Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
—
The wind started blowing from behind them. It was not as refreshing as Mo Fan assumed to be. He came to a stop and looked behind him.
For some reason, despite the incredible size of the Giant Purple Sacred Linden, it was impossible to see the tree after reaching a certain distance away. Mo Fan could no longer see it from his current distance…
“What is it?” Zhao Manyan asked.
“I have picked up the smell of blood on the wind,” Mo Fan said. He was particularly sensitive toward the scent after being a Hunter for a long time, even though the scent was extremely faint after the wind had carried it a long distance away.
“Maybe we aren’t far enough,” Mr. Gao said.
“No, it’s the smell of fresh blood,” Mo Fan said confidently.
The group turned around, but they could not see anything out of place. Zhao Manyan believed Mo Fan was not just trying to scare them. He summoned his golden wings and sprang into the sky.
—
A strong wind swept past Zhao Manyan’s ears as he rose a thousand meters into the sky to take a glance at the Giant Purple Sacred Linden. However, he still failed to see anything. The blue sky was connected to the sea of grass in the distance, yet there was no sign of the enormous tree.
While Zhao Manyan was deep in thought, a strong wind carrying a figure was approaching from another direction.
“Such incredible speed!” Zhao Manyan was stunned.
The figure had just appeared from the distance, yet she had arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye. The person seemed to have noticed Zhao Manyan’s presence too. She took a detour and flew toward Zhao Manyan rapidly!
Her clothes were flapping wildly in the strong wind. The strong wind swept at Zhao Manyan’s face, which was filled with great astonishment after he took a closer look at the woman in front of him. He stared at the old woman in disbelief.
“Xiao Yan?”
“Grandaunt?” Zhao Manyan almost dropped his jaw to the ground. From what he could remember, the old woman had always been weak and troubled by sickness. She was the kind that would be knocked down by a little breeze, yet she was currently hovering in the sky while her white hair was drifting in the wind. Her back was upright instead of stooping forward as usual. Her eyes had the imperious look of a strong Mage!
“Where’s Chen Yi?” Yan Shi asked.
“She’s down there. Grandaunt, you…you’re a Mage?” Zhao Manyan was still having a hard time believing it.
“I stopped being one many years ago.”
—
Zhao Manyan and Yan Shi landed on the ground. Chen Yi had the same reaction when she saw her grandmother with a completely different appearance and temperament.
Neither of them knew Yan Shi was a Mage, not to mention that she was a Super Mage with unimaginable cultivation!
“Grandma, what’s going on?” Chen Yi asked.
“Where are the others? Why didn’t they leave with you? Where are the army and the Hunters?” Yan Shi asked.
Yan Shi was relieved to see that Chen Yi was perfectly fine. However, she frowned as soon as she realized there were not many people around.
“Tong Shang is planning to claim the Giant Purple Sacred Linden. I believe he’s sending people to scout the tree before requesting more backup to clear the tree,” Mo Fan explained.
Even though he was utterly clueless about the situation, he could easily tell that something bad was happening, just like he and Lingling had predicted.
It did not mean Mo Fan and Lingling had some special abilities to sense danger. There were just too many things that they could not explain. The more unknowns there were, the more dangerous the situation could be. Both Lingling and Mo Fan were experienced Hunters. Drawing on advantages and avoiding disadvantages was already part of their nature!
“Idiots!” Yan Shi snapped furiously when she learned Tong Shang’s decision.
“I’ve just picked up the smell of fresh blood,” Mo Fan said.
“Damn it, that devil that is disguising itself as a sacred existence. Why didn’t they realize it was behind everything all along!?” Yan Shi said anxiously.
“Grandma, what’s going on?” Chen Yi asked.
Mo Fan looked at Yan Shi. He too was interested in the answers. What was the devil that she was referring to? Was it the Hillmen, or something that was living higher up in the tree?
“We learned of the existence of the Giant Purple Sacred Linden thirty years ago. Back then, the White Magic Falcons were invading the outer Magic Association. There was a huge war between them and the horde of demon creatures living on the Giant Purple Sacred Linden. The remains and blood of the demon creatures filled up the valley and turned into nutrients for the Yu Grass, resulting in the sea of grass. The army that was stationed at the Bohai Sea was worried that the war would spread to Yantai, so they set up a perimeter with the Magic Associations along the shoreline to prevent the horde on the Giant Purple Sacred Linden and the White Magic Falcons from invading the city…”
“It’s the White Magic Falcons again,” Mo Fan sighed.
“The White Magic Falcons were already a massive horde thirty years ago. We all knew that if the White Magic Falcons ended up securing the Giant Purple Sacred Linden, it would turn into a kingdom of White Magic Falcons in thirty years. When that happened, every city to the north of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River would cease to exist!” Yan Shi informed them.
Mo Fan gaped. He did not think the horde of White Magic Falcons already posed such a great threat thirty years ago!
“Our leaders believed it was unwise to just defend passively. The fate of the Giant Purple Sacred Linden would directly decide our fate too. As such, we sent a huge army to help the Giant Purple Sacred Linden and stop the invasion of the White Magic Falcons…” Yan Shi said.
“No wonder the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows were helping us to fight the Hillmen; it turns out that we already helped one another thirty years ago,” Chen Yi said.
Yan Shi did not seem to agree with them.
“The sky here is under Dimensional Disorder. It’s stopping me from flying to the Giant Purple Sacred Tree. Bring me to it, I’ll explain the details along the way,” Yan Shi said.
“Sure,” Mo Fan nodded.
Dimensional Disorder was something like a maze of illusions. It was most likely why they could not see the Giant Purple Sacred Linden after reaching a certain distance away.
It was impossible to reach the Giant Purple Sacred Linden from the sky. The only way was through the sea of grass on the ground. It made sense that Yu Shi was struggling to find the right way, even though she had participated in the war thirty years ago!
“How did you find the Totem Seal?” Yan Shi suddenly asked.
“We found the Moon Moth Phoenix, and the feather of another Totem Beast. We managed to derive the Totem Seal from them,” Mo Fan said.
“The Moon Moth Phoenix… she…she’s still alive!?” Yan Shi was stunned. She looked at Mo Fan in disbelief.
Mo Fan was confused about why Yan Shi was surprised all of a sudden. Her face was filled with a strong hint of remorse!
“You know about the Moon Moth Phoenix?” Mo Fan asked.
“Are you sure she’s still alive!?” Yan Shi asked.
“I think so, she is currently inside a huge cocoon hidden in the woods,” Mo Fan briefly explained his encounter with the Moon Moth Phoenix.
Yan Shi was in tears before Mo Fan was done speaking. She kept wiping off the tears on her face with her sleeves.
“I have let her down, it’s all my fault…” Yan Shi was struggling to control her emotions the more she spoke. She was like a completely different person compared to the demeanor she had as a Super Mage before.
“What happened?” Mo Fan was even more confused now!
“I…I…” Yan Shi was stammering a little. It took her a while to spill the beans, I…I was the guardian of the Moon Moth Phoenix!”
Yan Shi slowly opened up her trembling hand as she spoke. She showed a chain bracelet resembling the tail of a moth to Mo Fan.
Mo Fan glanced at it, and was surprised to see the exact same Totem Seal he had discovered on the Moon Moth Phoenix!
Yan Shi was just like Tangyue; she was a descendant of a tribe that was protecting the Totem Beasts!
But why was she shedding tears of remorse? Why was she in such pain that it felt like she would rather end her life with her own hands?
“If you’re the Totem Guardian of the Moon Moth Phoenix, why didn’t you stay with her?” Mo Fan asked.
“It’s because… I killed her,” Yan Shi said.
It was only a few words, yet they seemed to have drawn away all the remaining life force that the old woman had.
She was not willing to use a single spell for thirty years. She would rather wait for her death in a lonely shed by the sea in remorse.
“You killed her?” Mo Fan was even more confused.
A Totem Guardian killed a Totem Beast?
The Totem Guardians were the only people left in the world who were still treating the ancient Totem Beasts as their gods. Their ideology had been passed down for thousands of years, but it was unaccepted and even despised by the current society. Even so, judging from Tangyue’s feelings toward the Black Totem Snake, Mo Fan was confident that every Totem Guardian would never hurt the Totem Beasts, since they were willing to sacrifice everything to protect them!
Why did Yan Shi kill the Moon Moth Phoenix!?
Did that mean the Moon Moth Phoenix was in a giant cocoon, not because she had reached the end of her life cycle, but she was actually dying from some serious injuries!?
Which meant… Yu Shishi wasn’t telling him the truth, either?
She wasn’t waiting for the Moon Moth Phoenix to wake up, but only taking care of the Moon Moth Phoenix in her deathbed struggle?
“Why?” Mo Fan could not understand.
The Moon Moth Phoenix had saved Yu Shishi’s life when she was abandoned in the wild. It implied that she was still friendly to humans; why would Yan Shi want to kill her!?
“Because she was helping the White Magic Falcons,” Yan Shi said.
Helping the White Magic Falcons?
Mo Fan was dumbfounded again. He immediately asked, “Weren’t the White Magic Falcons killing the creatures on the Giant Purple Sacred Linden to claim it as their territory? Weren’t they posing a great threat to humans…”
Yan Shi nodded. She was finally able to calm herself. It seemed like she had finally found a reason to stand back up on her feet after learning that the Moon Moth Phoenix was still alive!
“That’s strange, the Moon Moth Phoenix is a Totem Beast; why was she helping the White Magic Falcons? It would only place humans in danger,” Mo Fan had to say.
