This was a habit they had developed earlier. This was a forest—who knew when a dangerous Soul Beast might leap out from the nearby brush? The two of them had suffered for it before.
Suddenly, Yao's skill immobilized someone.
"Who's there?" Cai Wenji looked over warily.
An old woman and a young girl emerged from behind the bushes, both female.
The old woman appeared to be in her sixties or seventies. Her full head of white hair was combed exceptionally neatly. Though advanced in age, she looked remarkably vigorous. Her face bore many wrinkles, yet her eyes gleamed sharply, and in her right hand she held a three-meter-long serpent-headed staff.
Beside the old woman stood a pretty young girl with short hair cut to her ears. She looked sixteen or seventeen, dressed in fitted combat attire that tightly outlined her already well-developed figure.
"Hehehe, this old woman merely happened to pass by. You two little friends needn't be nervous," said the old woman, Chao Tianxiang, with a calm smile.
"If you merely happened upon us, why hide and make yourselves suspicious?" Cai Wenji retorted.
People who sneaked around like this usually had no good intentions.
"At first, this old woman thought it was some Soul Beast, so I hid with my granddaughter." Chao Tianxiang's smile did not change.
She had seen it clearly just now: that little girl had casually slapped a massive tree in half.
She was probably some family's genius, and she had appeared alone in the Star Dou Great Forest. Perhaps that genius's backer was hiding somewhere in the shadows, watching. It was better for her to be cautious.
Cai Wenji and Yao exchanged nearly imperceptible nods...
They had taken the bait!
Cai Wenji and Yao had planned from the beginning to join Exotic Beast Academy, then