C1181 Spread the Death!
Yu Yuan increasingly felt like he had become Chen Qinghuang's lackey.
Although he was the one leading the way, Chen Qinghuang followed at her own leisurely pace. Yet, this former empress of the Songbird Empire seemed to naturally fall into the habit of issuing commands.
She would instruct Yu Yuan to fetch her water from the crystal-clear river or demand that he give her the newly concocted Essence Brew to consume.
Even the alien beast that Yu Yuan had just hunted and cooked was first savored by her.
Brimming with frustration, Yu Yuan didn't dare to defy her. Considering her soul was gravely wounded and her memories fragmented, and that her Shadowkin form concealed such fearsome power, Yu Yuan quickly learned to comply.
Before long, they stumbled upon a hunting squad from the Fire Lizard Tribe.
There was no commotion, no battle ensued. Chen Qinghuang merely gave them a glance.
The twelve members of the Fire Lizard Tribe fell dead in an instant, none spared.
Witnessing this, Yu Yuan's scalp tingled with horror. He resolved to steer the deadly empress away from regions frequented by the Fire Lizard, Silverscale, and Stoneborn Tribes, towards more desolate, scarcely-traveled wastelands. There, he planned to teach the queen some manners before anything else.
Chen Qinghuang's indiscriminate killing made her the bane of all creatures in Zekrica.
Should she visit the towns of the Fire Lizard, Silverscale, and Stoneborn Tribes, the Otherkin warriors would perish en masse. After her departure, those towns would likely be devoid of survivors.
Consequently, the Upper Continent's mightiest warriors would band together to hunt them down.
The outcome could be catastrophic, potentially leading to the extinction of Zekrica's entire Otherkin population.
The Songbird Queen, as she stood, was exceedingly dangerous, with combat prowess beyond measure.
Yu Yuan even believed that Grec, the Demon God resurrected on the Primal Blood Continent, paled in comparison to Chen Qinghuang's current terrifying might.
"Perhaps she has already attained a portion of the Dark Deity and primordial spirit's power."
With this in mind, Yu Yuan guided Chen Qinghuang towards the barren, uninhabited regions, hoping to prevent the not-yet-fully-awakened queen with her incomplete memories from continuing to unleash a deadly scourge upon the world.
One day, the Songbird Queen, who had been following behind him and occasionally issuing commands, suddenly cast a peculiar glance at a commonplace tree.
Chen Qinghuang halted and stared intently at the tree, lost in thought.
"What's the matter?" Yu Yuan inquired.
"One of our own."
Chen Qinghuang cryptically tossed out this remark, rolled up her sleeves, and compared her skin color to that of the tree, seemingly deep in contemplation.
Yu Yuan was baffled.
Next, he witnessed a woman from the Shadowkin emerge abruptly from the tree.
The woman appeared to have blended into the trunk using a special blood magic, becoming indistinguishable from it.
Under Chen Qinghuang's persistent scrutiny, the woman could no longer resist revealing herself, realizing that concealment was futile.
"My name is Mi Ting, from the Lower Continent."
She introduced herself and, after a brief pause, continued, "I've heard of you from Pellet of the Moonlit Wanderers. Not long ago, the Silverscale Tribe was hunting us, and I got separated from my group. My bloodline talent allows me to hide in the forest, undetected by others, so I took on the task of drawing the pursuers away."
"I've been fleeing to this region because I knew it was unlikely to be patrolled by pursuers, and there wouldn't be any other refugees from the Lower Continent."
Mi Ting was unaware that she was standing before the very individuals responsible for the Silverscale Tribe, Fire Lizard Tribe, and Stoneborn Tribe's relentless pursuit and attacks on visitors from the Lower Continent.
She was merely explaining her situation and pondering the backgrounds of Yu Yuan and Chen Qinghuang.
"As fellow Shadowkin, you must have lived in the Lower Continent before, right? I don't recall ever seeing you or hearing of your exploits."
When Yu Yuan and Chen Qinghuang remained silent, Mi Ting spoke softly.
"Let's agree to act as if we've never met."
After a moment, Yu Yuan, seeing that Mi Ting was unharmed and Chen Qinghuang was still contemplating, proceeded indifferently deeper into the forest.
Chen Qinghuang, unable to make sense of the situation, followed closely behind.
Yu Yuan let out a sigh of relief.
From the moment that lady opened her eyes, Mi Ting of the Shadowkin was the only one left alive.
It was probably because Mi Ting was a Shadowkin woman that she seemed more agreeable to Chen Qinghuang, who showed no overt hostility.
"Hey! Wait up, we're all kin here. The Upper Continent isn't safe right now. Why don't we stick together? If we team up, we can watch each other's backs! I heard from Pellet that you're really strong and have killed a lot of Sunstalkers!" Mi Ting called out from behind.
"No need."
Yu Yuan dismissed her with impatience, thinking this girl truly had a death wish.
Earlier, in the cave, he had overheard the conversation between Darke and an elder of the Moonlit Wanderers. He knew Mi Ting had risked her life to help those people.
He bore no grudge against Mi Ting, whom he didn't know personally, so he didn't want her to die senselessly.
As for Pellet and the others explaining to the Silverscale Tribe and Fire Lizard folks that he was the one gathering Tranquilherb and Sunfire Bloom, Yu Yuan didn't care much about it.
Right now, he just wanted to take Chen Qinghuang to a deserted area to see if he could sway the Queen's thinking. Ideally, the Queen would come to her senses on her own.
Then, with her divine-level power, she could take him out of Zekrica and safely into the Star River.
In the days that followed.
Chen Qinghuang continued to give orders as usual, and he complied without complaint. They reached a remote part of the Upper Continent in Zekrica, where hardly any creatures stirred.
In this nameless barren land, not even two spirit animals could be seen, and there were no dense forests.
One day.
Mi Ting, the Shadowkin woman, unexpectedly showed up after they had parted ways.
"Did you kill those two Fire Lizard teams?"
Upon seeing Yu Yuan grilling a shiny little fish by the river, Mi Ting immediately became enraged. "I know you're strong, but do you realize what this could mean for the two continents of Zekrica?"
Yu Yuan paid her no mind.
"The folks from the Upper Continent think it's the Lower Continent's warriors who've stirred up war!" Mi Ting grew even more irate. "A war that's been dormant for so long could erupt because of you! Do you have any idea how many people will suffer, how many towns will be destroyed?"
She leveled heavy criticism at him.
Yu Yuan remained unfazed by her accusations. Only after growing tired of her incessant complaining did he retort, "Stop your senseless babbling. Even without us, Zekrica would still be rife with conflict."
"You're not from Zekrica?" Mi Ting latched onto this revelation, her eyes suddenly sparkling with curiosity. "Where are you from? I've never left Zekrica in my life! Is it as thrilling out there as they say? I've heard tales of savage human demons who relentlessly hunt down the mightiest among various races. Is that what it's like?"
Upon learning that Yu Yuan and his companion had apparently come from another world into Zekrica, she became visibly excited.
She chattered on about her longing for the outside world, recounting widely known legends and hurling curses at the humans and archdemons of the Everlands.
Yu Yuan wore a bemused expression.
Meanwhile, Chen Qinghuang, who had been comfortably seated on a cushioned chair by the riverbank, was initially engrossed in watching Yu Yuan cook fish. She hadn't been paying much attention to Mi Ting's ranting.
But as Mi Ting began to rail against the humans and archdemons of the Everlands, spittle flying, the Songbird Queen's eyes subtly shifted from green to blue.
Yu Yuan was taken aback.
