Chapter 211 - The Forbidden Grounds

The day was coming to an end and all the Immortals were snuggled in front of the small fireplace that was built in the living room of the cabin.

It was not like they were feeling cold or anything. However, staying with their little late they had learned to do a lot of things that they used to never do before.

"Where has she gone? Is not it already time for our evening snacks? Yet I can't see her anywhere." Zhang Yong complained as he looked out of the small window to see if Li Ming was anywhere near the cabin.

"Are you missing her or the snacks?" Hei Long asked in a teasing tone which made smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

The Shadow Lord quickly turned around to glare at his bondmate as he replied, "Of course, it's my Ming'er whom I'm missing. I was just trying to say that she always returns at this time for the evening snacks but not today."

"Oh! So, it is like that. It's good that you explained otherwise all of us would have thought that those snacks are more important to you than your mate." Hei Long continued with his teasing.

This time the Shadow Lord sure was triggered as he took out his fan and started fanning himself as he replied in a sweet tone, "Don't worry, Second Prince. There's only one Important person in my life and she is well aware of this. Most importantly, I'm the one who has spent the longest period with her compared to all of you."

The smug smile on his lips was the indicator that he was well aware of the fact that the Immortals were always get triggered whenever he mentioned the last part.

"It's enough, Zhang. You have been bragging about meeting her the first for a long time. You should not tease all of us when you need to get even with Hei Long. This is not fair." Ruoshan said or more like complained.

"Who said that I'm trying to get even with the Second Prince? He is not that important for me to waste my time on him." Zhang Yong said as he continued fanning himself.

Miraculously the fan was producing warm air rather than a cold one.

"You...!" Hei Long stared at the Shadow Lord as his dark eyes promised revenge. 

Whether the Shadow Lord was interested in taking revenge or not but Hei Long was sure eager to get even with him.

"Enough of you two. You two have known each other for thousands of years. Can you two just behave like grown-ups and stop trying to kill the other one with your words? It's so annoying." Wen Guiying reprimanded the two younger Immortals.

"Why? Are you suddenly feeling protective of your bondmate? It's so rare of you to say something about our bickering." Hei Long sure was in a bad mood or something.

The Supreme Immortal glared at the Second Demon Prince who just chuckled softly while shaking his head.

"What's wrong with you today? It's like you are purposely trying to trigger one of us. Please, don't end up saying something stupid in front of Little One. And you can always share your problems with us." Lord Yueliang said ss he looked at Hei Long with serious eyes.

Just like Li Ming, he too was aware that something was going on with the Second Demon Prince, and as far as he could tell the rest of the five Immortals were also aware of that.

However, they all knew very well that if they tried to pry too much into his personal space, he would create a huge gap between himself and the others.

The last time something like that happened, they had lost contact with him for more than seven years.

But now they had Li Ming with them. For the Immortals, seven years was equal to a few seconds but for their mate and the bonds that they were sharing with her, seven years was a long period.

For a moment it looked like Hei Long was about to say something, probably reveal a part of the problem that he was struggling to deal with.

However, right at that moment, the gate of the cabin opened and they all heard footsteps.

They were waiting for their mate but the person who entered was their Master who looked a little tensed as he made his way into the living room.

The Immortals quickly stood up to greet the old man, their whole focus was on the man who sat down on the couch.

"Is she not back yet?" The old man asked as he looked at his disciples.

"No! Not yet. Do you know where she has gone?" Ruoshan asked.

"She wanted to take a look at the entire Snow Fields, so I allowed her. It has been three or four hours since she left. I'm starting to worry about her well being." The old man said as he looked tense.

"Why are you worried? It's just the Snow Fields. She's smart enough to save herself from the snow." Zhang Yong said with a light chuckle.

"Yes, master. No need to worry. She will probably be back soon." Wen Guiying also tried to assure the old man.

However, there was something that was making the old man worry about the safety of Li Ming and the Immortals were still unaware of it.

"If it has been a normal day, I would not have worried about her. I know that she is both powerful and smart enough to stay safe. But..."

The old man trailed off as he looked at the snow-covered scenery outside of the cabin through the small window.

His words piqued the attention of all the Immortals as they all felt suddenly worried about their young mate's safety.

"But what Master? Is something wrong?" Wen Guiying immediately asked.

The old man sighed as he started explaining, "There is again disturbance in the Forbidden grounds, and this time it's even stronger than the last few times. I'm afraid that girl would come across some harm. Not only that but the wards at the North end of the Forbidden grounds are also sending signals of an intruder. But the signals are of first grade, meaning that whoever is near those wards is not a person carrying any malicious intent towards the Forbidden grounds. If I'm not wrong then I think that person is probably the girl." 

"How did she even end up at the north end of the Forbidden Grounds? Even we have not gone to that side for years." Ruoshan was amazed at Li Ming's capacity of ending up in the center of problems all the time.

"I think she is safe. The wards at the north end are build inside an illusion array. As long as she stayed out of the pond she will be safe." The Heaven Emperor told everyone and his words made the others relaxed a little.

"You are right. The wards canceled the link between a person and their powers, making the person a mere mortal. Right now she is unable to use her spiritual qi, she won't jump into the cold water knowing that she would end up freezing without her powers. In the meantime, we should go and get her out of there." The old man said as he looked at the Immortals.

However, he found that most of them had anxiety plastered on their faces.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he looked at them with confused eyes.

"Master, as far as I know her, she is not someone who will sit still and wait for someone to get her out of there. She would try her best to get out on her own and if that needed her jumping in that chilled water, she would do it." Zhang Yong told the old man.

Suddenly, the room was filled with tension as everyone's mind registered the meaning of the words that the Shadow Lord had just spoken.

As much as they wanted to deny with Zhang Yong's words, deep down in their hearts they all knew that he was speaking the truth.

"Then what are you morons doing here? Go and get her out of there before it's too late. Don't forget that the Northern part of the Forbidden Grounds is the most dangerous part. It would be a disaster if she ended up there." The old man looked horrified as he spoke those words.

The Immortals didn't need to be told twice. Before the old man could even blink, the silhouette of all the six Immortals disappeared from the living room of the cabin.

----

"You know what you have to do. Make sure that none of them can reach her before my orders. We can't let anything go wrong today." A person in crimson ted cloak ordered the shadow that had been standing behind them.

The shadow quickly bid goodbye to the red cloak person and disappeared into the vast land of snow.

"I have waited for such a long time for this day. We all have waited. The Immortals will need to wait for a little before meeting their mate. You should not ruin the destiny." The person in the crimson cloak muttered in the silence as they looked at the silhouette of the old man who was walking towards the entrance of the Forbidden Grounds.