Chapter 134 - Slithering Shadows

The three figures walked along the Red River in the dense Viridian forest.

The growls and caws of the forest creatures reached the ears of the travellers.

San Zhe shivered, his eyes moving from one corner to the other as he looked at the shadows of the forest in trepidation.

Even though it was Mid-day, and the sun was up high, the forest trees were so dense that light barely touched the forest floor.

Cheng Xiu's skin had a light silver gleam to it. A sign that she was using the Qi in her veins to connect to the world around her.

Her senses were confused. The Qi of the Forest trees were not distinguishable from the creatures of the forest.

Behind the two low-level players, Yaksha walked in an even stride, his broad shoulders relaxed. He felt a familiar Qi pulse around them, making him look into the shadows of the threes.

There was a slight movement in the bushes. The leaf rustled.

San Zhe's eyes widened as he realised that something had slithered near their feet. San Zhe shivered at the thought. He stepped back and started to walk in stride with Cheng Xiu.

Cheng Xiu frowned at him. She was not able to understand his actions. "What happened?"

San Zhe blinked. He looked at her in confusion. Did she not see or hear the thing that slithered past them?

He looked behind at Yaksha only to find that the expert seemed to be looking at scripture in his hand. No. Not look. The Expert was reading the scripture as he walked behind them.

San Zhe stared at this image in confusion. What was going on? Was what he saw just an illusion? Was there nothing waiting for them, slithering on the ground? And why was this expert so casual about walking among these dangerous woods?

Just as those thoughts occurred, San Zhe realised that the forest was only dangerous to people like him who were so low in level that they had to be conscious of everything. Why would Lord Yaksha, the man who could kill thousands of people of his level with a single snap of his fingers worry about something like a snake? In fact, wouldn't Yaksha think that the snake was weak enough for people of low level to kill?

His eyes fell on Cheng Xiu. There was also the fact that Cheng Xiu asked the Expert to not interfere with her Quest experience unless she asked for it. No wonder the Expert had gone so far as to pull out a scripture to read. He must have found their company boring.

"Sister Xiu," San Zhe said at last.

Cheng Xiu looked towards him.

"There might be magical and poisonous snakes around us!"

Cheng Xiu shivered. "Snakes?"

San Zhe nodded.

"That is so cool!"

San Zhe started to nod again and then stopped. Hold on. That was not the words he was expecting!

"Cool?" San Zhe asked in a strained voice.

Cheng Xiu nodded, a grin on her face. "I haven't seen any snakes for real before! Only the ones on Y-tube and Informational channels!"

"Have you never gone to a Zoo?" he asked.

Cheng Xiu shook her head. "Dad tells me we went once when I was a few months old with mom. He used to promise to take me to the zoo, but then something from work would come up and we could never go!"

San Zhe felt sympathy raise in his heart for her.

"There is a small Zoo in the Red Cape," Yaksha suddenly said.

Cheng Xiu blinked. "Huh? Where is that?"

"It is a shoreline ghost village here in the Vixian Kingdom. Though it is not as prosperous as Veritas, it is still more famous."

"Something to do with the title 'Ghost Village' I assume?" Cheng Xiu asked.

Ykahsa stared at her in the eyes, making Cheng Xiu feel arrested. "Yes. We can go there once you get well enough."

Cheng Xiu pointed towards him. "It's a promise then?"

"Yes."

"You can't go back on your word after that!"

"I won't."

Cheng Xiu smiled and then looked ahead again. She was going to see a zoo in the game! Cheng Xiu's mind was filled with all kinds of animals that she would see there. There might be even dragons! Though San Zhe had said there weren't any real dragons in the Other World, she refused to believe it.

What kind of gaming company would not use the opportunity to include Dragons in their games? It would surely be the greatest attraction in the game!

Yaksha took a glance at the calm and soft smile on Cheng Xiu's face.

Her emotions were less agitated than they were at the beginning of their journey but he could not help feeling that her attitude was a bit too friendly.

It occurred to him that he had seen this kind of behaviour from Cheng Xiu once before. It was during the time that he was playing the Primordials with her.

He remembered her being extra friendly towards everyone around her for a week. He had later found out that she had fought with one of her teammates and was not talking to that person anymore.

Cheng Xiu was always the person who forgave first but at that time, she did not want to be the first one to give in again. So the two had spent her days doing missions and being friendly to everyone.

This was so that she did not have to think about the other person and feel the need to go talk to them or insist that they talk to her.

He wondered if she had fought with someone again and that was leading to her present attitude.

As the three people walked along the leaves filled path towards the hills range, San Zhe once again saw something slither in the under bushes.

He looked to see that Cheng Xiu and Yaksha had not yet reacted to the motion.

San Zhe frowned. Why were they not reacting?

He saw a dark shadow slither very close to his feet.

San Zhe released the Trident that he had put in his storage ring and dashed towards the shadowed creature with a scream.