BP Extra – Return to the Magical Forest 2

Calming himself down, Hui Yue’s eyes had a determined look within. He was more than willing to use a few resources Lan Feng had to protect what he held dear, and his family was exactly one of those things he treasured.

The problem, however, was that Lan Feng, although a Saint ranked expert, was only capable of refining spiritual energy right now. Should they go up against a King ranked expert then they would be at a significant disadvantage.

Thinking about it further, Hui Yue assumed that although there were many strong men around, it was highly unlikely for a King ranked expert to become a bandit. The reason why upon entering the ranks of a King the kingdoms would forget a cultivator’s past deeds and grant them an erased past was so they could give up their lives as bandits and instead live in luxury as an exalted expert to serve the kingdom.

He hoped that this group of bandits was not the kind which considered each other family because those bandits would stick together no matter how high their rank became. But this was something he would not know until his parents told him some more.

“We don’t know how strong they are, but anyone who goes against them dies instantly,” Hui Guang continued, his eyes turning red as he thought about the many friends who lost their lives during the last year. The graveyard outside the village had almost doubled in size.

“I am glad for your visit,” Hui Guang said his voice trembling slightly, “But although you came to visit us, the only thing we can show you is such a disgrace. We cannot fight the bandits, and if we tried, we would all die. It would be safer if you did not visit us in the future,” He said as unshed tears were welling up in his eyes. The usually tough man suddenly felt great depression when he thought about how he was telling his son to never return. But although this thought saddened him, he was even more worried about his son’s well-being. He would gladly sacrifice his own selfishness of wanting to see his son if it meant that his son was able to live free.

Knowing why his father said what he did, Hui Yue’s heart turned cold, and he felt hate boiling inside him. Hate directed at the bandit group which decided to pray upon his family and his village.

“Don’t worry father,” Hui Yue said with a calm voice. “I will make sure that they won’t ever bother you again, but I will need some time.”

Taking four memory stones from his belt, he handed them over to his father and with a sad look on his face a small smile appeared on his lips.

“This is food and more materials. Share them with the villagers when the bandits are not around and make sure everyone gets some food.” Having said that Hui Yue placed a kiss on the forehead of his little brother as he stood up and went towards the door, his friends scrambling to keep up.

“We are going to hide in the forest for some time,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face as he went through the door. “Don’t worry about us. Keep doing what you have been so far, in a bit, we will deal with the problems.”

Smiling gently, Hui Yue waved his parents goodbye and together with his friends he disappeared into the dark night where neither the moon nor the stars shone in the sky.  

Leaving behind the run down village, Hui Yue and his friends went straight into the forest, and Sha Yun instantly rushed towards her sisters’ locations wanting to ensure that both sisters were still well and out of danger.

The first location they arrived at was the place where the previous year they fought against Shui Wu. The blue sister who controlled water; however, as they entered the clearing with a lake everything was still. The area was completely deserted. Unlike Hui Yue’s birth home where one could see that the house was still lived in, still being used, this clearing was completely abandoned. Not even one footprint was visible on the large field of grass in front of the lake.

Sha Yun’s mouth tightened, and fear welled up within her heart as she turned around and rushed towards the other clearing, the place where the white bird woman, Bing Niao, resided.

This location was as empty as the previous one and Sha Yun was greatly frightened for her sisters who had gone missing. Standing still for a while, her frantic eyes kept scanning the area to see if there was even the slightest trace of her sisters, yet no matter how much she looked nothing more was seen.

Having stood there for some time, her mind finally started thinking straight, and she said one more name, “Old Snake!” Before she hurried away from the clearing and rushed towards the location of the Saint ranked beast within the Magical Forest.

Seeing Sha Yun run away everyone followed after her, all of them ready to protect her should anything happen, but the path she was heading down was an old one; it was traversed only by a few as it led towards a terrifying location.

Having run down this path for what seemed like a few hours, Sha Yun finally slowed down as she reached a massive swamp. Although she was struck by grief and sorrow, the young snake-woman still managed to convey the right path to her friends so that none of them fell into the dangerous swamp.

Their movement through the marsh slowed down their overall speed. Everyone slowly made their way through the correct path which had been pointed out by Sha Yun. No one dared to step outside the boundaries of the correct path, and although it was slow, they eventually made their way past the swamped area and ended up at a dry patch of land. This land was a small island within the gigantic swamp which was spread out as far as the eye could see.

This swamp was filled to the brim with magical beasts many of which were snake-like creatures. Because of this, none of the visitors felt like leaving the island on which they were standing.

“Old Snake should have felt me entering his territory,” Sha Yun said, her voice trembling as she tried to keep her emotions in check. Her heart was frozen in fear; however, just as she thought she would losing it, Hui Yue held her hand and squeezed it gently while smiling to her.

The smile and his warmth caused Sha Yun’s heart to quiver violently, but she finally managed to take a deep breath of air and force back the tears in her eyes.

Not long afterwards a tremor ran through the ground, and the swamp started to roil violently. Bubbles could be seen, and massive waves started appearing. The longer this went on, the more violent it became.

The still water started to grow erratic which in turn created waves, waves which constantly pounded against the island’s shore. Swamp water was sprayed all over the friends standing in the middle. Everyone, apart from Sha Yun, was filled with terror as they felt an oppressive aura which made it hard for them to even breathe. This aura forced a few of them to their knees as they tried to stand against it.

“Oh stop it! You Old Snake!” Sha Yun said in a playful voice. Her own body was trembling from the harsh aura which was surrounding them. As soon as the words were said the oppressing aura vanished and a moment after a massive body rose from the swamp. The massive body was that of a snake, a snake which was at least thirty meters long. Its face alone was three meters and the mouth when opened had to have massive fangs as long as Hui Yue’s legs.

“Welcome home, Sha Yun,” A voice sounded out from within the enormous snake’s mouth. The human-like voice seemed odd when coming from such a giant beast. Only a few moments went by before the beast started gleaming with golden light. A golden light which blinded everyone present. When they could finally see again, a young man was standing where the massive snake had been just before.

This handsome man’s face was filled with green scales, and his eyes were cat-like. His body had a large green robe tied around it, and his entire attitude was filled with arrogance; an arrogance which developed from countless years as the king of the forest.

Hui Yue and everyone around him was very polite. All of them bowed towards the beast, everyone apart from Sha Yun, who threw herself into his arms. A big smile on her face as she knew one of her friends was fine.

“Old Snake, my sisters have gone missing. Are they here with you?” Was the first question which Sha Yun asked, her entire being filled with worry. Her eyes begging for a yes. Seeing the worried woman in front of him, a tender expression appeared in his eyes, and he nodded his head.

“Your two sisters are living on their own individual islands where no humans will dare touch them.” Old Snake said with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Let me take you there,” He continued then started moving through the swamp. Everyone followed behind his footsteps not allowing for any of them to take a wrong step; a step which would make them fall into the swamp to never return.

Old Snake did not seem to care about her friends much he only seemed to pay attention to Sha Yun while the others who followed behind never got his attention even once.

While Hui Yue preferred this, he and Lan Feng still spent time analyzing the snake in front of them. Lan Feng looked at the beast and guessed from his aura which was shown off before that the beast was only a one or two star Saint. Most likely he just became a Saint not long ago.  

Whether he had become a Saint long ago or not, the snake was definitely much stronger than Lan Feng currently, and the two, man and bird, decided to keep a low profile while following the snake in front of them.

Moving forward for what seemed like an hour or more they finally arrived at another island-like area. This one was much different from the first one they had encountered. Where the first one was a desolate place with no buildings or flowers, this was completely the opposite. A large building was built at the far back of the island while the rest was filled with blooming and astonishing flowers. A small pond with the clearest water was seen within.

Moving closer to the house, the door suddenly opened and from the room within a blue blur suddenly appeared. The blur turned into a Blue Siren, who tossed herself into the arms of Sha Yun. It was Shui Wu, Sha Yun’s younger sister.

“I am so happy to see that you have returned!” She cried, tears streaming down her face, “It was terrible. Suddenly this group of bandits appeared and wanted to capture me. Had it not been for Old Snake then I’d have been captured by them long ago. Even Bing Niao is still in shock. She refuses to leave the house Old Snake made for her.”

Hearing this Sha Yun’s heart felt heavy and light at the same time. Although Bing Niao was currently isolating herself, she was still safe. Only now did the exhausted snake-woman allow herself to relax. A gentle smile was on her face as she hugged the younger sister who appeared within her arms.

Seeing this, all Sha Yun’s friends were happy for her. They were all smiling and feeling relieved as well, only to notice that the Saint ranked beast, Old Snake, was glaring at them his eyes sweeping across them one after another.