54 Entering The Forbidden Bamboo Forest

"Huh?! Why didn't you say it earlier?" An Bing Qing turned her head to her left were An Xiao Ning was at his words.

She didn't wait for his reply and added as she reached for his arm, "There's less than half an hour left. Let's get going".

"Yeah, we need to depart", An Yu Yong said in a plain tone while he was standing from his seat and before the trio near the entrance could react, he went to them in an instant; then, he stretched his arm to hold the hand with which An Bing Qing was holding An Xiao Ning's arm as he continued, "But for that, they need to go out and tell to the ones driving the exact place from where we must enter".

"Ah, right", she replied as she let herself be lead to An Yu Yong's side; his movements were so smooth that they didn't feel his not-that-good mood.

Just as she came to her eldest brother's side she said with some shame, "I get overly excited and forget to let you talk; Bing Qing is ashamed, heheh…", when she laughed she smiled, but she was unhappy, she was reproaching herself in her thoughts, 'Tsk, why do I keep acting before thinking?'

Having An Yu Yong before him, An Xiao Ning was able to keep his cool at An Bing Qing's pleasant laughter; he said with a salute, "Then, we dismiss ourselves". He raised his head and turned around, dragging with him a still dazed An Cheng Dong.

He first sent him out and before he passed through the carriage entrance, he turned back and said with a very stern face, "The young miss can rest assured, we will arrive on time". He then gave a slight bow and jumped out from the carriage.

An Bing Qing blinked at his seriousness, she turned her head to ask for confirmation to her eldest brother but he wasn't there; it wouldn't be fun being disqualified of this test just because they were late. She tilted her head and turned back to see him already sitting with closed eyes. She smiled with pressed lips and raised eyebrows at this sight; her lips curved up and she shook her head while going back to her seat.

As she sat, she remembered some things, 'Eh, good thing I didn't ask anything. As long as Xiao Ning, Xi Ming, Si Zhong and Qu Shang drive we might even arrive with plenty of time to eat before entering, though the ones in the other two carriages might not have the stomach to eat at that time'. Those four were the most experienced ones and know how to deal with mysterious beasts pretty well.

Qu Shang, the oldest one participating in the competition, had tamed two mysterious beasts without the need of using the Mysterious Beast Collars that were used to control them without being contracted but he was told by An Family's Patriarch to keep it as secret and put to those beasts a collar just for show. It wasn't a surprise, though the Patriarch didn't believe his family could possibly give birth to a beast tamer as there aren't records of it in the family, he needed to be cautious because he had read that in the times were this empire wasn't even founded, many powerful clans had joined hands to end with the beast tamers heritage and lineage; even though the probability was low and that heritage was lost, if the Ancients Clans who must know about those records were to know, he was sure things would become ugly.

Time flowed; An Bing Qing had her head resting on her hand, she could only see a blurry landscape through the window and hear the whistling sound of wind and the rumbling the wheels made. She got sleepy with this combination but before falling completely asleep, the carriage halted.

She saw the motionless scenery with her half-closed eyes but didn't move until she heard her eldest brother voice after he had called her a couple of times, "… Qing, wake up. We arrived".

"Hmmgh…?" She raised her head and turned to look up at him with drowsy eyes.

"Sigh", An Yu Yong helplessly sighed when he saw her like this.

About to open his mouth to speak again, he saw her long eyelashes flutter and then snap awake with a jump, "Oh, right" and with no more words she went out of the carriage.

After an instant of amazement, An Yu Yong followed behind her.

As soon as An Bing Qing stepped out, she saw how some of the youths didn't look that well. She didn't think it was strange; the other two carriages were of a grade lower than the one she rode and didn't have a formation to keep off the outside movement from disturbing the people inside.

Her lips drew into a line, this wasn't something to laugh about.

After sweeping her eyes through the place and seeing how her eldest brother took the carriages and mounts inside a peculiar brown-coloured space ring that was one of the little rare treasures her family had kept that could keep living beings within it, she focused her sight where they were going to enter; there was a black-robed man standing in front of the endless green bamboos.

She began to walk when An Yu Yong led the others towards the entrance. They went on with smooth steps; they hadn't arrived that early but it was more than enough to walk with leisure and no pressures.

When they were before him, he said to them in a cold tone, "An Family", it wasn't a question but an affirmation. He surveyed them and added, "Only seventeen contestants" and he took out the same number of some black talismans with silver runes.

An Yu Yong didn't wait for him to ask for the resolved Encrypted Jade Card and handed it to him; An Cheng Dong had given it to him in the way here.

The man in black nodded in confirmation and gave him the Instant Teleportation Talisman in exchange before vanishing without a word.

He didn't bother for such an action and kept two before given the rest to An Xiao Ning for him to distribute them.

An Bing Qing received hers from her eldest brother, she saw him about to say something, but predicting what he was going to tell her, she was a step ahead and bound the talisman.

An Yu Yong closed his mouth and passed to see if all had bound theirs while binding his and with a nod, he lead the way when all had their eyes on him.

Neither the young men nor An Bing Qing said a word and just followed him into the Forbidden Bamboo Forest.