The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 520 - 300 Ali_2
Huh, when did this person come to stand by my side?
As Ali watched, she couldn’t help but blush. It took a while before she noticed that behind the youth stood a strange, huge creature, with the body of a lion, four legs, a tail like a snake, and wings covered with thick feathers. The most peculiar thing was that the creature had the head of an eagle, with sharp eyes and a hooked beak, looking at her as if she were a piece of juicy, plump lamb.
Because of that menacing gaze, she took a small step back and only then did she realize that the villagers had all fled far away. The lean, black woman anxiously peeked over here. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"Don’t be afraid," the youth smiled, "it doesn’t eat people. Uh, it doesn’t eat people anymore." He looked towards the distant villagers, then glanced at the little girl and frowned, "None of your relatives are among them, right?"
Ali blinked and said, "You’re quite clever. How did you know?"
With a smile, the youth said, "If you had close relatives, they would have taken you back as soon as I came down; if there were distant relatives, they would have called you back, how could they let you face the unknown dangers alone?" His shining white teeth filled her with envy. In the village, only the Chief’s family had the luxury of using green salt to clean their mouths, while she could only brush her teeth with willow twigs.
Suddenly feeling somewhat ashamed, Ali pursed her lips, not daring to show her teeth, afraid he would notice that they weren’t white enough.
The young man had no idea about the bizarre thoughts flashing through the mind of this seven-year-old girl. He gently asked Ali, "You are locals, right? You should be very familiar with this area. I want to ask you about a village called Bantiao Village, do you know it?"
She nodded, then shook her head again, sadly stating under the surprised gaze of the youth, "I know it, we all are from Bantiao Village. But the village was suddenly flooded last night, and only a few of us escaped. The village, the village is no more."
"Flooded?" The youth was taken aback and said to Ali, "Point me in the direction, I’ll go see it for myself, okay?"
Ali stretched out her little hand and pointed to the other side of the perilous peak, then cautioned him, "The village has been flooded, and it’s not easy to find. However, next to the village there was a large white rock; it’s quite distinctive."
The youth kindly said, "Thank you. When you were in the village, have you ever seen such a large stone?" He gestured with his hands, "At least it should look like a stone. It would be as big as a fist, with the color of gold, very beautiful. It might be displayed in the shrine or temple of the village."
Ali thought carefully, then shook her head, "No, we don’t have such a thing in our village."
Unperturbed, the youth took out a big, bright red apple from his bosom and handed it to her, "Here, eat this now." He glanced over at the distant villagers.
Ali felt shy eating in front of him, but at the youth’s insistence, she still nibbled the apple delicately under his gaze. By the time she finished the apple, her face was as red as the apple itself.
The youth ruffled her hair and rode away on that strange beast. The gust of wind from the creature’s takeoff as it flapped its wings nearly made her unable to stand.
How strange, she thought, how had she not noticed when the giant bird landed?
Her stomach was full. Ali stared blankly at the sky until the giant bird carrying the youth shrank to a small black dot on the horizon, and it was then that the villagers approached to begin picking things up from the ground.
She knew some people were pointing at her and whispering that she had received favor from the Immortal Master. She also knew why the youth insisted on her finishing the apple in his presence—they both knew, as soon as he turned to leave, the apple would end up in someone else’s hands.
Ali felt that he was very gentle, different from the Immortal Masters who were cold and heartless in legends.
But their paths were different; this was merely a fleeting encounter. So, after half an hour, led by the Chief, the villagers resumed their journey. The Chief said they had to walk over two hundred miles to seek refuge in another mountain village. That village had ties with the Chief, so accommodating about twenty people was still easy.
Two hours later, they climbed over another small mountain and entered a dense forest. The Chief was in a hurry because in another two hours, it would be dark. In the deep mountains, the wilderness meant danger. They needed food, hot water, and a shelter from the wind and rain.
Even as a child accustomed to the wilderness of the mountains, Ali disliked this forest. It was too dense; the trees were short but their extremely vigorous branches and leaves wove a thick barrier in the air, almost leaving no path to be found. Two robust villagers in the front waved their machetes, trying to carve a path through the forest.
One woman, not paying attention, made a light tearing sound as the hem of her linen clothing caught on a branch and tore, leaving a small strip of cloth behind. She cursed softly.
As they walked, darkness fell, the strength of the sunlight dwindled, and the moisture in the forest began to rise as milky white fog, spreading throughout the dense woods.
The arrival of the fog made the path increasingly difficult to navigate. All the men muttered curses, while the women pursed their lips with worry, trying hard to keep up with the group’s pace.
An hour later, they still hadn’t left the forest.
A villager asked the Chief, "Are we going in the right direction?" Furrowing his brow, the Chief replied, "I walked this path fifteen years ago, but back then, it wasn’t this dense." After thinking it over and finding no better solution, he could only urge everyone to keep moving forward.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation ticket, Monthly Ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
