Other normal Carnases also seemed to sense the danger and dodged the attacks of the red Carnas while attacking it. Xiao Ji initially tried to avoid the red Carnas’ attacks until accidentally getting hit by a brown orb from the red Carnas without detecting any abnormalities, then Xiao Ji immediately realized the red Carnas posed no threat to itself.
Soaring into the sky, Xiao Ji flapped its wings vigorously, continuously blowing a black hurricane toward the red Carnas. Seeing that the red Carnas was gradually losing its vitality, Xiao Ji turned its head and cried out to Feng Yuan, while Agunas’ phantom swished its tail calmly and said,
"It is letting you clear the Carnas’ frenzy."
"How does it know I can remove that frenzy?" Feng Yuan asked, somewhat astonished. Hearing Xiao Ji’s impatient cries, Feng Yuan could not help but smile wryly, advancing to shake the lantern in his hand. As he did so, a purple, mud-like substance continuously emerged from the red Carnas’ body. The substance twisted and writhed, separating from the red Carnas and gradually coalescing into several dark red spherical objects.
Feng Yuan summoned pitch-black flames and threw them at the purple spheres, ignoring the eerie, piercing screams that resounded in his ears. He watched quietly as the purple spheres gradually vanished in the black flames, leaving not a trace behind.
"Don’t hold back, kill them all."
Noticing that Little Green Snake hesitated to kill because it wanted to capture someone alive and was still tangled up with the soldiers, Feng Yuan said emotionlessly. The phantom of Agunas looked at Feng Yuan in surprise and exclaimed,
"You can actually issue such orders?"
"Why not? From the moment they committed this act, they have been enemies. In dealing with enemies, there is nothing that cannot be done."
After glancing at Agunas’ phantom, Feng Yuan said with disdain,
"After following me for so long, you still don’t know what kind of person I am?"
With a flick of its tail, Agunas’ phantom said with disdain,
"Too kind-hearted, always thinking of helping others."
"Haha—someone actually calling me too kind-hearted—" Feng Yuan laughed, then sighed,
"I’m going to check if there are any more enemies around."
Observing Feng Yuan’s solitary figure, Agunas’ phantom said softly,
"Even if you were a heinous demon lord in another world... what does it matter to me... I only know that you have always been a good person here..."
Looking at Xiao Ji, Agunas’ phantom sighed,
"Who among us truly hasn’t done those things... Even it, without your protection..."
Xiao Ji looked around, puzzled, feeling as though someone was calling it.
"It seems not. Strange, what exactly is going on with these guys, popping up like game monsters suddenly."
After circling nearby to confirm there were no other enemies, Feng Yuan said doubtfully. Agunas’ phantom pondered and then said,
"Perhaps they appeared due to the influence of time correction. After all, you just modified history, didn’t you?"
"Don’t you think it’s too pitiful?"
Although Feng Yuan did not fully understand the situation between Carnas and the boy, he could guess the gist of it. Agunas’ phantom, recalling something, said,
"What it is waiting for, could it be..."
"If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be too bad—after all, it wouldn’t be so lonely, would it? Although it seems somewhat unlikely..." Feng Yuan sighed and spoke helplessly. After all, Carnas was not Yognot; even if it were asleep, its traits would still be in effect. Thinking of the little Yognot accompanying He Nanqing, Feng Yuan felt a small glimmer of hope.
"If some miracle were to happen, it might be possible. Otherwise, why would it keep standing guard here? This place is really too close to humans."
Agunas’ phantom analyzed, saying that, due to its nature, Karnas would, in most cases, keep its distance from human and Spirit Beast settlements to avoid affecting them. The Chiyun Mountain Range had already become a contested territory by surrounding nations, clearly not fitting that standard.
"We’ll know soon enough."
Feng Yuan walked up to Xiao Ji and scratched its neck, and with a pleased chirp, Xiao Ji nudged against Feng Yuan’s face in return. Understanding Xiao Ji’s intent, Feng Yuan chuckled as he tidied up the feathers on Xiao Ji’s head and said,
"You’re putting on such a brave front and yet you’re still acting coy~"
Xiao Ji glared at Feng Yuan and nuzzled him again, calling out cheerfully. Little Green Snake, standing off to the side, looked on enviously at Xiao Ji and Feng Yuan’s interaction. Agunas’ phantom noticed Little Green Snake’s longing and drifted over to speak with it.
As the sky grew dark, seeing Feng Yuan arranging for Xiao Ji to search for dinner ingredients, Karnas felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, if they hadn’t become acquainted it wouldn’t matter, but since Feng Yuan had helped it fulfill its wish and resolve its regrets, it was now just causing him trouble.
While Karnas was entangled in its thoughts, a young man approached from afar. Upon seeing the mess on the ground, the youth’s expression changed, and he rushed towards where Karnas was. Karnas waved cheerfully upon noticing the arrival.
Looking on from a distance at Karnas warmly chatting with the young man, Feng Yuan rubbed the head of Xiao Ji, which had leaned over, and said,
"It’s a pity your tuft of hair is gone; you’re a bit less cute now~"
Xiao Ji contemptuously glanced at Feng Yuan and spread its wings to prove it was not just cute but also majestic. After a moment, Feng Yuan said to Xiao Ji,
"You go look for those things first, and remember, no wild boars! Rabbits and pheasants would be best."
Xiao Ji looked dissatisfiedly at Feng Yuan with a few calls, and realizing that Agunas’ phantom had not translated, it called out questioningly towards the phantom. After casting a glance at Xiao Ji, Agunas’ phantom said,
"It wants to hunt wild boar; it’s less of a hassle that way."
"Tired of it, huh? Wild boar is always on the menu for our picnics. Don’t you ever get sick of it?"
Xiao Ji cried out happily, and Little Green Snake at Feng Yuan’s feet shook its head. Feng Yuan laughed, looking at it—he understood that, to Little Green Snake, those cooked meals were still novel, and even if it had the same thing every day, it wouldn’t tire of it in the short term.
Seeing Xiao Ji somewhat reluctant, Feng Yuan smiled and patted it, saying,
"If you think catching too many is too much trouble, you can just revert to your original form when you get back. That way, you wouldn’t need to catch too many rabbits and pheasants, and I wouldn’t need to cook so much. Wouldn’t that be great~"
Glancing at Little Green Snake who had already reverted to its original form, Xiao Ji hesitated for a long time before letting out a long chirp and taking off into the sky. Agunas’ phantom said, somewhat puzzled,
"If you really wanted to, you could get enough food without needing it to go hunting, right?"
Feng Yuan pinched Pomiti in his arms and said grumpily,
"Food procured that way lacks soul; none of it has been hunted. How could it be considered a delicious outdoor meal~"
"Such absurd logic..."
Agunas’ phantom flicked its tail dismissively and stopped paying attention to Feng Yuan. Suddenly, Karnas and the young man began to argue. Feng Yuan glanced over but didn’t go to intervene; he could guess what they were arguing about from the bits and phrases he could faintly hear.
It was nothing more than Karnas saying farewell to the young man, who was unwilling to let Karnas leave alone. Anyone familiar with Karnas would understand how hard it was for it to find a companion it could get along with. Those other Carnas were indeed independent beings, but to Karnas, they were all juniors—there was so much they couldn’t do, so many things they couldn’t discuss.
Agunas’ phantom looked at Feng Yuan perplexedly and said,
"Aren’t you going to persuade them? Or perhaps think of a plan?"
"Karnas is different from Yognot. Yognot simply needs to keep its main body asleep, and it can send out any number of avatars or projections to do whatever it wants without any consequence, but Karnas..."
"Unless it advances to Divine Beast status, it’s impossible to create a long-distance avatar or projection."
As he said this, looking at Karnas, Feng Yuan sighed and continued,
"And advancing to Divine Beast status is simply impossible for it..."
"However, it might not be too bad to leave it with a little surprise~"
Feng Yuan whispered, a mysterious smile on his face, while Agunas’ phantom looked at him, puzzled, flicking its tail.