"The Shui family, the Qin family, the Chu family, the Huo family, and the Han family—aren't there only five families? What's the missing one again?"
Seeing the stone's bewildered expression, Baozi couldn't stay calm: "Giggle, Master, you..."
"And the Lin family, Duck Duck knows the Lin family! The young master of the Lin family is Master's fiancé!" Little Yellow Duck couldn't help but remind her.
Baozi burst out laughing: "Quack quack, even the ducks know about the Lin family, Master, you..."
"Don't interrupt, just tell me, what is the Lin family's talent?" Given how shameless Shi Tou is, expecting her to feel ashamed is impossible.
Baozi thought for a moment and said, "Hehe, actually none of the six great families of the East have any real talent. What I just said was just something I heard you tell me before, Master! As for why their descendants have such good magical talent, I think it might be because of their bloodline. Their ancestors were very powerful!"
Shi Tou frowned. To be honest, it wasn't necessarily true that the descendants of the six great Eastern families were all exceptionally talented. Almost every family had geniuses, and of course, also some good-for-nothings. The Chu family was an exception; they traded their lifespans for power, so it was normal for them to produce prodigies.
Seeing that Stone was deep in thought, Baozi cautiously glanced at the "balloon" floating above its head: "Giggle, Master, could you please throw away the yarn? Baozi and Duck are scared!"
"No way! Yarn is good yarn, but steamed bun is the real villain!"
Drawed back to his attention by the two's argument, Shi Tou looked at Bao Zi, then at Mao Xian: "Bao Zi, I remember you were the one who asked me to adopt Mao Xian, right?"
What's this called? "You reap what you sow."
"Giggle, Master, Baozi knows he was wrong! Please throw away the yarn!" Although Baozi can't act cute now, the pitiful tone in his voice is just as strong.
Stone's lips twitched: "Alright, once we get into the Crimson Forest, I'll find a chance to throw away the yarn."
"Agh~~~" Wool screamed in agony, and suddenly, the air in its stomach gushed out, and its whole body crashed straight down, landing right on Stone's head.
"You bastard! I'm throwing you away right now!"
The consequences of angering Stone are dire. True to his word, Stone grabbed the yarn and escaped from the ring space.
Once outside the space, Stone realized he was still in the toilet, with a small basin next to the door, containing about half a basin of water.
"Smack!"
In a fit of anger, Stone threw the yarn into the basin, and the yarn sank completely into the water: "You think you can fly? I'll see if you can swim!"
"Awoo~~~" Yarn let out a groan, but it didn't sound like a cry of pain at all.
Stone looked down and was immediately terrified.
"You, how could you... God, what kind of monster are you?!"
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Wow! 200 chapters already! Applause and cheers!
Um, this story is expected to have at least 250 chapters! O(∩_∩)O Haha!
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Chapter 201: Thousands upon Thousands of Soul-Devouring Beasts
Originally, the yarn was a small ball the size of a palm, covered in soft, light pink fur. But when Stone looked at the yarn now in the basin, he was speechless.
"Yarn?"
When the little ball of yarn came into contact with water, it instantly swelled up, like bread expanding. But it was different from bread; its entire body slowly expanded, and before long, the small basin could no longer hold it.
"Hey? Are you still alive?" Although Maoxian's mouth was quite annoying, Shitou wasn't heartless enough to kill Maoxian. Seeing that Maoxian hadn't made a sound for a long time, Shitou couldn't help but worry.
After waiting a while longer, Shi Tou finally couldn't resist. He stretched out two fingers, picked up the yarn, and examined it closely.
"Duo'er! Open the door, what are you doing in there?"
Stone jumped in fright, and the yarn fell to the ground with a "thud." Without bothering to examine the yarn closely, Stone quickly tossed it into his ring space and immediately went to open the door.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Shi Tou hurriedly opened the door, only to be greatly surprised to see that Luo Pi Pi also looked panicked.
"Something's happened in the Crimson Forest." Luo Pipi didn't have time to investigate what Shi Tou was doing in the room; she just grabbed her and ran outside.
Poor Stone, with his short legs and arms, was basically being dragged along. When he finally got out of the hotel, he was immediately stunned.
"What's going on?!" It's quite late now. People in this world don't have the concept of nightlife, at least not ordinary people. But right now, even though it's night, the streets are packed with bustling people.
"Let's go!" Luo Pipi didn't have time to say anything. He grabbed Shitou's waist and quickly followed the people out of the town.
"What exactly happened?" Shi Tou was completely bewildered. She was only a three-star Battle Qi Master, only able to use Battle Qi to traverse short distances; flying was definitely out of the question. However, this didn't stump her. She had made quite a few practical things in the capital, one of which was a flying device.
Stone took out two items from the ring's space and stuffed one of them into Luo Pipi's hand: "Grab it, let's fly up."
Luo Pipi looked at the stone with great surprise, but still grabbed the thing.
The so-called flying device was actually just a very rudimentary levitation tool, somewhat resembling a bamboo dragonfly. It wasn't a real machine, but rather a tool that used magic to achieve levitation.
The stone was activated by turning on the switch on the bamboo dragonfly, and it floated about five meters above the ground. Luo Pipi frowned, but still followed the stone's example and flew up as well.
Those running on the ground, witnessing this scene, screamed for help, hoping to get assistance from the two people above. Unfortunately, the stone didn't have many bamboo dragonflies left, and most importantly, the bamboo dragonflies were disposable, lasting only about half an hour each time.
"What happened? Why is everyone so panicked?" Floating in mid-air, Stone tried to get closer to Luo Pipi. Luckily, she had played this before, so it wasn't too difficult for her.
"Look behind you." Luo Pipi's gaze fell into the distance.
Following her gaze, Stone was suddenly horrified: "What's that? Locusts?!"
Although it's late, the moon and stars are still quite bright tonight. Plus, there are still some streetlights along the town's roads, so you can see distant objects and rocks, though not very clearly.
"Hurry, I'm worried this height won't be of any use!" Although Shi Tou didn't know Luo Pipi's true strength, it was clear she was stronger than him. For one thing, she was using it for the first time, yet she acted like a pro.
Holding onto the stones, they floated quickly in the air. Because there were no crowds in mid-air, they reached the town entrance at an extremely fast pace.
"Wait, where are we going? This bamboo dragonfly can only last for half an hour!" Stone suddenly panicked. If she were clearly told what dangers lay ahead, she might be a little better off, but this kind of unknown fear was even more frightening.
"Half an hour? That should be enough." Luo Pipi calculated in his mind for a while, then suddenly changed direction and rushed off in the other direction.
Seeing Luo Pipi's expression, Shi Tou didn't know what to say anymore. Anyway, she had a ring space, so she could just hide in the space.
Half an hour later, the stone slowly fell from mid-air. Actually, this was a new, improved variety. If the original prototype had been used, it would have definitely made someone fall flat on their face as soon as the time was up.
"Is this place safe?" Stone looked around blankly. Suddenly, she felt a sense of familiarity—the trees, the unique smell in the air, and…
Looking up, Stone noticed that the moon, which had been directly overhead, was now barely visible, and the surrounding light had dimmed considerably.
"The Crimson Forest?!" Stone couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Luo Pipi glanced at her and nodded: "Yes, this is the Crimson Forest. It seems you really are the second young lady of the Huo family. I remember that the eldest young lady of the Huo family went to the Crimson Forest several times in a row but did not awaken her magical talent."
Shi Tou paused for a moment, then replied, "It was the time Xiao Xiao and I came here. She successfully activated her magical talent, but unfortunately I didn't."
"It's a good thing you didn't succeed." Luo Pipi pursed her lips: "The eldest daughter of the Huo family, huh, a celebrity in the capital. If you had successfully awakened your magical talent back then, she might have already considered you a major threat."
How is that possible?!
Shi Tou's lips twitched, and he replied, "Yes, actually it's not bad now." But in his heart he was thinking, "At worst, Huo Xiaoxiao won't let her into the Huo family, so what else can she do?"
"Wait!" Stone suddenly realized, "Why did you bring me here?! It's summer, summer!"
Luo Pipi glared at her with a dark expression: "I said, isn't your reaction too slow?"
"My god! I'm only a three-star Qi Master, what about you? By the way, are you a magician or a Qi Master?" Stone suddenly realized that he had no idea about Luo Pipi's strength.
Luo Pipi looked up at the sky, which was blocked by tree branches: "What if I told you that I am neither a magician nor a martial arts master?"
Stone was genuinely startled and stammered, "You're joking with me, right?"
Luo Pipi still tilted her head back, but her tone was quite certain: "I think at this point, I shouldn't be lying to you anymore."
Stone stared wide-eyed at Luo Pipi in disbelief: "Where are your guards? Weren't they always with us? Where did they go?"
"I sent them off to take care of things." Luo Pipi finally lowered her head and glanced at Shi Tou, her tone surprisingly sincere: "So when I realized something was wrong, I rushed to you for help! At least you're a three-star Battle Qi Master, right?"
Shi Tou had no idea what expression to make when facing Luo Pi Pi. He swallowed hard, feeling like his voice was floating: "It's summer now, you know? Even in the safest late autumn, I, a three-star Dou Qi Master, am no match for you!"
Last time, she came with the Lin family's mercenary group, but at that time, they entered during the safest time, and the leader, Lin Qi, also had the strength of a five-star Dou Qi Master.
"We won't go in. We'll stay on the side and wait until all the Soul-Eating Beasts are gone before we leave." A hint of ingratiating expression appeared on Luo Pipi's handsome face, which immediately shocked Shi Tou.
"Wait, answer me first, what is a Soul-Eating Beast?" Stone blinked, looking completely bewildered. "Wasn't that a locust just now?"
"What are locusts?" Luo Pipi was even more bewildered than Shi Tou: "What we just saw was a large swarm of Soul-Eating Beasts."
"Explain in detail." Stone was someone who would make the best of a situation since she was already in the Crimson Forest. Besides, she had been here before, and even if there was danger, she still had her ring space. So, she calmly found a relatively clean rock nearby, sat down, and decided to listen to the story.
Looking at Shi Tou's calm demeanor, Luo Pipi broke out in a cold sweat. Was this girl just incredibly strong, or just thick-skinned? After thinking for a moment, she simply sat down next to Shi Tou and began to explain the disaster that had just occurred.
"Soul-devouring beasts are very low-level magical beasts. If it's a lone one, it poses no threat at all. Unfortunately, soul-devouring beasts usually live in groups, and when they appear, there are tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. Even a nine-star mage would probably not want to face such a thing head-on."
"Why is it called the Soul-Devouring Beast? Does it devour souls?"
Luo Pipi pursed her lips, looking rather upset, as if recalling some unpleasant experience: "Wherever the Soul-Devouring Beast goes, it's hard to find any living creatures. But afterwards, people discovered that the corpses of those who died or the magical beasts were perfectly intact, and even for a considerable period of time, the bodies did not decompose, as if they were still alive."
"So you named it the Soul-Devouring Beast?" Stone raised an eyebrow, and for some reason, she suddenly remembered some novels she had read in her previous life. It seemed that novels about other worlds often mentioned a kind of beast tide: "Does this count as a beast tide?"
"A beast tide?" Luo Pipi was a little stunned: "You could say that."
How often does this happen?
"This... how would I know? But this is the second time I've encountered this, both times on the edge of the Crimson Forest."
Suddenly, Shi Tou looked at Luo Pi Pi with a bewildered expression: "So, I was dragged down by you all along?"
Luo Pipi broke out in a cold sweat. These words made it sound as if she had seduced a Soul Eater. Just as she was about to retort, she suddenly jumped up: "Someone's here!"
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Hey everyone, are you on winter break yet?
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Chapter 202 Encountering Orcs in the Crimson Forest