Zou Yi's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at her answer.
"Four?" he asked in disbelief. However, he toned down when he saw the same guilty awkward look he saw earlier when he asked her if she saw their parents.
"Not more than five minutes have passed since we went through the waterfall and arrived here."
Yu Mei who had been silent, spoke.
Zou Yi found it hard to believe. Lu Mei as if reading on it, added,
"That place operates differently than here. Years could pass there, and it wouldn't be more than a few minutes here. Your real body wasn't there."
"What was that place?" asked Zou Yi in confusion.
"Your heart, I think," answered Yu Mei. Her response triggered a reaction from Zou Liqin whose look turned grimmer.
'What happened to her in there? What did she experience for those four years?' Zou Yi inwardly.
Whatever happened to her had left a mark, and for something to have such an impact on her after what they have endured and overcome over the years, Zou Yi couldn't help but worry how bad it was.
"Since we have all made it through, maybe we should discuss on how to go forward from here. Based on what Lu Mei has said, then that means the other participants aren't far ahead of us, even the ones that left earlier than us," said Zou Yi.
"About that, He Shan said he saw a few unconscious bodies about 1 kilometer that way," Zou Liqin said as she pointed to the west of them.
"Unconscious how? From an attack?"
"No, they were just like how we found you," He Shan casually answered as he made his way toward them and carelessly sat down.
"How sure are you it wasn't an attack from something?" asked Zou Yi.
"I may not have a high cultivation base but as a hunter who has lived his life teetering on the brink of death half the time, I think I'm experienced enough to tell if someone has been attacked or not.
Their breathing was normal, their heart rate and pulse were steady, I searched their bodies, and they had no visible markings and I used some of the methods I know for checking poison but none of them registered anything," answered He Shan with dissatisfaction at being doubted.
No matter how clumsy he looks, he seems like a pretty thorough person
thought Zou Yi as he evaluated, He Shan with a new look.
"Can someone be trapped in there forever?"
Zou Yi decided to direct that question to the one person who seemed to know more about the place they were in, Yu Mei.
"It's possible," answered Yu Mei.
She didn't need clarification on what Zou Yi was getting at. The unconscious participants He Shan saw could be those who failed to overcome whatever it was they saw in the foggy realm.
"Well, it's to our favor the more unconscious participants there are. Now our main focus is what we do next.
I think we need to put all our efforts into searching for the special zones, and along the way, we can also look for some of the herbs listed in the booklet, which we can use at the special zones.
Our current strength should be pretty clear.." Zou Yi paused as he eyed the three.
"I don't think we can make it far with our present strength. We need to increase it somehow. We either improve our cultivation base or we improve on our techniques or we do both.
But whichever option it is, we can't act on it without the special zones that guarantee protection.
What do you guys think?" asked Zou Yi.
"But how do we find the zones, it's not like we were given a map that highlights those zones. Other than the bullfrog symbol we have nothing else to work with," said He Shan.
"I agree with He Shan, we could spend endless hours looking for it. Maybe we could scale the mountain as we look for it, so we don't lose on time," said Zou Liqin.
"Yu Mei, do you have any thoughts?" asked Zou Yi.
"Well, I don't know if this will help, but I've been sensitive to certain things and areas ever since I was a child. Some are usually good, but some are bad, however, I never know if they are good or bad before stepping into or coming into direct contact with those things.
Though more often than not it's usually bad things," Yu Mei said as she chuckled bitterly.
The trio couldn't help but sigh when they saw her look. They were all intimately familiar with that type of look, a look borne of tragedy.
"While we don't have a map showing the location of those special zones, their existence in and of itself is the only thing we need.
He Shan whenever you go for hunts that last days on end, which places do you choose to sleep in at night?" asked Zou Yi with a smile.
"Depends on a number of factors, the area I'm hunting, the beasts and plants in the area, the weather…."
Zou Yi regretted asking that question as He Shan rattled on endlessly with so much passion that he even returned the bow to his back so he could have free room in his hands to describe things better.
When it hit the ten-minute mark and He Shan showing no signs of stopping, Zou Yi was forced to interrupt him, lest they spend hours being guided on how to sleep during a hunt.
"What I was getting at is this, the special zones will be anomalies in this place, especially if this mountain is filled with dangerous things such as spirit beasts or plants.
For those places to be safe they must have features that deter those things from coming there. The more dangerous a place is, the easier it will be to spot them.
We only need to search for those places with such a thought in mind and lucky for us we have a seasoned hunter who knows how to track and study the habits of spirit beasts, and we have someone who is sensitive to both good and bad things.
With such things working for us, it's only a matter of time before we find the special zone," Zou Yi said with a triumphant smile.
….
"Looks like the twins made it?" said Kang Huilang.
"I thought they both would, I didn't expect Zou Liqin to almost fail. The tragedy from back then still has a hold on her. It may affect her future forward if she doesn't address it," said Yang Qing as he sighed.
"It was surprising. If she gets in, the instructors can help her work through it, and luckily, she is aware of it now thanks to the waterfall," said Dai Chen.
"I didn't expect someone with the crystal heart glazed physique to appear among the participants. The special inquisitors are sure to scoop her up immediately should they hear of her," said Xia Boqin as his gaze fell to the bottom of the mountain.
"It's a wonder how she has survived this long."
"Maybe the place she lived at, those around her didn't know, otherwise her fate would have taken a downward turn. Luckily, she is here.
Will you exempt her from the test? With her physique and the dangers surrounding it, even if she fails, we can't let her go back, it's no different than sentencing her to a painful death."
"She's already exempt but I think I'll let her continue the test. It may be good for her and I'm curious how this team will perform," said Yang Qing.
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