Chapter 40

"I'm not sure." It had all happened too suddenly. Only after the Teleportation Array activated had San San noticed a momentary irregularity in the energy fluctuations and warned Ye Chuqi. "The reasonable assumption is that someone tampered with the Teleportation Array."

The only people capable of doing such a thing—and bold enough to try—were the mayor of Kru Town and Duke Fulton. The mayor seemed like a smart man and probably wouldn't do anything so brainless. Most likely, Duke Fulton was behind it.

"Could Duke Fulton have blamed the Red Wind Mercenary Group for his daughter's death, too?"

"Humans have such bizarre ways of thinking. Who knows what strange idea he'll dream up next?" San San delivered this criticism with perfect seriousness.

"Ugh." In short, she was just unlucky! "San San, which way should I go?"

The Ashen Wasteland lay south of Kru Town, while the Lost Forest lay north. To reach the Imperial Capital, she would have to cross the Lost Forest and head northeast. Should she return to Kru Town and regroup, or head straight north through the Lost Forest?

The Lost Forest had a strange magnetic field, and even the growth of its living things followed no consistent pattern. Ordinary methods were useless for determining direction. Only later, when an Alchemist developed a compass that worked within the Lost Forest, had adventurers finally gained a way to find their bearings there.

The compass pointed toward Kru Town, while the amount of green light on its needle indicated the distance to the town.

Ye Chuqi had bought one of these compasses, too. She hadn't expected to need it so soon.

The trouble was that the green light on the compass needle was barely visible, meaning she was very far from Kru Town. She had good reason to suspect she had been dumped in the depths of the Lost Forest—the most dangerous area at its center.

Sure enough, her luck was as bizarre as ever.

"Forget it. Let's head north." Ye Chuqi tapped the compass strapped to her wrist. Since she was already so far away, was she really going to struggle all the way back to Kru Town, then pay to use a Teleportation Array?

Absolutely not. Without Jun Ruofeng around to serve as her money pouch, she was poor.

She had bought plenty of everyday supplies in Kru Town, filling her Storage Bag and newly acquired Spatial Ring. She had also put some emergency supplies in her badge, and of course, there were plenty in the space as well—the gold coins had all come from Jun Ruofeng, courtesy of Red Beard's utterly unapologetic demands.

An ordinary person needed three months to cross the Lost Forest if everything went smoothly, while her supplies would last her a year. The forest itself was also rich in resources, so she probably wouldn't starve.

"Qi Qi, be careful. There's a magic beast about five thousand meters ahead. A high-rank magic beast—ah, it's already spotted you."

Without another word, Ye Chuqi changed direction and took off running.

This had been going on for several days. Ye Chuqi made no attempt to clash head-on with those high-rank magic beasts. With San San warning her, she could avoid them most of the time.

High-rank magic beasts had already developed intelligence and wouldn't blindly pursue prey on instinct alone. As long as she dutifully stayed out of their way, they couldn't be bothered with her.

Magic beasts were divided into nine ranks. Ranks one through three were collectively known as low-rank magic beasts, ranks four through six as mid-rank magic beasts, and ranks seven and above as high-rank magic beasts. Once a magic beast crossed the threshold of the ninth rank and evolved again, it became a demon beast, a higher form of existence.

Above demon beasts were spirit beasts, which were already creatures of legend on the present-day continent.

There were demon beasts in the Lost Forest, and high-rank demon beasts in its depths. A single high-rank magic beast had left Red Beard in such a miserable state back then. For the time being, Ye Chuqi had no intention of getting up close and personal with demon beasts, let alone high-rank demon beasts.

When Big Black Fish learned that Ye Chuqi had ended up in the Lost Forest, it clamored inside the space for quite a while, asking San San to tell her that its old home was in the Lost Forest, though not in its depths. It had hoped for a chance to go back and take a look, but the moment it learned they were deep in the forest, it fell silent.

Very sensible. Very well-behaved.

High-rank magic beasts all had their own territories. They generally wouldn't fight without a conflict of interest, much less drop in on one another for no reason. Ye Chuqi exploited this, tap-dancing along the very edge of their tolerance—no, finding a way to survive.

When she rested at night, she went straight into the Portable Space. After a period of recuperation, supplemented by so many Low-Rank Beast Cores, San San had recovered, and the space was visibly recovering as well. She could finally enter and leave freely. The only catch was that wherever she entered, she would emerge in the same place; her location wouldn't change. Still, in an environment like the Lost Forest, it was a convenient place to rest.

After all, she was still injured, and resting in the space greatly helped her wounds heal.

Even daytime in the Lost Forest wasn't particularly bright. Towering trees blocked most of the sunlight, leaving only dappled light and shadow in the dense woods. Combined with the layers of pale gray mist that lingered all year round, it was all too easy to lose one's way.

"Qi Qi, don't go out yet."

After resting, Ye Chuqi was about to leave the space and continue her journey when San San, who had been keeping watch, suddenly spoke.

Ye Chuqi stopped what she was doing. "What's wrong?"

"Someone's out there." Although the surrounding environment limited San San's view, it could deduce what it wanted to know from all manner of subtle changes. "And a magic beast—a high-rank magic beast—is chasing them. Something's wrong with the beast. That person won't hold out much longer."

"How long until they get here?" Inside the space, Ye Chuqi's perception of the outside world was actually less acute. Unless San San shared its perceptions with her, she couldn't sense any of what it described.

San San didn't answer, but she soon found out.

A black-clad figure, reeking of blood, streaked past her location and plunged deeper into the forest. Without caring what lay in that direction, the figure ran on without hesitation.

As the high-rank magic beast pursuing the figure passed by, Ye Chuqi made a small move, tossing something onto it. San San had said something was wrong with the beast, not only because its aura was violently frenzied, but because it was completely disregarding the territorial boundaries between magic beasts. For a magic beast to react like this, someone must have dug up its ancestors' graves or stolen its young—or used a secret drug to force it into a berserk state.

Rankings

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Portable space fiction

Transmigration and rebirth romance

Big Black Loves Eating Fish