After a peaceful night, just when the two of them thought that the other was merely there for surveillance, Feng Yuan noticed a verdant green barrier enveloping the entire sky outside the window. He peered out of the window from all sides and then took out the dark ancient book and tossed it to Agunas, saying,
"Be careful! We might have to confront it soon."
"Who are you referring to? The person behind the curtain? Do you have any leads?"
Seeing Yang Hongzhi’s curious look, Feng Yuan gazed out at the dense trees and said,
"It might not be them, but we can’t rule it out either since its actions are indeed very suspicious."
Just as Feng Yuan wanted to explain, there was a knock at the door. Glancing at Agunas, Feng Yuan said,
Agunas nodded, swapped the book in his hand for the dark ancient book Feng Yuan had handed him, and vanished in a flash. Shortly after, Agunas reappeared at the original spot and nodded to Feng Yuan amidst the persistent knocking. Feng Yuan cracked the door open to see a male hotel waiter dressed in uniform, who pointed to the tray in his hand and said,
After opening the door to let the individual in, Feng Yuan closed the door and asked,
Startled by Feng Yuan’s question, Yang Hongzhi looked at the other person warily, and after glancing at Agunas, Feng Yuan continued,
"You must be someone we know, right?"
"You actually can’t recognize me?"
The attendant examined Feng Yuan with a playful look, and after thinking, Feng Yuan said,
"Although I can’t tell, it must be you, right, Captain Yang?"
"You guessed it... of course, you don’t have any acquaintances here."
"You went and investigated others again!"
"Those are the rules."
With a calm demeanor, Captain Yang stared at Yang Hongzhi, and after sitting on the bed, Feng Yuan looked at Captain Yang and said,
"What exactly happened?"
"Unclear. Yimu Qingling just notified us that they needed assistance with an investigation, and then this huge barrier covering the entire Luo’an City appeared. Right now, entering or leaving Luo’an City is restricted by the barrier."
"Don’t you have any countermeasures?"
"Dispatching personnel takes time, and clearly, the other party is about to act."
Seeing Captain Yang’s eyes scanning the room, Feng Yuan said,
"Are you looking for Agunas?"
"Indeed, we need Agunas’s assistance now."
"Agunas is right beside me."
"No! You don’t need to get involved in such dangerous matters!"
"Agunas must stay by my side; there’s no room for discussion."
Not seeing Agunas, Captain Yang was somewhat unwilling to let go. Agunas then revealed itself in front of Captain Yang, pointed a tiny hand at Feng Yuan, and nodded.
"You can’t act alone? We will assign someone to ensure his safety."
Seeing Agunas shake its head, Captain Yang hesitated for a long while before saying,
"You must obey my orders! Don’t run off! Don’t recklessly use moves that could put you in danger!"
"I can’t guarantee that."
After a brief argument, Captain Yang had no choice but to say,
"Since it’s , we’ll first try to deal with it. If that doesn’t work, we’ll notify you to come over. During this time! You! Are not allowed to take unauthorized action!"
After watching Captain Yang leave and close the door behind him, Yang Hongzhi looked at Feng Yuan and said,
"What he said does make some sense. You always getting involved in these dangerous matters is really..."
"Dangerous for you all, that is. Xiao Ji, let’s go."
"Where do you want to go?"
"To the Forest Temple. No matter what the person behind the scenes does, that’s where the crux of the problem lies."
Following Feng Yuan down to the lobby and seeing the two preparing to leave, a bored attendant playing with his phone at the front desk hurriedly called out,
"Hey! Don’t go out! Martial law is in effect; everyone must stay in their accommodations!"
Glancing at the waiter frozen in time, Feng Yuan said in a low voice as he stepped out of the hotel’s front door. There were no pedestrians or vehicles in sight on the road. Feng Yuan then turned to Yang Hongzhi and remarked,
"Call out your Xiao Hui, and let’s ride it to the Forest Temple."
"Why are you doing this?"
Riding on Xiao Hui and looking at the blue Barrier enveloping it, they moved forward. It seemed that the patrolling guards hadn’t noticed the two of them at all. Glancing at Agunas, who was tightly holding the Dark Ancient Book, Feng Yuan said,
"It seems like there’s a problem with the guy at the Forest Temple."
"What’s wrong with those people? Are you saying the mastermind is among them?"
"No, what I mean is not humans, but it..."
"The Master of the Forest, Estir."
"A Spirit Beast? What level?"
Since Feng Yuan always knew strange and unusual Spirit Beasts, Yang Hongzhi couldn’t be sure exactly what level of Spirit Beast the other party was.
"Legendary Level strength, possessing the authority of the Master of the Forest. Logically, it shouldn’t do such a thing. What exactly happened..."
"Authority? Are you talking about a Divine Beast?"
Looking at the Spirit Beasts engaged in combat ahead, Feng Yuan narrowed his eyes. Seeing Captain Yang among the crowd, Yang Hongzhi said to Feng Yuan,
"Do we need to take action?"
"No need; they can handle these people. Let’s go around them."
Feng Yuan jumped off Xiao Hui and continued, with Yang Hongzhi putting away Xiao Hui and closely following behind Feng Yuan. Watching those people, Feng Yuan still didn’t forget to tease Yang Hongzhi,
"Look, their Mountain Rock Pig King has even learned to change its shape. Aren’t you going to teach your Xiao Hui? It must be uncomfortable staying in the Spirit Beast Space, right?"
Sighing, Yang Hongzhi said somewhat helplessly,
"I can’t help it. I’ve been teaching Xiao Hui and Xiao Hei, but they haven’t learned yet, and..."
Yang Hongzhi continued seriously,
"To avoid the risk of being separated from one’s Spirit Beasts, causing the inability to use their power, a Beastmaster must keep a main Beast Tamer in the Spirit Beast Space during dangerous operations. This was repeatedly emphasized from the very first lesson!"
"I don’t need to. Instead of having Xiao Ji and the others crammed in that narrow Spirit Beast Space, I’d rather have them follow me. As for the danger caused by accidents leading to separation, do you think I would worry?"
"You really don’t care about such things..."
Sneaking into the Temple and looking at the staff lying on the ground, Feng Yuan frowned and thought for a while before saying,
"Agunas, can you take these people to a safe place without alarming anyone?"
Agunas shook his head and after a moment of hesitation, Feng Yuan said,
"Let’s go! Agunas, you lead the way, we’re going to find Estir!"
Hearing Feng Yuan’s words, Agunas flipped through the Dark Ancient Book with his mouth opening and closing as if saying something. After a while, Agunas nodded to Feng Yuan and floated ahead to lead the way.
"Feng Yuan! You’ve really sneaked in here again!"
Hearing Captain Yang’s subdued roar, Feng Yuan turned around and noticed that Captain Yang, who had just been fighting outside, had appeared at the entrance of the Temple at some point. Looking at Captain Yang, Feng Yuan said,
"I did not come here to investigate the mastermind or the trackers."
"I only came to find Estir."
"Estir? Human or Spirit Beast?"
Glancing at Captain Yang, Feng Yuan replied,
"Follow Agunas. I’m worried something might have gone wrong with Estir."
"I hope it hasn’t rebelled..."
Hearing Feng Yuan’s murmur, Captain Yang glared at Feng Yuan and said,
"What are you hiding from me! What rebellion!"
"Estir, I hope it hasn’t rebelled..."
"What exactly is Estir! Don’t play riddles with me!"
Seeing Captain Yang’s growing anger, Feng Yuan sighed and said,
"Estir, the Master of the Forest. I don’t know much about it either, only that it has been guarding the Sea of Suffering to this day, honoring a covenant it made with a human since the beginning of the Dynasty Era."
"The Master of the Forest? Authority or title?"
Hearing Feng Yuan’s words, Captain Yang narrowed his eyes with a menacing look and said in a low voice,
"Authority, the authority of the Master of the Forest. Otherwise, what do you think created the Forest Barrier outside?"
"Are you saying the one locking down Luo’an City isn’t the group inciting the masses, but Estir?"