Chapter 102 – Under the Pool
Spirit Poison Gra.s.s can cause extreme poisoning, and even Bi Fan wasn’t clear on how the poison is extracted from the gra.s.s.
Blue Dragon and the others really didn’t want to get their hands dirty with such an herb, and eventually, Blue Dragon, Lone Leaf, and w.a.n.g Zhong, decided that they didn’t want any. They figured that it’s better to let Bi Fan have it all, and in exchange Bi Fan can either give them the potion once it is refined, or something else, to make even.
Bi Fan, of course, was very happy with their decision, as it would allow him a greater inventory to study the science of alchemy in the future.
On top of that, the spirit poison gra.s.s also makes for an excellent ration for the Marten, since the Marten is exceptionally fond of herbs, especially the poisonous ones.
Bi Fan carefully collected the entire patch of spirit poison gra.s.s, and cautiously put them into his Yin Yang pouch.
This time, however, Bi Fan even plucked the roots of the gra.s.s, as he didn’t want any enemies to stumble upon them in the future.
After collecting the entire patch of the spirit poison gra.s.s, the four of them searched the remaining of the hall, but eventually made their way out of the hollow, unable to find anything else of value.
“Well, that may not have been the best of excavations, as we didn’t get anything of much value, but even then, I’d say that we are quite lucky to be alive…” w.a.n.g Zhong said: “things could have gone the other way easily; most people aren’t as fortunate as us.”
Even though they were away from the danger now, the trepidation of the trauma still lingered in his body language.
Lone Leaf said: “Looks like the devils like us a lot, we’re really lucky.”
Bi Fan knew the reason behind their luck; the Yin Yang Lotus. But this was one secret, which needed to be kept.
Once they were out of the tree hole, the four of them decided to venture even deeper into the forest, marking the start of a new adventure.
No matter how dangerous their surroundings were, the four of them had gotten this far, and really weren’t in the mood to go back now.
The Secret Forest of the Devil had already prized them with treasures beyond their wildest imaginations; so naturally, neither of them was willing to leave the place unless they had no other option.
Lone Leaf, especially, was progressing very quickly, owing to the strength of the opponents which he was able to get his hands on, in this part of the Abyss. He was almost at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer, so he really didn’t want to lose on the chance of reaching his target.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, the strength of the Devil’s Race beasts they encountered, also increased. ‘Enormous Strength’ layer beasts were now becoming a normal occurrence, and the numbers of ‘transformation’ layer beasts were increasing as well.
Lone Leaf quite thrilled by this, and was beginning to enjoy his fights even more, while continuing to gain valuable experience.
Not every beast was guarding a Panacea, but since the four of them had already earned a lot of Spar, they really didn’t mind much, and wouldn’t fuss even if they didn’t find anything of value after defeating a group of strong beasts.
“If we carry on at this rate, then I’m afraid that we’ll stinking of money by the time we leave the Abyss.” Blue Dragon seemed quite excited.
Lone Leaf said: “We’ve already made a fortune; thanks to Brother Bi Fan, otherwise, we would have never been able to identify all these precious herbs on our own.”
“Brother, there’s no need to be so kind.” Bi Fan smiled: “If you are really that grateful, then, you can always just give me something from your share. I really wouldn’t mind it.”
“Not happening, sister.” Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, both, replied at the same time.
“d.a.m.n it, I knew…” Bi Fan said in a gloomy tone.
The four of them had started joking, even scoffing each other, a lot more often, without anyone taking any offense to it; which was a sign that their bond was becoming stronger.
“Whoosh…” the four of them heard a sound, which seemed to the coming from some distance away from them, and the four of them could make out, that the sound was probably issued by a waterfall.
w.a.n.g Zhong climbed up a tall tree, to get a better look at the situation up ahead.
Moments later, he came down, and related his finding: “There’s a mountain up ahead, which has a huge waterfall falling from it. It’s a breathtaking scene.”
“Then let’s go and take a look; it’s been a while since I’ve had a bath, I could use some cool water.” Lone Leaf was excited at the thought of a waterfall.
Blue Dragon immediately echoed his desire: “Yes ah, I also feel a little itchy. A good wash will be nice for me as well.”
“Well, if that’s so, then let’s go.” Bi Fan was carrying the same idea.
w.a.n.g Zhong cautioned: “We must be very careful… water sources are often the most risky places in a forest.”
w.a.n.g Zhong was their most experienced man, so the others weren’t going to take his words lightly.
The four of them slowed their pace down, as they slowly made their way towards the waterfall.
“Boom…” as the four of them got closer to the source, the sounds of the waterfall started becoming even louder; almost deafening.
Through the dense woods, the four of them were finally able to get a view of the waterfall.
The water was falling from the kilometer-tall hills, creating a very picturesque scene.
The waterfall had given birth to a ten-mile-radii pool at the bottom of the hill; but an unusual thing that the four of them noticed was the fact, that there was no river or stream snaking out of the pool, owing to which, the four of them couldn’t tell where the water was eventually going.
As the four of them carefully inspected the surroundings from a distance, they realized that the pool was sating the thirst of a large number of beasts.
These beasts seemed quite scared of the pool’s depth. The beasts were drinking water in large groups; some of the beasts would drink water, while the others would stand in guard to allow the others to drink.
Also, there was a lot of fighting between the different groups of beasts, as the strong devoured the weak. This, after all, is the jungle, and the law of survival, here, is a lot crueler than the human world.
The Devil’s Race, however, didn’t seem prepared to face humans, as humans were a relatively rarer sighting in these parts of the forest.
As the four of them continued to watch, they started observing a pattern; the beasts would drink water for some time, and then they promptly withdraw back, and away from the water. Then, they would closely look at the water for a while, until it calmed down completely, before resuming drinking from the pool again.
This was happening again and again, they would drink water for a while, and then they would retreat away from the pool, almost as if they were afraid of some terrible, and terrifying, terror in the water.
“It appears that there’s some sort of Devil’s Race that dwells in the waters here, which feeds on the beasts that come to the pool for drinking its water. That’s the only reason why these beasts are being so careful.” w.a.n.g Zhong reasoned.
Bleu Dragon: “Let’s go, I am really hoping to take a bath.”
“Still thinking of taking a bath…” Bi Fan really didn’t know what to say.
Anyone could see that the pool is the residence of a very powerful presence.
Just watching the beasts, who were at the peak of the ‘transformation’ layer take caution in drinking water from the pool, was a clear indication of the strength of the monster, which had made the pool its residence.
It appeared that even the strongest of the Devil’s Race were afraid of angering this monster, for such an incident was likely to bring a rein a terror with it.
“I think… we should leave.” Lone Leaf said. His energy had been growing by leaps and bounds, and he wasn’t far away from entering the ‘Emerging from the Womb’ layer, so naturally, he didn’t want to die here.
Bi Fan said: “Don’t worry. Let’s just stay here, and see what that beast in the water is really capable of.”
His curiosity was getting the better of him; he simply couldn’t help himself.
In reality, even w.a.n.g Zhong, Blue Dragon, and Lone Leaf, were also quite curious, but their fear had gotten the better of them.
Since they were still a little hesitant, Bi Fan smiled and said: “We stay away from the pool, and if the monster in the water shows up, we will not engage it. I doubt if the monster in the pool will leave the pool easily.”
“Brother Bi Fan makes sense. If the monster in the pool was freely capable of leaving the waters, then the other beasts wouldn’t be daring to drink water from the pool.” w.a.n.g Zhong reasoned.
Since the experienced w.a.n.g Zhong was also in agreement with Bi Fan, Blue Dragon and Lone Leaf, were now at a relative ease with the idea of stay around the pool.
They had no idea how long it would take, so the four of them hid themselves in the woods, and waited in secrecy for the monster to show itself.
A while later, they saw some more humans; people they had met before.
Li Xuan Feng of the Zheng Qi Sect, along with Tian Long Yu, Yan Ren, and Ling Long, were making their way to the pool, from the other side. As the four of them arrived at the scene, Bi Fan’s party shifted their attention to their counterparts.
“What are the Zheng Qi guys doing, are they inviting their deaths?” Bi Fan seemed a little puzzled.
w.a.n.g Zhong was also quite surprised: “They may not be here to fight the monster in the water, or they may even be completely unaware of its presence. But one way or the other, even four ‘transformation’ layer fighters, won’t be enough to beat the monster that dwells in that pool.”
“Well, if they do get close to the water, should we try to use the monster in the pool to get rid of them?” Bi Fan’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
It was a question worth pondering over; they wouldn’t have to do much, and could still, get rid of some potentially, very powerful enemies.