"What is it, Liqin?" asked Zou Yi with a curious gaze.
"Yu Mei, you said you heard a tiger's roar?" asked Zou Liqin.
"Mmh," nodded Yu Mei.
"Was there anything special about it, like was it any different from a normal tiger's roar?" asked Zou Liqin.
He Shan and Zou Yi looked puzzled at Zou Liqin's questioning.
None of them believed Yu Mei or if those voices existed because if they did, how come none of them had heard it? He Shan assumed the side effects of the red suckle berserker mushroom had already kicked in, and Yu Mei was beginning to exhibit some of its symptoms, such as being delirious.
Even though He Shan had been mindful enough not to give her the cap, which had the most potent attribute, the stem he gave her would still be potent to her, considering she had no cultivation base whatsoever. On the other hand, Zou Yi chose to reserve his judgment, especially when he saw his sister's contemplative look.
She was always keen, observant, and meticulous in everything she did, and he had grown to trust her judgment when it came to certain matters unequivocally.
"Its roar seemed normal at first, but it seems to contain a certain charm or aura to it that isn't in any of the other noises," said Yu Mei after some thought.
"Does the roar come from a fixed point?"
"At first, it sounded like it came from all over the river, but the more we move, the distinctive the location. If we keep following this route at no more than four hundred meters, we should be able to find the source," Yu Mei answered.
Even with the discussion ongoing, none of the members paused their run. They still kept actively looking around for a safe space or any bullfrog markers that identified special zones.
However, when Zou Yi and He Shan heard Yu Mei say the location she had heard those voices were in the direction they were running towards, they reflexively slowed down their pace, and He Shan even looked like he wanted to change the direction they were running towards.
"Yi, He Shan, I think we should head in the direction Yu Mei is talking about," said Zou Liqin with firm eyes.
He Shan, who was already preparing to switch directions, fired back,
"Are you crazy? We don't even know if there is anything there, and how come she is the only one who can hear those voices, and we can't? What if it ends up being a location like that waterfall? Didn't you almost fail that test? You're sure you want to take a gamble and confront something that may have a similar nature to that waterfall?"
He Shan's words were a ferocious jab toward Zou Liqin, whose expression turned downcast and fearful once He Shan mentioned the waterfall.
"He Shan, please watch your heads, another word out of you about my sister, and we will have to part in less than amicable ways," Zou Yi coldly said.
He Shan, who was running ahead, narrowed his gaze as he turned his head and made Zou Yi's cold and threatening look.
"I'm only speaking the truth. With three of us about to be paralyzed, should we be taking an unknown risk?" asked He Shan, unwilling to shrink back.
Just as it seemed like the two were about to argue some more, potentially leading to a fight, Yu Mei interrupted them.
"The voices I've heard, I think you would have probably heard them if you were not under the effects of the red suckle berserker mushroom," said Yu Mei.
Yu Mei's response highlighted something they had ignored in their desperation to search for a safe location to recoup at. They were so focused on the paralysis side effects that they forgot the other effect that had slowly but surely sneaked up on them: an agitated and frenzied state.
He Shan, who was more familiar with the mushroom, had also overlooked it when the symptoms were already so clear. The fact that he was short with Zou Liqin, and he and Zou Yi almost went to blows, despite where they were, proved the red suckle berserker mushroom was eroding their rationality.
He Shan stopped and looked at his hands, which were red as the mushroom itself and trembling. He switched his gaze to Zou Yi and noticed his eyes were bloodshot and veins protruding on his face. When he switched over to Yu Mei, he was shocked to see the only thing different about her was that she had a rosy complexion in contrast to her earlier exhausted pale face. But when it came to her eyes, they were clear, and her body micro-movements seemed normal, unlike the tremors exhibited by both him and Zou Yi.
"I'm sorry for my rude words, Zou Liqin," He Shan said as he performed a crude head bow to Zou Liqin.
Zou Liqin, who was caught by surprise by He Shan's apology, answered in a fluster,
"No...No...It's okay. Your worry was valid."
"You said we can't hear it because of the mushroom's effects, but why can't she?" asked He Shan as he pointed at Zou Liqin. She wasn't given the mushroom, so she wasn't under its effects.
Yu Mei seemed to hesitate about her answer but sighed as she gently said,
"She may not have the mushroom in her system, but she has the same agitated mental state."
Yu Mei offered an apologetic look towards Zou Liqin as she said that.
The trio immediately what she alluded to when she made that remark, especially the person herself. Even though she seemed okay on the surface, she was still struggling against the trauma of the heart-cleansing waterfall, and Zou Yi's following injured state had done a number on her, adding on the pressure of watching out for her teammates when they became paralyzed, meant she was stretched thin mentally.
"Liqin is there a reason you think we should go that way?" asked Zou Yi.
His voice was strained and hoarse. Of the three, the effects of the mushroom seemed to be hitting him the fastest. With his earlier injured state, it was only to be expected.
Zou Liqin looked at him with worry in her eyes before she answered,
"There's the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion bird of the South, the Black warrior of the North, the White Tiger of the West, and the Yellow dragon of the center.
These can be further expounded into seasons. The Azure dragon is synonymous with Spring, the Vermilion bird with Summer, the Black tortoise with Winter, and lastly, the White tiger with Autumn.
If you look around, the season around us is Autumn, and surely it can't be a coincidence that the loudest roar Yu Mei heard was of a tiger.
I think rather than us aimlessly running around. We should head in the direction she heard the roar come from. It's much better than us randomly running about.
At worst, we find nothing there, or it's a trap. We get eliminated, but as things stand, aren't we already at risk of that if we don't find a safe place in the next four minutes, or we take a risk and find out if there is really something there, and if there is, it may very well be what we need, a safe place and maybe it might even guide us to a special zone.
I feel we should take the risk," Zou Yi said with some conviction in her tone.
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