Volume 3

150 The Whirling Forest

“If we don’t follow, how are you going to protect the three of them?”

That’s right, Yu Liang, Si Luo and Guan Nie were not conscious. How do we bring these three individuals with us?

Jiao S looked towards Gaoqin Jiuye. “You know how to use air currents to take someone with you right? You can take Si Luo, and I’ll take Guan Nie.”

Gaoqin Jiuye looked at me.

I nodded. “You can take Si Luo. Jiao S, help me get someone to send Yu Liang back to Jie Pa in the Western District.”

“If you’re sending Yu Liang back, why do I still need to bring Si Luo with me?”

I stared at him. “I’m not intending for you to bring Si Luo to the Northern District. Do you think the three of us should be bringing two deadweights along? What I intend to do is to leave Si Luo in the Southern District as we pass by, then we can head for the Northern District to look for Song Lu, before going back to save Yu Liang and Si Luo.”

Huo suddenly spoke, “There’s no need to worry. If the person who can save Guan Nie can be found in the Northern District, you’ll be able to find someone who knows how to teleport. Even if you left these two individuals here, they can be transported over at that point.”

I raised my brow, asking, “May I know how the three of you know so much about the Northern District?”

Unexpectedly, Jiao S had a similarly doubtful expression on her, and she looked at these three loyal subordinates of hers with suspicion.

I took a quick glance at Jiao S, wondering if she was simply acting.

No, that couldn’t be. It’s unlikely that she’s lying to me.

However, these are subordinates who’ve been with her for so long. Was she really unaware of who they were and what they knew?

Feng, who was standing on the left, spoke. “Miss Li Shen, it’s understandable that someone in your noble position will forget minor things. There’s no need for us to make too much introduction about ourselves.”

I smirked. “What? Understandable that someone in my noble position will forget minor things? Aren’t you guys too unreasonable about this? You don’t even dare to show your face, and you blame it on me?”

Feng shook his head, bamboo hat wobbling as he did so. “If Miss Li Shen did not forget, then you would have been able to identify us when you heard our voices.”

I was speechless. From this, I could tell I definitely would know who these people were.

There were three of them. Two of them had identical voices, and I should know them. Fine, I am the forgetful one. But I’m no noble, I’m just unlucky.

My mind worked quickly. Now that it is likely that Nie Zun was still in the Eastern District, and Gaoqin Jiuye and Jiao S both felt that the priority was in heading for the Northern District, should I be asking for assistance from these three?

I smiled sweetly at the three. “My mind seems to be rather slow these days. How about this, I lost a friend in the Eastern District, and I know all of you have extraordinary abilities since you’ve followed Jiao S for so many years. Might I request for your assistance in locating this person?”

Feng answered speedily, “You’re referring to Nie Zun?”

My face froze. It was hard for me to remain calm when I heard his name.

Huo continued, “Nie Zun should already be on his way out of the Eastern District, and he’ll probably be at the Southern District’s border line at daybreak. If Miss Li Shen were to go after him now, you might be able to meet him in the Southern District.”

This sounded rather sarcastic when he said it. I answered in a cold voice, “Since all of you knew, why didn’t you stop him?”

Lei, the third individual in the bamboo hat finally spoke this time. “Miss Li Shen, our job is to protect Miss Jiao S. It is not to protect the Eastern District, nor to protect you.”

Jiao S’s gaze shifted.

I shrugged and laughed. “That’s true. Now it seems like I’m asking too much of you guys.”

“Miss Li Shen is used to taking things in her stride and doing things without too much ceremony. We believe that as long as Miss Li Shen puts her heart and mind to it, you definitely wouldn’t need us to help look for Nie Zun.”

My smile slowly faded.

Jiao S waved her hand, interrupting our conversation. “Enough, let’s stop discussing this. Since we’re all basically going for the same goal, we should be heading for the Southern District now. You guys, go to that building we were in and get someone to send Yu Liang back to the Western District. Bring Si Luo and Guan Nie here. It’s going to be daybreak soon, and we’ll set off then.”

“Ah Shen, before day breaks, you should just take a quick wink.” Jiao S pointed at the building near us.

Though I did not want to, I had to admit that I felt tired as I used my MF. There is only about three hours left to daylight, and even though that amount of time is not enough for me to recuperate and go back to my normal state, it was better than nothing. I knew that if I continued like this, I might not be able to use my MF eventually.

I thus agreed with Jiao S’s suggestion.

As Gaoqin Jiuye and Jiao S settled Si Luo and Guan Nie in their air currents, I was already up and ready to go.

My head still felt a little fuzzy, and I tried to activate my MF. Ever since I activated my split symbol, I haven’t really gotten the hang of how I should use this infinite amount of MF. Sometimes I would use too much of it, but sometimes it felt as if it was difficult to draw MF out. Furthermore, since I did not get much rest, it felt slightly tiring to use my MF.

But I had no time to think about this, because Nie Zun is still waiting for me.

He’s waiting for me.

I calmed myself down and opened the window, jumping out of the building.

Gaoqin Jiuye and Jiao S were already waiting for me downstairs. I looked back at that window, and a bitter smile appeared at the corners of my mouth.

This was the first place where I fell asleep on my own, after Nie Zun left.

Though it was only for three hours.

Seems like I can only manage to sleep three hours without him.

“Let’s go,” I said to the two of them.

The bamboo hat trio did not appear again. I wonder what Jiao S said to them.

“We’ll need to increase our speed with MF, so that we can arrive in the Northern District and look for the individual who can save Guan Nie within a seven-day timeframe.” Gaoqin Jiuye was already on the go as he spoke.

I caught up quickly. I still felt dizzy as I focused the MF under my feet.

We were able to move faster now that it was day and there was greater visibility, and the three of us moved at our top speeds, arriving at the border in just eight hours.

Before we stepped into the Southern District, Gaoqin Jiuye said to me, “Don’t forget that Rong Jin is still in the Southern District. He doesn’t have such a good impression of you.”

Hah, there are many people who don’t have a good impression of me. Didn’t I still survive till this day?

The three of us then stepped across the border and entered the Southern District. Gaoqin Jiuye was definitely familiar with everything here, and I started feeling a little emotional.

The last time I was here, it was Huan Qing’s illusion that welcomed me. I was trapped in it, and I even saw Gao Qi and Pomelo in that illusion. It was Nie Zun’s ‘Shen’er’ that pulled me out of it.

I started to tear. You haven’t called me Shen’er in a while, how could you leave me like this.

As my mind was going in all directions, we found ourselves in the Southern District’s border forest. As we stepped into it, the soil under our feet started to whirl!

“What’s happening?” Jiao S looked at Gaoqin Jiuye.

Gaoqin Jiuye looked bewildered.

It was obvious he did not know what was happening either.

I squatted immediately, putting my hands on the ground and keeping my feet slightly apart, trying to steady myself.

Jiao S stayed still and did not move an inch. White fog surged in her eyes and she used her MF to steady herself with air currents.

Gaoqin Jiuye’s hands were in his pockets, and he was leaning forward slightly, eyes darting around the place, trying to identify the cause.

However, the forest we were standing in was just like a giant carousel, it was just whirling around and we were like tiny pearls rolling around on it.

Not only did the forest start whirling, I heard cracking sounds as the trees around me started to snap. Broken bits of tree seemed to be flying towards me with a force!

Though I dodged the trees, the ground was whirling faster and faster, and I felt myself slowly losing my awareness. It could have been caused by the whirring or it could have been caused by a lack of rest.

“Try not to separate!” Jiao S shouted. She moved towards me as her black hair billowed in the wind. As she controlled the air currents, she was also dodging the trees that came at her. She grabbed my right hand as she reached my side.

Gaoqin Jiuye also reacted quickly. With a light tap of his feet, he was instantly by my side, grabbing my left hand.

At this point, Jiao S reached out for Gaoqin Jiuye!

Gaoqin Jiuye glanced at her and seemed to hesitate for a moment, but the whirling ground forced him to take her hand!

The three of us formed a circle, while both Jiao S and Gaoqin Jiuye tried to work together in encasing us within a giant air current which rotated in the opposite direction from the ground!

With that, we were able to achieve some form of stability, as it countered the force under our feet!

However, the ground was still whirring with amazing speed, and countless trees were coming at us from all directions at the same time. An unseen force was plucking these trees out of the ground and they were just flying straight at us!

Since we did not work together previously, there was a lack of common understanding between us. Furthermore, in such a situation, it was definitely not easy to maintain everyone’s balance through mere air currents.

As I was under their protection, I did not hesitate to turn.

Bam!

I tried to dodge a tree flying towards me, and in my attempt to not implicate Gaoqin Jiuye in my movement, I subconsciously let go of his hand.

The tree crashed into the ground beside me, and Gaoqin Jiuye’s momentum was broken by me suddenly letting go. He started to fall backwards, and it felt like Jiao S and I were falling into an abyss together with him, but in reality, we were just falling towards the stone ground.