"Encounter with a tree monster'

At Gao Mansion...

It was an hour's journey from the village to Gao Mansion, so Qin Yue reached the Mansion.

She seemed pretty delighted, she was humming in happiness

Her servant, who was very loyal to Qin Yue, served her since Qin Yue was a kid and came along with her to the Gao Mansion. Anything Qin Yue wanted, she would make come true.

Even at the cost of her life.

She was the trustworthy nanny, but now she had reached old age yet she did everything evil or trick that Qin Yue wished for.

Qin Yue has a special place for her in her heart.

"What's the matter, Big Madam? You look excited," asked Nanny Su.

"I executed my plan well. I thought to craft an opportunity to start with it, but that stupid kid made it easy by spilling the wine on my clothes & throughout the scene I played innocent and victim"

"But I didn't expect that brat to be so rude. He insulted me in my face, in the presence of so many people. I thought of teaching him a good lesson when he is back. He called me evil & schemer."

"I'm happy to hear Big Madam's plan worked. But are you still angry because of that kid?"

"No, no Nanny Su, it was all worthy to suffer the insult as in exchange a lot of people favoured me. I was angry at first but when I heard that they lost the idiot that soothed my heart".

" But my foolish husband blamed me for sending me back or else I would have enjoyed it more".

"That's good. I saw Madam this happy after a long time"

"Well, Nanny Su, let's enjoy our petty victory. Prepare a feast to celebrate it"

"As you wish Madam"

Back at the village

It was already late in the night Gao Lei was still searching for cheng'er But, there was no trace of him.

What angered him the most was that neither the guards from Gao Mansion Nor Gao Feng and his subordinates showed up until now

He specifically ordered them to reach quickly, as it was an emergency. But none showed up.

Gao Lei did all he could but how long could he hold on as he was alone with just two guards with him?

He then asked one of his guards to go back to the city and try to contact Wen Ying.

As Gao Lei knew, Wen Ying was the most reliable in situations like these, unlike his son, Gao Feng.

In charge of taking care of some official matters, Gao Lei had sent him out of the city with a task.

Which took time to complete. Who would've thought that just a merry poetry gathering would take such an unexpected turn, So Gao Lei had to call Wen Ying back halfway.

With just one guard left with him, Gao Lei said, "Let's continue to search".

" But, my lord, you haven't eaten anything since midday," said the guard in a concerned tone. "why don't you at least rest for a while"?.

" I've no appetite, I don't wish for anything except my son," Said Gao Lei with mixed emotions of sadness & regret.

"Let's hurry up without wasting time".

As Gao Lei took a step forward, an unusual sound alerted his senses. He stopped his legs to walk further, & signalled his guard to keep silent.

They stood silently for a while, but everything seemed to be normal. As they tried to resume their walk, the same unusual or weird sound went through their ears.

They took a few steps back to understand the situation. As they were still observing the process, by taking steps backwards, they could feel the sound getting close, so they tried to move around in all directions.

But the result was the same, Whichever direction they went, the sound grew closer.

Gao Lei pulled his sword. The sword came out with a noise that seemed to disturb something. Something made a loud "thud" from a distance when Gao Lei pulled out his sword.

Gao Lei & his guard grew alert & were trying to avoid the place. They ran backwards from the way they came from. But how could they soon find an exit? There was a lurk of darkness everywhere, just with the help of the moonlight they carefully walked all the way here,

But running wasn't helpful as they realised that they had nowhere to go & were trapped inside this dense and deep forest.

They had been searching for a long and unknowing until they reached the deeper region of this wild forest

"Ahhhh! A sudden & terrific scream was heard, Gao Lei looked in the direction of the scream just to find his guard in a horrific situation.

His eyes widened in shock, with his jaw dropped & voice stuck in his throat his whole body was shivering, Gao Lei followed the direction where his horrified eyes stared,

As soon as he laid his eyes, he couldn't believe what he saw.

A towering tree extended with terrifying branches all around the body was covered with leaves formed in human shape, its roots were above the ground similar to those of legs walking on earth, huge blood-coloured branches & black leaves could be seen from the Moonlight passing through the lattice of those strange leaves Stunned, Gao Lei couldn't name it. He had been in wars for so many years he travelled to different places, but for the first time, he did witness the strangest thing.

What on earth was that thing? Just an extremely strange tree or a monster?

if it's a wired tree, they could pass by it, in the case of a monster, the two people standing there wouldn't stand a chance to save themselves.

Gao Lei thought of something for a while and threw the scabbard of his sword on the opposite side upon a tree.

just to confirm its quality If it's a monster, it will get distracted or else any other strange thing, then it will at least move. This could make the situation better to understand.

But to his surprise, it neither got distracted nor moved a bit, but its blood-coloured branches got extended toward the direction of the sound,

the branches snaked the entire tree on which the scabbard was thrown & its branches strangled the tree until it turned into nothing but dust.

the horrors made Gao Lei terrified. What made the situation worse was the death scream of the guard that came in response to the incident that took place.

As though the branches had an alert ⚠️ system, they spun in the direction the scream came from.

A big blood-coloured branch came forward and was about to crush the person in front. A sudden light flashed & chopped the branch.

With a 'Thud'! The branch fell to the ground like a piece of useless wood.

And the tiny silver assassin blade went back to its master after cutting down the branch.

Today's tricky part to solve....

* How did Wang Bai know all about Gao Lei?

Was it just a wild guess, or did I investigate it?

* Why didn't any of them show up to help Gao Lei search cheng'er?

So, guys, this was the end of our chapter.

Hope you enjoy it...

see you guys again with a new and exciting chapter.. till then take care…