A day passed, and Bai Kongzhao was still crouching in the bushes, staring at the massive stone fortress in the distance.
From afar, a light sound of footsteps could be heard, along with a hushed call. Moments later, An Wen appeared. His armor was slightly damaged, his face showing a hint of exhaustion.
His eyes lit up when he saw the girl, then turned into a wry smile. “Sure enough, you’ve returned again.”
“I got lost,” the girl replied, her gaze fixed on the stone fortress, clearly preoccupied with it, only half-listening to him.
An Wen looked helpless, “You’ve gotten lost three times now!”
“Oh, I got lost,” the girl repeated, clearly not paying attention to what he was saying.
An Wen had no idea how to deal with her, so he squatted beside her and said, “Didn’t I tell you? We can’t handle this juicy morsel yet. Why did you come back?”
The girl pointed at the stone fortress, “There are good things inside. Like the wine.”
“If you want wine, just tell me! But that wine has some very bad side effects; you can’t drink too much. Did you feel anything after drinking it?”
The girl’s gaze finally shifted from the fortress, recalling, “I felt something. It was very comfortable and warm, with a slight tingling sensation like needles pricking, but it didn’t hurt. Also, I felt very drowsy and wanted to sleep.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“No… strange feelings?”
“No.” The girl’s eyes widened, “What kind of strange feeling?”
An Wen let out a breath, his expression a mix of relief and concern, “I understand. Your body must have many hidden injuries. This wine, while boosting your vitality, also heals your body. And because your constitution is weak, your instinct is to strengthen yourself. But this wine really does have side effects. You might not feel them now, but they could accumulate and erupt all at once in the future.”
The girl asked seriously, “What side effects?”
Under her intense gaze, An Wen felt a bit flustered. He opened his mouth, finally determined, “It’s actually an aphrodisiac. It makes people want to have offspring.”
“Offspring?” The girl’s eyes sparkled.
An Wen was momentarily stunned, a multitude of strange and bizarre thoughts crossing his mind, including, “What if she really wants to have a child with me?”
“Offspring is something we can figure out slowly. Let’s take this place down first!”
Seeing the girl point at the fortress again, An Wen had the urge to bang his head against a tree.
“No!” he firmly refused.
“Then I’ll go alone.”
“You can’t go either!”
“Why not?”
The girl had asked this question several times, and each time An Wen had evaded it. Now, it was clear that delaying wouldn’t work. He couldn’t leave without convincing her. Every time he took her away, she would disappear, and he’d find her near the fortress again.
An Wen worried that one day, an unexpected incident might happen before he could get to her.
He sighed, “The main reason is the white fog of the four-armed people. I’m not too afraid, but it’s relative. If I inhale too much, I can still be controlled by the fog. And as we’ve already verified, the effects of this fog are hard to completely neutralize; they can only be temporarily suppressed. So, if too much accumulates, it will eventually act up.”
“What happens after it acts up…?”
“It might force you to do things you really don’t like.”
The girl thought for a moment, “I’m not afraid of pain. If you hit me, I can endure it. If it hurts badly, I’ll fight back.”
An Wen smiled bitterly, “It’s not about hitting you, but it’s worse. I really don’t want that.”
The girl nodded slowly, half-understanding, “Actually, we can lure them out and kill them one by one, like I did at the beginning.”
“No. The environment here is not suitable, and we can’t stay long. We need to get to a safe area as soon as possible. If we stay overnight, we’ll rely on the white fruit wine, which will run out. We need to reach a warmer area before that happens.”
The girl pointed forward, “A warmer area? Is it in that direction?”
An Wen was slightly surprised. He had run far and taken a large detour to confirm the direction of reduced gravity. He had never mentioned this to Bai Kongzhao, but the girl instinctively pointed in the right direction, making the young lord feel a bit defeated. In his clan, he had never been outmatched in perception.
“Yes, that’s the right direction.”
The girl looked at An Wen, “You seem to need only a little. The wine should last us a long time. Taking this fortress will take just a day.”
An Wen, helplessly, “I drink less because I dare not drink more. Its effects accumulate, and if I can’t control myself, I’ll harm you.”
Thankfully, the girl didn’t ask, “Will you hit me?” saving An Wen the trouble of explaining.
“But what about the things there?”
An Wen looked at the girl seriously, then sighed, “If you really want it, I’ll give it a try. But if I lose control, you must run away, as far as possible.”
“Why?”
This time, An Wen didn’t explain, “It’s fine. You’ll know what to do, guided by your instincts.”
He looked at the fortress, drew a rough map on the ground, and then drew a line, “We’ll follow this route. No matter what, we won’t stop until we reach the center. Then we’ll see what’s there. We’ll grab whatever it is and leave within three seconds. Got it?”
The girl nodded.
“Good, let’s go.” An Wen summoned a faint black mist, enveloping himself and the girl, and they drifted towards the fortress.
The black mist, though sudden, was largely ignored by the natives until it reached the base of the fortress. A four-armed warrior in the tower noticed, peered down, and saw the mist. Confused, he opened his mouth to shout, but a dark gas shot out, piercing through his mouth.
The four-armed warrior fell dead from the tower. At this moment, An Wen dispelled the mist, leaped onto the wall with the girl, and soared towards the center of the fortress!
One after the other, they faced a tide of natives rushing from all sides. An Wen suddenly wielded a two-meter-long sword, roared, and with a single slash, cut through dozens of natives, then stepped forward ten meters, releasing a burst of demonic energy, pushing all the natives back.
Bai Kongzhao followed, hopping around, slashing with her great cleaver. Each swing found a native or even multiple natives presenting their vital points. Some natives, lucky to survive An Wen’s attack, met their end under the girl’s blade, leaving no survivors. Even those not killed immediately were left with fatal wounds.
The two moved like warships, cutting through waves, swiftly reaching the center of the fortress.
The girl immediately saw the small tree in the center. The tree looked somewhat withered, with three white fruits hanging from it, all small and unripe.
She raised her blade, hesitated, and finally reached out, plucking two of the barely ripe fruits, leaving the smallest and most unripe one behind, and turned to run back.
An Wen, on the other hand, calmly pulled several flowers and plants, storing them, and followed Bai Kongzhao. But in just a few breaths, a group of four-armed warriors, including many female ones, appeared before them, and several white mists descended upon them.
An Wen’s face changed, daring not to block. He shouted, raising a magic barrier, blocking the mists. Without pausing, he grabbed the girl and rushed in another direction.
The barrier only slowed the mists for a moment before being eroded.
Fortunately, this short time was enough for An Wen, and he had already pulled the girl to the edge of the fortress.
Moments later, An Wen and Bai Kongzhao reappeared ten kilometers away. Both were covered in blood, looking battered. Though most of the blood was from the native warriors, they both had new wounds. The girl’s injuries were mostly minor, but An Wen had several, with a deep wound on his back exposing his bone. The blow had pierced his inner and outer armor, and his protective aura, reaching his internal organs.
Shallow cuts marked the exposed bone, but An Wen’s bones, a faint black with a metallic sheen, were unlike ordinary demon bones. This was the result of years of secret bone-forging techniques.
If not for these strong bones, An Wen would have been severely injured.
After stopping, the girl looked back, “We’ve lost them.”
An Wen breathed a sigh of relief, sat down, and took some medicine. He opened his hand, revealing the two white fruits, and gave them to Bai Kongzhao, smiling bitterly, “These are indeed good, take them. But to consume the treasure given to you by the prince seems a bit wasteful.”
He pointed to the girl’s ankle.
The foot chain bestowed by the Eternal Flame was now dim, its energy exhausted. During the final stand at the fortress, they were surrounded, fighting their way out in a bloody battle.
An Wen was injured, but the girl, protected by the foot chain, survived several lethal blows. Without it, she would have been severely, possibly fatally, wounded.
Looking at the foot chain, the girl tilted her head, “Isn’t it for use?”
“Using it here…” An Wen shook his head. To him, such life-saving treasures should be used only in critical moments, and assaulting the fortress was unnecessary.
The girl seemed unaware of the value of the Eternal Flame’s treasure, even after its energy was depleted.
She held the white fruits, gave one to An Wen, “This should be yours.”
She split the fruit, ate half, and stored the other half close to her body.
An Wen, puzzled, handed over the other fruit, “Take it if you need it.”
The girl hesitated, then shook her head, “No, this is yours.”
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