Although Xiao Yexuan had already left the area, he still had control over the territory he had occupied.
Even if he couldn't see Tang San from afar, he could still sense his location.
Xiao Yexuan noticed that Tang San had already come down from the horizontal bar.
Then he headed off in one direction.
Xiao Yexuan didn't believe that this scheming guy Tang San would obediently stay in place.
He must be thinking about how to escape from here.
Let him try. If Tang San manages to escape, Xiao Yexuan will wash his hair while doing a handstand.
However, after a whole morning, Xiao Yexuan felt that something was off.
Tang San, after all, was someone who had lived two lifetimes—how could his escape route be so obvious?
He just kept heading in one direction, and from the looks of it, he didn't seem in a rush to leave.
This caught Xiao Yexuan's attention. He suspected something unexpected had happened.
But it couldn't be that Tang San had been captured by a soul beast.
The surrounding soul beasts had already been controlled by Xiao Yexuan and could only move within designated areas.
Then what exactly was Tang San doing?
So, Xiao Yexuan put aside his expansion work and headed over to Tang San.
Tang San was still Tang San, except now his eyes were vacant, and a look of excitement was on his face.
As if something was enticing him forward.
Xiao Yexuan really wanted to break the spell and bring Tang San back to normal.
But he held back. He also wanted to find out who exactly was secretly targeting his beloved little Tang San.
By following Tang San, he believed he could find the one behind it all.
Who knows—it might be a powerful soul beast still in hiding?
Then Xiao Yexuan's Ten Thousand Souls Banner would gain yet another great warrior.
It's just that Tang San walked so slowly. Xiao Yexuan could tell from the route he had taken.
The culprit who put Tang San in this state had always been ahead.
Well, that made things easier.
So, Xiao Yexuan ignored Tang San and went straight ahead.
At the same time, he spread the Aura of Life, opening a path he could completely control.
After Xiao Yexuan left, Tang San kept walking and walking—it was already noon.
Tang San's consciousness was still somewhat clear, but he was now too hungry to continue.
He looked around and realized he was in unfamiliar surroundings. Panic set in.
Tang San: "How did I suddenly end up here? What exactly happened?"
Unknown mysteries loomed over Tang San, making her anxious and afraid.
She raised her hand, wanting to pinch the back of it hard.
Maybe this was a dream.
But just as she put her hand down, she froze. For some reason, she feared the pain.
Even a little bit of pain reminded her of how much it had hurt yesterday when she wore that huge tail.
Every time she thought about it, her body trembled like a pink baby tangerine.
Tang San: "That should be enough to test if this is a dream..."
Half an hour later, Tang San collapsed to the ground.
She was convinced now.
This wasn't a dream. It was real.
Tang San: "But why did I suddenly come here? I remember... something warm, comforting, familiar was calling to me?"
She brushed dirt over the traces of her earlier misdeeds to cover them up.
Then, she struggled to her feet.
Her stomach growled, and she felt incredibly weak.
If she didn't find something to eat soon, Tang San felt she'd have to eat grass.
Strange... Even in the quietest forests, there were usually small animals. But here, after walking around for so long, she hadn't even seen bird droppings.
Tang San: "Ugh... So hungry! Is this the same forest as before? Why are there no small animals or soul beasts? Ugh... could it still be a dream? Let me test again... maybe when I wake up, there'll be a delicious spicy rabbit head in front of me—meow~!"
Tang San swallowed hard. Spicy rabbit head was just too delicious.
Tang San: "Ouch ouch ouch! Dreams don't hurt! This is real! Damn it, it must be that bastard Xiao Yexuan's doing! Too despicable!"
Furious, Tang San could only curse out Xiao Yexuan.
After several minutes of swearing, she got up again. Her stomach was growling—it only made her hungrier.
After crawling for several more minutes, Tang San finally found something edible.
But looking up—damn—it was a durian! And it was growing way too high up!
Also, this forest had been strengthened by Xiao Yexuan's Aura of Life. The plants had grown taller and larger.
Tang San looked—it had to be over 30 meters high.
But she was determined. She believed she could climb up and reach it.
However, after climbing only five meters, certain "regions" of her body started to itch and hurt.
She looked down, got dizzy, and fell.
After two recent falls from high places—especially after that fox tail incident—Tang San was now afraid of heights.
Psychological trauma like that wasn't easily shaken off.
From afar, Xiao Yexuan could also sense that Tang San's pace had slowed and become erratic. But he wasn't worried.
Everything was within his grasp.
Besides, now was not the time to return.
The closer Xiao Yexuan got to Tang San's destination, the more he could feel that vast Aura of Life.
So much life force, and it was clearly connected to Tang San—he didn't even need to think. It had to be Tang San's mother, A Yin.
That only made him more eager to get closer.
Maybe, just maybe, he'd get a bonus surprise: Tang Hao might be there too?
Meanwhile, back with Tang San, some time had passed and she woke up from hunger.
Once again, she began crawling around in search of food.
Looking at the grass everywhere, Tang San really wanted to just eat some to fill her belly—but she knew she hadn't quite reached that level of desperation yet.
She looked around. With so many durian trees, she refused to believe not a single one had dropped to the ground.
Search and search.
Crawl and crawl.
Then her eyes lit up—no more trees ahead, and there was even a small stream!
Tang San instantly leapt with joy. A stream meant fish! And she could finally take a proper bath!
Excitedly, Tang San stripped off all her clothes and dove straight into the water.
After a long time, she surfaced, a fish clenched between her teeth.
But looking around, this dense forest seemed strangely clean—processed, even. There weren't many burnable trees.
Tang San's stomach growled again.
She looked over at her clothes—whatever. Eating came first.
So Tang San lit her clothes on fire, placed some wet wood over them, and started grilling her fish!
As for losing her clothes? For Tang San, that was nothing—just needed three leaves anyway.
(End of Chapter)