"What are you so proud of?" The black cat rolled its eyes and elbowed the termite hard. It was too smug.
The termite winced in pain, then calmly stomped on the black cat's foot, saying, "So what if I'm happy!"
Whatever makes you happy... Black Cat silently.
"I'm quite curious about your friend now." Mu Yanxuan looked at Ji Yueyao, who seemed to have walked through this forbidden forest many times, and put his arm around her shoulder.
"You'd probably be terrified if you saw him," Ji Yueyao sighed, then continued walking forward following the sky's guidance.
The sky lay in the bag, but its view covered the entire Forbidden Forest. "Ji Yueyao, you can leave the Forbidden Forest soon. Wait... there are eighteen people hiding on the outermost edge of the forest."
"Eighteen people?" Ji Yueyao narrowed her eyes, then looked at Mu Yanxuan.
Mu Yanxuan immediately realized what was happening. He lowered his eyes and looked ahead, a faint murderous intent flashing beneath his cold eyes.
The voice from the sky came again, "There should be nineteen... one of them is about to leave this forest, so he shouldn't be with these eighteen people."
"Let's ignore him for now." Ji Yueyao thought for a moment and didn't take it to heart. Since they weren't in the same group, there was no need to care.
Sky thought for a moment, hesitated, and didn't reveal that the guy was one of the people who betrayed Mu Yanxuan. After all, Ji Yueyao didn't care, and what did Mu Yanxuan's private affairs have to do with him?
The black cat and the snow fox were clearly eager to try. Besides Qin Lichang, there was really no one else who could ambush them in the Forbidden Forest.
“Eighteen people…” Mu Yanxuan stood to the side and stretched his wrists. “In which direction?”
"North by a little south," Ji Yueyao said softly, listening to the description of the sky.
Mu Yanxuan nodded, then stepped ahead of Ji Yueyao. When Black Cat and the others saw Mu Yanxuan move, they naturally followed in quick succession.
After thinking for a moment, Ji Yueyao checked the zippers and other parts of her backpack to make sure it wouldn't fly out of the sky before she carefully slung it over her shoulder and strode up after Mu Yanxuan.
"Ji Yueyao, stand behind me." Mu Yanxuan turned around and saw Ji Yueyao walking at the back. He frowned slightly, and there seemed to be a turbulent undercurrent in his deep eyes. "It's too dangerous for him to be at the back."
Ji Yueyao paused for a moment, glanced hesitantly at Mu Yanxuan's sturdy back, and shook her head, saying, "I can manage on my own..."
Seeing that Ji Yueyao had actually refused him, Mu Yanxuan was slightly displeased. "Ji Yueyao, come here."
“I need to train, Mu Yanxuan.” Ji Yueyao looked at Mu Yanxuan in front of her, took a deep breath and shook her head firmly. “I don’t have the strength you have now. If I still rely on your protection, I will never grow.”
Before she and the termites came to the Forbidden Forest, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fully unleash her superpowers. But after arriving in the Forbidden Forest, although she suffered many injuries and even fainted from pain, the reward was a qualitative improvement in her superpowers.
She may finally understand now that what Sister Qiao meant by exploring on her own was not just about exploring the world, but also about accepting the trials that the world brings, and that only by facing these challenges can one truly become stronger.
It's not just about physical strength, but also about spiritual elevation.
Mu Yanxuan was clearly still unwilling to let Ji Yueyao walk alone at the back. He stretched out his hand, leaving no room for refusal, and said, "Ji Yueyao, it's enough for me to protect you."
"What if you weren't here?" Ji Yueyao bit her lip, pressing so hard that beads of blood were faintly visible. "Like now, you're injured and can't protect me in this critical moment. What would I do if I didn't have the strength? Mu Yanxuan, I don't want you to be the only one protecting me; I want to be the one who can protect you too!"
Mu Yanxuan was a little stunned. Looking at Ji Yueyao, who was standing there resolutely, he suddenly realized that perhaps he had never really understood her.
He simply liked her sunny smile and the serene yet pleasant aura she exuded that seemed out of place in this world... But now he suddenly realized that Ji Yueyao was also a person striving to live in this world; she was conscious, and she wasn't a pet that needed to be stroked every day.
Ji Yueyao could give him her own blood in a moment of crisis, and she could also stand behind him and firmly say that she also wanted to protect him...
Mu Yanxuan felt as if he suddenly understood something. He looked deeply at Ji Yueyao, at her dark eyes and her slender figure, and felt his heart pounding violently at that moment.
Damn, my face is burning!
Mu Yanxuan snorted coldly, quickly turned her head, and strode forward, "Whatever, just don't regret it later!"
Watching Mu Yanxuan stride forward, Ji Yueyao was still in a daze. Did he... agree?
He seemed angry, but the feeling he gave off was not like that at all.
Ji Yueyao scratched his head in confusion, and only after seeing that Black Cat and the others were following behind Mu Yanxuan did he quickly catch up.
"I reckon all of Mu Yanxuan's men are dead. I don't understand why the higher-ups are still making us guard this place." A soldier in a dark green uniform lay in the grass, muttering softly, looking fearfully at the forest before him and sighing. "Actually, I think it's quite good that Mu Yanxuan is the commander of the entire military region. The Southern Military Region is peaceful and there's no internal strife, unlike here where there's constant chaos, big and small. All the economic resources are being squandered by Qin Lichang and those old guys." Although the soldier kept complaining, his eyes never left the scope in front of him, and he would definitely catch the slightest movement.
"Zhumu, don't talk nonsense." A man lying in front of Zhumu said in a low voice, "You'd better just be complaining casually. If you take it seriously, I'll take care of you."
"I understand." Zhu Mu nodded somewhat dejectedly. This place was like this; you could never say what you were thinking, because if you said something wrong, someone would immediately report it to the higher-ups, and you'd be beheaded in a few days.
"Stay vigilant at all times!" The captain, who had just reprimanded someone, said coldly to everyone behind him. When his gaze fell on the person squatting at the very back, his expression suddenly became complicated.
The last person seemed to sense something, raised his head, then glanced at the others with a disdainful look before lowering his head again to continue with the matter at hand.
The surroundings suddenly became eerily quiet. The sound of leaves rustling occasionally jolted the group's nerves, but then faded into nothingness as if they had grown accustomed to it.
"What are you on guard for?" A sudden voice rang out in the air. The next second, the ground where the group was lying in ambush suddenly surged, the massive tremor sending them tumbling over, their limbs buried deep in the soil. (To be continued.)
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