(Manami POV)
My tails twitched as I sniffed the air, trying to figure out what was different after the blast of Quarks.
The first thing I noticed was the staleness in the air, like something was dead nearby.
I felt a pull on my sleeve.
"Big sis Manami? Weird feeling?" Cai Hong muttered, her eyes looking towards the deeper parts of the forest.
"Ara? What does little Cai Hong feel?"
She tilted her head, "Muu… Like Papa is very far away? Will Papa be ok?"
I patted her head to reassure her, a little bit regretful that my sister was not with me since we had wanted to hunt separately.
Cai Hong had wanted to run off on her own too and while nothing in the forest could hurt her, Master had entrusted our loli dragon to me so there was no way I would let her go off alone. Being the good girl she was, Cai Hong stuck with me obediently.
I immediately activated my telepathy Technique, only to find myself unable to link with anyone else except for Cai Hong.
It was not that something was blocking it, but it felt like everyone else was refusing to receive my call.
That could mean that Cai Hong and I were brought to another Plane of existence by ourselves, most likely a domain of some sort.
Master would be able to break out of this, but at my current level I am quite helpless and wouldn't be able to collapse this domain no matter how hard I tried.
I looked towards the direction of the beach, narrowing my eyes at the space in front of me.
It was faint, but I could see the shimmer of what looks like a mirror, reflecting both mine and Cai Hong's figures on its surface. No doubt walking into it would just send me back here.
It was only thanks to my natural night vision that I did not need much light to look around, but I'm worried about the rest who aren't as fortunate as I was.
Since there was no point in going back, it would be a better idea for me to destroy the source that was maintaining this domain to free ourselves from it.
I reached down to hold Cai Hong's hand in mine, making sure that she would not be separated from me.
To my surprise, she actually broke out of my grasp and ran deeper into the forest shouting, "Papa! Papa!"
I shifted my gaze to the path in front of her but there was no one there, much less my most beloved Master.
I was just about to rush up to Cai Hong to stop her when I heard His voice whisper my name from behind.
I whirled around, only to see an empty path devoid of Master.
Immediately, I turned back to see Cai Hong standing a short distance away, looking around while seemingly confused.
"Daddy? Where daddy go?" The little girl cried.
I cursed under my breath for falling for the thing's tricks, but at least even if something were to take Cai Hong away, I would be more worried for the kidnapper than Cai Hong herself.
Still, it doesn't change the fact that it managed to distract me with Master's voice. The fact that the thing dared to imitate Master's voice… The act itself is already unforgivable…
But if this thing wants to play…
I went forward and took the little girl's hand, "Don't run off like that Cai Hong. We don't know what else is here."
"Ok…" She muttered, still looking around as though trying to find someone.
"I guess we should go further into the forest for now, maybe we will find something that can help us."
The little girl nodded her head, her hand gripping mine more tightly.
We walked along the small dirt trail that led deeper into the forest, the existence of such a trail having caught my interest in investigating it in the first place.
As far as I knew, this island was supposed to be deserted. For such a dirt path to appear meant someone or something had visited the island before, either recently or maybe there had been some sort of civilization here in the past.
Either way, following the path should at least grant us some insight to our predicament at least.
The two of us were silent throughout the walk, the forest being equally silent. If there were any animals still left around, they were not making a peep of a sound either.
"Big sister?" The little girl tugged at my hand before pointing towards the side with a finger.
My gaze shifted to where she was pointing which happens to be the area between a pair of trees.
I was expecting to see nothing so imagine my surprise when I saw a statue made of stone just standing a distance away, half hidden in the undergrowth. What's more, the statue was carved in my own likeness as well.
Before I could take a closer look at it, I felt another tug on my hand which forced me to turn my gaze back to the little girl beside me.
"Big sister… Sca… Scary…"
I frowned and turned to look at the statue again, only to see an empty space at where the statue had been.
Ah… I see… It's that kind of thing.
Ufufufu~ Another hunter that thinks I am its prey? Two can play at that little game~
I whipped my head around and sure enough, the statue was there, just a few meters away from me.
I have to say, the details were quite well done where even the tails looked lifelike.
Unperturbed by its sudden appearance, I moved towards it and started inspecting it from head to toe, poking at parts of the body with a finger.
"Big sister…" The little girl whined, having refused to move close to the statue and stayed at where I left her.
"Mmm… Very nice details," I praised the statue before stepping in front of it.
It made no indication of having heard me.
I made a show of pressing my chest against the statue's, smirking, "But my assets are still bigger than yours~ You think you can take my place with those things? Ufufufu~ You'll need to work on that~"
Very, very slightly, the corner of the statue's eyebrow twitched. The movement was so slight that I could've just imagined the whole thing.
My smirk widened before I stepped back and returned to where I was, keeping my eye on the statue the entire time.
I reached out my hand, "Come now Cai Hong… We should leave~"
The little girl ran up and held my hand again, letting me guide her in walking backwards further down the path, keeping my eyes on the statue the entire time.
It remained there even when it became a small speck in the distance, but after several more steps, I had to blink my eyes. That blink made the statue disappear from where it was, completely disappearing from my sight.
Ara, ara~ So whatever that set this up wants to have a hunting game? Ufufufu~ Very well, I shall indulge in it for a little bit. I would even take care of the little one while hunting~
Let's see who is the real hunter and prey, hmmm? Especially when you have nowhere to hide…
