38 Chapter 37

"We almost crossed the river." 

Holding XB11's right hand tightly and dangling in the air, Huhe raised his head to look at Zuyuan and said, "We better to fly a bit higher. The thakhuur would be able to reach us." 

Glancing downwards, Zuyuan asked XB11 with concern in his gaze, "Can you take us higher?"

Hesitated for a second, XB11 shook its head and replied honestly, "With this amount of weight, I am afraid it will be difficult, master." 

Shrugging his shoulders, Zuyuan glanced at Huhe and spoke, "It wasn't possible. But if there's any vines that would strangle us, then prepare your sword." 

On the other side, Lyk lightly hit his shoulder while his other hand was hugging XB11's arm, "Here's the great swordsman, Lyk! No worries, Huhe!"

Sighed, Huhe choose to stay quiet and focused his gaze upfront. Ready for another battle. 

Raising the corner of his lips a little, Zuyuan followed what Huhe was doing and saw the scenery. A fair bit distance away, on the shore of the massive river, lay the edge of a forest. But the tree's of that forest were without any single leaves on their branches. A massive contrast of view from the forest they had come from.

"Ouch!" 

A scream of pain suddenly sounded as a little, bluish scaled fish bit the sole of Lyk's left foot. Kicking the fish away from his other leg, the fish's sharp teeth rip a small amount of skin and flesh from Lyk's feet. 

"Are you okay?" asked Zuyuan as he frowned, looking concerned with all the blood that was flowing down from Lyk's feet to the river. 

"Ha! Tis jus flesh wound!" answered Lyk energetically, while trying to hide his grimace expression from the pain. 

"Alright then." nodding, Zuyuan believed Lyk's words without a second thought. If the man himself had said that he was okay, then it must be true. 

A few minutes after they left that certain part of the area where Lyk's blood dripped down on the river, few bubbles started to arise on the water. The fish that had been kicked by Lyk began jumping out from the water as if trying to escape something. But a moment later, a huge jaw opened itself and swallowed the fish whole in midair and quickly got back to the water. A pair of yellowish glow shone for a short moment, as it started to track down the source of the blood. 

At this moment, Zuyuan and the others had already arrived in the forest and were still flying in the sky. After more than five minutes, there was still no attack from the south called thakhuur, Zuyuan began to grow an uneasy feeling and was about to ask Huhe about it, "Hey, Huhe. There's no-" 

Before his speech could finish, something resembling a whip moved at a fast speed and caught XB11's leg. Wrapping itself on Xb11's leg closely, it tried to pull XB11 immediately and caused the group flying progress to be halted. 

"Never mind.." smiling wryly, Zuyuan flick Gus wrist and take out his sword from thin air. As he was about to slash it downwards, another three more vines were coming to his direction and wanted to grab Zuyuan too. 

Clicking his tongue, Zuyuan drove the flow of Qigong in his dantian to all his body. His senses become strengthened for a brief moment, his sword becomes sharper, and his movements become faster. 

Swiftly grabbing the handle of his sword in both hands, he moved to slice one of the vines and another two sword phantoms appeared in the air simultaneously moving in the way he did to deal with the rest of them.

In a blink of an eye, he cut off three vines with one strike. Shortly, he changed his posture and was about to slice the vine in XB11's legs before he saw fifteen thick branches as big as a human leg, came from the surrounding trees to move in an agile manner and tried to attack all of them. 

"Really…" black streak appeared on his forehead as he felt annoyed. Guiding his Qigong to the technique, he mumbled, "Then… how about this!" 

Soon, four transparent doppelgangers materialized around him and jumped out to slash the sentient branches. Following his doppelganger's example, he jumped off from XB11's back and slash to one of the branches. As he executed his slash, five swords phantoms appeared to cut off the nearest five branches near him. 

"I'll be damned... I will have myself a lighten steps technique after this!" reminding himself to browse all the markets and stalls have to offer in the sanctuary, Zuyuan drove his Qigong to his right feet and forcefully ejected the Qigong from his feet as he kicked the air. 

Successfully imitating the basic of lighten steps technique in crude manner, Zuyuan git back into XB11's back as he assessed how his companions fare so far. 

With its leg tied down and both its arms being held by two hobgoblins, XB11 could do nothing besides to serve as the platform of its master and his guides' midair battleground. 

As for Huhe and Lyk, although one of their arms was being used to grab XB11, they tried to fend off the branches as best as they could with one hand. Thankfully, they only had to deal with one branch each as the rest of the branches had been cut down by Zuyuan and his doppelgangers. 

Chuckled from what he saw, Zuyuan smiled and commented, "Well, best of luck, you guys." 

His remark earned a glare from Huhe as he had heard what Zuyuan said. Shrugging his shoulders, Zuyuan now tried to look into their surroundings, waiting for another assault as somehow, there was still some uneasy feeling in his heart. 

In a fair distance away, on the shore of the river, something emerged from the water. The creature was twenty meters tall and four meters long. Some acid gasses was spewed out from its breath as it spoke softly. 

"Ritran…(Hobgoblin... )"