by Tinalynge
‘Let us return to your father’s place,’ Xu Min said. His heart was beating quickly as he felt the auras of the strong foes headed towards his way. However, Cao Cao shook his head.
‘This forest belongs to my father,’ he said with a gleam in his green eyes. ‘Do you think anyone within this forest dares to go against me, the only son of my father? Even if I bring in a human, no one will touch you although they might come to see what you look like.’
Hearing this, Xu Min saw how demon beasts after demon beasts appeared in front of him. There were Demonic Golden Collared Wolves, Blood Red Peacocks, Violet Fanged Panthers, Thunderstrike Crown Sparrows, and even Winged Horses.
Looking at these beasts, it was obvious that none of them seemingly had any ill intentions. However. Xu Min felt incredibly nervous as the beasts inched closer. They were looking at him, sniffing him and even touching him. Had Cao Cao not been by his side, it was obvious that he would have been eaten long ago. As they currently had no intentions of harming him, instead, curiosity was shown.
‘These beasts have never seen a human before,’ Cao Cao said with a laughter as he saw and felt the discomfort in the heart of Xu Min. They were all either late Middle-Stage Warrior Rank or even the Advanced Warrior Rank beasts. All of them were so strong that it would take nothing but a swat of their paws to kill the human. Xu Min had a hard time understanding the potency of their strength.
‘This is my place. I always play with these guys when I’m bored. Hey, hey, I saved you! You should buy me a lot of food!’ Cao Cao’s eyes were shining with happiness.
Seeing that the snake was happy, Xu Min could not keep the feeling of danger from what was around him. Instead, he started laughing out loud as he patted the snake on top of the head.
“Sure,” he said out loud as the many beasts looked at him curiously. None of them were capable of speaking the human language. However, they knew that the snake’s father, the King of the Forest, was capable of speaking the human tongue. In many ways, Xu Min was as exciting to them as they were to him.
Xu Min knew that he owed Cao Cao a lot. Although the problem had started initially on their trip towards the immortal cave, he knew that it had been him who had wanted to go in the first place. As soon as they were followed by a force much stronger than him, he found that in an emergency, Cao Cao had saved his life. This caused him to land within the inner area of the forest safely.
‘I promise to buy anything you want,’ Xu Min said quietly. ‘But we can’t return to the city we came from. We will need to travel through the forest. If we go back, we will be caught by the guys who followed us. Even if you were to bring your friends, we won’t be able to manage.’
‘That’s fine,’ Cao Cao said, ‘I need to say goodbye to my friends. In the future I will be living in the human world together with you.’ His face was all smiles and Xu Min was capable of feeling an excitement bubbling inside of the young snake. Laughing out loud once more, Xu Min moved the snake back onto his neck where it coiled around. They slowly started moving towards the opposite end of the forest. It was time for him and Cao Cao to start venturing into the world on the other side.
Chapter 21 - Attack!
The goodbye was finished much faster than Xu Min had expected. Cao Cao had only said goodbye to the beasts who had arrived moments before they left to look at the human boy. The goodbye was neither lacking in emotion nor was it careless. All it took was a few moments for the small snake to make a few hissing sounds. Afterwards, he told Xu Min that it was time for the two of them to be on their way.
Making their way from the innermost center of the forest, Xu Min took to the treetops and started running in the opposite direction of where they had been before. They ran towards the unknown future.
Making his way towards the outskirts of the forest, the entire trip had only taken a few hours. During these few hours, they had run into various demon beasts. Many of which had such an aura that Xu Min was incapable of even determining their rank. Even though this many demon beasts showed their faces, none of them dared to attack the two youngsters who were rushing through the forest. Seeing this, Xu Min felt eternal gratitude towards the strong King of the Forest.
The further away they got, the more relaxed Xu Min became. The ones who had been hunting him down were no longer on his mind as he knew that he was heading out the other way. He was uncertain about how many had survived as they had followed him into the core areas of the forest. The areas that were filled with beasts that did not show any remorse for attacking humans were not under the protection of Cao Cao.
Xu Min relaxed so much that he only noticed that someone had crept in on him too late. The aura had been withdrawn so well that even the snake around his neck had not sensed anything. This was something that showed exactly how strong the cultivator was.
“He is here!” said a short and strong yell that suddenly rang out from the trees close to Xu Min. The young man was shocked as he saw one of his previous pursuers come out from within the trees close by. He was rushing towards the unsuspecting young man who had narrowed his eyes.
The man who was aiming for him was a Three-Star Warrior. As he came in closer, Xu Min called out a single name, ‘Cao Cao!’
Although he could have started battling the man himself, it was impossible for this young man to defeat the Three-Star Warrior on his own. It was much more efficient to call for backup from the snake coiled around his neck.
As soon as his name was called out, Cao Cao instantly slipped down the young man’s arm. It leaped from his hand onto the face of the yelling man. He opened his mouth and four incredibly sharp fangs were revealed with white liquid dripping from each of them.
Soon, the snake had reached the man. No matter how swift the Three-Star Warrior might have been, he was far too slow to have blocked the snake. After a few moments, Cao Cao returned to Xu Min’s neck as his previous opponent plummeted to the ground. His eyes were open and devoid of all life. As soon as Cao Cao had the chance to bite a human, he would never again see the light of day. The poison was that deadly.
That is to say, there were various ways one could defend against this poison. If the cultivator was of the same rank as Cao Cao, they could use the Qi inside of their bodies to battle the poison and eventually dispel it. However, a Three-Star Warrior was far from being close to this juvenile snake and the result was therefore certain.
‘You are too weak!’ the snake complained with a bit of self-righteousness. ‘I’ll leave the Two-Star Warrior down there for you. I even told you where he is hiding, so go and end him!’
After he had heard what Cao Cao said, Xu Min shook his head but said nothing. Since he had been within the forest for some time, Xu Min finally understood exactly how weak he was. Although he was a One-Star Warrior, he had just sat foot in the world of a cultivator. Had he not been so lucky as to have Cao Cao with him, he would have passed away long ago.
Looking down within the thick leaves, Xu Min noticed the warrior that Cao Cao had pointed out to him. As Xu Min looked at this warrior, it was easy to see that he was waiting for the young man to pass by so that he could launch an ambush. Seeing this, his dark eyes grew even darker. A furrow appeared between his eyebrows as a sneer showed itself on his lips.
Having seen that this man was waiting for an ambush, Xu Min decided to return the favor. He slowly gathered the Qi that he had spent years refining into his body before he taking the stance needed for the Radiant Jade Shower. Behind him, thousands of specks of translucent light appeared. As soon as they appeared, they shot towards the warrior in the thick bushes below the ground.
Moments after, the thousand jade-like shards of Qi had shot into the bushes. An agonizing scream could be heard as the man rushed out. Blood poured from his body as countless of small cuts had been made on his skin.
Looking at the man, Xu Min jumped closer to him in the thick tree tops. He hid himself to the best of his ability as he looked down at the man below him. Unsheathing his sword without making a soun
d, Xu Min stopped right above the Two-Star Warrior. His eyes were fully focused on the man below. His facial expression became frosty.
Counting to ten in his mind, Xu Min finally jumped down from the tall tree. Having borrowed the force of the fall and wielding the sword in his hands. Xu Min quickly arrived in front of the man. He swung the sword with all his might as the muscles on his arms protruded.
The man never had the chance to say a word before his torso had been severed into two parts. As soon as Xu Min landed on the ground, a multitude of experts appeared as they all rushed towards the boy.
“Capture him!”
“He knows where the treasure is!”
“Don’t let him get away!”
Suddenly, a wide array of yells could be heard throughout the outskirts of the forest. Many of the men jumped towards the boy who was standing in the middle of the forest.The next man that reached him was cut in half as well.
‘Defend yourself, I’ll try to deal with as many as I can!’ Cao Cao said with a careless voice as he suddenly slithered away from Xu Min. He left him completely alone against three approaching One and Two-Star Warriors.
Looking at the three Warriors, Xu Min’s eyes turned cold. He instantly targeted the two One-Star Warriors. Although he was only a One-Star Warrior, Wang Li had spent a lot of time training his body and his physical strength could rival that of a Two-Star Warrior’s. This was apparent as he wielded his broad sword with both hands. A straight slash left another Warrior in two piece. His eyes had long since lost their sight of life before his body slumped to the ground.
Seeing how Xu Min had easily removed one of the three Warriors, the two others felt their heads grow numb as they looked at the Two-Star Warrior which had been cut clean in half. At first, they had expected that the attack had been successful because the young man had snuck in on the warrior and used the force of his fall to deliver a devastating cut. After looking at the corpse of the One-Star Warrior which had fallen under his sword, it no longer seemed to be a coincidence. The two Warriors paused their advance and looked cautiously at the young man before they advanced a few steps at a time.
While these two Warriors were advancing slowly, Cao Cao was flying about and attacking one Warrior after another. Anyone who decided to come into the very small clearing ended up dying. After having seen this, the Warriors outside the clearing stayed back. Those that had entered had long since forgotten about capturing the young man. Retreating to stay alive was their main focus.
Everyone apart from the two Warriors in front of Xu Min knew that escape was impossible. For some reason, the snake had done nothing to the two of them. It left them with the hope that they would be able to escape when they caught the young man.
Seeing that capturing Xu Min was their ticket out of the clearing, courage swelled within their bodies. They were Warriors and one of them was even a Two-Star Warrior and the other was a strong One-Star. Defeating and capturing an early stage One-Star Warrior should not be difficult for the two of them.
Seeing the madness appear in the eyes of the two Warriors as they saw their comrades being killed, Xu Min understood that he had only one chance to fight back.The Warriors who were left were all hiding and no backup was available. The two Warriors gave in to their madness and with a loud yell bellowed out from deep within their throats, they rushed towards Xu Min.
Xu Min knew that, although his body was as strong as a Warrior of the second rank, his strength alone was not enough to defeat the two men who were coming his way.
Closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, Xu Min reached within himself, all the way down to his Dantian and to a point where he stored every single scrap of Qi he could find, and inserted it into the broadsword in his hands.
As he opened his eyes, he exhaled. The two Warriors were finally within range. Seeing this, a wry smile appeared on his face. This would either succeed or he would die. As he swung the sword, his face grimaced as he felt how the power inside of him burst forward.
Swinging the sword in front of him, he cleanly sliced the first man in half. The sword was almost impossible to stop. However, the Two-Star Warrior managed to summon his Qi in a protective barrier around himself to keep the sword from killing him. But, the force still knocked him five steps back.
Seeing this, Xu Min could not help but to grit his teeth.The Two-Star Warrior was staying back and was stunned by the fact that he had been forced to retreat by a cultivator weaker than himself. However, here he was forced five steps backwards. His complexion was rather pale which was nothing like it had been before.
Seeing that the man had survived, Xu Min felt despair well up within him. Although he had used every last scrap of Qi he possessed, he had still failed to kill the final Warrior in the group of attackers. He once more wielded his sword, ready to attack, when the man’s eyes suddenly bulged outwards as he fell to the ground. His last breath of life left him.
‘You weren’t too bad,’ Cao Cao’s voice sounded out within his head. ‘But if you want me to acknowledge you as my boss, then you had better start improving at a rapid speed! You only managed to kill three men in the time it took me to kill seventeen. Seventeen! You had better treat me to some good food!’
Xu Min had never before been as happy about the snake’s ranting as he was now. He laughed helplessly as he sheathed his sword on his back while the snake coiled around his neck. The man and the snake quickly vanished into the forest and rushed towards the outside of the forest.
Chapter 22 - Ri Chu City
Some warriors had survived the ordeal, but they were the warriors who had not participated in the battle. They were the ones who had been staying away from the clearing as they watched their comrades and friends get executed one after another.
Xu Min paid no attention to those men. He knew that if they were to participate then Cao Cao would have stepped in and stopped them. Although Cao Cao wished for Xu Min to increase his strength, the snake had no interest in seeing him dead. Due to this, he still assisted the weak young man.
‘How can you even be called a man when you can’t even protect your own life,’ Cao Cao muttered as he was coiled around the young man’s neck. His eyes were struggling to keep open. After only a few moments did the snake fall into a deep sleep. Snickering, Xu Min looked at the snake. He was fully aware that he too had pushed himself to be able to take care of those seventeen men. And now, he now needed a long sleep.
While the snake was asleep, Xu Min came to the end of the forest. As he looked around, it looked exactly the same to how it had been where he had entered at the opposite side of the forest.
Small towns adorned the landscape here and there. They were selling items needed for the cultivators who entered into the forest. These towns had inns for other groups and pharmacies to buy and sell medicinal herbs and concoctions.
Looking at these towns, Xu Min opted not to enter them. The warriors within the forest were likely to inform their superiors about which direction he was taking. It was highly likely that he would be attacked the moment he were to enter town.
Instead, Xu Min left the area around the forest and decided not to follow the standard roads on his way towards a major city.
No cities were within range of view. By moving parallel to the road, Xu Min only needed to walk for around four days before he could see the massive city walls in the distance again.
All this time Cao Cao had been deeply asleep. He had never once left the position around Xu Min’s neck. Although he was sleeping, the young man felt quite relaxed knowing that the snake was with him.
Travelling for an extra few days, Xu Min reached the agricultural area outside the city. As he was finally closing in on the major city, Xu Min once more dared to travel on the roads. As a matter of fact, he did not have any choice other than to follow the main roads. Anything between the roads had turned into rice fields or other kind of agriculture.
Reaching the roads, Xu Min was capable of moving much quicker towards the city. After an
other three days did he finally arrive at the city gate. This city was the same size as Honghe City which he came from. A special feeling of nostalgia welled up within the young man as he wondered how Overseer Wang Li was doing.
Xu Min knew nothing about the city he had arrived at, but what he did guess was that much like any other city. This place much like any other place accepted gold coins as payment. He quickly entered through the gates, looking for inns anywhere around the entrance to the city.
Many inns were located at the entrance. It was not that rare that travellers came across; however, all these inns looked to be rather run down. Xu Min remembered that he had promised the snake the meal of his lifetime, so he needed a proper place to accommodate them.
Walking through the town, Xu Min caught a hold of the name of the city. The city was named Ri Chu City and unlike Honghe City, this one did not have a harbor. Instead, it was considered one of the larger intersections for travellers and merchants which had allowed for the city to grow to the size it had today.
