CSMCDB - Chapter 29
Chapter 29
The problem of the dragons was not something people of Wen Yuncheng and Lin Jinyu's level needed to worry about. However... they were facing a problem that was even more troublesome for them.
And that was the demonic beast riot.
The Beast Tide usually receded at the end of autumn as winter approached, starting in September and ending completely in November. The demonic beasts in September were extremely violent and would actively gather to attack the towns along the forest's edge. But by October, the beasts would no longer take the initiative to attack the cities. Low-level demonic beasts would be very active on the forest's outskirts, while high-level ones would retreat into its depths.
But... dragons had appeared in the depths of the forest.
Those high-level, or rather, mid-level demonic beasts would flee from the forest's interior. Instinct drove them to get as far away from the terrifying Dragon Race as possible. Even the low-level demonic beasts on the outskirts would become more restless and easily provoked.
For the two low-level youngsters, this was nothing short of a natural disaster.
Not to mention, they were also lost.
Just then, Wen Yuncheng's and Lin Jinyu's storage rings lit up simultaneously. Wen Yuncheng received a message from Yan Ling, while Lin Jinyu received one from Qiu Fei.
-"Where are you? Are you safe? Can you return to the town?"
"I don't know, I'm safe, and yes!" Wen Yuncheng immediately replied. "It's just that I'm a little lost... Teacher, why are there dragons?"
-"I don't know. But the Empire should be taking emergency action, and the Headmaster will probably come over as well." Hearing that Wen Yuncheng was still lost, Yan Ling sighed in utter helplessness. "Do you... have a rough idea of your location in the forest?"
"...I don't know. But I just killed a third-layer Star Practitioner leopard!"
-"..." Yan Ling resisted the urge to hit someone, though she couldn't reach her cheap disciple anyway. She cut off the communication, not wanting to waste time on this useless exchange. With that effort, she might as well run a few more steps and maybe catch the kid.
Just then, she saw a team hurrying back. Judging by their star ranks, they were probably third-year students. Yan Ling landed directly in front of them. "Have you seen a... rather frail, skinny kid? Fifteen years old, about this tall."
The team members who were stopped looked at each other in confusion. "N-No, we haven't... Teacher, is there some kind of disturbance deep in the forest? Is the Beast Tide going to make a comeback?"
"I don't know." Yan Ling tossed out the three words and left the students to continue searching for her unlucky disciple. Of course, if she encountered any other lost teams, Yan Ling would help them return to town.
As for Qiu Fei, after confirming Lin Jinyu was safe, she told her to find companions and return together if possible. After her disciple calmly agreed, Qiu Fei hung up, reassured. After all, in her mind, Lin Jinyu had always been very reliable.
Even after hearing the dragon's roar just now, her little disciple's voice had remained completely unfazed.
After confirming her disciple's safety, Qiu Fei used her communication stone to contact the other instructors who had come to the Demonic Beast Forest to organize a rescue and receive the students. All sorts of distress signals from students were appearing in the sky one after another. She was going to be busy.
...It was a pity her disciple had already used hers. If she had known, she would have paid out of her own pocket to prepare a hundred or eighty distress signals for Lin Jinyu. Damn it!
A dragon appearing in the Demonic Beast Forest... this was an unprecedented event.
[I think this is a fortuitous encounter meant for the protagonist.] 1947 analyzed reasonably. [Look, the Dragon Race has been peacefully staying on Dragon Island for a thousand years. For at least several hundred years, no dragons have appeared on the Starry Sky Continent, yet one shows up now of all times. And what a coincidence, you're also in the Demonic Beast Great Forest!]
Wen: What you mean is...?
[Go into the depths of the forest! That must be your destined mount!]
Wen: Goodbye.
[Alright, I was just kidding.] 1947 said with a sigh. [But you need to get out of here quickly. The demonic beasts have all been disturbed. With your and Lin Jinyu's strength, you'd have a slim chance of survival against a Star Master Winged Tiger. If you—]
The System's voice hadn't even finished playing in her mind when Wen Yuncheng heard an angry roar from nearby, and the ground began to tremble. This was... this was...
"Aung!~"
"A Mammoth." Lin Jinyu's expression changed. She grabbed the still-dazed Wen Yuncheng and ran. Having learned her lesson from last time, Lin Jinyu was fully aware that verbal warnings were sometimes not enough. It was better to just pull Wen Yuncheng along than waste time, lest she be too slow.
"M-My..." leopard corpse... Wen Yuncheng forced herself to swallow the last few words. If she said that while they were running for their lives, she was afraid Lin Jinyu would just abandon her. Wuu...
In the past three days, including the leopard, she had hunted a total of 10 Star Practitioner-level demonic beasts and had cooperated with Lin Jinyu to kill four Star Warrior-level ones. Wen Yuncheng had also been lucky enough to slaughter three Star Apostle rabbits for extra meals. As a result, her current experience was 4475/4500, just 25 points away from leveling up.
But she never, ever expected to run into something like this. As she fled in a panic, Wen Yuncheng could only lament: Why am I so unlucky!
A Long Aotian, wasn't she supposed to be a Long Aotian! Shouldn't her luck stat be maxed out!
After finishing her internal lament, Wen Yuncheng's attention shifted to the hand Lin Jinyu was holding. The last time Lin Jinyu had pulled her along to escape, a Winged Tiger had been chasing them. Why was it that every time she held hands with the cute little sister, it was a life-or-death situation... But Lin Jinyu's hand was so soft.
[Can you please focus on escaping?]
Ah, but even if I focus on escaping, I don't know how to escape. As Wen Yuncheng thought this, she heard all sorts of demonic beast roars in the distance. "Is that... someone else running into demonic beasts?" Or were the beasts killing each other?
"Possibly," Lin Jinyu said. "Do you want to try?"
Try what? Go over there and see if it's allies? "I want to try. What if it's someone from our academy or a teacher..."
—It was a team of second and third-layer Star Warriors. They were wearing sect uniforms, not those of Star Academy. They looked to be seventeen or eighteen-year-old youths. There was a pool of blood near them, but no corpse, so the demonic beast must have been killed by them.
"Tianmen Sect," Lin Jinyu whispered.
"Why are there Star Practitioners in the Demonic Beast Great Forest? Oh, from Star Academy?" One of them spotted the girls and immediately sneered, "Looks like Star Academy is really going downhill. What? Got separated from your class? Come over and call us 'big brother,' and we'll take you out of here, eh?"
Wen Yuncheng instinctively frowned. The man's tone was frivolous and mocking, making for a truly terrible first impression. And what he said— 1947, is the relationship between the academy and the sects not very good?
[Some of them. There are those who have a harmonious relationship with the academy, and naturally, there are those who can't stand it.]
The main conflicts lie in two areas: the Empire's resource allocation and student recruitment. Some sects don't fuss over it and treat the academy as just another type of sect—a competitor they can also cooperate with, since students who graduate from the academy can serve the Empire or join a sect. But others... feel that their inability to recruit students and the small amount of resources they receive from the Empire is due to the Empire's favoritism and the academy stealing people... ahem. Of course, it's also possible that the upper echelons of a sect have a personal grudge against the academy's leadership. In short, the conflicts are multifaceted.
"Or maybe they're just some brats who snuck in, heh." Another person sized them up. After confirming that the two brats' clothes and accessories didn't suggest any wealth or background, he scoffed, "Let's go. The forest is in an uproar right now, let's not waste time on these two kids."
"Don't, Senior Brother. If we run into a Star Master-level demonic beast, we can use these two brats to help us escape."
Wen Yuncheng: I'm still right here, you know? And you're already planning to use me as cannon fodder?
Wen Yuncheng grabbed Lin Jinyu's hand and was about to leave in another direction. But as she tried to pull Lin Jinyu away, one of the Tianmen Sect disciples actually blocked her with his sword? 1947, check their favorability.
[Not dislike.]
"Hey kids, what's your relationship? Holding hands and all?"
"None of your damn business." The armguard on Wen Yuncheng's right arm extended, directly knocking the sword aside. Just as she was about to leave, she heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind her. Lin Jinyu pulled her aside to dodge the attack. A long staff slammed into the ground, creating a small crater. They were going to fight?! This was a completely unprovoked disaster. What were these people's brains made of? They weren't even planning to travel together, and they wouldn't even let them leave? This was simply—
"You want to leave? Fine. Hand over your storage rings and storage pouches."
Hand? Them? Over? Wen Yuncheng's expression gradually turned cold. She quickly sized up the five men. The weakest was a second-layer Star Warrior, and two were third-layer Star Warriors. Meanwhile, she was a second-layer Star Practitioner, and Lin Jinyu was a third-layer Star Practitioner. The situation was extremely unfavorable no matter how you looked at it. Unless some opportunity arose to break the stalemate, it would be impossible for her and Lin Jinyu to leave safely.
[I'm sensing a familiar aura.]
What? Is it Teacher?
[No, it's that Winged Tiger that was chasing you before.]
Wen Yuncheng was dumbfounded. That Winged Tiger was still alive? She thought that after Lin Jinyu sent the signal, Qiu Fei would have arrived and killed it! Did she not run into it?
Seeing Wen Yuncheng remain silent for a long moment, Lin Jinyu thought about how Wen Yuncheng had run away from home to study at Star Academy alone and probably didn't have much money. "How many Star Stones will it take for you to let us leave?"
"Hah? Did you not understand me? Everything. Take out all the storage rings and pouches on you!" The young man who had blocked them with his sword laughed exaggeratedly. He suddenly paused, leaned in closer, and raised his hand to touch Lin Jinyu's face. "You're quite pretty—"
Smack.
"Don't go too far. It's best to leave some leeway so we can meet again on good terms." Wen Yuncheng slapped the man's hand away, a rare flicker of anger in her eyes. Generally, Wen Yuncheng rarely felt emotions like anger because she was extremely good at consoling herself, able to talk herself down no matter what she encountered.
But now, a Flame Exploder was clutched in her hand. Wen Yuncheng was ready at any moment to release four Guardians and fight these malicious guys. These people didn't seem like decent folk at all. Wen Yuncheng pulled Lin Jinyu's hand. "Don't say anything more to them." And don't reveal her identity or anything. If this bunch knew Lin Jinyu was the daughter of the Flowing Cloud Sect's Master, who knew what other ideas they might get.
If she had known, she wouldn't have suggested coming over to try their luck.
[Perhaps I have a solution? A fifteen-point solution.]
What?
[That Winged Tiger... should be very fond of braised bones.]
Wen Yuncheng was skeptical, but after she slapped that man's hand away, the five of them had surrounded her and Lin Jinyu. Although they all wore smiles, as if they were just joking around and would really let them go after taking their storage rings... still, on what grounds!
"Big Brother, how about I show you a treasure?" Wen Yuncheng put on a harmless smile. "You'll definitely like it."
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