Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
—
The Mailong Private Military Group set out at night.
They knew it was unwise to mess with the Tianshan Demon Tigers, so they decided to avoid them at all costs.
Luckily, the Tianshan Demon Tigers did not live in packs, and had their own territories. The group just had to follow the safe route that Guan Yu and Night Rakshasa had scouted.
“These creatures have outstanding awareness. They can detect us through presence and sound, but I have a feeling they have other strong senses too,” Guan Yu commented.
“We’re making progress. It’s better than being stuck back there,” Kuma replied.
Kuma was quite impressed by Guan Yu’s capabilities. She initially thought the ninth team would be a burden to the group, but it had turned out that a few of its members were very impressive.
The group hurried through the night. The Tianshan Demon Tigers were more active in the day. Little movements at night did not bother them unless they were extremely close to the creatures.
—
The sky was turning brighter. The light of dawn shone on the Alpine layer’s many pine trees. The same trees were common in the Rift Valley, as not every section of the Rift Valley was dark and narrow. There was little difference between the Rift Valley and the Alpine Layer. The group actually wondered if they were still in the Rift Valley.
The ground was covered in pine needles. They cracked softly when they were stepped on.
The snow melted in the morning, making the needles wet. It felt uneasy walking on the silent path that was full of needles. They were unable to tell whether the footsteps they heard were friendly, or if they belonged to a predator that was running out of patience.
Mo Fan began to feel a little thirsty. He took out a bottle of drinking water and conveniently passed it to Mu Ningxue, since he preferred it cold.
Mu Ningxue looked up and twisted her lips.
She passed the bottle back to him. Mo Fan thought she would just ignore his lame request, but he noticed the bottle was indeed chilled.
Mo Fan took a big sip from the bottle. He turned to Apas and saw she kept looking behind them.
“Go ahead first, I’ll need to train my pet,” Mo Fan said.
Mo Fan went to the back of the team. Apas immediately put on an angry and disdainful look when the taller Mo Fan came closer. She turned her head around, implying that she was not in the mood to talk to him.
“Is there something behind us?” Mo Fan asked.
“Who knows?” Apas answered.
“Apas, you seriously think I’m unaware of your little tricks? I asked you to take care of Mu Ningxue when she was sick, but did you do it?” Mo Fan spoke in a heavy voice.
“I…” Apas was a little intimidated when Mo Fan’s gaze sharpened. She had no idea why she was afraid of Mo Fan. She had an urge to behave herself whenever Mo Fan sounded serious. “I was just curious if she had some other abilities.”
“If you do it again next time, I’ll throw you back to Egypt!” Mo Fan threatened.
The look in Apas’ eyes shifted. “I dare you to do it then!” Apas harrumphed.
“Stop right there.”
“I’m not your slave!” Apas ran toward a ravine nearby.
It looked like she was just running at a normal pace, but she disappeared in the blink of an eye. Mo Fan tried to catch up to her with Blink, but he soon lost track of her.
Mo Fan was going to Summon her back forcibly, but he shook his head instead when he realized it was only going to make her angrier.
—
“She was right beside my tent all the time,” Mu Ningxue informed him later.
“(Sigh), why do I feel like it’s trickier to deal with my Contracted Beast than my girlfriend?” Mo Fan exclaimed. He immediately realized how inappropriate it sounded. He quickly corrected himself, “I wasn’t referring to you. By the way, I heard they say something howling injured Gavin when you were sick. What was that?”
“It was my Third Element,” Mu Ningxue admitted.
“Your Third Element? I always thought you were focused with the Ice Element, so you never bothered to Awaken your Third and Fourth Elements,” Mo Fan said.
“I haven’t Awakened the fourth Element, but the third Element is a little complicated…” Mu Ningxue said.
Mu Ningxue was just about to explain her third Element when they heard something like a whistle from Nanyu’s direction. Only those on their team would hear it.
“It sounds like something just happened,” Mo Fan said.
“Let’s go take a look.”
—
The Mailong Private Military Group had already stopped. The captains and Kuma were heading to the back of the group.
The seventh team was the last team in the group. They had not suffered many casualties so far, and had taken over the ninth team’s role watching the group’s trail.
“Something is following us,” reported Aubern, the captain of the seventh squad.
“Three of us have gone missing.”
“They might be dead, I heard something dragging them away,” Nanyu said.
“Damn it, we couldn’t see it clearly. We only saw something big flashing past and dragging the guy at the back up the wall. None of us can fly, and we don’t have any Earth or Wind Mages to chase after it!” Aubern swore.
“Remain in your positions. Stay on alert!” Kuma ordered.
—
They waited for an hour but nothing happened. Even the sound of the leaves being stepped on was gone. Everyone held their breaths and focused, but they did not notice anything apart from the pine trees and the cliffs.
“They have gone far away,” Nanyu reported.
“Let’s hurry. We might have entered some creature’s territory,” Kuma said.
It would be almost impossible to find the missing members. They had to leave this place as soon as possible.
The Mailong Private Military Group continued forward, everyone picking up their pace. It was unwise to stay in the dangerous area for too long.
They continued forward for some time and rested that evening. The sunlight at dusk was the same orange color as the dawn. It shone upon the ground needle-covered like a spectacular drawing.
Mu Ningxue went over to Lingling, worried the little girl might struggle with the cold. She wrapped her thick coat around Lingling.
Lingling was sleeping on the back of the Flying Creek Snow Wolf. Mu Ningxue placed her coat on the little girl’s back and patted her softly.
Soft footsteps came from a little corner with a pile of pine needles. The needles were rustling, whether it was because of the wind or something was moving on them.