“Yo, you guys finally arrived!” Milk waved at them from above a tree while the rest were weary from the hike from the checkpoint.
“Did you like, erm fly in here or something? And what kind of location is this? We are standing practically in the middle of nowhere with no landmark to follow.” Lian complained as she was not used to the traditional methods of searching for someone using a physical map. All four of them were too reliant on technology to even understand the basics of survival.
“Actually, I got bored at the real location some time ago, so I decided to search for you guys instead. Why didn’t you prepare better? It should’ve been obvious that you’re going into a massive jungle with no Wifi? Next time at least get a GPS receiver or a compass.” Milk lectured them since she had wasted an hour waiting for them at the particular location she assigned. There was no apparent reason why Milk wanted to use the site she chose other than asking System for a coordinate to teleport.
However, she did encounter a Bone Spirit Demon that was lurking around the area and had already plummeted it to death before sending it to the System for analysis. After which, she slept above a tree branch peacefully with a variety of alarm spells placed in her radius to alert her of movement either from the demon exorcists or any other demons.
Milk honestly believed there was really no need for the kids to be here. If all Jin wanted was to find out about the monsters to create in the new advanced training centre, then there were better candidates for that job.
So, she guessed he wanted them to learn and grow from the experience. After all, aside from Su Zhen, the rest still needed to prove that they had actually killed a few demons and solve a case or two to get promoted to full-fledged demon exorcists. This particular exercise could potentially allow them to gain such a reputation immediately.
“Ms Milk, your information about a possible demon invasion was right. The guards were all dead tired and blabbering about how they needed reinforcements and weapons. However, as we travelled here, there were no demons in sight despite the tell signs. Was that your doing as well?” Lein queried.
Milk’s information had been correct, and her criticism was valid from the way they were behaving. But there was no apparent threat at the moment. They wondered if Milk was secretly protecting them by giving them a seemingly random meeting location as an excuse.
“Nope, I haven’t seen anything yet.” Milk lied as she covered it up with another yawn. Su Zhen judged that their observer, as well as the team, were tired so it would be best to break camp for the day despite still having plenty of daytime left. (She had no idea how much sleep Milk always enjoyed.)
“Ms Milk, is there a river stream or some other kind of water source around?” Su Zhen asked. She decided to scan the area for a place to rest by activating her sensing ability of the White Demon Snake.
“Ehh, further up, there is a small stream. Enough to get some water.” Milk pointed upwards, and Rong laughed.
“We have more than enough water to supply ourselves. I bet Su Zhen is just looking for a clearing to settle for the evening.” Rong pointed out as he took out a bottle of water and flaunted it in front of Milk.
“Just…don’t litter the place or I will wallop you.” Milk said casually as she beckoned the rest to follow her.
Soon, they found a small clearing further up the stream and decided to camp there. Only instead of cooking dinner, they were busy setting a few basic trap formations and subsequently tents to rest. After which, all of them prepared to sleep despite the sun still being up.
Seeing the curious look on Milk, Lian assumed she did not know much about the demons and explained that the demons were more active in the night: “They’re a little scared of the light, but that doesn’t mean they won’t attack in the day.”
Meanwhile, Lian took a spray can and started moisturising her skin from the intense heat. In fact, it also served as a sort of low level repellent so regular demons would not be able to sense the chi emanating from the Demon Exorcists as they rested.
“The three of us will be resting up, while Rong will take watch for us until the evening.” Su Zhen interjected and asked Lian for the spray can and criticised she should get the new lemon concoction from the Exorcists Shop online.
“The Trap Formations also has an alarm spell to alert Rong and should keep us safe inside,” Lein said as he properly activated the trap formation. It caused a faint greenish light to appear in the distance, and eventually, the trap formation blended with the surrounding environment.
“So instead of using it offensively, you are using it defensively?” Milk concluded, and they nodded their heads. Usually, it was used to trap and prevent the demons from moving out of the formation, thus allowing Demon Exorcists to close into the demon and kill it. But at the moment, they were trapping themselves in so they could have a quiet and peaceful rest.
Rong would be on standby and protect the group in case any demons accidentally destroyed the formation.
“But most of the time, if the demons were able to destroy the trap formation, they are usually sentient in nature, and that means we’ll be big trouble,” Lian added, but Su Zhen calmed everyone else by stating that there were no tracks of the demons on the ground she had trailed.
‘You cannot track them because…they are using the trees to travel.’ Milk thought to herself when she recalled the Bone Demon infused Monkey diving down to attack her. Still, she decided not to say anything and allow these kids a bit of rest.
Milk predicted that soon enough, the young demon exorcists would be in one of the hardest battles they would remember for life.
