**Chapter 238: “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”**
“Wow, there’s even a Sunflare Sunflower!”
Bai Feng reached out to pluck a sunflower-like plant. Its petals were a fiery red, radiating intense heat, rich in fire elements, and with a pattern at its center that seemed to resemble a smiling face. Because of this, the herb was also known as the Smiling Sunflower, but it had long since vanished from the world.
“Roar!!”
Just as he picked the Sunflare Sunflower, a furious roar echoed from not far away.
A massive black bear with crimson eyes was charging toward them at breakneck speed.
Unfazed, Bai Feng delicately placed the sunflower into a jade box. The charging black bear was ensnared by an array, but instead of stopping, it began to ram itself against the array’s barrier, smashing against it even as its skin was torn and bloody.
“Bai Feng, something feels off,” Yun Yue Yao said, moving closer to him. Her expression had turned serious.
“Yeah, it seems like it’s lost its mind.”
Bai Feng nodded. Normally, a beast at the Nascent Soul Stage would have developed wisdom, but this bear was acting like a mindless animal—no, even wild animals knew to flee in fear, yet this bear appeared utterly fearless.
Yun Yue Yao pondered for a moment: “I remembered a rumor. In a future I ‘saw’, there was a sudden appearance of this secret realm. Many loose cultivators took the chance to sneak in, but they soon came scrambling out, some even injured. They claimed there were terrifying magical creatures inside, but later, several major sects went in and found no trace of these creatures, only some demon cultivators. So everyone just assumed the demon cultivators were causing a ruckus.”
“Terrifying magical creatures, huh?” Bai Feng stroked his chin, muttering to himself.
If it were an ordinary secret realm, he might dismiss it as the loose cultivators having mistaken things, but this was an ancient secret realm related to immortals. There was a good chance it genuinely housed frightening magical creatures.
Plus, with so many Children of Destiny in this realm, something had to go haywire.
At that moment, Yun Yue Yao hugged his arm, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Bai Yu Mo sheathed her sword. The black bear beside her had been swiftly dealt with, lying dead on the ground. She turned to Bai Feng, her cheeks slightly puffed as she hastened to his side and similarly wrapped her arms around him, looking down earnestly, “Me too.”
“Alright, alright! No need to cling to me like that. Let’s check out other places first. I feel like this black bear isn’t an isolated incident.”
…
A girl lay almost lifeless on the ground, gasping for breath, her clothes soaked in sweat, the thin fabric barely concealing her skin tone.
Her eyes were filled with terror, as if what stood before her wasn’t a person, but a demon that thrived on tormenting others.
“Master’s methods really do work wonders.”
Zuo Qiu dispersed the flames; during the ‘treatment’ earlier, she’d confirmed that this person was harboring demon energy, though it was different from the demon energy she had encountered before.
With that, she lowered her gaze to the terrified girl: “Before meeting me, what happened to you?”
The girl shrank back, trembling fiercely.
Zuo Qiu furrowed her brow slightly, “Speak.”
“I—I will!”
The girl jolted up, curling into a ball as she rambled about everything she’d done in the secret realm and the encounters she’d had, even confessing something as trivial as what kind of undergarments she was wearing.
Her speech was so jumbled that Zuo Qiu had to interrupt a couple of times to get her to repeat some parts clearly.
In the end, Zuo Qiu pinpointed a location—a dark cave, described by the girl as being deep and home to a swarm of crimson-eyed rats that bit upon sight. The girl even mentioned how she’d gotten bitten by a Nascent Soul Stage rat while exploring.
“That’s all I know!” The girl’s voice quavered as she begged Zuo Qiu, “I was wrong before. I shouldn’t have bullied you just because I was stronger; I shouldn’t have taken your monthly pills and spirit stones. I’m guilty! I deserve to d*e! Please, give me a quick d*ath and stop burning me with fire…”
Zuo Qiu cast her a glance and then pointed dismissively, “Scram.”
“Ah…” The girl was taken aback.
Zuo Qiu frowned, “Didn’t you hear? I said scram!”
“Y-yes! I’m going! I’m going right now!”
The girl nodded vigorously and promptly turned to flee.
Zuo Qiu shook her head and muttered to herself, “Tsk, I thought she’d really roll away…”
Suddenly, the girl halted, crouched low, and hugged her head, rolling away in a makeshift escape.
“…”
Watching that, Zuo Qiu fell silent for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
What a refreshing mood!
I guess I haven’t completely let go of the past.
“Right, I need to tell my master about this.”
Finding traces of demon energy in a realm related to immortals was definitely not a good sign.
…
“Looks like it’s not just one.”
As Bai Feng continued exploring, he encountered another beast with red eyes, charging at them just as irrationally as the last.
He decided to activate the God Forging Technique, attempting to pull the approaching beast into an illusion.
“The illusion works; so it’s not someone manipulating them from behind.”
Bai Feng stepped closer to the bewildered beast, carefully examining this lion-like creature.
There were no visible wounds or signs of alteration.
“Should we eliminate it?”
Bai Yu Mo asked as she drew her sword beside him.
“Not just yet.” Bai Feng shook his head, then called to Bai Yu Mo and Yun Yue Yao, “Stay close to me; I have an idea I want to try.”
With them nearby, he “controlled” the beast and pressed on with their exploration.
Before long, he found another new beast—a wolf-like creature, also with crimson eyes and an aggressive demeanor, charging straight toward them the moment it spotted them.
Bai Feng leisurely snapped his fingers, and the charging wolf beast suddenly halted. It didn’t scan the surroundings or show any hesitation, simply wandering like an NPC that had lost its target in a game.
He glanced at the lion beast, noting he hadn’t placed it under protection, meaning this new beast could see the lion but showed no signs of conflict or aggression.
‘Why does this feel like a zombie crisis? Or a cultivation version of it…’
Bai Feng silently critiqued, wondering if getting bitten by one of these beasts would lead to their transformation.
He then reached out toward the lion beast: “You’re the chosen one; use your bite.”
