Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 34: Clumsy About

Chapter 34: Clumsy About

"What's the problem? What's going on?" The others were all shocked by that sudden voice.

"This place is a snake nest," Zhuo Lin'er stuttered as he spoke.

"Mrs, hurry, run!" At the same time, Qiuqiu's voice sounded in Yun Ruoyan's mind.

“Everything, we have to run! The walls are embedded with snake eggs, so make sure you don't touch them.” Yun Ruoyan quickly called out to everyone before she started running.

But it's too late. A swarm of snakes poked their heads out from the eggs embedded in the wall, and a rain of snakes started to fall from the ceiling.

The snakes that had just come out of their eggs were shrouded in sticky liquid all over their bodies, and, as they fell like raindrops, a foul smell instantly enveloped the cave.

Yun Ruoyan and the others ran over as if their lives depended on it. However, as if directed by an unknown entity, all the small snakes crept along the wall in front of the group, forming a thick snake wall.

Seeing that the way forward had been blocked, the troupe could only run back towards the T-junction, but they found that the way back had also been blocked by the snake.

The only way left is right. Without a doubt, everyone ran towards it.

This route did not seem to contain a single snake egg and was slightly wider than the others, but a swarm of snakes chasing after them like a flood that would engulf them entirely.

They did not know how long they ran, but it got to the point where Yun Ruoyan felt her entire body cramp.

After all, two days ago, he had just fought a sharp-fanged tiger, and he was still not fully recovered.

Finally, in front of them was a faint moonlight.

"We're almost there, almost!" Lin Qingxue took the lead, and she gathered her last listless energy as she solemnly dashed towards the moon.

Since Yi Qianying had sprinkled snake-pulling powder on her body, the snakes were very interested in her, and some would even ignore the other members to pounce on Lin Qingxue instead. It was this repulsion that gave him the energy to run forward and stay there.

Once he left the cave, he fell to the ground, feeling weak all over his body. He kept muttering, “I can't run anymore, not anymore, even if the snake starts biting me..”.

Although this was what he claimed, when he felt something touch his shoulder, his entire body jumped up, and he was as if continuing to run.

"Stop, we're safe!" Yun Ruoyan's voice came from behind him.

Only then did he dare to turn around. The cave where they all came out was filled with snakes.

Under the moonlight, they wrapped around and curled up against each other. The indistinct chatter of contact between their tiny scales was magnified by the sheer number of bodies present until the sound left the scalp numb.

The strange thing was that these snakes could not get out of the cave, as if they were restricted to moving.

"Why aren't these snakes chasing us any further?" Lin Qingchen sat on the floor panting, barely able to breathe.

"Who cares? All I know is that we are safe!”

"Are you both okay?" Yun Ruoyan turned towards the beastkin siblings.

Zhuo Lin'er had already descended from Zhuo Yifeng's back and stood on the ground. Unlike the others, he did not pant, but his face did not look too good.

"NO." Zhuo Yifeng shook his head. "I dropped one of the tiger's canine teeth on the back!" His expression could not help but look sad.

During the escape, in order to protect her sister, even though she could feel one of the canines falling from her body, she had neither the time nor the luxury to take it.

The treasures of a middle-class beast, enough to make at least twenty middle-class arrows! How could he not be upset?

“Sister Zhuo, don't think too much about it. Under such circumstances, your life is much more important!” Lin Qingxue was amused.

"Brother, we will definitely find more treasures in the future, but we only have one life." Zhuo Lin'er looked at Lin Qingxue before saying lightly. The two girls, who seemed happy to oppose each other, were finally able to agree on something.

"Then, have we left the array of misdirection?" Lin Qingchen asked as she inspected her surroundings.

They were in an area like a valley. Under the moonlight, they could hear the chirping of birds and insects. A cool breeze swept across their faces, making them feel relaxed after a grueling ordeal.

"I don't care where we are, but I want a good night's rest" muttered Lin Qingxue, and her thoughts reflected the thoughts of others.

The group found a great place to set up camp for the night. Because it was early summer, the night was not too cold, but they lit a fire just in case.

Zhuo Yifeng, who had the best physique, would take the watch first, and the others quickly entered into their dreams. The night was smooth, and the others woke up in the bright sunlight.

Yun Ruoyan woke up after smelling a dense scent, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Zhuo Yifeng busying herself in front of the fire.

"Did you not sleep at all last night?" Yun Ruoyan walked over to Zhuo Yifeng's side, somewhat embarrassed. After all, last night, they agreed that Zhuo Yifeng would take the first guard, and Yun Ruoyan the second, but Yun Ruoyan was so tired that she could not force herself to get up.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

Zhuo Yifeng was busy preparing the grilled meat, and she said without turning around, "It's okay, I can skip sleeping for a few days and still be fine."

Yun Ruoyan looked at his serious face. To his surprise, not only were his eyes extremely bright, his eyelashes were also extremely long. They curved slightly upwards, and the dawn gave her face a surprising elegance.

Yun Ruoyan looked at Zhuo Yifeng from the side, and this corner perfectly hid the birthmark on her right cheek. Her skin was pale, especially in contrast to her red clothes.

At that moment, Zhuo Yifeng's three-quarters view of Yun Ruoyan seemed to have turned into a completely different person, a beautiful, pure, and untainted girl.

Yun Ruoyan did not think too much of Zhuo Yifeng's momentary foolishness. He smiled and took a skewer from his hand.

"What'sthis? Chicken or big bird?” He asked with a smile.

"It's so fragrant!" Lin Qingxue spoke from behind them, and the two turned around. They were so busy with each other that they did not realize Lin Qingxue was waking up and appearing from behind.

“Good morning, Sister Ruoyan, Brother Zhuo!” Lin Qingxue gave the two of them a brilliant smile.

"Good morning! It's right here." Yun Ruoyan handed the skewer in her hand to Lin Qingxue. His face was bright and bright, but his heart grew cold. How has his alertness decreased drastically in the past few days?

After his rebirth, Yun Ruoyan was a small bird, frightened by the sudden movements and distrust of everyone.

For a while, he slept so soundly that he would wake up with a slight disturbance, and every time he ate, he had to test his food secretly with the silver needle beforehand.

But ever since he entered the imperial territory, his vigilance had steadily decreased.

"Here, there's more." Zhuo Yifeng gave him another skewer. Yun Ruoyan involuntarily chewed on the meat as she ate.

Back then, she was alone and helpless, but now, she had trustworthy friends and family by her side. This was why he subconsciously lowered his vigilance.

But isn't this some kind of dependence? Once he got used to something like this, what would he do if he was alone and helpless again?!

“Ah, Sister Ruoyan, you have already eaten one serving for two people! Qingchen should be starving now, ”Lin Qingxue suddenly exclaimed.

It was only then that Yun Ruoyan came out of her stupidity. The large roasted chicken he consumed now was nothing more than bones; he had eaten the entire bird by himself.

“I am full just by eating half a bird, Sister Ruoyan, how can you eat so much while staying thin?!” Lin Qingxue's face was filled with shock. “How can your figure look this good?!”

"I—" As soon as Yun Ruoyan opened her mouth, she burped heavily.

"Ha ha ha!" Lin Qingxue immediately started laughing out loud. “Sister Ruoyan, you are too cute, hahaha.”.

As if responding to Lin Qingxue's laughter, Yun Ruoyan burped again.

Lin Qingxue was so overwhelmed by laughter that she could not stand up straight.

Yun Ruoyan did not know why she kept belching, her face changed from white to red and white again.

Geez! Would his cold and aloof image that he had cultivated with great difficulty since his rebirth just crumble? No, he has to control it! A burp!

Zhuo Yifeng did not laugh in a clear manner. His face looked as lame as ever, but his unusually clear eyes were clearly filled with excitement.

Throughout the day, Lin Qingxue had never stopped talking. As soon as Lin Qingchen woke up, Lin Qingxue adeptly remade the entire scene by herself, and then, when everyone sat together for lunch, she did it again. Even Zhuo Lin'er was crying because of his antics.

“I thought I was the only glutton in our group, but it turned out that Sister Ruoyan was even more gluttonous than me! He belched all day!” Lin Qingxue once again began to imitate his behavior.

Considering the innocence and naivety of his cousin, Yun Ruoyan could not bear to be angry, so she could only lower her head and pretend nothing had happened.

It seemed like he had to find a way to control his cousin, or the cold and aloof image he had built for himself since his rebirth would be shattered into pieces once again.

Fortunately, his burp had stopped at night, or even he was unable to stand on his own.

They found their way while exploring the mountain valley, the only path they had found so far. The group had been following this path through the valley for an entire day, and while they had not come across any powerful ferocious beasts, they found quite a number of rare and precious herbs: mugwort and rapeseed variants, respectively, important middle-class material.to concoct ointments for external wounds; sage grass and soil fungus, high-grade material for treating internal wounds; and far more low and medium level potions than they could name. They barely took a few steps before finding more plants, a small patch that would produce hundreds of taels of gold in the capital.

Everyone was very happy picking herbs, and Yun Ruoyan stuffed some herbs into her bracelet while no one was looking.

"Ruoyan sister," Lin Qingchen walked to Yun Ruoyan's side and asked, "Why are there so many herbs here?"

"Do you have insight?" Yun Ruoyan gained the gist of Lin Qingchen's question.

“Now, spiritual herbs tend to grow in areas with high spiritual energy. Do you think we can be in the middle of the imperial territory?” Lin Qingchen revealed his own hypothesis. After studying under Lin Zainan for some time, he was quite learned in some ways.

Actually, Yun Ruoyan was curious about the same thing. Could it be that they had somehow meandered into the center of the imperial territory?

The imperial territory was shaped like a disc. The outermost regions had the lowest spiritual density, lowest level beasts, and lowest level herbs. As they got closer to the center, spiritual energy greatly increased in density, as did the number and quality of herbs and beasts.

Given their current situation, they must have wandered into the middle of the territory.

"But why only plants, not wild animals?" Lin Qingchen wondered.

"Mrs, there's something ahead!"

"Sister, brother!"

Qiuqiu and Zhuo Lin'er shouted a warning simultaneously. There is a beast in front!