Neue Brücke der Hilflosigkeit

Kapitel 27

"This would explain those images."

"No matter what she saw or what she went through, I will find her!"

Feng Qi stood up and surveyed the surrounding scenery—an ordinary, dense forest. His earlier discomfort had completely vanished. It was incredibly quiet, the air thick with moisture, and sunlight streamed down, yet Feng Qi felt it shouldn't be this peaceful. The person who had created this illusion couldn't be so simple; who knew what lay ahead?

Xiao Yang, however, was quite relaxed. Seeing the beautiful scenery around him, he took out his digital camera from his backpack and started taking pictures of the flowers, plants, and insects.

The path ahead was no longer the narrow trail through the deep forest; it became steeper, mostly composed of piled-up rocks, requiring in many places to climb using both hands and feet. Zhang Lihua, who had never traversed this section before, was no longer confident and became increasingly cautious. After "climbing" for half an hour, the three were drenched in sweat. Leaning against a large rock, Yang Bo cried out that he was exhausted and needed to rest. Zhang Lihua looked around, a hesitant expression on his face.

Feng Qi also wanted to rest; his strength was already exhausted from walking continuously, but he kept quiet out of politeness. As soon as Yang Bo spoke up, he readily agreed. But seeing Zhang Lihua's expression, he asked suspiciously, "Old Zhang, what's wrong?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it. We've been walking for two days, so we should have reached the top by now, just a few more steps away. But I'm certain that the summit is definitely not the secret waterway described in the records."

"Did we go the wrong way again?" Feng Qi had just voiced his guess when Yang Bo exclaimed, "What?! All that hard work for nothing?"

“No, not at all,” Zhang Lihua guessed. “This road is completely different from the one I took last time. From the bottom of the mountain, it doesn’t look very long, but I think we’ve reached the ridge and are probably close to the top, but we’re still quite a distance away from our destination.”

Yang Bo mustered his courage and peered down. Sure enough, they could no longer see the resort below from their current position. Clouds and mist swirled around the mountainside, separating the upper and lower slopes, making the rolling green hills appear like a fairyland. The gray trail they had seen from below was still there in the southeast, undiminished.

"If we walk side by side, we'll eventually reach our destination."

Zhang Lihua gave a wry smile: "Perhaps. Feng Qi, didn't you notice anything?"

Feng Qi was taken aback, then became alert. But the air around him was fresh, and the pressure from Zhang Yahua was gone. Everything seemed perfectly normal: "What did you discover?"

Zhang Lihua squatted down, twirled some wild grass under the large rock, and his eyes sharpened: "It smells foul..."

Upon hearing this, Yang Bo wrinkled his nose, sniffing here and there, but found nothing. Seeing Zhang Lihua's expression, Feng Qi also squatted down, wanting to imitate him and pluck the weeds.

Before he could even touch her, Feng Qi's hand was shoved away by Zhang Lihua.

"Are you out of your mind? You have no memory at all. You almost lost your life just now by touching these things, and you've already forgotten?" Zhang Lihua rarely spoke so sternly. Seeing Feng Qi's embarrassed look, he felt a little sorry for his attitude and softened his tone to advise, "Don't touch these things yet. I'll teach you a few basic witchcraft phrases that you can use to protect yourself. It's not too late to touch them after you've learned them." After saying that, he pulled Feng Qi aside, and the two of them talked in hushed tones.

Feeling neglected and resentful, Yang Bo said bitterly, "Playing tricks, is that so great? You said you were in a hurry to find your sister, but now you're not?"

After teaching Feng Qi, Zhang Lihua had him memorize it several times on his own. He then sat down next to Yang Bo and said with a helpless smile, "Feng Qi has wood-type witch power. If we don't teach him the witch language that he can guide himself, he might run into something random in this deep forest and not even know how he died."

Yang Bo also felt that his words were inappropriate, and shrugged: "That's true."

“But haven’t I thanked you?” Zhang Lihua raised his eyebrows and smiled, “I never expected someone who is so afraid of death and hard work to be so loyal to his brothers.”

"You!" Yang Bo was caught between anger and resentment by Zhang Lihua's mixed words, so he stood up defiantly and snorted, "Don't be so smug! I'm only doing this for my cute little sister."

"Have you even seen your sister? How do you know she's cute?"

"All girls are cute!"

Feng Qi had already memorized all of Professor Zhang Lihua's words, and seeing the two of them bickering again, his tension eased considerably. He smiled and said, "Old Zhang, Little Yang, let's go!"

Chapter Six: The Cave

(six)

Although Feng Qi intended to secretly touch the weeds, the memory of the suffocating feeling he had experienced earlier, and Zhang Lihua's warning, made him hesitate before suggesting, "Old Zhang, why don't I touch those weeds...maybe I'll find some new clues." But as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Zhang Lihua was always talking about geniuses, and he had previously claimed that Feng Qi's witchcraft abilities were superior. His words sounded arrogant, and they also disregarded Zhang Lihua's feelings.

Zhang Lihua noticed Feng Qi's hesitation, thinking that he still took her words to heart, and couldn't help but chuckle: "I taught you the language of witchcraft, you just need to concentrate more and remember to protect yourself. Do you think I'm such a petty person? Even if you hadn't reminded me, I would have given you the same advice."

After saying that, Zhang Lihua pointed to a weed on his right with his index finger: "The smell on this is particularly strong. I can only smell a foul stench, but I can't tell where the smell is coming from or what it is. Lao Feng, you try it."

Feng Qi tentatively extended his fingertips, silently reciting the shamanic incantation taught to him by Zhang Lihua.

The instant his fingers touched the blade of grass, a rain of blood assaulted his face. Feng Qi was terrified and quickly began chanting incantations in his mind. Once he calmed down, he realized it was merely a hallucination, a memory left behind by the plants. The crimson scene seemed familiar; Feng Qi recalled—wasn't that the scene when the bound girl appeared?

He wanted to take another look, but the scene suddenly shifted to the present lush mountains and clear waters, only to be assaulted by a stench. He found it strange; he hadn't smelled anything unusual before touching the grass, but now it was so strong and unpleasant it made him want to vomit. He looked closely and noticed a trail of blood stretching from near to far.

Feng Qi hurriedly pointed to the bloodstain and asked Zhang Lihua, "Old Zhang, there's a bloodstain here!"

Zhang Lihua looked at Feng Qi with suspicion, then at the spot he was pointing to. He had surveyed the surrounding terrain before and hadn't found any bloodstains, only a faint, fishy smell in the air. Now, reminded by Feng Qi, he looked closely and indeed, there was a faint trail of blood in the grass. However, the blood was not the bright red that Feng Qi had seen; it was mixed with the soil and difficult to discern.

“Old Feng… I want to go and see what it is… I want to know how many other shady things are hidden in these mountains.” Zhang Lihua’s face was even more pale than before. Feng Qi patted his shoulder reassuringly, straightened his backpack straps, and strolled along the trail of blood.

After walking along a mountain path for a while, Zhang Lihua heard Feng Qi, who was walking in front, exclaim "Eh!" and then stop in front of a huge rock.

Below the giant rock lies a bottomless abyss, where the trail of blood ends.

Zhang Lihua suspected it was another trick, so he sent Yang Bo forward to check, but the result was exactly the same. He then used various spells, but still couldn't figure out the mystery.

Feng Qi asked curiously, "Could it be that he fell from here?"

Zhang Lihua closed his eyes for a long time before opening them. "No way! The smell got stronger as we got here. There must be something here."

While the two were staring at each other, completely baffled, Yang Bo, who had been neglected and was amusing himself by taking pictures, shouted loudly, "Hey! Lao Zhang, Lao Feng, guess what I found!"

"Five million RMB?" Zhang Lihua scoffed.

"What?! It's a big secret!" Without a word, Yang Bo pulled the two of them back about ten steps to the southeast, holding the camera in front of Zhang Lihua. Through the zoom lens, Zhang Lihua saw that there was actually a small platform under the giant rock where they had just stopped, with faint traces of blood on it. Because the rock was so huge, it had blocked their view. Now, from a different angle, they could see it. He handed the camera to Feng Qi, who was also stunned when he saw it, and then ran with Zhang Lihua to the edge of the giant rock.

At this moment, the rope that Zhang Lihua brought from the foot of the mountain came in very handy.

Zhang Lihua went down first. Feng Qi tied the knot and gently pressed the back of his hand before he went down: "Do you really have to go down? Maybe there won't be any clues. We don't even know what's down there."

“I’ve said it before, I must find my sister, and I won’t let any clue slip by.” Zhang Lihua revealed a resolute and confident smile: “I’ve always had a feeling that my sister is still alive.”

Feng Qi shrugged helplessly: "Then be careful."

"I understand." Even so, the two agreed that after Zhang Lihua went down to the platform to make sure everything was alright, Feng Qi would also go down, leaving Yang Bo up there to take care of things.

Zhang Lihua slowly slid down the rope. The closer she got to the platform, the faster her heart pounded, as if someone were constantly drumming inside her, the beat growing increasingly rapid, almost as if it were about to burst out. The fishy smell she had been searching for was, in fact, utterly repulsive here.

With his feet firmly on the ground, his heart eased slightly. Beneath the giant rock, besides a platform large enough for ten or so people, lay a cave. The entrance was surrounded by vines, revealing a dark opening just large enough for half a person to enter. Even just standing at the entrance, he could sense the presence of creatures inside; the mountain breeze carried away a considerable amount of the stench. Zhang Lihua pinched his nose and called out to Feng Qi above, "Old Feng, come down!"

Before long, Feng Qi slid down the rope. As soon as he landed, he frowned and said, "Tsk tsk~ This smell is not just ordinary awful."

Zhang Lihua chuckled: "It's more than just smelly." He pointed to the entrance: "See? There's something waiting for us inside!" With that, he pulled a dagger from his boot.

Seeing this, Feng Qi chuckled and said, "What, do wizards need to use knives?"

Zhang Lihua smiled wryly, "Wizards are made of flesh and blood too; they need to protect themselves, don't they?" He gestured for Feng Qi to step aside, then touched the vines covering the cave entrance himself. But then he opened his eyes in confusion. He withdrew his foot, which was about to step into the cave, and returned to his original spot, looking thoughtful. Feng Qi rarely saw him like this, and knew there must be something strange about the vines, so he walked to the cave entrance and reached out to touch them.

There was nothing there.

Since arriving in Zhengning and discovering that he possessed wood-based magical power, and could see more images than Zhang Lihua, who had received professional training since childhood, Feng Qi had found it incredible but had never rejected it, even secretly feeling proud. However, now, touching the vines, he saw absolutely nothing, just a complete blank. He looked at the pensive Zhang Lihua, watching his expression shift from confusion to pain, then to surprise and disbelief, and felt puzzled himself, but remained silent.

"Old Feng! I think I've found my sister!"

Feng Qi couldn't understand Zhang Lihua's excitement. Could she really know where her sister was just by looking at that plant that couldn't see anything? Seeing Feng Qi's confusion, Zhang Lihua laughed: "You don't know, I've said before, Ya Hua is a genius, her abilities shouldn't be underestimated. Look, the witchcraft on these vines is what she cast. When we were little, she always used this trick to make us unable to find her."

Before Feng Qi could say anything more, Zhang Lihua, overwhelmed by the joy of finding his sister, pushed aside the vines and strode into the cave. Feng Qi sighed; it seemed everyone had their Achilles' heel. For the usually composed Zhang Lihua, his Achilles' heel was undoubtedly his beloved sister; he lost his temper the moment she appeared. Shaking his head, Feng Qi followed him into the cave.

Because of a huge rock overhead and lush vines at the cave entrance, it was pitch black after only a few steps. The damp cave was completely silent, with a lingering, fishy stench. Feng Qi's eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness, and with each step he took, his unease grew stronger. He remembered Zhang Lihua, who had entered before him, and how he hadn't made a sound after entering the cave.

"Old Zhang...you..." Just as Feng Qi was about to ask Zhang Lihua if he had a lighter, he felt a chill run down his neck. The cold, sharp weapon exuded a strong killing intent.

Updated dividing line...

"Don't move, watch your neck." A hoarse voice came from behind, followed by a strong, pungent stench. Feng Qi was certain that the smell was coming from the person behind him.

But why does that voice sound vaguely familiar?

"Old Zhang?" Feng Qi probed again, worried that Zhang Lihua, who had entered the cave before him, had met with misfortune.

A sigh escaped from the corner; the voice was all too familiar—it belonged to Zhang Lihua, who had been traveling with Feng Qi for the past few days. Feng Qi's initial panic gradually subsided. The cave wasn't deep; if he listened carefully, he could distinguish the breathing of three people. His eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and the surrounding objects began to appear blurry.

The sharp weapon pierced deeper into the skin of his neck. Zhang Lihua emerged from the hidden vines, looking slightly weary amidst the dust, and asked the person behind Feng Qi, "Where did you hide Yahua?"

"Not playing hide-and-seek anymore?" The person behind him put away the weapon and shoved Feng Qi into Zhang Lihua's arms. Only then did Feng Qi realize that the person holding him hostage was not a human, but a lithe black panther. In the darkness, only its emerald green eyes, like cold lake water, could be seen staring at them motionless. The weapon placed on Feng Qi's neck was its sharp claws.

"A cunning sorcerer, entering without a sound, only knowing to hide among the grass and trees." Upon hearing this, Feng Qi immediately recalled the method Zhang Lihua had taught him to conceal his presence in dense forests. Just now, Zhang Lihua must have sensed danger and hidden himself as soon as he entered the cave, not even having time to warn him. But he had been coerced, forcing Zhang Lihua to reveal himself.

Zhang Lihua helped Feng Qi up and placed him behind her, still unmoved, and asked, "Where did you hide Ya Hua?"

The black panther didn't answer, but simply circled the two of them a few steps, its green eyes fixed on them. After a moment, it seemed to twitch its nose: "Wooden witches, there are actually two wooden witches."

Feng Qi thought inappropriately, what a talking leopard would cause if it were reported! It would be like a science fiction movie, a domestic one at that. He lowered his head and curled the corners of his mouth, not correcting the black leopard's statement, which was more accurately described as a wood shaman and a normal person who might have the abilities of a wood shaman.

"Where is my sister?" Zhang Lihua asked persistently.

Black Panther said calmly, "What a persistent person."

“Her witchcraft is unique, I’m sure she’s here!” But after searching everywhere, she couldn’t find her… Zhang Lihua didn’t say the rest of the sentence, her gaze towards the two green lights becoming even more determined.

"So it was a spell that could also deceive sorcerers." Black Panther said calmly, as if stating a fact. After speaking, he seemed to sigh with emotion: "You are the silly brother that little girl mentioned. Your sister... is very strong."

Zhang Lihua pressed, "Where is she?!"

The black panther leaped into the air, and with a dripping sound, some light appeared at the end of the cave. At first, the light was faint, but gradually it grew brighter, emitting an eerie red glow. By that light, Feng Qi could finally see the black panther clearly. Its back was covered in numerous wounds, the largest of which was the size of an adult's fist, revealing bone and raw flesh. The red light emanated from the blood flowing from that wound. Even though Feng Qi had witnessed many bloody scenes, he couldn't help but feel a chill. He realized that the stench they had initially smelled must have come from that wound.

The red light grew brighter and brighter, and a petite figure appeared in the circle surrounded by blood.

She curled up, a lazy smile on her face, her eyes closed, her shoulder-length hair falling smoothly against her cheeks, with a few strands playfully landing near her luscious lips.

Zhang Lihua almost burst into tears. Who else could this be but the sister she had been searching for for so many days?

Chapter Seven: Sangzhu

(seven)

Zhang Lihua watched coldly as Black Panther did all this.

Typical water-based magic: a talking black panther, and a black panther that can use water-based magic. But this isn't pure water-based magic; it's mixed with some other spells that even Zhang Lihua couldn't explain.

All suspicion vanished the moment the girl appeared.

Upon seeing his younger sister, Zhang Lihua rushed to her side and carefully picked her up. Lihua's body was soft and still faintly warm; even her lips were a delicate peach-red. The girl lying quietly in Zhang Lihua's arms seemed to be merely asleep. But he soon realized that the girl in his arms was already lifeless.

From Feng Qi's direction, he could only see Zhang Lihua's originally joyful figure suddenly stiffen. Just as he was about to go forward to ask, he heard the black leopard, who was licking its wounds alone, say in a low voice, "She has been dead for many days."

“…Dead? How could that be? I’ve been keeping an eye on Ya Hua’s presence. It doesn’t make sense. She couldn’t be dead… Look, her presence is everywhere on this mountain… I’m her brother. I can sense even the faintest trace of her presence… She’s the pride of the wood element, my pride… She’s the strongest wood element sorcerer… How could she die so young?” Muttering to himself, Zhang Lihua suddenly turned and glared at the black panther. Bloodshot veins appeared in his blue eyes, and a powerful aura seemed to gather around his body. He roared at the black panther, “It was you! It was you, wasn’t it! You killed Ya Hua, and then tried to cover up her presence with your clumsy water element sorcery to stop us from arriving!”

Feng Qi had never seen Zhang Lihua with such an angry expression. He felt as if the surrounding trees had come to life, emitting mournful cries and rage that left him speechless.

The black panther was clearly also affected by that aura. After a pause, it said, "Wood-type sorcerer! Please calm down. Are your eyes blinded by anger? Can't you see everything your sister has done? Can't you feel what your sister wants to say to you?"

Zhang Lihua immediately came to his senses. He gazed at the girl in his arms, slowly calming his breathing. After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Is Sangzhu in your hands?"

The black panther grinned, like a faint smile, and then slowly spat out a transparent bead the size of a broad bean from its mouth.

"You! How dare you put Ya Hua's mulberry fruit in your mouth!"

The bead spat out by the black panther landed in Zhang Lihua's palm in a parabola. He flicked his tail and said, "This is your sister's idea. First, it can protect Sangzhu's safety. Second—as you can see, I am in this state only because of Sangzhu that I haven't been completely reduced to my original form."

Zhang Lihua carefully wiped the bead that emitted a warm, multicolored light, her teeth clenched tightly together, making a clicking sound.

Seeing how much Zhang Lihua valued it, Feng Qi guessed it must be some extraordinary treasure. Later, he learned that this Mulberry Pearl was quite remarkable. Every wood-elemental sorcerer, upon death, would have a pearl grow from their mouth; they called it a Mulberry Pearl. The Mulberry Pearl contained all the abilities of the deceased in life. If placed in fertile soil and nourished by rain and sunlight, it would grow into a lush forest. Wood-elemental sorcerers who entered this forest could see the image of the deceased. The image would gradually blur and disappear over time, until it vanished completely after hundreds of years. Young wood-elemental sorcerers who entered such forests to cultivate and grow could acquire purer abilities and achieve significant improvement.

Of course, that's a story for another time.

At this moment, Zhang Lihua stared intently at Sangzhu, who belonged to Zhang Yahua, his face grim.