The next morning, Petra woke up to a heavy downpour.
Unlike the previous few rainstorms, this one was like a tidal wave.
Petra spent the morning sitting inside her little cottage, looking at the rain through a glassless window, occasionally being pelted by small droplets of rain. She held a cup of steaming hot water, while trying to pretend that it was hot chocolate, and gently sipped. Despite trying her best to pretend that she hadn't scalded her lip, she was doing a very bad job.
Her little face was scrunched up, and her tiny tongue was stuck out.
She took out the crystal tome and began to record.
Something about 'hateful water' and 'too hot'…
Now that she had a seemingly endless supply of 'paper', she finally decided to start a journal. She spent the morning in leisure, recording the events of her transmigration up until now.
She also copied all the notes in her small notebooks to this new digital format as a backup.
After a long morning of writing, Petra finally left the house.
The skies were still dark, and the wind was still blowing.
Although this area was mostly unaffected, there was still the occasional strong gust of wind.
Petra held down her hair in an attempt to stop it from whipping her in the face.
Petra checked on the gardens. Both the farms and the poison garden were growing especially fast. This was likely a side effect of the underground spirit stone vein.
Petra walked over to the large map. She looked at the nearly completed map of the Green Wind Forest. Aside from a few places where even the ants couldn't go, most of it was filled out.
Petra watched the many red dots moving around in real time.
Strangely, she noticed five red dots that had entered the hundred-kilometre zone where normal people would avoid.
Not only that, but they were slowly approaching her position.
Petra squinted her eyes.
'Why do I smell the scent of 'fate'?'
Her eyes moved from the map and towards the forest.
'If I wait here, they'll probably arrive here in 5 - 6 hours...'
She really didn't want them to come here, so should she just meet them in the forest? If her guess was right, she probably couldn't avoid this.
Petra walked into the poison garden and plucked a few plants.
'It's an opportunity to try a few of these.'
After making up her mind, she began to prepare.
After signaling the centipede to guard the house, Petra packed some of her belongings, grabbed the stupid frog, and rode the spider into the forest, disappearing into the thicket.
With the ant queen to guide the way, there weren't many places in the Green Wind Forest that she couldn't go.
* * *
Deep in the forest, under the raging winds and violent storm, two small figures were rushing through the tangled mess of bush and vines. Unlike Petra, who seemed to have the ability to basically ignore all the dangers in the forest, these two little black-haired girls didn't have the ability to do so.
They were tired and exhausted.
Their fair skin was cut and bruised.
Blood flowed from their feet and thorns stuck in their arms.
One was missing an eye, and the other had a badly mangled arm.
As the duo ran, a group of three men skillfully chased after them.
The pursuers were struggling far more than the two girls. Their larger size made it more difficult to traverse the forest, combined with the muddy ground, each step was a battle against nature. Despite this, their long years of hunting allowed them not only to keep up, but also to slowly close the distance.
"Damn it, Andrew! If you didn't let them escape, we wouldn't have had to chase them into this godforsaken jungle!"
The man named Andrew gritted his teeth. "How was I supposed to know those little brats could cure the poison!"
The third man roared, "If we let them get away, the captain will have our heads. Apparently, those brats have a huge bounty on their heads. I heard that they are from some big family or something! Looks like they took the chance to run after what happened in the ruins."
As he spoke, a large thunderclap rocked the sky.
Up ahead, the two little girls were running with all their might.
"Big sis, hold on, just a little bit further!"
"Big sis, don't close your eyes! Focus on my voice!"
"Big sis, keep going. We're almost there!"
"Big sis..."
"Big sis..."
"Big…"
The young girl's voice echoed through the green sea.
As the two continued further and further into the forest, the little girl with the injured eye became more and more dispirited.
Her body began to struggle more and more with each step.
The rain was like a mountain pushing down on her frail frame.
The wind was like chains, dragging her flesh back into the darkness.
The thunder was like laughter, ridiculing her feeble attempts to escape.
Soon, she was almost crawling, only focused on the distant voice of her little sister.
The forest was getting darker with each passing moment.
As time passed, the sobbing sound of the little girl became quieter and quieter.
She stopped running, only to desperately hug the quickly weakening body of her big sister.
"Please, big sister... don't go..."
The tears that ran down her cheeks disappeared into the rain.
She hugged her sister's body tightly. She felt like if she let go, her sister could disappear at any moment.
Soon, the three men caught up.
Seeing that one of the girls was dying, they frowned.
"Was the bounty for both of them, or just one?"
"I don't remember, but I think it was both of them..."
"Shit, the captain's going to kill us!"
One of the men walked over and kicked the little girl to the side, knocking her away from her sister.
"Damn it, why did you have to run!"
He kicked her in the head, again and again, his ferocity on full display and fully focused on the small head. He didn't stop, needing to vent his anger. Each kick was like a sledgehammer, breaking bones like glass.
"This is all your fault!"
A boom of thunder cracked the sky.
He cursed and cursed, over and over, not stopping until his rage was slightly quelled.
Just as he was about to kick the little girl to death, an ice-cold voice suddenly called out from behind.
"Excuse me, if you're not going to use them, then why don't you pass them to me?"
The voice was clear and crisp. It seemed to cut through the heavy rain like a dagger made of ice.
The three men were suddenly startled.
They all looked towards the voice in shock.
At some point, a little girl wearing a crudely made leather hood had appeared not too far from them. Her eyes peeked out from behind the hood, looking at them like a cold hunter. Long emerald hair flowed from the depths of the hood, making one question her race.
The largest man narrowed his eyes.
Even in this rain, he should have been able to detect the approach of such a young girl.
Wanting to play it safe, he raised his guard. One could never know if the appearance of a person truly reflected their real selves. "I'm sorry, these two belong to us. Please mind your own business."
Hearing this, the other two men realised that their boss was unusually cautious towards this little girl.
"Are you sure? They seem to be dying?"
The question was cold and unhurried.
"Little girl, where did you come from? Who brought you so deep into the forest?"
His question would affect how he treated this little girl.
A small smile crept onto Petra's little face.
"I'm all alone, I live under a tree not too far from here. I was originally a resident of the small town just west of here."
Hearing this, the man relaxed a little.
'She's a resident of Evergreen Town? Then it's fine…'
"If that's the case... Then I'm sorry about this little miss."
He took a large step forward, completely unaware that his usual caution seemed to have disappeared with the wind. So what if she was from Evergreen Town? Didn't he know that was almost a month's journey away? What kind of child could make that journey alone? Those who stood in the range of the Emerald Ghost Tree needed to have a strong mind, or else they would be slowly whittled away.
Petra's eyes moved from the three men to the two twins that she recognized from the market.
She didn't expect to see them again after so long.
Ignoring the man who was approaching with a tyrannical gait, Petra walked forward.
When the man reached Petra and was about to yank her up by her hood, suddenly, a massive scythe protruded from the darkness and speared the man through the heart.
He fell forward and died in an instant.
Petra casually walked over his cold corpse.
Her actions were as if nothing had happened.
To her, he was already dead, lying on the ground as just another brick on her way.
The remaining two men were shocked.
They looked away from the little girl and into the darkness behind her.
In an instant, they realised a massive beast with countless arms was concealed within the darkness. The towering beast was five meters tall and stood behind the little girl like her shadow. Its eight red eyes glowed with a venomous light.
A chill ran down the spines of the two mercenaries.
"Wah, what the fuck is that!"
The first man was terrified by the sudden appearance of the towering monster. But the other man, his shock was for a completely different reason. Unlike his companion, he actually recognized the species of this spider. This was a Tower Spider, a legendary species that was said to have disappeared long ago.
"T-thats, a Tower Spider! How, how is it possible for that thing to appear here!"
Fear engulfed the duo.
Petra approached step by step.
"If you're going to run, now's the time~" The young voice was like a bell, returning them to reality.
It was only now that they realised that the spider seemed to have attacked for the little girl in front of them.
Instinctively, they took a step back.
A moment later, they ran away in opposite directions.
Petra signalled the spider to 'go hunt'.
Following her command, the massive beast disappeared into the darkness, its speed far faster than that of the two men.
Petra turned her attention to the two girls.
She frowned.
"What a pain in the ass."
Seeing the two familiar faces, she really felt like she smelled the smell of 'fate'.
"I should have just stayed home."
Petra looked at the slightly smaller girl who was just barely hanging onto her last sliver of consciousness.
"Hay, little girl, do you know how to make clothes?"
The question was odd and out of place.
Despite that, it was like a light in the darkness.
Finding that last thread of hope, the smaller of the two twins opened her dry mouth with all her strength...
"My sister… does..."
Then she fell silent, losing consciousness.
Petra frowned and took a closer look at the 'big sister'.
Her injuries were a lot more serious than her little sister's. If Petra wanted to save her, she would have to use one of the life-saving medicines that Elena left for her.
After a moment of thought, Petra decided it was better to use it on others than on herself. This situation was actually perfect.
Taking out the green medicinal pill, Petra crouched down and stuffed it in the mouth of the little girl with the missing eye. Although this couldn't regrow her eye, it could still heal most of her life-threatening injuries.
After making sure she was stabilized, Petra prepared to return.
A few moments later, the large spider returned with two dead bodies. Petra stripped them of anything worth saving, then casually pulled the two twins onto the spider's back.
She originally wanted to test some new poisons on them, but that flame of anger just didn't allow it.
Before returning, the ant queen suddenly made a strange gesture. Although Petra didn't know what it meant, she vaguely understood that more people were coming.
She frowned. Where did these people come from?
When she looked at the map before she left, it was only these five people. Petra shook her head, there was no point in worrying.
She signalled the spider, and the group returned to the Emerald Ghost Tree.
-
Around an hour after Petra left, a large group of about twenty people appeared around the place where the three men had died.
The only thing they had in common was a grey snake tattoo around their necks.
The men whispered something before leaving silently.
-
After Petra returned, the first thing she did was look at the ant-powered map. Compared to before, the number of people who had entered the repelling zone had increased by quite a lot.
Although there were a lot of people, Petra was still sure that none of them could reach the Emerald Ghost Tree. Unlike the large area which repelled people unconsciously, the barrier surrounding the true body of the tree was something that was nearly impossible to enter.
After confirming the number of people, Petra told the spider to drop the twins in front of the house.
Petra used her little arms to drag the two girls, who were somehow still smaller than her, into the house and out of the wind and rain.
Because there were no beds to drop the girls, Petra just dumped them in the corner of the main lobby. What, did you think she was going to give up her own bed?
She let the frog keep an eye on them and went back outside.
She returned to the map and began watching the movements of the 'intruders'.
Night was coming, so she wanted to see how these people would act.
As she was watching, the stupid little ball rolled to her feet.
The chrysalis bumped into her, almost like it was demanding attention.
Petra picked it up with her little hands.
With everybody working, this thing was the only one lurking around all day. Petra didn't know whether to feel sorry for it or annoyed at how lucky it got.
As a master level salted fish, she understood better than anyone how good of a life this thing was living.
Petra leaned against a big rock and quietly watched the ants move.
She thought back to the name the man had called out earlier, 'Tower Spider'.
Petra looked into the distance at the big spider doing its best to play the role of a lumberjack.
She knew what the Tower Spider was, no, she actually knew what three of the five little guys that followed her were.
Only the ant and the chrysalis were unknown to her.
The little spider was a Tower Spider. This thing was said to be able to grow so large that you could eventually build a small city on its back. At that time, it would be called a 'Castle Crawler', not a tower spider.
The centipede was another legendary species called the River Winding Centipede. It was said that after this thing grew up, its body could reach between continents.
Last but not least, the big frog Petra liked to sleep with. This thing was a Sky Strike Dart Frog. Aside from its ridiculously poisonous body, its tongue could reach the clouds in an instant. The reason Petra liked to sleep with it, aside from it being very cute, was actually so that her body could build up a poison resistance.
She didn't know what was going on with her physique, but after spending so much time together with the large frog, it was hard to tell if anything had changed.
As for the ant queen and the chrysalis...
Petra felt like the ants' ability to control so many ants so far away was more like a mini version of a very terrifying interstellar insect swarm from the fantasy novels back home.
Then she looked down at the football in her hands.
Being so active while in the chrysalis state was very strange, right?
She didn't know what would come out of this thing, but she had high hopes for it. The other beasts that she had attracted were all monsters, so she was sure this thing wasn't too much of a weakling.
Petra spent most of the night watching the map and monitoring the movements of these people.
It wasn't until a sharp scream came from the cottage that Petra was jolted awake in the middle of the night.
It seems like one of the little girls had woken up.