Watching Jun Li carve into the body of the slain Beast while carrying an oddly comfortable-looking Beast on her shoulders, the Princess fell into deep thought.
‘I had heard she was abnormally competent for a commoner, but this is…’ Stepping over to Jun Li, the Princess’s curiosity compelled her to ask. “Say… where did you learn to tame Magical Beasts?”
Brought back to reality, Jun Li wrenched her fixed gaze away from the sight of the slain Beast’s pooling blood and turned to the Princess.
After a moment, Jun Li realized what question she had been asked and tilted her head. “Uh, nowhere really.”
Looking at the small snake nestled into her collar, Jun Li already felt attached. “Little Yun just kinda tagged along… and I suppose I’m grateful for it.”
Hearing this, the Princess sank back into silence. ‘That didn’t seem like a lie, but then how…? Magical Beasts should be too temperamental to be so complacent… If it’s some sort of unique talent, then I can’t simply ignore it.’
As she thought this, the Princess felt a pang of self-loathing. ‘Honestly… if the first thing I do after meeting someone is weigh their value… then I’m no better than-’
Before the Princess could continue her thought, the sound of a screaming roar washed over her body and through the clearing. Upon hearing it, Jun Li quickly sat up from the body of the Beast she was carving.
‘It’s the same roar I heard at the creek…’ Shaking off her anxiety, Jun Li quickly began working at carving the Beast in front of her as she spoke. “It sounds fairly distant… we should be fine.”
As Jun Li continued her work, the Princess paced about the clearing, feeling considerably more threatened than Jun Li.
The very sound of the roar caused leaves to fall from the canopy above, even at such a distance.
A Beast that could make such a sound… the Princess knew it was beyond her abilities to fight such a thing; it wasn’t the sort of threat an Outer Sect Disciple could take on.
As the screaming roars continued to ring out, they seemed to get further and further away with each moment.
As the Princess’s anxiety abated, her confusion grew as the origin of the screams seemed to not only become more distant, but also seemed to rise higher above them, as though it was now coming from the canopy. ‘It doesn’t sound like a bird, more like some sort of…’
The Princess looked up into the branches above as she thought, freezing still as she met the frenzied eyes of a Beast.
As the ape-like Beast met her eyes, its mouth slowly slid open as it began to scream and howl at the two humans below it.
Though the beast wasn’t even halfway up the trees, the howling screams sounded distant, as though they had come from far, far above in the sky over the forest.
It sounded so distant that Jun Li didn’t even react. “Here we are, Senior Sister! I found the Co-“ Before Jun Li could finish her sentence, the scenery blurred as the Princess grabbed her by the arm. “Run!”
Catching herself as her feet touched the ground, Jun Li looked back to see the ape-like Beast crash into the ground where she had just been, the corpse of the Beast below bursting like an over-ripe fruit under the ape-Beast’s bulk.
Paling at the fate that almost befell her, Jun Li turned to run with all her focus.
As she ran, a sharp pain shot through her foot. ‘Damn it.. it did fracture when I killed that Beast…? Why does it only hurt now!?’
Stolen novel; please report.
Choking down her frustrations, Jun Li turned to see the Beast approaching faster than they could run. “Your High- Uh, Senior Sister! Trust me for a second! ”
Stepping over to the Princess, Jun Li lifted the Princess up in her arms, much to her surprise.
‘If it’s going to hurt anyway…’ Before the Princess could ask what she was doing, Jun Li took a breath and readied her Movement Technique, forming roiling clouds beneath her feet with practiced familiarity.
Stepping down onto her Technique, the cloud ruptured with a loud sound, sending Jun Li jolting forward through the air, the momentum carrying her sliding a dozen meters.
But with the extra weight of her passenger, her momentum decelerated quickly, forcing her to repeat her Cloudburst Movement Technique more rapidly than she was used to.
Seeing that Jun Li had both the intention and the ability to move faster while carrying her, the Princess focused on her Qinggong Breathing, hoping to lessen the burden she placed on Jun Li.
As the Princess became lighter in her arms, Jun Li’s repeated use of her Movement Technique became more and more efficient.
“Is it…” Jun Li spoke between strained breaths, unable to look back, and only hearing the unnaturally distant howling of the ape-Beast. “Is it still chasing us!?”
Looking back over Jun Li's shoulder, the Princess had no good news to offer. “It’s still following, and at this rate, it will catch up to us.”
Though she maintained her composure with a trained grace, the Princess still felt panic creep across the edges of her mind. ‘If it comes to it… I can probably hold the Beast off long enough for Jun Li to get away…’
The Princess couldn’t help but blame herself; she knew that the only reason Jun Li was in the clearing when the Beast appeared was because she had asked for her help in carving out the Core of the Beast she had slain. 'I could have escaped alone, probably… but with it locked onto us like this…'
“Hey!” Jun Li called out for the Princess’s attention. “That cave ahead, is it big enough for us to hide in!?”
Turning to see what Jun Li was talking about, the Princess’s eyes narrowed. It was a small thing, barely fit to be called a cave, a mere hole in the dirt half-covered in roots and fallen leaves, leading under a large tree.
Recognizing the shape of the den, the Princess called out to Jun Li over the sound of rushing wind. “It should be big enough! But there might be a Beast in it already!”
Not wasting any breath on a reply, Jun Li sped up as best as she could, ignoring the rapidly sharpening pain in her foot.
Lunging forward one last time with her Movement Technique, Jun Li shoved the Princess forward into the opening of the den, diving after her the moment the mouth of the den was free.
As soon as Jun Li jumped into the den, a rush of wind ripped over her back, and a crashing impact sounded out from above her.
The pursuing Beast had tumbled across the opening of the den, crashing heavily into the immense tree above.
Coughing and trembling from exhaustion, Jun Li could only look deeper into the den, hoping there were no Beasts to contend with.
Luckily, all that she could see was dirt walls, lined with roots and detritus, and the Princess.
Falling against a dirt wall, Jun Li slowly began to catch her failing breath.
Opposite to her, the Princess struggled to find an opportunity to speak, and waited for Jun Li to recover.
As Jun Li slowly corrected her breathing, she looked out to the entrance of the den.
Gazing inside with hateful hunger in its eyes, the apelike Beast roared continuously, and although it rattled the very dirt of the den, it sounded so distant as to be barely audible.
“Damn it…” Jun Li finally had enough breath to talk. “What the hell kind of Beast is that…?”
Seeing that Jun Li was well enough to vocalize her frustration, the Princess finally spoke up. “Thank you.”
Turning to the Princess, Jun Li saw her give as deep a bow as she could in this cramped den.
“If not for you, I may have been terribly injured, even if Master Yao had intervened and saved me… my time in this Trial would have been cut short in a disgraceful manner. For protecting the safety and dignity of a member of the Zhao Royal Family, I am in your debt.”
Jun Li found it impossible to reconcile such intense gratitude being offered to her, especially considering it was the princess herself offering it. “Please… There’s no need for that… besides, I was already in your debt, remember?”
Raising her head, the Princess’s expression displayed her confusion. “How could that be?”
“Han Wenyan, an Inner Sect Disciple told me...” Jun Li gestured as though to quell the Princess’s gratitude. “You had sent expensive medicine my way, after my duel with Ren Liwei…’
