54 Back Mountains (2/2)

”Hmm. This may be serious. I'll look into it.”

The kids thanked Wang Mei before going on their merry way. Little did Xin Fan know, he too would soon be dragged into this mess. The small group of 3 climbed the back mountains for some exploration.The air was fresh especially in this part of the continent. Like Xin Fan's village, it was far away from the main civilization and everyone was self sustaining. Although in unfamiliar terrain, Chilong and Xin Fan managed to easily get around in the mountains. Tianfei on the other hand, lagged behind unable to adapt to the environment.

”You've got to adapt Tianfei. I'm sure our trial in Tower City would be worse.”

Xin Fan who managed to climb a tall ledge looked down on the other two who were still climbing. As he did so, Xin Fan's eyes widened as he watched Chilong. Chilong was actually eating a fruit from another tree while climbing with only one hand.

”What does it matter.”

A small burst of qi erupted from Tianfei's feet before she leaped up and easily scaled the ledge. At the same time, Chilong finished eating the fruit and started to speed up scaling the ledge at the same rate.

”Well, suit yourself. It's fine as long as you can keep up your mobility in this terrain.”

As they traveled, Xin Fan could hear the sounds of animals howling. Chilong seemed especially on guard as if it was instinctual. It was not long until they reached the peak of that mountain. The view was breathtaking to say the least. At this height, they could see the entire village as it expands outwards to the forests.

”Zhiqi Forest. Land of the untainted.”

Xin Fan turned around at Chilong's words.

”Huh?”

Chilong was reading a steel plaque that was embedded into the ground. There was a layer of rust and snow covering it.

”That's what it says here. I found it because there was a scent of metal.”

Chilong recovered the plaque with the snow as if it was untouched to begin with. He seemed extremely serious about the matter. His ears twitched as he heard something coming towards them in the distance.

”Looks like we aren't welcome...Hide.”

The three hid behind a large rock covering their bodies in the snow as extra precaution. Xin Fan carefully took a peek behind the rock to see what was coming. There stood a large wolf with eyes wiser than a man's. It's silver fur shimmered against the snow and sun. It had a white aura much thicker than anything Xin Fan has ever seen before. The wolf was bowing towards something. Xin Fan could not even make sense of what it was before it disappeared into thin air. Seeing the 'thing' disappear, the wolf too left leaving a trail of paw prints.

”What did you see.”

Xin Fan was speechless. He really had no idea what he just witnessed. There were many questions that was in his mind. What was that creature? Why did the wolf bow towards it? Why did the wolf seem as if he had intelligence.

”I...don't know.”

They left the peak of the mountain and headed back to the village. Every forest had it's king and that 'thing' seemed to be it. They knew that it was not their place to meddle into such affairs and left the mountain the way it was.

The suns have started to set and once again it was time to sleep. They went to sleep early as the time to depart was tomorrow. As the moons started to rise, Xin Fan entered a dreamlike state. It was strange.Although Xin Fan felt awake, he started to see things that he shouldn't. It was blurry, like a dream but seemed too real to not be part of reality.

”Where am I?”

When Xin Fan opened up his eyes again, he was not in his bed.