Suddenly, the situation from the battlefield became something strange.
Because suddenly the marshal and military advisor of the dog-ear army disappeared after coming out to negotiate with the cat-ear tribe's representatives. All five of them vanished mysteriously without anyone finding a trace.
The dog-ear tribe's army, when without leaders, began to waver. The discipline they'd trained in didn't help them know what they should do next. Had their marshal already made an agreement?
And because of this unpreparedness, the cat-ear tribe's army was able to move troops until reaching the border in time at last. Everything therefore returned to balance and both sides retreated to observe each other's stance like before once again.
"Divine Doctor!"
The elderly village chief beneath the clouds almost bent down to embrace Wu Jia's legs while crying.
Bai Fanxian decided to guide the three of them to Wu Jia's village. At first, Wu Jia himself also made a strange expression because he didn't expect to meet familiar faces here.
"Village chief? How did you get here?"
"Because you won't come back at all! All of us, especially my granddaughter, could barely eat or sleep after learning you disappeared..."
The old man's answer made Wu Jia's heart shake. He couldn't help but think of his villagers and disciples who must be worrying.
"...I'm sorry."
Bai Fanxian let them reminisce about their relationship without bothering them. She pulled Huang Zihuan and Zhang Xianyuan to another corner to inquire about the surrounding situation.
"Lady Bai, throughout the past month I traveled nearly one thousand kilometers. The people I found were only Huang Zihuan and the village chief..."
Zhang Xianyuan sighed. He was interested in something that looked similar to cigarettes but was packed full of Wu Jia's medicinal herbs full of properties.
"Recently there are unconfirmed rumors. Grandmaster Zheng and Meiying should be at the far east."
Huang Zihuan supplemented. He was performing duties he hadn't done in a long time, like serving intentionally brewed tea to his lady like this.
"So that means only those two children are left?"
Bai Fanxian frowned. The people they couldn't find turned out to be the two most problematic.
But they couldn't blame those two children, because the reason Bai Fanxian met Huang Zihuan's group this quickly was because both sides were trying to come out into the open and make themselves the center of attention. This sort of thing wasn't something children who weren't yet very old could think of.
"But is it okay to leave matters outside like this?"
Wu Jia, who had finished talking with the village chief until his longing was satisfied, walked over to join them. From what he'd heard, it seemed right now the battlefield situation was quite awkwardly strange.
"It's fine... It seems your acquaintance knows where we are."
As soon as she finished speaking, at the foot of this hill appeared the figure of an old man in cat-ear attire whose body was stained with mud that emitted a strange smell walking in.
He was sniffling and sneezing several times. But when he saw that Bai Fanxian and the others were truly here, he smiled joyfully.
It was Ethan. Wu Jia, seeing that the old man was willing to use the special mud he'd given him—which wasn't abundant—to smear on himself to travel through the forbidden forest to this village, was surprised.
Because its value was high and only Wu Jia could mix it. It had the effect of repelling monster beasts. Normally the old man would never come to find him here. That meant it must be truly urgent.
"Uncle Ethan, long time no see."
Wu Jia greeted him while also helping the old man clean the mud stuck to him for quite a while before his body could become clean again.
Ethan sighed upon sensing that the foul smell on him had vanished. He rushed straight to the point without delay.
"It's not about the war. That side should be able to control the situation for a while longer. But then big news spread out after that."
The old man spoke tensely.
"The anti-human group just frantically spread news about capturing humans throughout the entire land. Now even ordinary people have heard about this. The news just reached the border city moments ago."
"Of course, it also made the pro-human group start moving too. I think both these groups will probably clash soon."
Ethan himself was anxious, because he himself was one who supported humans and still held onto humans' kindness as well.
"...Could it be?"
Xie Suyao's face began to pale.
"I think it's probably your companions... because according to the news received, the 'humans' the opposition group captured were two young girls..."
The moment the words ended, Bai Fanxian's gaze suddenly became icy. Her qi erupted slightly from her body along with tremendous pressure bursting out unintentionally.
"Calm down first! It seems for some reason those two seem to be protected by something."
Ethan tried to console Bai Fanxian to calm down.
"That's the main reason both groups are moving. Because no matter how they attack, they can't harm those two children at all. When this news spread, it was able to attract all sides like this."
"The supportive group like us believes that's protection from God. But the opposition group thinks the opposite—if they can destroy that protection, it will further confirm that what they think is correct. So they took those two children to a certain place..."
When the story reached this point, Wu Jia, who had been listening calmly, became the one who was shocked instead.
"...Don't tell me!?"
"Just as you're thinking. The opposition group traveled to the Dragon Queen's Lair."
The old man raised his hand to touch his chest where a long scar ran. This was a wound he received from that place—and it was merely a grazing wound from a distance at that.
"In this world, if you ask about the strongest thing, that must be the Dragon Queen's flames without question." Ethan sighed. The Dragon Queen had some deep grudge with humans. Some said it was humans who brought her to seal her in this dimension's world.
Therefore, if she saw two humans, she would certainly unleash her vengeance without hesitation.
"Seeing that the Dragon Queen was also an existence that hated humans just the same, the anti-human group pledged loyalty to her. Every year they send food offerings up to her. But it seems the Dragon Queen has some reason that makes her unable to leave far from her lair."
The old man continued. If the Dragon Queen could go anywhere as she pleased, this world would probably meet destruction with no other living things within a few years.
Bai Fanxian nodded. Because it seemed this world's people's cultivation power was truly more inferior than her world. Even the vital energy currents of the land were more sparse. If a powerful existence like that could do whatever it wanted without restraint, who knows what could happen.
"Where is that place?"
Bai Fanxian turned to ask Wu Jia. She could still sense her Intent within both those children's bodies. Therefore, they were surely still safe.
The latter, hearing the question, made a strange expression.
"Not far from here... approximately nearly two hundred kilometers to the east. There's a valley that is the Dragon Queen's lair." Wu Jia explained without concealing.
Bai Fanxian nodded. Her body slowly floated up from the ground, as if she was about to shoot toward that direction, but was stopped by Wu Jia first.
"Calm down first. I'll go there too..."
Wu Jia's words surprised everyone. By now anyone knew he was quite worried about the villagers in this village, so they didn't expect he would agree to leave the village like this.
The middle-aged man turned to look at Bai Fanxian.
"At the Dragon Queen's lair... there's a gate that should be able to take you all back home."
Wu Jia spoke something shocking with a calm expression.
"...A gate like the one that brought us to this dimension?" Marshal Zhang Xianyuan himself also asked excitedly. Hope to return to their original world floated up.
He'd left home and the army for more than a month. He didn't know what changes had occurred in that world by now.
"Yes... Deep inside there, it has a formation concealing it, so no one has discovered it yet. I'll take you all there myself." Wu Jia nodded in acknowledgment.
Bai Fanxian herself also relaxed. But in that instant, she suddenly felt something uncomfortable. The Intent within those two children's bodies was trembling, before they heard a roar that came with fierce pressure that even over a hundred kilometers away could still be felt!
Roarrr...
"Could they have already started!?"
Bai Fanxian whipped around to look at Ethan who spoke up in shock, before her body shot up into the sky and became a meteor rushing straight toward the east!
Her followers looked at each other's faces. They themselves also needed to hurry to travel there just like Bai Fanxian.
Looking at her speed, she should be able to reach the destination in a short time.
Why did they act this quickly!
Because the news just reached the border city moments ago, didn't it!?