I?" Hajime asked.
"You... you don't bring Lady Lan out next time," Yul said.
Hajime smiled feeling a little guilty and said, "Who said that the wooden woman is Lady Lan?"
Yul said, "The only person I can think of who can use the vine fighting method is Lady Lan."
Hajime smiled again and got up from Yul's lap. He said, "It's not Lady Lan. I have given her remains to Master Yuuto. When we were in Magior City, I picked up some broken vines and created her. I... I haven't given her a name yet."
Yul said, "It doesn't matter, don't use her next time. Using her requires you to consume a lot of energy."
Hajime said, "I'm working on it. Master Budi said I can use her if I'm well rested and in a good mood, but lately my abilities don't seem to be reaching their full potential." He chuckled. "I guess I've been too tired lately."
Yul sighed and said, "Whatever, don't use her unless you have no other choice."
Hajime could only smile at Yul because he didn't know what else he could say. Deep down he knew Kaizen's words were true. Every time he uses his powers, his abilities become less and less effective. Now, he understands that the stronger his feelings for Yul, the weaker his power. One day, he will no longer be a mage, but an ordinary person, just like Kaizen's words. He knew that he would have to sever ties with Yul if he wanted to fulfill the mission entrusted to him, but the bond between them grew stronger over the years they spent together. He knew that with Yul's attitude, it was impossible to sever ties, so he decided to take some time to talk to Yul, and maybe share this information with Yul, it might save his remaining abilities from deterioration.
"Yul..." Hajime said when the screams of the villagers stopped him.
"Ah..." a villager screamed.
The villager who was sleeping on the ground suddenly jumped up and began to take off his robe. The screams of the villagers woke up other villagers sleeping near him.
"What's wrong?"
"What happened?"
The other eight villagers asked as they watched the young man take off his robe.
"Red ants..." He screamed.
U-ri walked out of the pavilion quickly and said, "Take off your clothes quickly."
The young man quickly took off his clothes.
As U-ri walked towards the young man who was wearing only his underwear. U-ri asked, "Where did you feel you were bitten?"
The young man looked at U-ri and said, "I feel two stings on my back."
U-ri said, "Turn around and let me check."
The young man turned his back to U-ri, and when U-ri walked up to the young man and was close enough to see the young man's back, U-ri was shocked by what he saw on the young man's waist. Seeing only half of the small pattern on the young man's waist was enough to make U-ri's eyes widen. U-ri took out a small wooden box and quickly applied the medicine to the two bite marks on the young man's back.
"This medicine will relieve the itching and pain," U-ri said and walked back to the pavilion. U-ri looked at Niǎo. "Elder, I just asked you if your village practice anything, but you said no. I just saw the pattern on the young man's back. Is this common among the villagers?"
Niǎo laughed and said, "Everyone in Dongxue Village has that symbol tattooed on their waist."
U-ri said, "Oh... so even on small children?"
Niǎo nodded and said, "After the child is born, this symbol pattern will be tattooed on the newborn's waist."
U-ri said, "I understand now because we don't have that symbol on us, we can't walk past the pavilion. This is the most meaningful explanation for why we can't walk past the pavilion."
Niǎo said, "I have never thought about it, but this is a reasonable explanation." He stood up. "After breakfast, we will continue to Dongxue Village. There is a river nearby, let's go catch some fish." He walked to other villagers, and after talking to the villagers, Niǎo left six villagers, leaving three villagers behind.
Yul asked, "What is the pattern tattooed on the young man's waist?"
U-ri sighed and said, "The Fairly Ring Circle Formation."