12: trailing

Liu Erlong lowered her head, carefully re-examined the words on the note, then meticulously folded the rough bark paper and tucked it into the lining of her tattered fiery-red leather armor—right next to the no-longer-fatal wound on her honey-colored skin.

Having done all that, she took a deep breath, feeling the strength within her, though weak, slowly recovering, along with an unshakeable curiosity and obsession.

Her honey-gold face was clearly defined in the dim light, and a new power was brewing within her wild and sexy body.

“You little brat…” she muttered under her breath, a wild, even somewhat excited curve unconsciously forming at the corner of her lips, “You ran pretty fast, did you think leaving an address would be the end of it?”

She leaned against the rock wall, enduring the pain in her left arm, and slowly straightened her body. Beneath the broken leather armor, the tight, powerful lines of her waist and abdomen tensed with her movements, full of a sense of coiled power.

Her burning crimson eyes looked out into the boundless dark forest beyond the rock crevice, yet her gaze seemed to penetrate layers of dense woods, casting itself towards that magnificent city in the distant center of the continent.

“Just you wait.”

Liu Erlong’s voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable resolve, ringing clearly in the silent rock crevice, “After I deal with that damned Ghost-Faced Demonic Spider and then hunt for my fourth spirit ring… Spirit City, is it? Mo Yuhan, is it? This old lady is coming for you!”

The wild Fire Dragon Queen, at this moment, had no more confusion in her heart.

The hunt in the Star Dou Great Forest was no longer merely about acquiring a spirit ring; it was a necessary path towards an answer, a journey of “collecting a debt.”

Her figure stretched long in the last faint glow of the campfire embers, her tattered clothes unable to conceal her vibrant vitality and intense desire for answers, like a profound yellow flame about to be reignited.

The night in the Star Dou Great Forest was thick as ink.

The embers of the campfire inside the rock crevice completely extinguished, leaving only cold darkness and Liu Erlong’s gradually steady and prolonged breathing.

Outside the rock wall, on a huge branch of a thousand-year-old fir tree just ten zhang away, two figures, one large and one small, were almost perfectly integrated with the heavy shadows.

Mo Yuhan’s small body was held ramrod straight, like a poised hunter, his dark eyes piercing the darkness, unblinkingly locked onto the direction of the rock crevice.

Even through the rock wall and the distance, he seemed to be able to smell the unique scent emanating from within—a mix of blood, sweat, and wild vitality belonging to Liu Erlong.

Beside him, a tall and graceful figure leaned elegantly against the tree trunk, her luxurious dark purple robe unmoving in the night wind, as if assimilated with the night itself.

Bibi Dong’s exquisite face was faintly visible in the shadows, a subtle smile, tinged with amusement and indulgence, playing on her lips.

Her gaze occasionally swept towards the rock crevice, but more often it rested on the tense little one beside her.

“Xiao Han.”

Bibi Dong’s voice was like a night breeze caressing a zither string, low and languid, with a hint of imperceptible teasing, “Why so nervous? That girl is tough as nails, she won’t die, but you… ”

She tilted her head slightly, looking with interest at Mo Yuhan’s tense profile, “First sacrificing yourself to suck out snake venom, then standing guard all night… Tsk, your aunt has raised you for so long, and I’ve never seen you care so much about anyone else?”

Mo Yuhan’s small face remained expressionless, but his cheeks flushed almost imperceptibly in the darkness, and his voice was muffled: “Aunt… she was poisoned by the Ghost-Faced Demonic Spider. Although it was sucked out, there’s still residual poison, and her Soul Power is overdrawn. What if…”

“What if some unobservant Spirit Beast wanders in?”

Bibi Dong chuckled softly, extending a fair, slender finger, around which a nearly invisible but chilling dark purple energy thread twined.

“Don’t worry, with your aunt here, not even a poisonous mosquito can fly within ten li.”

Bibi Dong’s fingertip moved slightly, and the wisp of energy silently disappeared into the dense forest below, like an invisible spider web, enveloping the entire rock crevice area.

She paused, looking at Mo Yuhan who was still nervously staring at the rock crevice, and the mischievousness in her beautiful eyes deepened: “What? Have you really taken a fancy to this little female dragon? Although her temper is a bit explosive, her figure and looks… indeed, quite something, quite fiery.”

She deliberately drew out her words, “Do you want Aunt to help you out? When she wakes up, I can just knock her out and bring her back to Spirit City to be your child bride? Anyway, her Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan can’t control this ‘bastard’ of theirs.”

“Aunt!”

Mo Yuhan finally couldn’t hold back, suddenly turning his head, a blush of embarrassment on his small face, “Don’t talk nonsense, I just… I just wanted to save her, once she wakes up, we’ll leave.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow, looking at Mo Yuhan’s slightly evasive gaze, and smiled meaningfully, “Alright, then shall we leave now?”

Bibi Dong made to stand up.

Mo Yuhan’s body stiffened, his eyes quickly darted towards the rock crevice, then swiftly lowered his gaze, pressing his lips together without speaking.

Bibi Dong looked at his contradictory expression, amused, and stopped teasing him, simply leaning back against the tree trunk languidly: “Alright then, let’s wait a bit longer and see if this little female dragon can reclaim her own ground. If she can’t even deal with a crippled ten-thousand-year-old devil spider… Heh, then she’s not worth your concern.”

Time slowly flowed in the silence.

When the first ray of dawn light struggled to penetrate the dense canopy of ancient trees, casting dappled light and shadow in the forest, there was finally movement within the rock crevice.

Liu Erlong’s figure appeared at the mouth of the rock crevice.

By now, she had changed out of her almost completely shattered leather armor, wrapping herself in the spare clothes Mo Yuhan had sent to Bibi Dong.

However, due to Bibi Dong’s more slender build, she didn't wear everything, only putting on the undergarments and then wrapping herself in the tattered fiery-red leather armor, just barely covering the essential parts.

Large expanses of her honey-gold waist and abdomen, and her long, powerful legs, were still exposed to the cool morning light, the swollen red mark where the poisonous web had grazed her like a medal.

Although her face was still somewhat pale, the burning flames in her crimson eyes were even wilder and sexier than yesterday, carrying an all-consuming edge of vengeance.

Without any hesitation, relying on the memories of yesterday’s escape and the lingering aura of the Spirit Beast, she darted like a crimson arrow released from a bowstring towards the direction where the Ghost-Faced Demonic Spider was entrenched, her broken leather armor flapping in the high-speed run, outlining a breathtaking waist and hip curve.

Mo Yuhan’s heart instantly leaped into his throat.

“Let’s go, follow and see.”

Bibi Dong’s voice remained calm, and with a flick of her sleeve, a gentle force enveloped Mo Yuhan. Their figures, like Gui Mei, silently trailed behind Liu Erlong.