The journey took only a few moments, no more than a dozen seconds at most.

This was a technique that Elder Xi was proud of—even if it wasn't as fast as the real light, it wasn't far off. Feeling her feet fall to the ground again, Anya opened her eyes and felt a soft breeze with a slight freshness and coolness that was very different from that in the southern part of the alliance.

The hundreds of years old cloud locust is almost united, and the soft sunlight spills from the sky, passing through the layers of oval leaves, bringing not the slightest heat in this early summer. The grey squirrels jumped from branch to branch, poking their heads out from behind the trunks of the trees, glancing at the sudden 'uninvited guests', and then chasing their companions' tails into the canopy.

The surrounding area is not as noisy as the market in Xiyang, nor is it as quiet as the inner city. Birdsong, animal song, and faint laughter mingle into one, unrelated and unusually harmonious. Beneath your feet is the soft black soil, and the fallen leaves and fruits turn into part of the soil year after year, making the trees flourish as usual.

Anya retracted her gaze to make sure her clothes were still neat, and then walked along the path that had been trodden by the villagers to the fence dozens of feet away. The eagle-headed youkai held its head high and slowly followed behind her.

The story of the small village called 'Lily of the Valley', Yuffie and Lin had already told her about it. A village of this size is not uncommon in the Alliance, but with special emotions in her heart, the girl always feels that everything in front of her is covered with a special layer of brilliance.

Several petite monsters saw them and chattered around them, not feeling that Elder Xi was anything terrible at all. She struggles to find a gap in the other person's words, identifies herself, and proposes to meet with the village's 'Ahsan'.

The youkai glanced at each other, and one of them turned around and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The rest continued to surround her, asking all sorts of normal and strange questions.

"You are the king of the Alliance! Can...... What is that? ”

"You just said you knew Lynn! And, huh...... It's called Yufie, right? Why didn't they come back together? ”

"There are a lot of monsters in Xiyang City, right? Are there any youkai like me? Are there any youkai smaller than me? ”

"Yuffie and Ula had a fight, she's amazing! You must be great too, right? Ulla wants to be with you-"

The soft applause stopped the noise of the monsters. The girl raised her gaze and saw a female youkai in a cyan robe dragging a long python-like tail approaching her.

"Sister Qingluo." She bowed down lightly and greeted the 'acting village chief' of Lily of the Valley Village, "May I ask if your 'Asan' is here?" I want to meet him. ”

The woman looked down at the girl with a look of understanding.

"He's not in the village right now." She swam past Anya with a swinging snake tail and looked to the other side of the village, "I'm not sure where he went, but ...... You'er may know. She was deep in a cave not far to the north. ”

"I see, thank you." The girl nodded, following the other's gaze. Layers of trees obscured her vision, but she believed that Elder Xi had the ability to find the young Dream Spirit, or even the 'Ahsan' who didn't know where he was—no one had yet been able to escape from the eagle-headed monster's gaze.

But she wanted to get to know each other better. The reason for his alliance, the reason for his resignation from the throne, and...... He pays attention to himself and the sake of each 'demon king'.

"Ahsan...... In your opinion, what does it look like? ”

This question seems a bit clueless. Qingluo tilted her head and thought for a while, then showed a relieved smile.

"He's a very gentle man." She let go of part of the snake's tail and made her height similar to Anya's, "At the same time, she is also a very sad person." ”

"Sadness...... Target? Anya opened her mouth slightly, vaguely realizing something, "It's because ...... His past? ”

"That's right." Qingluo sighed softly, feeling a little depressed, "Before he came to this village...... Even before this continent, I can't know the past. ”

The snake-tailed woman suddenly turned her head and looked her straight into her eyes with a clear expectation in her gaze.

"Yuffie and Lynn...... I had hoped that those two girls would melt his heart. Now it looks like maybe you can too, Anya. ”

The girl's eyes widened, a little incredulous—and a little natural, to hear Qingluo's next words.

"In a sense, I can feel that you are the one he really cares about."

……

The cool north wind blew through the treetops, lifting the girl's long hair back. The sun just after noon shone on her back, without the barrier of the canopy, brought just the right amount of warmth. Several birds tried to keep up with her, but were left behind in an instant.

The eagle-headed monster took on the form of its original form, a golden-black bird of prey with a wingspan of more than ten feet, and flew over the jungle with her. Anya narrowed her eyes, trying to see the scene below, but all she could see was the endless greenery.

"Elder Xi." She put her hand in front of her mouth to avoid pouring too much cool breeze into her mouth, "What Sister Qingluo said, do you think...... What is the meaning? ”

The youkai didn't answer right away. It flapps its huge wings, gains altitude slightly, and glides quickly with the help of the wind.

The elder had always been a man of few words. Unlike Lian and Lan and others, Anya has never expressed any opinion on the clues of unknown authenticity that Anya has collected. The girl thought it would be the same this time, but after nearly a minute of silence, a familiar high-pitched voice suddenly came into her ears.

"She's telling the truth. However, how to face it is up to you, Anya. ”

Elder Xi was really familiar with that 'Ahsan', Anya thought to herself. She tried to ask for more details, but the youkai didn't speak. She had no choice but to give up trying and began to think about the meaning of the original sentence.

Time flies quickly in thought. The sudden drop in height brought the girl to her senses, only to find that the two had left the forest at some point. In front of you are low but lush shrubs, rocky peaks rising from the ground, and deep holes in the mountain walls—exactly as Qingluo describes.

The Hippogriff landed on the ground and waited for Anya to jump off her back and then transform back into a human. He stared at the entrance of the cave for a moment, then turned to the girl who was arranging her clothes.

"There's no danger inside, there's no malice in that dream." With his head held high, he said with certainty, "My strength will hurt her." Go for it, Anya. I'm right here. ”

Anya nodded. Elder Xi may have other considerations, but there is no need to continue to ask...... I didn't get an answer when I asked. She tucked her hair back at the back of her head and whispered a mantra that she wasn't quite proficient at.

A soft light flared up out of thin air, floating above her palm—one of the few simple secret techniques that Yuffie had taught her.

"Please don't worry, Elder Xi. I'll be back as soon as I can. ”

She looked up, glanced at the sun's position, and carefully stepped into the slightly slippery cavern.