Fairy, help me cultivate.

Page 346

There are many ancient trees in the forest that require ten people to encircle, and the closer you are to the center, the thicker the trees become.

The tangled branches spread out like an umbrella over their heads, obscuring the sky, while the tree roots, hidden beneath the thick humus, lay in wait, like a net, for any careless footsteps.

The woods were filled with the sweet smell of tree sap and damp, dusty clothes; stepping inside felt like walking from summer into the chill of late autumn.

Not a sound could be heard; even the sound of their footsteps was swallowed up by the thick layer of fallen and decaying leaves.

The place felt eerie, ancient, and primitive to Chen Yao, as if it held unfathomable secrets.

"This is just a primeval forest; there are many more primeval forests around Hanyu Peak."

He said this to Ling Ning in order to get her confirmation.

Ling Ning shook her head: "It's not that simple here. I sensed suppressed anger, a long and slow hatred."

Chen Yao stopped talking and cautiously observed his surroundings.

The two walked towards the center.

The center of the primeval forest is not considered primeval.

There is a well.

Beside the well stands an ancient tree that would take a hundred people to encircle, its ancient and thick canopy filling the sky for miles around.

Over the long years, the bark of the old tree has become mottled, revealing pale white wood in many places, while scarlet leaves flow and emit a sweet smell.

At the mouth of the ancient well, sat a very pretty girl.

It looks like a delicate wooden doll.

She was humming something, but you could only hear her singing if you got close.

Chen Yao and Ling Ning dared not approach rashly.

In such a gruesome environment, it is clearly suspicious that such a little girl is sitting alone by the well.

The girl stopped humming and looked at Chen Yao with somewhat dazed eyes.

"Are you here today to help me retrieve the golden ball from the well? My favorite golden ball fell in; can you help me get it up?"

The little girl stood up gracefully from the well, demurely smoothed her skirt, and smiled at Chen Yao.

"If you can help me retrieve the golden ball..."

"I can love you and make you my best friend and playmate. I allow you to sit at the table with me and share the finest feasts. I will let you sleep in my bed and snuggle into my blankets. I promise you this."

Chen Yao and Ling Ning exchanged a glance.

Ling Ning was the first to say, "Okay."

She was about to walk towards the well when the little girl stopped her.

"I...I didn't ask you for anything."

"Does helping someone have to be selective about who you help?" Ling Ning squinted at her, already prepared to slap her to death at any moment.

Although she had a righteous heart, she was not exactly compassionate.

The little girl shook her head and pointed at Chen Yao: "Of the two of you, only he can do it."

Ling Ning snorted coldly: "Playing hard to get."

She concentrated spiritual pressure in her palm and covered the little girl's head.

The little girl didn't even have a chance to fight back before she was slapped into a ball.

Chen Yao's eye twitched, thinking that Ling Ning's ruthlessness was no less than Yun Jiang's.

For some time now, he had almost forgotten that this person was the most ruthless fighter in the Kuanglu Sect.

However, before he could begin to praise Ling Ning, the lump of flesh on the ground slowly rose up again, returning to the shape of a little girl, without a trace of injury.

The treetops overhead swayed slightly, seemingly mocking and ridiculing Chen Yao and Ling Ning.

The little girl looked at Chen Yao: "Will you help me?"

"What if I don't help?"

The little girl shrugged: "I hate people who have no compassion. Can't you see how pitiful the golden ball in the well is? It's so cold, so lonely, enduring the covetousness of the darkness, yet it can't do anything about it."

She stared intently at Chen Yao: "If you're not going to help, then you can go down and keep it company!"

Chen Yao and Ling Ning sensed that the tranquility of the forest had been shattered by a deep-seated hatred, and the trees began to sway violently.

"It seems that all I can do is help you, and then share a bed with you?"

"It seems the only thing you can do is help me and then share a bed with me, even though you look like a toad."

The little girl frowned in disgust.

Ling Ning also frowned, somewhat dissatisfied with their conversation.

"Then your taste is absolutely terrible."

Chen Yao made a joke and stepped closer to the ancient well.

The ancient well was pitch black, with only occasional ripples of dark water.

"Be careful."

Ling Ning stepped over and reminded him.

Chen Yao nodded: "With Master here, I feel at ease!"

Ling Ning reached out and patted his shoulder, then said nothing more.

Chen Yao stepped into the well, enveloped in a cool, damp aura. He fell for a long time, so long that he thought the well had no end.

Then, a pungent smell of blood hit him, and with a loud splash, he fell into the water.

It's more like blood than water.

The blood wasn't deep; it only reached up to Chen Yao's thighs.

He felt nauseous, so he released a spiritual energy shield to push the blood away from his body.

The ground felt sticky and greasy.

He focused his spiritual eyes and discovered a pile of toad corpses.

The heads of these corpses were all facing the same direction, and looking in that direction, one could see a mangled, bloody human head.

Where does this golden ball exist?

Chen Yao looked at the severed head: "I think you are that so-called golden ball?"

The head opened its eye sockets, which had no eyeballs, and said, "Not bad."

"These toad corpses, are they actually people?"

"good."

"Besides being good, can you say anything else?"

The head remained silent for a long time, seemingly engaged in a long and slow process of thought.

"If they can't save me, they'll be swallowed by the floodwaters and become nourishment for this forest. The forest doesn't want me to go out; it just wants me to lure more nutrients for them."

The head's tone turned sinister and terrifying: "This forest is alive!"

Just then, something fell from the well overhead.

Blood gushed out, and Chen Yao looked closely and discovered it was a toad the size of a person.

It's not entirely accurate to call it a toad, because its hands and feet haven't fully transformed, retaining some human-like features.

"No, no! Let me out! I don't want to be a sacrifice!"

He blindly stumbled around, keeping a distance from Chen Yao and the other person, trying to climb the smooth, moss-covered well wall.

Of course, it didn't succeed.

The man let out a long sigh.

Do you know how to save you?

Chen Yao ignored the toad and asked about the head.

The man thought for a long time: "I don't know. Perhaps, should I be removed from this tree root that's stuck in my throat?"

"Perhaps you just want to lure me into becoming nourishment."

Chen Yao looked around.

The human corpse turned into a toad, the blood that wouldn't congeal, the tree roots tangled at the bottom of the well, and the human head on the roots.

"These people must have died because of what you said, right?"

The head seemed to be thinking, "I just wanted them to try. Otherwise, how can I be saved? You'll have to take me down eventually."

Chen Yao unleashed a sword aura, slashing towards the tree roots.

The tree roots shrank back like snakes.

The sound of something scraping against the ground was like a mocking laugh.

The echo reverberated at the bottom of the well.

Chapter 281 The Substantial Comfort Ling Ning Needs

A human head fell into the blood.

The tree roots shrank into one piece, and then nothing more happened.

Chen Yao summoned a fire, which burned the tree roots, and then his sword carried the human head and the toad-man out of the well.

He threw the human head and the toad-man together at the little girl's feet.

"Here's your golden ball."