After she was done, Baihe quickly doused the fire. She turned to Fenglong and flashed him a bright smile with hidden intent, showing all of her pearly white teeth. Without saying anything, Baihe exchanged her poison laced knife with his.

Seeing how Baihe looked as if she’d done him a great service, a deep laugh burst forth; the low timbre was exceptionally pleasant to hear. Her underlying message was clear: Take good care of yourself. I’m not your free bodyguard so don’t place your life in my hand. I even threw in an extra service by upgrading your weapon.

Truth be told, Fenglong never needed anyone’s protection nor did he need help with hunting games; he only wanted to give Baihe more opportunity to show off her talents so he could observe and learn more about her secrets throughout this journey. At the same time, this would also allow her to grow.

The one thing Fenglong was absolutely certain of was how the more he interacted with this woman, the more adorable she becomes, even if Baihe was glaring at him as she walked away. Perhaps, he needed to get his eyes checked? When did he start using “adorable” to describe a woman?

As the two groups resumed their exploration, they ventured deeper into the forest. Dense trees and plants were compacted together; the road was littered with obstacles, making it harder to walk. Some of them had already been pricked a few times by thistles and thorns.

Fei Fei had accidentally stubbed her toes a few times; coupled with the humid air and damp atmosphere, her whole body was uncomfortable.

After the little episode with the golden frog, Prince Zhao’s group no longer treated any of the frogs they’d encountered as normal, making sure to keep a good distance away.

It was a smart choice they made because Ming had already spotted numerous colorful frogs along the way. Because Ming had been paying close attention to Baihe in case the woman conjures another scheme against them, he saw how she avoided all of the colorful frogs and from that, Ming was even more certain that it was best not to touch any of them.

Fei Fei really wanted to complain about how sore her feet were and how hungry she was, but knowing how displeased the two men were with her, Fei Fei didn’t dare to voice her complaints. She could only curse Baihe in her heart for not even taking breaks in-between and choosing such a difficult route.

After a long while, Baihe finally stopped. Her brows knitted as she looked up at the sky and peered through the canopy of leaves. Baihe’s face turned solemn. There was something seriously wrong with this place.

Based on her calculation, Baihe surmised they’d been traveling for about a day since arriving in this no cultivation zone forest; however, the sun was still as energetic and active, giving off a false impression of daytime.

Now, Baihe was worried. Their previous encounter with the golden frog proved the amphibian had no cultivation and was the same as the ones back in her old world; Baihe thought it would apply to all the animals and reptiles in this forest, but now…

Baihe grimaced as she confirmed once more that the sun had no intention of setting. The only conclusion from this analysis was she needed to get the hell out of here — the faster, the better.

If it were simply surviving in the wild, Baihe had the confidence to thrive in such environment, but it was obvious this place didn’t follow the laws of nature. The fucking sun worked from morning till night, 24 hours a day and probably 7 days a week! Since the environment was also moist, Baihe wouldn’t be surprised if it suddenly started raining.

Also, their journey so far had been too smooth. Based on the previous trials, Baihe didn’t believe in encountering such good luck. Without hesitation, Baihe picked up her pace while remaining vigilant of her surroundings.

She had zero desire to explore the mysteries behind this forest because all participants were restricted from accessing their cultivation and using spiritual energy to defend against foreign enemies, but this place wasn’t bounded by the same rules. God knows if some dangerous creatures would pop out of nowhere, carrying some weird supernatural abilities.

Fenglong curved his lips up slightly, impressed with her perceptiveness as he easily kept pace with Baihe. He been paying attention to the passage of time inside this forest and it was past midnight, but the sun was still shining brightly from above.

It was good this woman didn’t have a brain the size of a peanut as compared to those three annoying pests following them. She was a crane in a flock of chickens; an exceptional hidden gem that Fenglong wanted to keep all to himself. Where did this desire come from?

Upon seeing how the two in front had not only not stopped for a rest, but had instead sped up, Fei Fei stomped her foot in frustration. Prince Zhao and Ming were both exhausted and travel-weary, but the two in-front were walking even faster than before.

Gritting their teeth, Prince Zhao and Ming also increased their speed to keep up. Although their expressions were unsightly, the three still followed closely behind.

Since the two men besides her persisted in following Baihe without complaining, Fei Fei could only swallow her grievances back down her throat. Along the way, her stomach began growling; Fei Fei flushed in embarrassment, but before she could dispel the awkwardness, two additional loud growling noises emitted from Prince Zhao and Ming.

By now, Ming finally noticed something was amiss. His eyes quickly darted left and right. Other than the noises created by the two groups that disturbed the tranquility of the forest, the place was silent and still. Looking up, Ming saw the sky was still bright.

Startled, Ming realized he had lost track of time. How long have they been traveling? It appeared to still be noon, but his body felt like he had been walking non-stop for more than a day or two and his stomach felt empty to the point of protesting loudly. From this moment forward, Ming decided to keep track of time by counting.

At last, Fei Fei couldn’t take it anymore. “Baihe! Just how long are you planning to walk? Your peasant body might be tough and sturdy, but noble humans like us still need to rest!”

Since Prince Zhao also wanted to set up a tent to rest, he didn’t stop Fei Fei from her rude outburst and instead, silently waited for Baihe’s response.

Sadly for them, Baihe and Fenglong pretended as if those three were invisible, treating them like air and Fei Fei’s complaints as a wild dog barking. To be so bluntly ignored made Fei Fei feel stifled, but her target of anger was drifting further and further away.

This sort of treatment was enough to make Fei Fei vomit blood in anger. Ming chose this moment to wisely intercede before his sister could continue making a fool out of herself in front of Prince Zhao.

“We should hasten our pace too! It has been more than a day and the sun is still up. We might have even walked for close to 2 days. This place isn’t safe! We can’t waste time setting up a camp!” Ming warned.

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