Sacred Land

As Lin and Boshu stepped onto the sacred land of the Forbidden Woods, they were on their toes. This place was quite unique. It was a levitating piece of land. However, the gateway to the realm of the Tree of Ages was situated right at the center of it. The most peculiar thing about the place was that it could gauge intentions. Anybody with malice or ill intentions would immediately turn to ashes or suffer as soon as they set foot on this land. So before descending, one had to make a firm resolution with a pure heart and stick to that intention for the rest of their journey forward and back. Any change of heart would be immediately noticed and the land would eliminate the person. 

"Boshu. Why exactly are you here?" Lin teased the already-tensed Boshu as they strolled forward.

"I.um. I'm here to help you solve the case of the eternal curse." Boshu replied very carefully, choosing his words as he stuttered.

"Are you sure? Don't you have any ulterior motive behind it?" Lin continued teasing him.

"Wha... Wha... What are you talking about, Lin? Stop teasing me." He was still stammering to get his words out.

"Are you here to get close to me, you dirty little bird?" Lin laughed as he tapped hard on Boshu's back.

" Lin....." And Lin ran, as Boshu ran after him to catch him.

By the time Roe and Xie landed on the place, it was already night. The sky was lit up with beautiful lamps hanging from the heavens. They stopped for a moment to admire the beauty before heading forward towards their destination.

"Roe, do you have any question in mind that you want to ask the tree of knowledge?" Xie asked his sister.

"Uhhh. not really. I didn't think about that yet," Roe replied.

"You know there will only be three chances," He let her know.

"No, six. Three for you, three for me." She smiled widely, pointing her finger towards herself and her brother.

You." He pretended to hit her. "You little girl. Don't you think you are being too clever? The tree of knowledge asks for a sacrifice in exchange of three answers. I may not be willing to make that sacrifice." He gave her a look.

"Won't you? Not even for me?" She made a puppy face with winking eyes.

"You... " Her brother pulled her along, saying, "Your tricks won't work on me".

She laughed as they walked forward. Suddenly, they heard some rustling sounds from behind the bush.

"Careful, Roe Roe!" Yelled Xie as they stood back to back with their swords drawn in their hands.

From nowhere, a whirlwind appeared and started coming right at them. They ducked and dodged. Then there was a whooshing of leaves, and the branches started coming at them with force.

"Roe, do whatever you can to dodge them, but remember not to make a single scratch on them," Xie instructed his sister.

"I know. I know, brother. These are sacred lands, and we are not allowed to cause any harm here. But why are they attacking us? " She asked, confused.

"I don't know. Maybe they are not satisfied with the reason we have for visiting this land. Or maybe they are testing us. It's difficult to say," Xie replied.

Brother, come here. Look, there's a pit down here. Let's hide here for awhile," Roe said, huffing and puffing from all the action.

"Good good. Let's go." Xie pulled at his sister's hand, and both went down the rabbit hole.

They landed on what seemed like a pile of hay. The surroundings were pitch dark, and they couldn't see where they were initially.

Then, from nowhere, a voice started screaming, "Wolves. Those wolves are here too. Liiiiinnnn, what am I going to do? Where will I hide? Help. Please somebody. Wolves help!" It was Boshu shouting his heart out due to his phobia that he developed because of his previous encounter with the wolves. Boshu had once been brutally attacked and mauled by some rogue wolves. He was almost dead when Lin saved him. He had been so grateful that he had dedicated his entire existence to serving Lin. At the moment, he was hanging upside down from a net. So was Lin. They had both fallen into a booby trap. Lin was very relaxed. He was taking immense pleasure in Boshu's fright.

"Who are you?" asked Roe.

"It's a bird, brother, and a Fox. Whatever on earth are you doing here? And why are you in this state?" Roe answered her own question as she curiously checked them out.

Xie pulled his sister away out of caution. "What is your purpose here?" He asked them, holding his sword out.

"As you can see, we got stuck in these traps after suddenly being attacked by a whirlwind and coming out of nowhere," Lin explained.

"We too were attacked and fell into this pit," Roe said as she cut them loose.

"What are you doing?" Her brother asked her in sign language.

"They look reliable." She said, "Tell us who you are and where are you headed?"

"Thank you. We are just travelers." Boshu tried to avoid the question timidly.

Roe immediately held him at her sword's end and said, "Don't you dare ignore me. I am the daughter of the wolf king."

"My apology, my lady," Lin said with courtesy. "I am the seventh prince of the Fox clan, and this is my bird friend Boshu. We are headed towards the tree of knowledge."

"I think I have seen you somewhere." Xie was particularly suspicious of Lin.

"" That's great. So are we." Roe cut her brother short: "You might have seen him; he is a prince; you are a prince. But I think the heavens want us to work together; that is why the turmoil sent us here," She observed.

"" Work together?" Lin pretended to be nonchalant.

"We are here to solve the puzzle about the curse," Roe said.

"So are we," Boshu let out, now quite excited at the sight of the beautiful she-wolf.

"I guess we are stuck with each other for awhile now," Lin said.

"I guess there isn't much choice," Xie agreed, quite annoyed. Roe and Boshu were the happiest with the arrangement.