"Miss Yiren, we almost reached our destination. Please follow me. We will land some further away."

The Village Leader’s voice coming from the side made Yiren extremely excited. She waved at the Leader, signaling that she heard him and patted her bird’s back.

"Follow them," Yiren ordered and the bird listened immediately.

Yiren then leaned back into Lisa’s chest and called out excitedly, "Lisa! We arrived already! Our first solo mission is right ahead! Are you excited?!"

"Yeah... Wohooo...!" Lisa faked her excitement and hugged Yiren, whispering, "Don’t you think something is suspicious with this place...?"

"Huh? What?" Yiren questioned confused, looking around their surroundings but she couldn’t find anything weird. "What’s bad with it? That’s just mist."

They were flying above a lush forest mixed with a clear system of streams, waterfalls, and even hot springs. Yiren couldn’t wait but to find one and dive inside it. If they were not on a mission, she would already stop earlier when she saw one.

"I don’t know. I just feel an ominous aura around this place," Lisa muttered worriedly but she was quickly assured by Yiren. "Don’t worry. I will protect you."

"Mhmm..."

historical

It wasn’t weird that Lisa was anxious. After all, they were in the middle of the hunting for a Celestial Beast, one that could smash her into bits with just one attack. She wasn’t as strong as Yiren and the beasts didn’t listen to her.

As their beasts lowered in altitude, their bodies quickly covered in the mist before it disappeared. Underneath the crown of the trees, the mist was gone with a clear view of the wildlife.

"Whoa!" Yiren exclaimed as they landed, jumping off immediately.

The sounds of nature were just overwhelming. Leaves swished with gentle wing blowing and small birds chirped at Yiren’s sight. They flew over and circled around her as if they finally found their queen.

"Haha, you are so cute!" Yiren called out in laughter, rubbing their tiny cheeks.

Lisa didn’t even look surprised.

"A Master Tamer indeed..." the Village Elder muttered as he landed next to them. "We need to be quiet not to alarm the Celestial Beast."

"How come this place is so green and fresh? Where did all the Blood Qi go?" Lisa questioned confused, taking a deep breath. "Can I stay here forever? I hate the air polluted by Blood Qi."

"Hah, I doubt we can but it is indeed a great place. If not for the Danger, I would definitely move the whole village here," the Hidden Leaf Village Leader chuckled as he explained, "This place is called a Holy Forrest, the only place in the Blood Land that can push the Blood Qi away with that mist above us. I’m not sure what causes it yet."

"I see. All I can feel now is Water Qi, so I found it weird," Lisa replied with a nod.

"Yes, it is weird indeed. When I discovered it, I initially thought it’s some kind of treasure so I ventured deeper to check it out. I was quickly chased away by the Celestial Fox inside the depths of the forest. Since then, the Fox causes us troubles from time to time so I’m glad Miss Yiren showed up. If we can tame this beast, I’m seriously considering moving here."

"I see... Maybe it is indeed some kind of treasure. We should definitely explore after we are done taming and check it out," Lisa suggested. "Maybe we can find something interesting."

"Well, good luck with that," the Village Leader shrugged. "I’m just a guide for you today. I already gave up on the treasure and I can’t tame this Beast so I won’t be following you the whole way."

"I don’t think that will be the proble—"

"Wait, wait!" Yiren suddenly disturbed them. "Did you just say Celestial Fox?"

"Yes, indeed," the Village Leader confirmed. "A nine-tailed white fox. I’m not really sure of its gender though but I’m guessing it is a female. She likes to clean herself in the Hot Springs and her appearance is really feminine."

"Whoa! She knows what’s good. Let’s go meet that foxy! I’m sure we will be friends."

As she said, Yiren picked up the little birds from her shoulders and placed them on the closest tree branch. She then hopped to Lisa excitedly and grabbed her hand, pulling her in a random direction.

"Let’s go!"

The Village Leader quickly called out after them. "Miss Yiren... You are going in the opposite direction..."

As if she wasn’t wrong at all, Yiren turned around, going back to the birds.

"Sir, please lead the way," Yiren ordered to which he smiled, choosing one of the paths of his own.

"Follow me."

Although it wasn’t supposed to be a long walk, Yiren couldn’t help but stop from time to time, admiring nature. After a fifteen-minute walk, the Village Leader stopped.

In front of them was a wild path while all other routes were filled with lush jungle. The path was covered with white vapor, signaling there were some hot springs on the other side of the jungle wall.

Yiren’s eyes brightened. She couldn’t wait to meet her new friend, already imagining the fluffy tails she could caress.

"Why are we stopping?" Yiren questioned, too excited to take any breaks.

"I cannot go further than this. This is the Celestial Fox territory. You may think it is just steam but it is actually the Fox ability. She will discover you the moment you pass through. Even though I trust Miss Yiren can tame the fox without me, I’m sure I will just disturb you. She hates me," the Village Leader replied with a shrug.

"What did you do to make her hate you?" Lisa questioned curiously but the Village Leader didn’t even know himself.

"Honestly, it must be my gender. She seems to be hating guys. Whenever she attacks us, she always targets males while leaving all women alone," the Village Leader explained with a sigh. "I will wait here for you. Now, let me tell you how to reach the Celestial Fox waterfa—"

"We will figure it out by ourselves! Thank you, Sir," Yiren called out, pulling on Lisa’s hand. "Let’s go, Lisa!"

"W-wait!" Lisa cried out as her feet tried to catch up with the rush Yiren. "We didn’t get instructions!"

"No need!" Yiren replied and jumped into the steam without any worry. "We adventurers don’t need any instructions! I can feel her presence! She is watching us yet she doesn’t do anything. Don’t worry!"

"Ugh! Yiren! Wait a moment!" Lisa tried to stop her but it was for naught. They ran without break, jumping from massive tree root to another while Lisa barely kept up.

"Yiren, you are crazy!" Lisa finally scolded.

"I love being crazy!"

Ah!

Lisa cried out as she suddenly tripped on her own legs. She was falling when Yiren suddenly pulled her into her embrace mid-air, covering the fall with her own body.

They expected a hard landing but it turned out to be extremely soft. They rolled on the ground, seeing blades of grass flying in the air. They stopped after a few meters but instead of suffering from pain, Yiren laughed.

"Hahaha! That was fun."

Lisa could only sigh deeply.

"You will get me killed one day. You are dangerous," Lisa muttered, only to look around their surroundings. "Where are w—"

Lisa froze as she asked, causing Yiren to turn in her direction to check what’s up. She instantly brightened.

A wild white Elk was just two meters away from them and he didn’t seem like he enjoyed being disturbed during his meal. He glared at them in the middle of chewing fresh grass and lowered its antlers while pulling on the grass with his hoof as if trying to charge at them.

"Shhh... We are not your enemies. We came here in peace," Yiren called out as she extended her arm, her eyes bursting with gold and magically, the Elk’s attitude changed by one hundred and eighty degrees. Its eyes softened and he resumed chewing.

"Such a good boy you are," Yiren muttered and slowly reached out, crawling up to the Elk. Eventually, it let her pat its nose, even rub it.

"Lisa, come here. It’s not going to bite you," Yiren suggested but the Elk suddenly pulled away, walking away.

"I guess he doesn’t like me, haha," Lisa joked, causing Yiren to sigh. She couldn’t force beasts to anything they didn’t want to do.

"Wait!" Yiren called out after the Elk as she stood up. "Can you tell us where can we find the Lady Fox?"

The Elk looked at her strangely but then it lowered its head in a certain direction before walking away.

"See? Told you we don’t need instructions," Yiren commented and picked Lisa up.

They were on a small grass field with a few paths out of it. The one that Elk pointed at was narrow, leading down on slippery rocks with its entrance in between two boulders.

Yiren didn’t hesitate and led Lisa down the path, jumping from stone to stone.

They quickly heard the sounds of the waterfall and eventually, saw a light blue lake, giving off a small layer of steam. Yiren was so excited she rushed to the shore but she didn’t see a fox anywhere, making her disappointed.

"Are you searching for me?"