The Forest of Monsters
Zheng-Fu did not think that his father was so determined to go to the auction house to buy the sword for him because it cost a lot…
*Where did father get the money to buy it? It’s as expensive as 10,000 monster crystal coins. Did he get the money from a loan shark!?*
Zheng-Fu went back to his room with the wooden sword box. He thought that he needed to better himself up both his physical body and alchemy because the martial arts event among the five clans was in three years…
A week had passed…
Zheng-Fu had now produced more than a hundred pills. He also tried to come up with new medicine formulas and had Tong-Kuang help him…
After he came back from In-See City, he asked Kong-Shi to get him a personal bodyguard. He specifically asked for Tong-Kuang. Kong-Shi felt a little strange to hear that, but he gave what Zheng-Fu wanted anyway…
“How are you, brother Tong-Kuang?”
Tong-Kuang: “The pill that you gave me worked so well, young master. My wounds healed better. I also gained my physical strength back…”
“Great!”
Zheng-Fu and Tong-Kuang had been testing Zheng-Fu’s pills. They expected to see the fastest recovery effect. Zheng-Fu wanted the pills to work right after they were taken. He wanted to make a magical pill…
Most of the pills that Zheng-Fu produced were second-rank pills. Sometimes he could produce some third-rank pills…
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
“Young master Zheng-Fu! Elder Sue-Wu needs you, sir!”
“Master Sue-Wu needs me!? Did he tell you what he wanted from me?”
“No, sir!”
“Alright.”
Zheng-Fu rushed to the Medicine Tower immediately…
Squeak!
“Whoa!”
Sue-Wu: “Are you here? Come! Quick! I’ll introduce you to someone!”
When Zheng-Fu saw the person that Sue-Wu was going to introduce, he crinkled his eyebrows instantly because he knew the person and the person knew him too…
Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!
Sue-Wu: “This is Elder Ming-Wang. He’s the Elder of the Association of the Alchemists. He’s also my friend…”
“Please accept my respect to you, Elder Ming-Wang. I am Zheng-Fu. I’m Master Sue-Wu’s student, sir!”
Ming-Wang: “Not bad! Not bad! You have sharp eyes, Sue-Wu. This kid looks special. He’d definitely become a well-known alchemist in the future…”
Ming-Wang said while smiling at Zheng-Fu. He did not mention the fact that Zheng-Fu had become an advanced alchemist, so Zheng-Fu felt relieved…
“Elder Ming-Wang is being too kind to me. I’m just a normal kid. I won’t be able to become a famous alchemist as you said.”
“Hahaha!”
Ming-Wang: “Don’t look down at yourself like that. Just do your best, then you will become one…”
“Thank you for your suggestion, sir!”
Both Zheng-Fu and Ming-Wang looked at one another like something was going on. Sue-Wu felt a little surprised to see the way that Zheng-Fu and Ming-Wang interacted with one another. He never saw Ming-Wang take it easy with anyone this much. Sue-Wu himself was the one who got talkative most of the time…
Then Sue-Wu remembered seeing Zheng-Fu and Ming-Wang together when Ming-Wang took Zheng-Fu into the Association of the Alchemists building in In-See City…
Sue-Wu: “So, what made you decide to come to see me today, Ming-Wang?”
Ming-Wang: “I’ve come here today because I need your help!”
“Need my help!?”
Sue-Wu: “You!? Need my help!?”
Ming-Wang: “Yes. I need your help. You heard it correctly!”
Sue-Wu: “So, what can I do for you? We’re buddies, so I’m always willing to help you. Zheng-Fu! Please leave us. We need some privacy!”
“Yes, Master!”
Zheng-Fu went out of the room right away. He did not know why Ming-Wang visited Sue-Wu, but him coming here, prompted Zheng-Fu to think about the auction of the pill that he produced in the test…
*Don’t know why he is here, but it doesn’t look right. What should I do? If he tells what happened at the association to Master Sue-Wu, then I’m doomed!*
Zheng-Fu started to think a lot of crazy thoughts. The presence of Ming-Wang at his clan made him jumpy…
In one of the rooms in the Medicine Tower…
Ming-Wang: “I need to ask you something, Sue-Wu!”
Sue-Wu: “What is it?”
Ming-Wang: “Have you been with your student all the time? Did he go somewhere in the past week?”
Sue-Wu: “No! Why did you ask me that? Or did Zheng-Fu cause you trouble?”
N…n…no!
Ming-Wang: “I want you to keep him close. There are rumors that several alchemists were abducted many days ago. If Zheng-Fu is your student, then I’m afraid that he would be in danger…”
Sue-Wu: “Several alchemists were abducted! How could that be? Do you know who did it?”
Ming-Wang: “We’re working on it. The headquarters has been sending messages to us in different branches to watch out for it. We are trying to investigate to seek the answer. This is why I came to warn you…”
Sue-Wu: “Thank you very much for the warning. I’ll be careful. But I think those people would not dare to break into the Tian-Tang clan, so don’t worry about it…”
Ming-Wang: “That’s great. Then, please excuse me!”
Sue-Wu: “How come do you leave so soon? Aren’t you going to stay a night?”
Ming-Wang: “I have to go warn others too. I need to warn Pu-Chee and Ju-Ling too. Both of them have been hibernating up on the mountain, so they hardly know anything. I have to go warn them myself…”
Sue-Wu: “Pu-Chee and Ju-Ling! Are they still alive!?”
Hahaha!
Ming-Wang: “Haven’t you stopped being prejudiced against them?”
‘Stop being prejudiced against them!?’
Sue-Wu: “Dream on! I won’t forgive them. They put me in this situation today!”
Bang!
Ming-Wang: “Alright! Alright! I won’t bring that up again. It’s been ten years now. Don’t let it bother you! Well, I have to run. See you next time!”
Sue-Wu: “Alright. Come! Let me walk you out!”
Ming-Wang: “It’s alright. Just ask one of your help to show me the way. Please go back to your thing!”
Sue-Wu: “Okay! Boys, show Elder Ming-Wang the way out!”
“Yes, sir!”
Ming-Wang left the scene right after he finished the sentence. He came to see Sue-Wu because he wanted to warn him about the disappearance of many alchemists in the past weeks. As of the moment, he did not know who abducted those people and why they did it…
“Master! Why did Elder Ming-Wang visit you, sir?”
Sue-Wu: “What!? Ah! He had some news for me!”
“Some news!?”
Zheng-Fu felt a little worried about the visit because he did not know what Ming-Wang talked to his Master about…
Sue-Wu: “That’s right! He came to tell me about the mysterious disappearance of a lot of alchemists in the past weeks. He wanted me to be careful and keep you close by…”
“The mysterious disappearance of a lot of alchemists!?”
Sue-Wu: “Yes. From now on, you have to be careful when you go places!”
“Please don’t worry about me. I have brother Tong-Kuang with me. Besides, I’m in the clan’s estate. No one would dare to hurt us!”
Sue-Wu: “But you still have to be more careful anyway!”
“Yes, Master!”
When Sue-Wu finished the sentence, he walked away immediately, leaving behind Zheng-Fu with Tong-Kuang…
Tong-Kuang: “Please don’t worry, young master! I’ll protect you!”
“Thank you very much, brother Tong-Kuang. We are not going to test any pills today. Let’s do martial arts instead.”
“Do martial arts!?”
Tong-Kuang was a little surprised to hear that because since he had been with Zheng-Fu, he never saw Zheng-Fu do any martial arts at all. He was only into alchemy. So, when Zheng-Fu said that, he got confused…
“Just follow me. Don’t tell anyone about this though.”
“Yes, sir!”
Tong-Kuang rushed to confirm Zheng-Fu that he would not tell anyone about doing martial arts with Zheng-Fu. Since he had taken up a protection duty to Zheng-Fu, his life was much better, unlike before. This was because Zheng-Fu treated him like a family. They even have meals together…
Not only that, Zheng-Fu had been giving him medicines that helped boost his energy and physical strength. The pills that Zheng-Fu tested on him were superb…
Tong-Kuang decided to follow Zheng-Fu anywhere he went. He did not have a family, so he practiced martial arts to get paid for a living. When he received warmth from Zheng-Fu, he took Zheng-Fu in and respected him with all his heart…
“We’re here, brother Tong-Kuang!”
Tong-Kuang: But this place… Little master!
Hush!
“Just keep it down! Someone will hear us. I’ve checked that it’s safe for us to get out without anyone knowing it.”
Tong-Kuang: “But it’s against the rule. Besides, it’s too dangerous…”
“Don’t worry! I’ll take care of it if anything happens. And don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
Zheng-Fu took Tong-Kuang to a gigantic bush that was in between two big trees. The bush separated the spaces between the clan and where the monsters lived. This secret bush was built by Zheng-Fu himself a while ago when he sneaked out to play in the area…
Gulp!
Zheng-Fu let out a big loud gulp while following Tong-Kuang slowly into the forest. They eventually entered the monster zone. Most of the monsters in the zone were basic kinds of monsters…
Most of the basic monsters were not that fierce. However, no one should take it easy around them. After all, they were still monsters…
Growl!
Snarl!
There were many kinds of monsters’ shrieks along the way in. Normally, no one would enter this part of the forest because even though the monsters there were of the lower level, they were the lower level of the sixth or seventh stage. The strength levels of these monsters were supposed to equate to the ones of humans…
However, they tended to be stronger than a human who possessed the same strength levels because they had thicker skin and bigger bodies. As a result, this part of the forest would not be an ideal place to take a stroll. It took a big group of strong martial artists to roam this forest…