If one gets lost in the wild, the common practice for most people is to stay put and wait for rescue, because if one wanders randomly in the woods, it's highly likely to miss the rescue team that's out looking.
And Seraphina had already been waiting in the same spot for an hour.
There weren't many teachers on this picnic outing. If she went missing, it should have drawn attention quickly. There were farmhouses not far away, and if they searched in groups, it would be quite efficient.
However, all of this was under the premise of being in the same dimension.
What if she had already entered another dimension parallel to the Earth?
'Jie Jie' A strange bird cry swept past from behind her. Seraphina was startled, and then she saw the tree crowns above her head rustling and shaking, with some yellow leaves falling down.
She wrapped her coat tightly around herself and numbly began to count the items in her shoulder bag.
A cell phone with no signal and almost no battery left, a wallet, a bunch of keys, a pack of tissues, two tubes of lip balm, and a lighter and a Swiss Army knife that she had brought for the picnic.
She had no food, no water. Without rescue, she probably wouldn't survive more than three days in the jungle.
"I can't keep waiting."
Seraphina stood up, shaking off the leaves on her body. Perhaps she should be grateful that she had worn warm clothes and pants before going out, not like some other female teachers who sacrificed warmth for beauty. This allowed her to endure the cold wind for a longer time and gave her a better chance of survival.
Although the cell phone had no signal, the compass function still worked. She used a small knife to mark the trees along the way and slowly walked towards the south.
She didn't know how long she had been walking. All she could see was the unchanging dense forest in front of her. Her empty stomach was growling in protest constantly. Seraphina felt her strength draining away gradually, and there was a taste of blood in her mouth. The mucous membrane in her throat felt like it was on fire.
Just as it was getting dark, she finally found a tree hole.
There were no beehives, no wild animals. Such a tree hole at the bottom of a big tree was, for her, no different from the best shelter.
Seraphina picked some withered thatch, bundled it up a bit and used it to cover the entrance of the tree hole, creating a hiding place.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. You'll be saved." When a person's nerves are stretched to a certain extent, their expression can disappear. She had just walked numbly all the way, without tears or cries.
It wasn't until she entered this probably safe tree hole that her overtaxed physical and mental strength finally broke her down.
I must survive. Seraphina told herself this as her consciousness sank into darkness.
Dream when hungry
"Why, none of you can even get close to it?" There were people talking constantly in her ears. When she woke up again, she had a feeling of déjà vu. In front of her was the magnificent back hall of the imperial palace again, and she had become a bird once more.
The feeling of extreme hunger and thirst was gone. The food and water bowls in the cage were both full. It seemed that as a bird here, she had no worries about food and drink.
"Useless!" The shattering porcelain in front of her startled Seraphina. Her bird feathers instantly fluffed up. The last empress dowager, with a dark face, was pointing at the imperial guards kneeling in front of her. "What's the use of keeping you! It's just a beast. I asked you to catch it and draw its blood obediently, and you can't even do this simple thing!"
"Your Highness, please calm down." The captain of the palace guards at the front was constantly kowtowing and begging for mercy. "That wolf king is extremely fierce. It has already bitten two of our animal keepers to death. When we caught it, we used a trap. Now it holds a grudge against us. I'm afraid it won't be easy to deal with."
The empress dowager's eyebrows shot up in anger upon hearing this. "Fine! A beast has made you, a group of soldiers, so frustrated. I'd like to see what kind of fierce beast it is!" She strode outwards, with a group of people behind her shouting that it was not allowed, that it was dangerous for the empress dowager.
Before Seraphina could react, the bird cage she was in was picked up. She flapped her wings in panic twice, and a palace maid's face appeared in front of her. She took a look inside and said, "Bring the Holy Feather Prayer Bird along too. The empress dowager can't do without it."
And so, a large group of people marched towards the place where the wolf king was being held. Seraphina and the palace maid who was taking care of the birds walked at the end. Through her tiny bird eyes the size of mung beans, she saw that this palace was clearly the imperial palace of the Holyrovia Kingdom. It seemed that the identity of the empress dowager was exactly what she had thought.
"Your Highness, the wolf king is right ahead." The general stopped rather warily in front of a stone gate with flower patterns. The empress dowager looked at him with contempt. "What are you afraid of? With me here, can a beast really cause trouble?" Seeing that she showed no fear, the general had no choice but to bite the bullet and be the first to walk through the stone gate.
Dozens of soldiers were scattered in this small courtyard. Dozens of iron chains were binding a huge cage in the center. A dark mass was huddled in the middle, and blood was constantly dripping from the ground beneath the cage.
"Is it injured?" The empress dowager couldn't help but want to walk closer to take a closer look. The general took a sudden step forward and shook his head. "Your Highness, you mustn't. This blood is..."
'Howl!' Before he could finish his sentence, the dark mass suddenly lunged forward. The iron chains clanged as they tensed up. All the soldiers who were monitoring it pulled back on the chains together with all their might, and only then did they manage to steady the cage.
The empress dowager was stunned, and her steps slowly retreated. "That, that is..." She pointed in the direction, and a huge wolf with bared teeth was trapped in the cage. It was constantly emitting low growls, and blood was dripping from its huge open mouth.
Beneath its huge body, a severed human arm was barely visible.
"Ugh." A group of palace maids and eunuchs covered their mouths in disgust. Seraphina swayed, and the palace maid holding her cage fainted directly.
The commander of the imperial guards said with a bitter face, "Your Highness, please forgive us. This wolf really can't be approached."
He was about to explain further when he was suddenly interrupted by the empress dowager waving her hand. The initial shock on her face had disappeared, and her eyes were full of eagerness. "So fierce, which means it's really the wolf king. If His Majesty bathes in its blood, his illness will surely get better!"
The general was stunned. The empress dowager glared at him. "What are you waiting for! Send more people here!" She stared at the wolf king with a menacing look and smiled. "Use all means to draw its blood."
No matter if you're the king of all beasts, you're only worthy of being my chair cushion.
When Seraphina stood up again in the toppled bird cage, she found that the palace maids around her had all left. It was very dark, and only a group of soldiers on duty and the rusty cage full of the smell of iron were left in the huge courtyard.
She pecked at the wicker cage door twice and found that it was locked from the outside. She couldn't push it open even with all her strength.
Not far away, it seemed that an animal snorted. Seraphina looked up and saw a dark mass lying on the ground in the huge iron cage wrapped with chains.
"This beast has been given several doses of datura preparation. Why isn't it dizzy yet?" Two soldiers rubbed their hands and complained. "What the heck, its vitality is too strong."
Seraphina looked over upon hearing this and suddenly met a pair of green, glinting eyes. She was stunned for a moment, and it seemed that the wolf king was also looking at her.
"Ah, there you are. You scared me to death." A palace maid quietly walked in, picked up her cage and ran outside. "If the empress dowager finds out you're gone, I'll be punished again."
Seraphina stood in the swaying bird cage and finally looked back once. The wolf king's green eyes had closed, and those few soldiers walked over cheerfully, shouting something.
And then throughout the whole night, palace maids carrying golden basins were constantly coming in and out of the empress dowager's bedchamber. Seraphina stood on the high bird stand, watching the figure behind the golden curtain in the innermost room appearing and disappearing.
"Something's wrong! His Majesty is coughing up blood!"
With a scream, everyone who had been coming and going in the room stopped. The empress dowager slapped the palace maid to the ground. "Shut up!" She shouted angrily, and then a blood-soaked imperial physician walked out, trembling as he knelt on the ground. "Your Highness, His Majesty, he..."
"Has passed away."
As the golden curtain was pulled open by SamuelSamuel, Seraphina saw a man lying in a bright red bathtub with his eyes closed, as if asleep. His skin was deathly pale, forming a sharp contrast with the bright red bath water.
In an instant, the room was filled with wailing.
"Someone, go and skin and flay that wolf for me." The empress dowager's eyes were red with anger. "And that minister who recommended the wolf king, strip him of his official position and exile him to the border!"
She screamed loudly, her voice as shrill as a broken string. Suddenly, she turned to look at the bird stand. "Someone, go and execute the Holy Feather Prayer Bird to accompany the emperor in death."
Seraphina shuddered suddenly. She struggled and flapped her wings desperately, but there were small metal buckles tied to her feet. The palace maid caught her in a few tries, squeezing her fingers tighter and tighter. She was screaming, but to others, it sounded like the cries of a bird.
"Your Highness, something's wrong! The wolf king has escaped!" Just when Seraphina's blood was already boiling and her head was dizzy, suddenly the palace maid loosened her grip. She pecked at the maid's palm fiercely and flapped her wings vigorously to escape from the bedchamber.
"Really?" The empress dowager looked at the blood-stained bird stand. "Go, chase after it." She ran her fingers over the stand that still had a few feathers left and gave a maniacal laugh.
Everyone thought that the empress dowager couldn't do without the Holy Feather Prayer Bird and regarded it as her beloved pet. Little did they know that it was only a symbol of the king's love for the empress dowager.
What she couldn't do without wasn't the bird, but the wealth and status given by His Majesty.
Now that the king was dead, what was a bird that was given as a gift worth?
Seraphina had a broken leg. She flew clumsily, not knowing how many walls she had bypassed, and finally landed beside the familiar iron cage.
"Don't be afraid. It has lost too much blood and has no strength left." The leading general held a long spear in his hand, and a group of soldiers behind him stood tremblingly, with their swords pointed at the desolate beast in the middle iron cage.
"Such a pity." Seraphina heard the general sigh softly. Several poisoned arrows had already been aimed at the wolf king.
And its originally green eyes had turned red, and its whole body was bleeding. Even so, it was still growling, maintaining the final dignity of the wolf king.
Seraphina had a broken leg, and her wings were getting heavier and heavier. She couldn't fly anymore.
As a bird, she was pitifully weak. How could she return to the real world? Seraphina didn't know.
"Shoot!" She heard someone shout loudly, and then several arrows shot out from the bows. She flapped her wings with all her strength, and her movements were even faster than her mind could react.
'Puff' Seraphina felt her tiny body being pierced by the arrows, and then she fell to the ground with a thud. Her vision slowly darkened, and the last thing she saw was the pair of green, glinting eyes of the wolf king.
Perhaps, this way she could go back.
The dividing line of waking up from the dream
"Ah!" She woke up suddenly, and she was still in that dry tree hole. Her two hands and feet were all intact, not turned into wings, nor into bird claws.
That strange dream seemed like a story she had fantasized about herself. Whether it was the pain or anything else, it was strangely real.
'Boom boom boom' Suddenly there was some commotion outside. She calmed herself down and secretly pushed aside a bit of the thatch to look out. She saw thick smoke rising from the woods not far away, with orange-red flames shooting into the sky, and the sounds of the commotion were the fleeing animals.
Forest fire...