The Eye of Destiny opened again, and Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Detection once again.
With Wang Qiu'er's help, his spiritual powers were greatly enhanced. During the process of detection his senses continued to extend three kilometers past his previous limit.
Huo Yuhao's body turned slowly, and his vertical eye shone with golden light. The light illuminated everything.
He didn't harbor any hopes of finding his companions directly. However, obtaining clues would make it easier for him to track them down.
Very soon, Huo Yuhao's gaze fixed in a certain direction.
"Let's go." Huo Yuhao lifted his feet and dragged Wang Qiu'er along with him.
Wang Qiu'er had no intention of letting go of his hand. When their martial souls fused together, their speed greatly increased.
Huo Yuhao continued to use his Spiritual Detection to search for clues, and finally found the place that they originally fought at.
The female bear's corpse had disappeared, but there were still large patches of bloodstains and marks on the ground. When they followed the trail back to the place where they had been separated from the rest, they didn't find the Shrek team there.
Wang Qiu'er furrowed her brow and said, "What do we do now? We don't know where they've gone, and the forest is so huge. Why don't we find a suitable soul beast for you first? With our strength, we should be able to handle things."
Huo Yuhao shook his head. His eyes were filled with golden light, as if he was searching for something. Very soon, his gaze fixed on a large tree not far away. He walked quickly up to the tree and squatted down to take a closer look at it.
Wang Qiu'er had just joined Shrek Academy, and hadn't been influenced by Shrek Academy's culture yet. Huo Yuhao was different. He had been in the academy for a long time, and even gone through the Ultimate Soldier Plan! He naturally recognized some of Shrek Academy's specific markings.
After heaving a sigh of relief, Huo Yuhao stood straight and said, "They're alright. The three brothers should have left. This marking was left by eldest senior sister, which indicates that they're safe. They went in that direction to find us." As he spoke, he pointed ahead.
Wang Qiu'er nodded and didn't say anything more.
The two of them continued on their way. On the way, Huo Yuhao used his Spiritual Detection to look for more markings left behind by Zhang Lexuan. His luck was pretty good, as he kept finding them.
At this point, the sun was already high in the sky, it had just hit noon.
Huo Yuhao didn't borrow Wang Qiu'er's strength anymore, and thus he no longer held her hand. The two of them didn't speak to each other along the way, and barely had any interaction. Huo Yuhao walked in front, while Wang Qiu'er followed silently behind him. Everything seemed very simple and calm.
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At this point, they were slowly venturing deep into the Hybrid Region. Huo Yuhao didn't move quickly. Whenever he discovered a strong soul beast, he would wait cautiously. He tried his best to avoid fighting.
Wang Qiu'er followed behind him, concealing her surprise. Zhang Lexuan had led the team earlier, and thus Huo Yuhao hadn't had a chance to lead. However, only the two of them were left now. He demonstrated his rich wealth of experience and composure by exploiting the terrain, using his Spiritual Detection well, and demonstrating his familiarity with the habits of various types of soul beasts.
They rarely fought along the way. Most of the time, he avoided the aggressive soul beasts using his Spiritual Detection. Although it was also slightly related to the fact that there were only the two of them, it was mostly because of Huo Yuhao's control.
"Let's rest for awhile before eating." After walking for almost four hours, it was already close to evening. Apart from fighting, the two of them were rushing to locate the rest of the team the whole day. They were naturally fatigued, so Huo Yuhao suggested they rest for a while.
Wang Qiu'er shot him a look and said, "I thought you were a machine who doesn't know what being tired is."
Huo Yuhao was a little apologetic as he replied, "I'm sorry. I'm just anxious to find the rest in case they're worried about us."
Wang Qiu'er found a spot on higher ground for them to rest at. Huo Yuhao took out some dry rations and water for her from his storage-type soul tool.
Wang Qiu'er took the baked bun from him and heated it up with her palm before returning it to him. After that, she also started to eat.
This was her second time eating his food. This time, she didn't waste any of it. Although she didn't eat quickly, she still managed to consume two baked buns.
Huo Yuhao ate four of them. Since he was still growing, he naturally ate more.
After drinking some water, Huo Yuhao said, "Wait for me here. I'll be back soon." He didn't tell Wang Qiu'er where he was going, and ran into the forest.
She was slightly stunned, and was in a daze as she watched him leave. She placed her spear on her legs and caressed its haft softly. Her eyes flashed with light as she was lost in thought.
Is he going to return? For some reason, she thought of this even though she shouldn't need to. She didn't even know why she was doing this. However, she was afraid when she imagined that Huo Yuhao might not return.
Fear was an emotion that had never appeared in her heart before!
Fortunately, this fear didn't last for long. Huo Yuhao returned after a while, and he seemed to be carrying something in his clothes.
"Come, eat this." Huo Yuhao squatted down in front of Wang Qiu'er. He took out a bunch of purple fruit.
The fruit looked extremely plump, and each was the size of a kid's fist. The juices from the fruit seeped from their skins. Even though it was evening and the sunlight was getting dim, the juices could still be seen glistening on them.
Seeing that Wang Qiu'er was in a daze, Huo Yuhao asked, "We can't always eat dry rations. This type of purple fruit tastes pretty nice. They taste sweet and sour, and are also quite nutritious. I discovered them when I used my Spiritual Detection earlier."
Wang Qiu'er seemed to only recover from her daze at this moment. She took one of the fruits and bit into it. She tasted a very strong sourness when she took the first bite. She felt that her teeth were going to fall off, and groaned slightly. She shot Huo Yuhao a protesting look as she lifted her head.
Huo Yuhao continued to smile as he looked at her. There was a look of eagerness in his eyes.
Indeed, her look disappeared in a moment. The taste of this purple fruit was very weird. It was very sour as it first entered one's mouth, but this sour taste soon disappeared. What replaced it was a refreshingly sweet taste. As the juices entered one's stomach, the refreshing feeling helped wash away one's fatigue.
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "The teacher who taught us about nutrition told us that the taste of this purple fruit is like life, there's always a sour and sweet part to it. How is it? It's pretty good, right?"
Wang Qiu'er glared at him and answered, "I'm actually a carnivore. As long as there's meat, I'm okay." Although she said this, he reached out both her hands to grab two more fruits from Huo Yuhao's sleeves. She took half of what he had plucked.
Huo Yuhao smiled but didn't mock her. He sat to one side and started to eat. He left some at the end before wrapping it up.
"For her?" Wang Qiu'er asked.
"Yes. Dong'er hasn't had these purple fruits before. It's a pity that these were the only ones that were ripe. Otherwise, we could share them with everyone." Huo Yuhao answered. How could he forget Wang Dong'er as he tasted such a delicacy?
At this point, a streak of golden light suddenly flashed. A sudden threat surfaced. Huo Yuhao moved his body subconsciously.
He heard a puffing sound, and the handkerchief used to wrap the fruits was torn open by the streak of golden light. After that, the bag of fruits burst open as the golden light scattered, and the fruits were turned into juice before scattering on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Huo Yuhao was furious as he looked at Wang Qiu'er.
She lifted her head and said arrogantly, "I won't allow you to share what I've eaten with the rest."
"You… you're crazy." Huo Yuhao clenched his fist. As he looked at the juice on the ground, he had the impulse to fight her.
Wang Qiu'er said proudly, "If you're unconvinced, you can try. However, you won't get the fruits back even if you beat me."
Huo Yuhao took in a deep breath and glared at her. After a while, he said, "When we return to the academy, I'll challenge you."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and left. He stopped resting and continued on with the journey. Wang Qiu'er, who had gone through thick and thin with him earlier, actually did such an unreasonable thing. His impression of her dipped significantly. However, they were in the Great Star Dou Forest, and it wasn't the place for him to rage.
Wang Qiu'er revealed a slightly lonely look in her eyes as she watched Huo Yuhao's back. She clenched her lips as she glanced at the juice on the ground. She lifted her Golden Dragon Spear and chased after him.
After this confrontation, they spoke even less to each other. Huo Yuhao explored the way seriously in front, while Wang Qiu'er followed silently behind him.
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The sky was gradually getting darker.
The Great Star Dou Forest was much more dangerous at night. Many soul beasts would appear during the night, while to humans, nighttime was the time when they would feel tired.