They rode their horses to the desolate part of the city along with the servants but Ruo Rufei didn't feel good with bringing their entourage along with them to such a dangerous adventure and she didn't think she and the Xianlu can be responsible for so many people, she brought her horse to her stop, causing Xianlu to turn around.

"Why did you suddenly stop, Miss Rufei?" he queried, he was quite uneasy knowing that his mission this time depends on her willingness to advance or return so he had to do his best to coerce her.

​​

"Young master Wei, I don't think it is a good idea to bring so many people with us to the spirit forest in case of any danger, we might not be able to look after so many people," she brushed the strands of hair blowing on her face behind her hair and squinted her eyes at him.

"That is true but what does Miss Rufei suggest we do?" after all, she is the only person he needs for the mission, he couldn't care less what happens to the others.

"I say we send them back to the mansion and leave only my personal maid and your bodyguard here, that way we won't have so many people serving as a burden to us and since the sun is already setting, they can inform my grandfather that we might return late to the manor so he won't be worried, what does young master Wei think?" although she made it sound like she needed his opinion, she had already fully made her decision, she knew that whatever his true reason for wanting to enter the forest is, he needs her and he will surely do as she says, after all, she is not so naive to believe his excuse.

"If Miss Rufei has decided then there is no reason for me to disagree," he turned to his bodyguard.

"Ke Yang, you and Miss Rufei's personal maid will remain, tell the rest to return to the governor's manor," he instructed while his bodyguard nodded in affirmation and walked to the back to instruct the servants following behind them.

Xixi was quite happy and sad at the same time for her mistress decision, on one hand, she can monitor her young mistress actions when they enter the forest to make sure she doesn't go over the top and on the other hand, she has a bad feeling about going into the spirit forest.

"I believe now we can continue our journey," he remarked with a quizzical look while she nodded at him with a faint smile.

"How long until we get to the spirit forest?"

"We are almost there, just ahead is the signboard that says 'spirit forest," after answering his question she realized that she is close to danger itself and she is now back to the place where she first killed a human, something that has given her nightmares for years but only stopped this year, she was now starting to regret her decision to follow him.

Looking at the expression on her face, he noticed that she seems terrified of entering the forest, he moved his horse closer to hers and placed his hands on hers, holding the rein of her horse, she raised her gaze to look at him with a startled look.

"Miss Rufei doesn't need to be terrified of this forest as long as I am here, no danger will come near you, you entered it once and you can do it again, trust me," he looked at her affectionately which got her stunned for a moment but she quickly snapped out of it being the unaffected young lady she is, she removed her hand from his.

"You don't have to worry about me young master Wei, as you said before, I entered it once and I can enter it again, I wouldn't want us to spend the night out so let's hurry into the forest," she rode her horse forward leaving him behind and Xixi shaking her head at her young mistress's response, she was hoping she will say something that would reciprocate his heartfelt assurance.

Meanwhile, the fourth prince and the other two were already going deeper into the forest, with Xiaodi's keen sense of smell they were already getting close to finding a fire element grass, with every minute they spend in the forest, the fourth prince injury kept getting worse and the blue vein line on his chest kept extending.

He clenched his fist tightly to endure the searing pain growing in his chest although he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, he swallowed it back to avoid making them worried.

"We will soon get to the statue maze, be alert and careful, the statues can appear at any time,"

"Understood," they chorused while Xiaodi kept sniffing her nose to find the fire element grass.

"Have you caught the scent yet?" Xi Feng asked

"I think so, the scent is not very clear yet but I smell something foul and I think the object is somewhere close," Xaiodi answered then she bent forward and walked faster to find the object she is smelling.

"What do you mean, what does it smell like?" Xi Feng questioned

"I can't really describe it but I have definitely caught this scent before, I just can't remember where and when," she answered with her attention now focused on finding the object.

"Do you realize that your priority should be finding the fire element grass," he scolded, she immediately stopped and turned around with a guilty look on her face, she had almost forgotten about her original mission which is something she would never do unless she has really caught that smell before.

"Forgive me, master, I was distracted for a moment,"

"It's alright, let's continue forward,"

"Okay!" she replied and continued trying to catch the scent of the fire element grass although the foul smell kept interfering with her effort.

They had now arrived at the entrance of the forest, they climbed down their horses and walked forward, they stopped when they were just one step away from entering the forest, Rufei balled her fist to gather enough courage while Xianlu who had already fully prepared for the mission fixed his eyes on the forest with confidence in his eyes.

"Let's go in," Rufei said then the four of them walked into the forest, with their eyes looking around with every step they took while both men clutched their sword tightly in preparation for a fight if needed.

"Make sure you lookout for the fire element grass, if we miss it then..." Wei Xianlu instructed in a whisper, leaning close to his bodyguard while Rufei watched them from her side glance trying to hear their conversation but to no avail.

"I understand," she looked away immediately they stopped whispering.

"By the way Miss Rufei, how did you find the fire element back then?" he asked, feigning curiosity.

"Why is young master Wei suddenly interested in this, nobody has actually asked me this before?" she wasn't the one who found it so she has to evade his question by any means.

"I am just curious, I heard it is very hard to find the fire element grass so I was wondering how you found it all by yourself,". she smiled awkwardly and turned her head to the side to curse silently then an idea came into her head, she might as well just use what she has learnt from the books.

"The fire element grass is very hard to find because it migrates every day and it hides but it also has a very customized combusting smell which makes it a little bit easier to find it, back then, I passed through many difficulties to go deep into the spirit forest but as the heavens were with me, I found the fire element grass next to a rock by coincidence," she prayed he would just take it as she had said and not ask further questions like how she uprooted it cause she really doesn't know.

"ooh, it seems like Miss Rufei is really lucky then,"

They arrived at a place with medium size rocks cloured black and white placed on the ground and square lines drawn around each stone, they were about to step on it when Rufei quickly cautioned them remembering her experience back then.

"This is a chess problem we must solve before advancing otherwise every tree here will turn into monsters and start coming at us," Rufei elucidated with a confident smile on her lips.

"Then what happens if we lose the game,"

"It is the same as not attempting the game at all," she moved forward, picked a white stone and placed it in one of the empty boxes then a black stone moved forward, Xianlu smiled seeing that she seems to know what she is doing.

After making some moves, she took out three of the black stone while one of her white stone was taken out, she made another move eliminating two other black stone but with the next move the black stones made, two of her white stones were eliminated.

She panicked but she managed to clam herself them knowing that she still has the lead but Xianlu was confident that she would be able to make so he didn't worry, with three moves left, she used to of her moves and eliminated more black stone but the black stones had already caught up with her, she now had only one move to determine their life or death.

"I believe in you,". she turned around and nodded confidently then she turned back to the stones she studied the situation before finally making her move but none of the stones moved after, they all waited in anxiousness but the stones still weren't moving.

She turned to him, "I am sorry, I think I failed,"