Bai Xue Yao dashed into the woods, her legs barely touching the forest floor. She had always wanted to fly but she never expected it would be this way.
The monster… beast… whatever it was, was hot on her trail. Shaking the earth with every footstep it took.
"Mom, save me. I promise I'll be good." She muttered inwardly.
She skidded to a halt, her feet pushing the debris into the air. Her heart hammered in her chest, almost bursting out of its ribcage.
Xue Yao's eyes widened as she stared directly into dozens of red eyes fixed on her. 'Wow, what a befitting way to die… hehe… at least they would have a feast… on me.' She cried inwardly.
The beast with red eyes slowly moved forward, ready to lunge at her. Their furs were black like midnight, and they resembled wolves but their heads were a little thinner and longer, and their pointy ears were long and sharp.
"Grrrrrh."
"Growl."
She was caught between the half-tortoise-dragon beast and the strange-looking wolves. Her feet trembled slightly.
Swallowing hard, she parted her lips as she slowly raised her hand. "Calm down guys, I know I'm juicy but why don't we do this in a more civil way?" She tried smiling politely but failed miserably.
"Grrrrh." The wolves growled aggressively, their limbs flexing slowly. Their eyes fixated on Xue Yao and the tortoise-dragon beast behind her.
"Okay, I'll take that as a no… what about you make it quick so I don't feel any pain…"
"Grrrrrrrh!" The tortoise-dragon beast and the wolves growled at the same time.
Then they lunged towards her simultaneously. Her legs gave way, and as she looked up expecting the face of death to grin at her, she saw the wolves jumping over her, attacking the tortoise-dragon.
"Oh…Oh… are they fighting over me now… whew." She shakily wiped away the sweat from her forehead. She slowly crawled on all fours, moving away from the harbingers of death.
A wolf flew over her, crashing into the tree, it let out a whimper before closing its eyes. Xue Yao looked back, and although the wolves had the advantage in numbers, they were clearly having a hard time fighting against the tortoise-dragon monster.
Xue Yao hurried to her feet and started running again. 'I'm not going to sit around and find out who wins or loses, because I'll still end up as their food. Where should I run to… where…' Her thoughts faltered when she heard the faint howling sound behind her.
"Shit! Just forget about me… please." She cried as she put her legs into another gear, racing across the forest.
"Mom! It is time to wake me up! Wake me up from this nightmare!"
….
"AChhoooo!" Lin Shuying sneezed.
She frowned as this was the seventh time she had been sneezing, she wondered who could be calling her name.
"Honey, are you okay? Did you catch a cold?" Zhen Guo was walking on the treadmill beside her, asking with a worried crease between his brows.
"Cold? No way. I have an immune system that is stronger than that of a lioness. I believe someone is cursing me behind my back." Lin Shuying's eyes darkened. "It will be no other person than Madam Yu, she is the only one who hates me that much… I mean she is still jealous I won your heart." She stressed the last part dramatically.
Zhen Guo blinked before looking away, facepalming himself. "I thought that was years ago… Jun Yi is already 22 years old."
"You don't know this woman, they rarely forget about these things." She replied, cracking her neck.
"I wonder how that troublemaker is doing now." Lin Shuying muttered under her breath.
…
Xue Yao puffed out air from her mouth as she clung to the branch of the tree she was hiding in. She looked down, her racing heart slowly began to return to normal. "Finally." She muttered.
She had finally escaped the clutches of those murderous beasts. She closed her eyes, resting her head on the branch.
'Xue Yao, Xue Yao… you really outdid yourself this time.' She sighed. Her mind wandered back to the notification she had received before she fell asleep. "I shouldn't walk at night and I should avoid the beasts… and what was the last one again?... what was it?'
"Damn it Xue Yao! If only you were paying attention you would have known what the other conditions were… but why do I feel like that is the most important one?" She tilted her head to the side, her shoulders slouching down.
"Grrrrrrr." Her stomach rumbled.
She clenched her stomach with one hand. She had run for a long time, maybe thirty minutes or an hour perhaps. And now she was hungry to the extent she might eat a whole antelope if she could find one.
She scanned her environment one last time before jumping down the tree. Thanks to the karate classes her mother had forced her to learn, these little stunts were easy-peasy.
Using the trees as cover she began searching for fruits. She walked for such a long distance, and the sun was already at the center of the sky.
Xue Yao wiped the sweat dripping from her temple. She wearily placed her hands on her waist for support, lazily kicking the debris on the ground.
"No food, no strength to walk, can't find my way home, might get eaten by a beast at any moment. My life is really the worst." Her head dropped low, and her shoulders slouched all the way down, like a zombie.
Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.
The chirping sound of a bird made her lift her head up. She quickly hid behind a tree like a ninja. She slowly peeked her head out, and there it was, a red robust chicken feeding on some weird flowers while chirping.
Her eyes dilated, drool dropping down the corners of her mouth. She could already see herself roasting the chicken over a fire while feasting on it.
She quickly recollected herself when the red chicken walked forward, she wiped her lips and slowly and stealthily tiptoed towards it with her hands wide and her waist bent.
Closing the distance between them, she jumped on it, her hands clutching around the chicken.
'Yeah! I did it… uh oh…'
Just then, she felt her feet lifting from the ground, the chicken she had caught transformed into a huge red bird with long seven tails. Her hands clutched around the bird's neck.
Screech.
The bird immediately started running through the woods trying to shake her off.
"Ahhh." Xue Yao screamed.