Chapter 69 - Revealed Secret (1/2)

The next day at dawn, Hei and the rest of his family were already awake and ready to go. They had gone to bed early last night and were full of energy. So they joined the rest of the Flower Sect group that was waiting outside the royal palace.

Around, various groups were moving away from the palace to return to their respective sects. Since the sect leaders themselves had come for the king's celebration, they wanted to return as soon as possible. Even if they didn't leave their sects unattended, they couldn't help but worry. The same was true for the sect leader of the Flower Sect, which, however, had a bit of serenity since he had left four elders to protect the sect.

”Sect leader, I have something to ask you,” Hei said as he rejoined his group.

At Hei's words, the sect leader turned to look at him in surprise. It was unusual for him to request anything from her first.

”Tell me well, Hey. What do you need?”

Hey, before answering, looked around quickly to make sure there were no people outside the sect.

”I'm going to get away with Lian and the baby elephant while you return to the sect. If I don't hurry, someone could reach the adult elephant pair before me. I can't risk it, so I ask you to take care of Shui and my other spirit beasts in the meantime. Can I trust you with this task?”

The sect leader frowned when she heard what Hei had to say.

”Do you want to go, just you and Lian? Even if you go there to bring their baby back, it's dangerous anyway. We are talking about two second-level spirit beasts. Furthermore, even if you are a disciple of the Flower Sect, there are always hidden dangers if you travel alone as you are only in the fourth stage. Are you sure about your decision?”

”There are no problems. I carefully evaluated everything. I run no danger, be serene.”

”If so, then I guess I can't force you to change your mind. All right, go ahead. Indeed, if you leave now, you would get an advantage over any interested parties. After all, by investigating the groups of spirit beast hunters, it is possible to arrive at the position of the two adult elephants. Even if the kingdom has vetoed about it, with the right price, it is possible to make a person speak. Furthermore, if the other two elders and I return to the sect, they will never think that in the meantime, you have gone alone there. ”

”Thank you, sect leader.” Hei bowed slightly.

Then he went to the stables to communicate the news to Shui and the others. As expected, Shui and Mi were eager to go with them, but Hei categorically forbade them that. They had to stay with the new arrivals and take care of their respective groups as they were leaders. Fortunately, the two of them understood their position and followed Hei's command.

Once the buffaloes were tied to the carriages, Hei proceeded to instruct the other spirit beasts about how they should behave during the journey. In his absence, Shui would have the supreme command, and they should do everything it asked without retorting. He promised them that once they arrived at the sect, they could relax and enjoy their new home.

In order not to arouse suspicion, Hei and Lian left with the Flower Sect group. After leaving the capital behind, the two youths went down with the baby elephant. They soon disappeared into the surrounding vegetation while the sect leader, the two elders, and the remaining personal disciples watched them leave.

They, especially the personal disciples, weren't sure that Hei and Lian could succeed on their own. But there were no other alternatives, and the sect leader understood this well. After all, although she had the authority, he couldn't make Hei obey her order as with the others.

*

In a vast forest dominated by vegetation, two youths were walking at a fast pace while in their midst, there was an elephant baby who was joyously bellowing every step it took. It recognized its home and was gradually accelerating, eager to meet its parents.

The various animals and spirit beasts of the area recognized the baby and moved away from them. They could still remember the fury of the two forest rulers when a group of humans managed to steal their baby.

But if the others were moving away, the herd of elephants ruled by the baby's two parents were approaching at high speed to where Hei and Lian and the baby elephant were.

Suddenly, about fifteen elephants appeared on the horizon. However, after approaching a little, only two of the elephants continued on their way while the others arranged themselves in a circle protecting the few little elephants inside.

The two elephants were much more giant than the others, approaching four meters of height with ease, and their tusks were more than three meters long. From their body, a furious murderous aura was raging as they bellowed at their baby who, in turn, responded to their calls.

Hei, however, stopped the baby elephant from rejoining its parents. If he let it go right away, its parents wouldn't listen to him at all. But his action was seen as an attempt to hurt their child in the two adult elephants' eyes. So, they increased their speed even more and prepared themselves to attack.

At that point, Bao Bei intervened. An intense aura spread through the forest, and all the animals and spirit beasts within that range could do nothing but shiver with fear as they huddled on the ground. Even the two second-level elephants suddenly stopped their run as they watched the young human in front of them in shock.

How was it possible that he could emit such an aura? And above all, it wasn't the aura of a human but that of a powerful spirit beast.

”It's okay. I didn't come here to hurt you or your baby. I just came to bring it back and offer you a proposal,” Hei said, taking advantage of the two adult elephants calming down.

At his words, the two elephants were surprised because, although they didn't understand human language, they managed to understand the words of the human before them. Therefore, they began to issue various trumpetings asking to release their puppy first, and then they could talk.

At their request, Hei finally let the baby elephant go and waited several minutes to let the parents and child be able to hug again. When the two adult elephants found that their child wasn't injured, only then did they turn to Hei again.

”As I told you, I am here to bring you your baby back, but at the same time, to offer you a proposal. Humans know that there are two second-level spirit beasts. In a not too distant future, they will surely come here to kill you and take your spirit cores. At that moment, they will surely kill every other specimen that will try to resist.”

Listening to his words, the two adult elephants bellowed furiously and trampled their muscular legs against the ground, making the surrounding ground tremble.

”That's why I offer you an agreement. Not all humans are like that. The group of humans I belong to proposes an agreement. If you are willing to fight for them if necessary, they promise you a safe place in their domains where you won't have to worry about being attacked. Of course, you can bring your whole family with you.”