'Shwack.'

"REEE~"

The same scream with a high pitch was heard again, the moment Zhao Luo pulled out his glass word.

At the tip of the glass sword, a dark slimy bug was wriggling in pain.

Zhao Luo stared at the bug and with his eyes, he followed the blue blood of the bug which had a black smoke rising from it.

"What is this creature?"

Zhao Luo questioned with a disgusting look as he swung his sword to throw it away.

'It's a low-level insect known as Blood Ree. Its weird name comes from its unusual scream and its ability to travel inside the host's body while staying hidden in his blood.'

The old man answered Zhao Luo while his tone had changed once again.

Zhao Luo nodded while listening to the sleepy voice of his master and moved towards the insect's body.

"Blood Ree."

Zhao Luo mumbled while raising his foot and bringing it down to smash it under his foot.

'Phshh~'

Like the bursting of a smoke bomb, the Bleed Ree released a big amount of black smoke which had a pungent smell.

Zhao Luo moved back and turned towards the guard who was bleeding excessively a moment ago. The guard looked calm, and his eyes were closed at the same time, his breathing looked normal too. 

"But, why was the guard suddenly affected by it?'

Zhao Luo wondered while waiting for the old man to answer his question.

'Did he fall asleep again?'

With no answer from his master, Zhao Luo closed his eyes as he sat next to the guard's leg which was the only part of his body that was bleeding.

'Cut the beast's wing into a patch and wrap it around the deep gash in his leg.'

The old man slowly instructed Zhao Luo who instantly followed upon his master's orders.

Zhao Luo got up again and moved back to rip a small part of the monkey's wing and then returned to wrap it around the guard's leg.

"Will this even work?"

Zhao Luo wondered as he covered the injury by folding the wing around it.

'Hmph, you dare question your master?'

The old man asked with an angry tone as he answered the doubt Zhao Luo had.

Zhao Luo shook his head, "I was just wondering if the wings of the beast contained something that could heal the wounds."

Zhao Luo elaborated his thoughts as he replied to his master.

'The beast wings contain a lot of vital energy. Sometimes beast wings are even better than recovery pills but unlike the pills, the wings have to be used as a herb mixture, that is, externally.'

This was the first time Zhao Luo was learning about the uses of the beast wings and his eyes were wide opened as he turned to look at the wings of the flying monkey.

"Should I roll up some for myself too?"

Zhao Luo's eyes sparkled as he almost went towards the flying monkey.

'You won't need them, Zhao Luo.'

The old man spoke but didn't tell the reason behind his comment.

'As for the Blood Ree, it must have started harming its host when a forbidden word was used by him.'

"A Forbidden word?"

'A word that signals the insect to destroy its host from the inside. That's the forbidden word.'

The more Zhao Luo listened to his master, the more things made sense to him.

"So the insect, Blood Ree is like a bomb waiting to explode, while the word is the key that starts the countdown. But...."

Zhao Luo understood everything and stopped here as he thought of the word which was the trigger.

"The Right Serpent."

Zhao Luo exclaimed in excitement as he was over the moon, after solving a 'mystery'.

'If this guy can control these parasitic insects then he couldn't be a normal individual.'

The old man's sound echoed in Zhao Luo's head.

"At least hide your interest in him."

Zhao Luo mumbled as the old man sounded more excited than the time when Zhao Luo had accepted him as his teacher.

'Hah, I am going back to sleep. Don't wake me up.'

With this as his farewell, the old man's voice completely vanished from Zhao Luo's mind.

"I should go too."

Zhao Luo got up while putting the unconscious guard on his right shoulder.

"The beast."

Zhao Luo turned around after which he walked to the beasts and placed it on his left shoulder.

'I should hurry.'

Zhao Luo thought as he followed it by lowering his body.

"Half walk."

Zhao Luo vanished from his spot as he used his movement technique to leave that place.

While carrying the corpse of the beast and the unconscious guard, Zhao Luo made his way towards the north of the forest, where he had left the others.

A few minutes later, Zhao Luo could see a group walking in his direction.

"Hah, there they are."

Zhao Luo said with a smile as he could clearly see Bimba at the front while Senior Cutie was walking beside it.

"Little Brother."

Senior Cutie shouted as he had also realized that Zhao Luo was finally back.

Zhao Luo reached Senior Cutie and stopped next to him as he looked around.

Xiao Yu and Pi Hao were also behind Senior Cutie but they looked completely exhausted.

"Where were you? Do you know how worried we were? And what are you carrying?"

He asked Zhao Luo while glancing at the bodies hanging on Zhao Luo's shoulders.

Not only Senior Cutie and Pi Hao but Xiao Yu was also worried for Zhao Luo's safety.

"I was trying to separate this leader from the other beasts just to escape its chase later on, but this monkey boy was quite aggressive. No matter how many times I fooled it, it wouldn't leave me alone."

Zhao Luo told about his situation with a smile as though he had a fun time running around while being chased by a monkey.

"As for this guy, he's a friend I saved."

Zhao Luo dropped the corpse of the monkey and followed it by placing the guard on Bimba's back.

The guard's face was still masked so they had no other choice but to look at Zhao Luo weirdly.

"What about that?"

Xiao Yu pointed to the sword in Zhao Luo's hand.

Zhao Luo raised the glass sword and stared at it for a while.

"I just stumbled upon a tree and this was stuck in it."

With all seriousness, Zhao Luo told them the truth 

"A sword stuck on a tree?"

Pu Hao mumbled while Xiao Yu also had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Little brother, it's okay if you don't want to tell us. You don't have to lie."

"But I am telling the truth."

Zhao Luo said to them but Senior Cutie proceeded to pat his shoulder.

'Is he telling me, not to try so hard?'

Zhao Luo felt like screaming as he didn't know what to say anymore and thus proceeded to store the glass sword in his storage space.

Senior Cutie started walking again as he stored the corpse of the beast in his storage space.

Zhao Luo also followed behind him as the four with their beast which carried a pile of corpses and four bags continued their way towards the exit of the forest.

"Where are the disciples from the Shen Sect?"

Zhao Luo asked them while missing the feisty girl who had stayed back with her subordinates to help them.

"Ah them."

Pi Hao looked saddened as he remembered the beauty from earlier.

Xiao Yu looked at Pi Hap and smirked at his innocence.

"They left after helping us in subjugating the beasts."

He told Zhao Luo with a smile on his face that was directed towards Zhao Luo.

"Little Brother, you are indeed a bad boy. I like bad boys."

Senior Cutie suddenly started talking as he turned his head around to look at Zhao Luo and winked at him.

"The young lady had a message for you."

Senior Cutie stopped and recalled the message that the beauty had left for Zhao Luo.

'Obviously, I will have to be the one to deliver it.'

Senior Cutie walked towards Zhao Luo as he was already shuddering after the last wink attack by Senior Cutie.

"W-what was the message?"

Zhao Luo asked him as even though he was creeped out, his curiosity got the better of him.

"It was a..."

Senior Cutie moved closer to Zhao Luo while curving his lips.

'What the hell is he trying to do?'

Zhao Luo stumbled backward while Senior Cutie looked at him with a mischievous look.

"Kiss."

He completed his sentence while smacking his lips together to make the word around heavier.

"Y-you."

Zhao Luo mumbled and looked furious.

'I fell for it again.'

He thought as Pi Hao and Xiao Yu had already erupted with laughter and Senior Cutie was grinning.

"This is what you get for leaving the team and going off on your own."

Senior Cutie said with a smile as he was only teasing Zhao Luo for leaving before.

"I am sorry."

Zhao Luo didn't mind showing them his humble side since he had things to take care of.

"There was indeed a message from the young lady."

Senior Cutie nodded at Zhao Luo's reaction and told him the truth.

'What could be the message?'

Zhao Luo wondered while looking at Senior Cutie who was going to tell him the truth.

"Hey, handsome. I will meet you again."

Senior Cutie said to Zhao Luo while changing his voice to exactly that of the princess.

"That is what she said."

"Is that it?"

Zhao Luo felt shocked after witnessing Senior Cutie's voice changing technique for the second time but also felt a little disappointed by the message.