022: Entering The Wilderness

The Northern Wilderness was protected by a massive three hundred meters tall black stone wall that stretched across the valley. Separating human civilization and the beasts' habitats apart since the Ancient Era of Eastaros centuries ago.

The wall itself was made by a special stone containing mystical energy that has attributes to repel the beasts away. The very same material that was used on Dragon's Spine Wall.

And of course, the wall was made to be able to conceal the wilderness' weather anomalies that were created by the Beast Lord that occupied their respective territories with their abilities.

There were four Beast Lords inside the Northern Wilderness that controlled and maintained the power balance.

Heavenly Flame Phoenix, Fenghuang

God of Water Dragon, Gonggong.

Starry-eyed Eagle, God of Space and Wind, Qilin

And lastly, the Earth Serpent, Hou Tu.

The four beasts were Legendary God Class Beasts that were capable of causing great calamities with just a flick of their claws. Living beings that were closest to immortality itself. It would take the entire Eastaros Sub-Continent if one of them made a move.

Fortunately, they were in dormant slumber to maintain the status quo between them.

They wouldn't meddle or bother mortals' businesses as long as there were no imminent dangers that might befall onto their territory.

However, the conflicts within the Northern Wilderness escalated each day. Many mercenaries and armies were dispatched to the wilderness in order to get the materials from the beasts, especially their very valuable Beast Core.

Many anomalies occurred recently within the northern wilderness as the Beast Lords response as well as their own way to warn humans about their existence.

Several feet deep of snow hindered their footsteps. Although they were prepared beforehand with thick fur clothing, the frigid cold weather added difficulties for them to navigate their way.

Soon enough, an eerie atmosphere lingered in the air as Arthur and his companions stepped their feet inside the all white forest.

"Brother Ming, I have a bad feeling about this." Yin said, clenched Ming's right sleeve tightly.

"I know… But this route is relatively the safest route since this area is protected by the Gonggong, the Dragon Water, we won't get into trouble as long as we do not cause so much ruckus."

Arthur sniffed the scent of the air and caught a strong smell that he was very familiar with, the smell of blood and rotten corpses, even the thickness of the snow wasn't able to cover them.

'Hm? I can smell the scent from really far away. Is it because of the natural abilities that Xiaoqing has at her disposal as a serpent?' Arthur frowned, he became so cautious as the scents of other creatures that were lurking from afar entered his nose.

On the other hand, Yin was frightened by the intimidating gaze from the beasts that watched them from afar. "But Brother Ming! What if the Earth Serpent really appears and makes us dinner?!"

"Hush now… The Earth Serpent is renowned with his benevolence and wisdom! Just stay quiet and follow me! If we weren't able to retrieve the artifact, Grandfather Xing would kill both of us instead."

"But Brother Ming-!"

"Shh! Stop it! We will be just fine!" Ming hushed his lover.

"Unfortunately," Arthur interrupted their convo, "It seems like we are about to encounter some troubles ahead of us. Brace yourself for what you are about to see."

As they venture deeper into the wilderness, traces of a fierce battle are scattered in the vicinity. A gruesome scene soon welcomed the group of four. Hundreds of knights were dead, their bodies partially frozen by some kind of magic, while their torsos were torn apart by a set of big claws.

"Master…" Hui Ying's instinct as a demoness was also kicking in. She felt dozens of pairs of eyes that belonged to really strong beasts preying on them.

"I know… this must be the Beast Stampede that we heard at the Shangri-La." He replied to Hui Ying in a whisper.

Arthur dismounted from his horse to check out the scene.

"Appraisal." He mumbled in a low voice.

Soon enough, tons of information in front of his eyes were processed by the help of the godly system.

He probed what kind of beasts that were able to annihilate the whole company of the Holy Church's knights that were renowned for their resilience in the battlefield.

A few moments later, he found a track of massive paws on the ground. The shape was the same as wolves alikes, but multiple times bigger in size compared to normal ones.

[Small amount of magic residue detected.]

[Identifying the footprints]

[The footprints belong to a male Timberwolves.]

[Need more information to fully identify the species.]

But there's no need for further identification for Arthur to know exactly which creature the footprints belong to.

"I found something!" Arthur called them out.

Ming rushed up front, plowing through the snow with his feet to see Arthur's finding.

"Did you find the artifact? Where is it!?"

Arthur was aware something was off about Ming's facial expression since the first time they entered the Wilderness, his eyes widened and restless, as if there was something that made him couldn't control his behavior.

"No… but I found the timberwolves' footprints that will lead us to your artifact. It headed further north. The trace is cold, but I can still manage to track it down from here."

For some reason, Ming looks so dissatisfied with Arthur's statement even though the silver haired young man already told him fairly.

He snapped at Arthur, brandishing his sword towards the latter's neck. "Don't lie to me, you must have hid it somewhere! Give it to me right now!"

"What in the hell are you talking about? I don't even know the shape of that artifact!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"Master!" Hui Ying immediately jumped behind Ming, locked his left hand and clenched his neck with her right hand, the sharp nails were ready to reap his head off.

"Brother Ming!" Yin stepped in between them, trying to prevent the inevitable outcome. "It must be the curse from the Artifact that made him act this way! Please stop it, I beg you."

"There is nothing to do with the curse! This man is a liar!" Ming tried to himself.

Hui Ying's grip became tighter until his skin bleeded for a bit.

"Everybody, please stand down." Arthur tolerates the way of his conduct. He knew really well what it feels like to being overwhelmed and obsessed with something.

"Yin, can you tell me everything about this Crystal of Thousand Years Cicadas?"

"Alright… Since we've come this far, I will tell you, but please… You shall not disclose it to anybody."

Arthur tried his best to not show the smirk underneath the poker face.

"In the name of Holy Light, I shall not disclose it to anybody." Arthur placed his left hand to his chest while the right hand pointed up to convince her.

"YIN! Don't tell him!" Ming flailed suddenly and almost freed himself from Hui Ying's grip.

However, her response was far quicker and able to subdue him with just a single hand chop on the back of his head.

"Brother Ming!"

"Don't worry little girl… He's still alive, I just put him to sleep." Hui Ying replied.

Arthur nodded at Hui Ying for her quick decision. "Alright… First thing first, let's find a place to rest. It's gonna be a long talk, I guess?"

"Yeah, it might be so."

With that said, Arthur mounted the unconscious Ming onto the back of the horse and continued their way to find a suitable place to rest.

Before long, they arrived at the area where the snow was thinner and the air was warmer. They are at the territory border of two Beast Lords.

Arthur was confused upon seeing the completely different scenery between the two places.

In front of him was a desolated desert with a blazing sun while on the other hand was the coldest place that he had ever been to.

While the border of the territory was akin to a meadow in the spring season where all sorts of flowers blooms beautifully

"Let us rest under that banyan tree." Hui Ying pointed at a massive tree in the middle of the meadow.

"That's a good idea!" Arthur was delighted.

Soonly, as they took shelter under the tree with lush green leaves, Hui Ying prepared a teapot and a set of snacks that she prepared beforehand.

She heated the teapot with a bit of her magic and poured them into three cups.

"Master… this is yours. And this is for you, little missy."

Yin wasn't expecting that side of Hui Ying. Full of affection and tenderness.

"T-thank you, Sister Hui Ying!" She received the cup of tea with both of her hands while lowering her head.

Meanwhile, Ming was still on the back of his horse since Arthur found that it was too much work for him to put him back and forth onto the saddle.

Arthur blew the steam on his cup and sipped his tea slowly before he asked the conflicted girl in front of him. "Miss Yin… Let us talk straightfully about this artifact of yours."

"Yes master Arthur…"

"First thing first, let me introduce you to my name once again. I am Fei Yin, a First Grade disciple of Fei Clan. And that young man over there is a young master of the Fei Clan, Fei Ming. As the future leader of Fei Clan, Brother Ming had to put into a test to herald the Heavenly Artifact into the Holy Church's Temple at the Mainland to receive Holy Pope's blessing. However, he had to take the burden of the curse by himself while carrying it across the land."

"And the curse makes him obsessed with the artifact?" Arthur asked.

"Yes… the artifact contained a great power that was able to make the bearer go crazy. That's why we need to receive the pope's blessing to make him immune to the curse."

Hearing that, Hui Ying was askew. "Then why were the Timberwolves able to steal it from him?" 

"Unfortunately, I don't really know why." Yin replied in such sullenness.

"Whatever their reason is, we can't really understand their common logic since they act as one with nature itself. That's the difference, compared to us humans who always followed our insatiable appetite towards everything that we want."

Hui Ying let out a heavy sigh, "Put the reason aside. The most important thing is… How are we going to retrieve the artifact from those timberwolves?"