Time flew by. Two years had pa.s.sed since Bai Yao went to Wushan. During the year, her progress was prominent to her. Her witchcraft had reached the Heavenly Realm. She hid her feelings well. n.o.body in the clan found any evidence of her and Zi Qin. Shui Linger didn’t bring her trouble, either. Since the last time she had even played with Bai Yao, she had turned her focus to her practicing.
Bai Yao believed that she had ceased from any feelings for Zi Qin. Now when she thought of him, she never felt any pain in her heart.
When she was practicing witchcraft, she was also studying the insects. Though the craft of insects was not exactly magic, it was not easy to learn. If she could master the key skills, it would be great for her revenge.
During these days, Zi Qin was not at Mt. Wushan. Bai Yao raised two ice insects. She collected the morning dew as food to feed them. But the ice insects were hard to take care of and one of them died.
She had put much effort into nursing the ice insects, so the death of one made her very sad. As to the reason why she wanted to raise the ice insects, was that she wanted to know something about Zi Qin. . .
In the library of Mt. Wushan, Bai Yao found another food suitable for the ice insects, called the Winter Flower. This flower lived in the vast forests. However, the flower’s shape was tiny, making it hard to find. It could only survive in a cold environment, so few people raised this flower.
There was a deep forest in Mt. Wushan, but it was a forbidden area. Without the permission of the Elder, n.o.body could enter this area. Despite this, Bai Yao had already casted her eyes on it.
“Elder, I need this flower. Please allow me to enter this forbidden area.” Bai Yao turned to the Elder to beg permission to enter the forbidden area.
The Elder shook his head. “Bai Yao, I know you need the flowers to feed the insect. However, even I have not gotten any of the flowers.”
Bai Yao was surprised by this answer.
The Elder continued. “The Winter Flower was hard to find, but this is not the hardest part. The most difficulty is that they are protected by the Yin Snake Insects.”
Bai Yao knew this kind of insects. Though they were not the king of all insects, their poison was very strong and the insects ran very fast. People bitten by them would be numb in a short time. When the poison flowed to the heart, the victim would die immediately.
Because of this, hundreds of years had pa.s.sed, but only a few came back alive.
The Elder’s att.i.tude was clear; he would not lose a talent like Bai Yao because of this.
However, Bai Yao’s decision was already made. She told the him, “Elder, I will go to the forest. If you disagree, I will quit the clan.”
The Elder was so irritated that his long eyebrows were flew about his brow. He never thought Bai Yao was such a stubborn one. “Bai Yao, since you have decided, I have no other choice.” The Elder gave way.
Then he went into the inner room to take out a white porcelain bottle to give it to her. “There is a pill called Jade Dew Pill in this bottle. It can protect you from the miasma and other poisonous bugs in the forest. But it is useless against the Yin Snake Insects. Do you really want to enter the area?”
“Thanks, Elder. Bai Yao will return safely.” Bai Yao took the bottle and bowed to thank the Elder.
The Elder sighed toward her back as she left.
In the forest, Bai Yao wore a set of light dresses and shoes, with a dagger bundled at her waist. The wind ruffled her long hair, giving her a valiant and heroic appearance.
She swallowed the pill and went into the forest without any hesitation.
The forest was vast and dark. Sunshine could only pa.s.s through the s.p.a.ce between the leaves, the foliage was so thick that the rays of the sun couldn’t even warm the wood of the trees. The whole area was full of miasma. Bai Yao walked slowly and carefully.
Beasts seldom visited this no man"s land, leaving only some bunches of little bugs to claw by. Bai Yao knew the bugs were ordinary poisonous ones, so the pill saved her strength to deal with them.
Bai Yao pa.s.sed the brushes. After some time, she found the Winter Flowers under a big tree. She should have been happy, but she didn’t feel it.
As she planned to walk nearer, she found the earth before her was not firm earth, but a swamp. She quickly pulled back her leg. Some worms that looked like gra.s.s were moving in the swamp. She was so lucky that she discovered this truth early. If she had entered the swamp, that would have been the end of her.
Bai Yao jumped into the air and pa.s.sed the swamp using her craft.
When she came nearer to the flower, she felt colder. The flowers were several steps away, but she dared not rush, because she had not seen the Yin Snake Insects yet.
She picked up a little stone to throw it to the flower. It struck the flower and waved from the impact. But nothing else happened. She was not in a hurry, though, so she just stood there and waited.
The background noises suddenly turned quiet. Even the birds stopped calling. Bai Yao was ready to fight.
After a while, a hissing sound came near. Bai Yao raised her head to find the source. The Yin Snake Insect was very cute, about ten centimeters in size. It was crossing on a branch over the flower, its red tongue slipping in and out of its mouth. It was watching around alertly. Great, you come out! Bai Yao thought. You don’t waste my time.
Bai Yao raised her hand with a white cloud of strength and threw it toward the insect. It quickly moved to where Bai Yao stood.
Bai Yao used an instant shift to avoid its attack. The snake looked like it did not fear the swamp, and its movement was still the same. Bai Yao concentrated and then countless leaves flew to the snake like blades. But the snake was swift and only one leaf cut its tail. Even so, this injury slowed it down.
Bai Yao prepared to attack for the second round. However, she heard some rustling sounds coming nearer. She was in shock. She saw an endless number of snakes crawling toward her.
Bai Yao’s face twisted.
She had called out all the Yin Snakes.
Bai Yao immediately spoke a spell and a blue flame burned in her hand. She threw it into the swamp. The flame became bigger and bigger, which fried the snakes as they rotated in the fires.
This was not a common flame, but a blue flame burning from her strength, which was much more powerful than those ordinary flames.
Once all the snakes were burned out, Bai Yao took back her craft.
She jumped to the ground in front of the flower. It was really frozen. Bai Yao used the witchcraft to protect her heart, and then walked closer.
She took out the dagger to dig out the flower by the roots from the earth, and used her witchcraft to protect the chilling air around it. The flower was only edible with the cold air to the ice insects.
With the flower, Bai Yao left the forest happily.