Chapter 10

Ji Dongzang could only remain silent, letting the little girl's cold little hand lead him as he walked forward in the absolute darkness, one step deep and one step shallow.

Gradually, she could feel the changes around her.

The cold, damp, heavy and oppressive feeling unique to the cave began to fade away. The ground under my feet was no longer hard rock, but soft ground covered with dead branches and broken leaves.

The sound of the wind came back into my ears, and the rustling of leaves in the wind became clearer.

Come out.

They had left the nightmarish cave and came to the forest outside.

However, she was still surrounded by that group of indescribable "companions".

Their footsteps still echoed in the silent forest: tap, tap, tap, tap...

However, she still could not see anything.

The thick and impenetrable darkness was like a real curtain, blinding her eyes.

The despairing darkness suddenly reminded her of the star Theia that had been hanging in the sky for a long time.

Ji Dongzang even suspected that these monsters had done something.

She raised the hand that was not held by the little girl and tentatively touched her eyes.

The touch feels normal and there is no foreign matter.

She even put her fingers close to her eyes, almost touching her eyelashes...still there was only a void that swallowed everything.

Suddenly, the long, rough, scaly tail that had once roamed over her body suddenly wrapped around her wrist, which had just been raised, and pulled it down with irresistible force!

Ji Dongzang was startled and secretly exerted his strength to fight against it.

The muscles were tense and the bones seemed to groan under the tremendous pressure!

She used almost all her strength to form a brief and thrilling stalemate with the ugly man who held the tail.

no.

The power of this monster is even stronger than her after she was transformed!

After a brief confrontation, Ji Dongzang gave up resistance.

The scaly tail on his wrist suddenly loosened.

Then, a cold little hand took its place.

It's that weird little girl.

Now, Ji Dongzang's arms were firmly controlled by the little girl in the way of "pulling his hands back", and his posture looked like a prisoner being escorted.

While she was rapidly thinking of a way to escape in her mind, she couldn't help but speculate maliciously: That fleeing black cat, and that cunning and stinky fox... had they already become food for these monsters?

They trudged through the endless darkness for an unknown amount of time.

Gradually, a faint light, almost imperceptible, seeped back into Ji Dongzang's vision which was swallowed by darkness.

Is it getting light?

She guessed that it was probably the next morning.

It seems that the absolute darkness before was probably related to the dark sky.

By the faint light.

Ji Dongzang glanced at the silent ugly man again.

He had confiscated her weapons and belongings, and they were nowhere to be found. He hadn't thrown them away, had he?

After walking a little further, the little girl finally stopped.

In the dim morning light, Ji Dongzang saw clearly in front of him: a dilapidated wooden house standing alone in a clearing in the forest.

On the simple steps in front of the wooden house sat a woman. Her clothes and figure, amidst the strangeness of her surroundings, revealed a rare sense of normality.

The little girl released her grip on Ji Dongzang and, facing the woman on the steps, spoke a number clearly in her calm voice:

"seven."

Then, she turned around and disappeared into the thin morning mist that had not yet completely dissipated, taking the silent black goat and the ugly man with her, leaving Jidong alone in front of the wooden house to be with the woman on the steps.

Ji Dongzang quickly bent down, picked up a thick dead branch from the wet ground, and held it tightly in his hand, as a last resort.

She took a few steps forward, stopped a few steps in front of the woman, and looked down at her.

"You guys," Ji Dongzang's voice was hoarse and tense from a sleepless night, "what on earth do you want to do?"

The woman on the steps slowly raised her head and met Ji Dongzang's gaze calmly.

Her voice was not loud, but it had a fatalistic penetrating power:

"Our experiences...will drive us here." She paused, her gaze seeming to penetrate Ji Dongzang and cast towards the distant sky, uttering that heart-wrenching name, "The landing site of Theia."

"We?" Ji Dongzang's voice suddenly rose, carrying undisguised sarcasm. "Which 'we' are you referring to? Every living thing that breathes? Coming here in a mighty force, just to be blasted to smithereens by that damned thing?"

She even uttered a short, sharp laugh at an inappropriate time, which seemed particularly abrupt in the silent forest.

The woman on the steps was still sitting quietly, unmoved by Ji Dongzang's harsh words.

"Have you been brainwashed, or have you joined some evil cult?" Ji Dongzang narrowed his eyes and examined the other person. "Which faction do you belong to?"

Seeing Qiu Lian still silent, Ji Dongzang waved his hand impatiently: "Forget it! Answer me first, what exactly do you mean by 'we'?"

Qiu Lian's voice was calm, as if stating an established fact: "Time will tell. Those who are destined to meet here will follow the path of fate and complete their destined mission."

"Also, my name is Qiu Lian. Lian means restraint. Hello."

"You're so weird! You don't know how to restrain yourself!" Ji Dongzang ignored her self-introduction and asked more pointedly, "The landing point of Theia... such a secret that could easily fall from the sky, how did you know that?"

Qiu Lian slowly stood up and said, "Madam Shen has lived in the mountains for a long time and can observe the trajectory of the celestial phenomena."

"Ha! I told you you were brainwashed!" Ji Dongzang's sarcasm was almost turning into a tangible blade. "This 'Mrs. Shen', is she a 'normal person' like you, or... one of those monsters with horns and tails out there?"

"Monster?" Qiu Lian's brows furrowed slightly for the first time, a trace of genuine confusion in his eyes. "Aren't we all living beings in this world? Why do we have to rank us high and low?"

Ji Dongzang was choked for a moment by this self-evident question, and then said: "Fates and destinies can still be different. Besides, look outside! A thing with goat horns and a scaly tail, how can it be the same as you and me?!" Her words were full of rejection and fear of the alien.

"Are you saying, 'Those who are not of my kind must have different hearts'?"

Qiu Lian's voice remained calm, yet like a precise scalpel, it dissected Ji Dongzang's subconscious. "But with the influence of Theia, we ourselves are constantly changing. How can you be so sure that your future self won't become that 'strange person' you're talking about?"

Qiu Lian's question was like a heavy hammer, hammering down on Ji Dongzang's heart. She suddenly remembered that not long ago, she was still fantasizing about transforming into a real dragon.

She was silent, her fingers curled up unconsciously, and after a long while, she admitted in a voice that was almost whispered, full of self-mockery and bitterness:

"Perhaps... you're right. It's fear... because I'm afraid of them from the bottom of my heart... afraid of that unknown change. That's why I need to slander them, to use prejudice to elevate myself a little, as if that would make me safer..."

Qiu Lian didn't say anything else, but just raised his head and looked at the sky shrouded by the shadow of the disaster star, as if interpreting a silent revelation.

Ji Dongzang also lost the desire to find out about the three "monsters". He lowered his head dejectedly and stared at the trampled dry grass under his feet.

Her premonitions were always accurate, but the sudden changes before her made her instinctively resist and find it difficult to adapt.

Caught off guard!

Without any warning, Qiu Lian punched Ji Dongzang in the face!

Ji Dongzang had no time to think and raised his arm to block, driven purely by instinct.

Boom!

A heavy muffled sound!

Qiu Lian's fist hit Ji Dongzang's wrist bone with such force that her entire arm became numb and trembled slightly.

A sharp pain exploded instantly, and Ji Dongzang even suspected that his bone had been broken and sunken!

She stumbled back several steps, her cry of pain choking in her throat. But Qiu Lian didn't give her a chance to breathe, and continued to strike back with his fists like a shadow.

"Are you sick?!" Ji Dongzang was stunned. He dodged around the open space in a panic while cursing, "Are you crazy or did you escape from a mental hospital?!"

Qiu Lian pursued him relentlessly, his voice strangely calm: "I'll help you divert your attention and relieve some of the pressure."

Ji Dongzang has three question marks on his head.

???

"Do I know you well?!" Anger instantly overwhelmed the pain and fear. Ji Dongzang suddenly stopped and turned around to meet him!

The two of them started fighting in an instant!

There was no rhyme or reason, only the most primal rage and catharsis. The dull thud of fists hitting flesh, heavy breathing, and grunts of pain intertwined.

The sun struggled to climb to the top of the mountain, dyeing the sky a dazzling blood red.

The fight quickly escalated into a rolling scuffle.

Our heads and faces were covered with dirt and grass debris, and we rolled and tore at each other on the open ground. Sometimes you rode on me and beat me hard, and sometimes I flipped you over and pinned you down.

In just a few moments, both of them had bruises on their faces, their noses and faces were swollen, and their clothes were stained and stained, looking in a miserable state.

After being hungry for a day and a night and not sleeping all night, Ji Dongzang was the first to run out of energy.

In the end, she could only lie down on the ground helplessly, using her arms to protect her head and face in vain, passively enduring the fists falling like autumn raindrops.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A yellow figure as fast as lightning suddenly jumped out from the bushes where it was hiding!

It’s that unusually huge cheetah!

It growled, opened its mouth wide, and accurately caught Qiu Lian's arm as he was about to swing it!

The immense bite force is not intended to hurt, but to stop.

Its strong neck suddenly exerted force and dragged Qiu Lian away from Ji Dongzang!

The sticky saliva instantly soaked through Qiu Lian's windbreaker sleeves.

Ji Dongzang collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, the absurd scene reflected in his blurred vision.

Qiu Lian, who was dragged away, was not annoyed.

She just stood up calmly, as if the beast-like fight had never happened.