Allen stood in the night breeze, watching the beast tamer disappear into the distance.
Who is she?
Questions swirled in Allen's mind.
Finally, they settled on a name he had almost forgotten.
Sonia!
A fellow villager of Allen's, a neighborhood girl whose mother had been abducted, whose father had become an alcoholic, and who had suffered poverty and abuse since childhood.
Two years ago, she had been kidnapped by a circus and had been missing since.
Although there was no evidence, Allen's intuition told him that the strange beast tamer was most likely the missing Sonia.
However, if one cast aside intuition and returned to rationality, it was easy to see two absurdities in this speculation.
First, the beast tamer's age, build, and appearance did not match the Sonia Allen remembered.
It was impossible for her to have changed so drastically in just two years.
Even a full-body plastic surgery wouldn't be this thorough! Unless, of course, she's also skilled in disguise magic, or has lived in the Secret Realm of Time for an extended period.
Secondly, even if she were Sonia, there's no way she could recognize the current Alan Panthers.
Otherwise, wouldn't his disguise have been in vain?!
If that's the case, how could this woman reveal his identity so easily?
What was the purpose of the note left by the beast tamer?
Alan couldn't figure it out for now.
To solve the mystery, it seemed he had to go to Baiqua.
…
Six talented children were kidnapped by the Amazing Circus.
Four of them were legitimate descendants of the Griffin family!
To rescue the kidnapped children, the Griffin family immediately organized a force to hunt down the circus.
Alan, Julie, and Felin, as witnesses, were also added to the capture team.
The team was led by Flynn's father, Ryan.
Mr. Ryan, a slightly chubby man with a friendly smile, resembled a shrewd businessman, but he was actually the current patriarch of the Griffin family.
With late Stage II strength, he was more than capable of dominating the entire island!
Vice Captain Charlie, one of Flynn's uncles, had reached the early Stage II stage.
There were three other team members: Neil, Parker, and Lowry, all Flynn's cousins.
All three young men were at the late Stage I stage.
The pursuit team was complete.
The next day, they set out for Baiqua Island, the escaped location of the Amazing Circus.
Ryan and Charlie had traveled extensively in their youth.
Baiqua Island was one of the places they had visited.
They were familiar with the local conditions and could double as guides.
Allen specifically inquired with Flynn's father and learned that there were two extremely dangerous places on Hundred Springs Island.
One was the "Whispering Valley," said to be the home of goblins and ghosts.
The other was the Hundred Springs Marsh, the meeting place the animal trainer and Allen had "agreed" to meet.
The journey from Griffin Island to the marsh would take at least two months.
However, the Griffin family had a faster means of transportation: the griffin airship.
Four griffins, two at a time, took turns towing the small airship.
With the griffins pulling, and the sails providing auxiliary power, the Hundred Springs Island could be reached in less than three days.
…
Hundred Springs Island, northern coastal area.
Whispering Valley.
Dense forests covered both sides of the valley.
The forests were home to moody goblins.
And ghosts who hated the living haunted them.
Since ancient times, the valley has been shrouded in a mysterious barrier.
Any natural sounds, such as wind and thunder, even the roars of wild beasts, would not cause any anomalies within the valley.
However...
If someone spoke loudly within the valley...
No matter what language or accent they used...
Anything involving complex grammatical logic could anger the goblins and ghosts within, inviting an attack.
Therefore, to safely traverse the valley, it was best to remain silent.
If they absolutely had to speak, they could only whisper.
Hence, the name "Whispering Valley" came into being.
...
Alan and his group had originally planned to fly over the valley in a Griffin airship.
This method of travel was the safest.
Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes.
They encountered a storm mid-flight and had to land for shelter.
On board, besides Allen and the seven members of the Griffin family, were four experienced crew members responsible for maintaining the airship and raising the griffins.
Thanks to these experienced crew members, the airship landed safely in the heart of the flat valley.
The airship's temporary anchorage was not far from a dense forest.
Two men in green cloaks took refuge in the woods.
Each holding a green-painted monocular, they observed the people entering and leaving the cabin.
The news that the Griffin family had formed a pursuit team had already been discovered by the beast trainer.
As soon as the pursuit team's airship took off, Ethan received a magical transmission from the beast trainer.
Ethan felt it necessary to teach the Griffin family, who had overestimated their capabilities, a lesson.
Thus, the captain left the ventriloquist and the knife thrower behind to stop the pursuers.
Both were nature sorcerers.
The ventriloquist had awakened his satyr bloodline.
The knife thrower possessed half-elf ancestry.
Both were at the late first level of cultivation.
Though their rank wasn't high, they were highly skilled in woodland combat.
Especially in special situations like the Whispering Valley.
Victory or defeat depended more on environmental factors than pure strength.
A skilled hunter often presented themselves as prey.
The two had reason to believe that their carefully laid traps would be enough to give the pursuers a head start!
…
The ventriloquist, hiding in the woods, pointed at Felin, who had disembarked for a stroll, and softly chanted the first-level "Hypnotism" spell.
"Vanima!"
A barely perceptible beam of green light pierced through the branches and shone onto Felin's back.
Felin was chatting quietly with Alan.
Both knew the taboos of this valley.
They kept their voices low, occasionally using gestures to help them talk.
Felin paused, a look of confusion crossing his chubby face.
"Felin, are you okay?"
Alan noticed something was off about his expression and whispered.
"No!" Felin suddenly raised his voice. "Just a little dizzy!"
"A-choo!" He sneezed loudly, rubbing his nose and yelling. "Look at this damn weather! The wind's getting stronger. When can we get our airship—"
You bastard, don't take me with you if you're going to kill yourself!
Alan covered Felin's mouth with his hand to stop him from speaking loudly.
He glanced around warily.
Luckily, he hadn't disturbed the forest spirits yet.
"Woo-woo-woo~~"
Fellin struggled restlessly, his mouth covered, as if he wanted to protest loudly.
At this moment, Mr. Ryan also noticed something was amiss.
He rushed over, grabbed his son's ear, and twisted it hard.
Fellin shuddered in pain.
The pain suddenly brought him back to his senses.
His face paled!
He finally realized he had just fallen under a hypnotic spell.
Unknowingly, he had violated a taboo!
Julie, along with her uncle Charlie and three cousins, quickly gathered around.
"What's wrong with Felin?" Julie whispered in Allen's ear. "How dare he yell like he's gone mad!"
"Felin, it seems he was under a hypnotic spell just now," Allen replied in a whisper.
"Someone's plotting against us. They want to use Felin to draw the forest spirits to attack us!"