CHAPTER 302: CHAPTER 22: THE FLOWER PROTECTOR

She seemed to have picked up a treasure.

Yue Jinghua’s eyes widened in shock as she watched Ya slicing open a long and narrow wound on the throat of a Dark Two-headed Wolf pinned by two opponents.

This was already the fifth attack of the day, and without exception, all were slain.

Ya was ruthless and showed no mercy in his actions.

With just a few bags of clean water and some packs of meat, she had found herself an extremely resilient fighter.

In her previous life as a female spy, she had seen some exceptional bodyguards of political figures and tycoons, including special forces soldiers, but none were like Ya.

After reaching a silent agreement with her, most of the time, Ya simply followed behind her.

He was born with a sharp sense of crisis, and several times, when Yue Jinghua was about to step on the hidden Demon God Fire in the sand, he would quickly pick her up and retreat several meters away.

The first time he picked up Yue Jinghua, a trace of puzzlement flashed through Ya’s eyes, clearly surprised by Yue Jinghua’s "weight," wondering how a man could be as light as a woman.

But before he could react, he was scolded fiercely by Yue Jinghua. Nobody likes being carried around like a sandbag.

Despite the scolding, Ya did not seem to take Yue Jinghua’s words to heart. The second time danger occurred, he still carried her, just with a slightly gentler motion.

After several occurrences, Yue Jinghua got tired of scolding. It was clear that this person was also a bit simple-minded.

With the cooperation of Ya and Snake Woman Ge’er, it took about a day and a half for Yue Jinghua to finally walk out of the Red Flowing Sand.

The red sand, blown by the wind, receded like the tide, revealing a series of softly curved hills in front, glistening darkly under the afterglow of the sunset.

That darkness was not the color of the hills’ soil but the color of a Dark Element grass.

Fire Spreading Poison Algae, a species of Dark Algae that mutated and grew thousands of years ago from the flesh and blood of countless Dark Demon Beasts and Demon Gods.

The leaves of this algae are shaped like suction cups, able to firmly grasp the footsteps of past travelers and Dark Beasts. Once it captures its prey, its suction cup leaves secrete a deadly poison, which can make the flesh decay and rot instantly upon contact with human skin, leading to death.

The most terrifying aspect is that this algae reproduces very quickly. With fresh flesh and blood, it can cover several kilometers overnight like wildfire spreading. However, this algae has one characteristic; it fears fire. Once it encounters fire, it retreats as if meeting its natural enemy.

After listening to the explanation from Little Gore, the Snake Woman, Yue Jinghua estimated the boundless expanse in front of her, which was grown over several hills with Fire Spreading Poison Algae.

This type of algae is almost like a natural military defense. If transplanted to Fengdan County and planted outside the city walls, it would become one of the best tools for defending against external enemies.

Seeing the unusually lush growth of algae in front of him, Ya frowned slightly, his instincts telling him that these hills were not easy to navigate.

"!" He noticed Yue Jinghua nonchalantly walking forward and bending down to reach towards the swaying suction cup-shaped leaves of the Fire Spreading Algae.

A pair of iron arms stretched out, tightly grasping Yue Jinghua’s hand.

Yue Jinghua almost burst out swearing, her thick eyebrows raised above her phoenix eyes, and her hand clad in Alligator Turtle Gloves swung back to slap Ya’s hand.

Upon noticing the specially made gloves on the other’s hands, Ya’s face, which had become unrecognizable in color, showed a slight embarrassment.

However, soon, he noticed that the patch of skin he had touched was abnormally smooth and warm, not at all like a man’s skin.

Ya’s gaze quickly moved upwards and upon seeing Yue Jinghua’s smooth throat, which bore no male characteristics, he withdrew his hand as if electrocuted.

Smelling the fresh human scent, the Burning Poison Algae, unable to withstand its hunger, lunged at Yue Jinghua’s hands, but the resilient Alligator Turtle Gloves, tough and firm, resisted all attempts by the Burning Poison Algae to pierce through with its poisonous liquid, despite exerting all its strength.

Yue Jinghua took the opportunity to uproot several clumps of Burning Poison Algae and threw them into the Desire Gourd, which caused the Burning Poison Swamp on the hillside to angrily emit a rustling noise as if it sensed its kind being taken away.

Without waiting for Ya to take her and run back, Yue Jinghua flicked a thumb-sized green fire from her fingertips.

Although the flame of the green fire was small, it was extremely fierce. As soon as the Burning Poison Algae touched it, it was instantly turned into ashes, emitting a stench of burnt flesh.

Ya was astonished as the green fire, which seemed fueled by gasoline, continuously devoured the Burning Poison Swamp on the hillside, expanding from the size of a palm to covering the entire hillside.

It was sunset, and in the dimming sun, this bizarre fire turned the whole hill into a sea of green flames. The heat radiating from the fire made everybody uncomfortable.

He, no, she—who exactly is she?

Ya’s heart stirred slightly as he looked at the young girl, standing elegantly before the fire with a slight smile on her lips, looking like a jade tree facing the breeze.

That subdued energy of rage that had been lurking in his heart since crossing over was forcefully suppressed at that moment.

The fire lasted for two hours, persisting until the moon rose in the east.

"That should be Death Lake ahead, my destination," the girl said, her thumb making a crisp snapping sound, as the fire on the hill mysteriously extinguished, "Ya, this is the last stretch of the journey, I need your help again."

Her tone was friendly, as if she were an old journey companion casually reminding him before setting off again.

Ya, silent, walked forward, abandoning the thought of drawing a sword to kill her at the last moment.

The mysterious young girl with the green fire, her strength was far beyond what he had initially thought.

Watching Ya walk alone over the hilltop, Yue Jinghua smiled knowingly; she understood she had completely dispelled his intent to kill. Showing weakness at times could lower her opponent’s guard, but a display of strength could also extinguish undesirable thoughts deep within them.

Ya was a smart man, she hoped he would not make any unwise choices on the last leg of their journey.

Despite just a day’s interaction, Yue Jinghua felt a kindred spirit-like camaraderie with Ya as a combat companion, aside from occasional roughness, he was indeed a trustworthy ally.

Just like Liao.

Yue Jinghua shook her head and couldn’t help but smile wryly, he could hardly be Liao.

The two walked past the eerily black charred hill, and shortly after Yue Jinghua left, there came squeaking and creaking noises from beneath the dark hill.

A charred hand stretched out from beneath the soil, and slowly, a completely black, zombie-like creature crawled out from the remains of the Burning Poison Algae and let out a cackling laugh, "It’s the Nirvana Fire Lotus, hehe, how many years has it been! It has been so many years since I’ve seen the Divine Clan appear here."