Dragon Prince Yuan

Chapter 7 A Mysterious Place

Blinding light flooded the eyes, followed by a barbaric pulling force. Zhou Yuan was hit by vertigo as if he had fallen into a whirlpool.
Fortunately, the pulling sensation did not last for long. Zhou Yuan felt a huge force rush towards him and his body was flung into the air.
Bang!
Zhou Yuan's body landed heavily on the ground, causing him to eat a mouthful of soil in the process. However, he was rather quick-witted. Ignoring the pain when he landed, Zhou Yuan swiftly rolled on the ground, distancing himself from where he had originally landed.
At the same time, the Metal Skin Rune, that had been prepared in advance on his arms, started to flicker with a faint glow, ready to activate at any moment.
Fortunately, the ambush he had expected did not come, and Zhou Yuan's tense body gradually relaxed. Only then did he leisurely inspect the surroundings.
"This is?"
Zhou Yuan was wide-eyed as he looked around him. The cavern had long since disappeared, and in its place was a quiet and peaceful ancient forest. Giant trees thrust into the sky, while their dense leaves covered the heavens.
A clear stream flowed by the side, emitting the sounds of running water. It was a tranquil sight.
"What is this place?" Zhou Yuan was completely baffled. He remembered being in the secret cavern inside the shrine just moments ago. How had he come to this unfamiliar place in the blink of an eye?
"Strange." Zhou Yuan frowned slightly as he observed his surroundings. Could it be that the so-called great destiny was this land?
"But there are no signs of any people." Zhou Yuan mumbled to himself. As his gaze swept back and forth, his pupils abruptly shrunk while the expression on his face froze as if he had seen a ghost.
It was because he had just discovered that a beautiful figure had unknowingly appeared under one of the giant trees to his front.
At closer inspection, it was a girl in green. The girl's body was slender and she was currently leaning with her back against the tree trunk as a pair of bright eyes calmly observed him.
When Zhou Yuan's gaze met her own, an indescribable feeling of numbness spread across his scalp.
However, Zhou Yuan's mental resilience was after all pretty good, and he very quickly calmed himself. A smile immediately emerged on his immature face, trying his best to appear harmless, as he cupped his fists together and said, "Big sis, may I know where this is? I am Zhou Yuan and I did not mean to trespass. Please forgive me if I have offended you in an manner."
The girl before his eyes looked to be of similar age to himself. However, a little politeness at such a time was never a bad thing.
However, the mysterious girl in green did not seem to take any notice of Zhou Yuan's respectful mannerisms. Her slim and fair hand pulled back a strand of black hair in front of her forehead, before she walked towards Zhou Yuan.
When she walked out of the shade, light immediately sprinkled down on her body. As she approached, Zhou Yuan was finally able to clearly see her, and a look of amazement involuntarily flitted across his eyes.
The girl had snow-white skin. Her fine black hair was lightly bundled up, while her simple green clothes outlined her wonderful curves. She had a very exquisite set of facial features. In particular, her bright eyes seemed to contain a certain aura of mysteriousness, causing them to appear both unpredictable and distant.
At this very moment, the girl seemed to tread on shards of sunlight against the backdrop of towering ancient trees. A gentle breeze blew past and lifted her fringe, allowing one to catch a glimpse of an extremely ancient rune between her brows, a sight that gave off an aura of indescribable mysteriousness. This scene was so beautiful that it made Zhou Yuan breathless for a moment.
"Big sis." Zhou Yuan displayed a smile. Although this scene was breathtaking, he still maintained a little cautiousness. After all, both this foreign environment and the mysterious girl before him were unknowns.
"Big sis?" The girl in green curled her lips slightly when she heard how Zhou Yuan addressed her as if it was somewhat amusing.
She inquisitively sized-up Zhou Yuan for a moment before muttering, "Grandpa Hei was right, someone really came here today."
"What?" Zhou Yuan was unable to clearly catch what she had said.
However, the girl in green ignored him. She turned around and headed towards the ancient forest. As she passed by the giant tree from before, the girl called out.
"Tuntun, time to go home."
Upon hearing the girl in green's call, Zhou Yuan immediately discovered the small gray creature lying under the giant tree. The little creature looked like an unremarkable small dog.
"A pet doggy?" Zhou Yuan mumbled.
Ao ao!
As if it had heard Zhou Yuan's mumbling, the small creature's hair immediately bristled and it started to bark at him. However, because its body was too small, the barks from it lacked any destructive power and instead made it appear rather cute.
The small creature seemed to have realised that its barking had not intimidated Zhou Yuan. Its tail stood straight up as it jumped in front of a boulder, before opening its mouth and taking a vicious bite.
Crunch crunch!
As it continued to chomp down in this manner, one could only watch as the boulder rapidly shrank at an alarming speed. In the short span of several breaths, the boulder had completely disappeared. All of the hard pieces of rock had been swallowed into the little creature's tiny stomach.
The expression on Zhou Yuan's face turned rigid as he secretly gasped. He was a little dumbstruck as he stared at the little dog-like creature. What exactly was this thing? To think that such a huge boulder would be devoured in a few bites.
What strong teeth and healthy appetite!
Zhou Yuan wiped away the cold sweat on his head and no longer dared to look at this seemingly plain little beast. The latter's teeth had been able to easily chew threw rock, what hope could his frail body have against it?
No wonder it was called Tuntun*. (Means swallow or devour)
Upon seeing the shock on Zhou Yuan's face, the little creature called Tuntun happily swung its tail. It rolled its eyes at him in an extremely human-like manner, before catching up to the girl in green while still shaking its tail.
When the girl in green walked into the forest, she tilted her head back a little, slightly raising her snow-white chin at Zhou Yuan.
"Come along if you want to find your great destiny."
After speaking, she walked into the forest, her pretty figure flashing between the gaps in the trees.
A contemplative look emerged on Zhou Yuan's face as he watched the girl in green and small creature grow smaller and smaller. All of this was very mysterious, and he could not make heads or tails of it. He was clearly unable to understand why he had come to this foreign place from the stone platform in the secret cavern of their ancestral shrine.
However, since he was already here, there was obviously no way to back out. After all, he did not plan on returning empty handed.
Huu.
Zhou Yuan took in a deep breath. Without any further hesitation, he opened his stride and quickly caught up to the girl and little beast.
A boy, girl and beast travelled within the ancient forest, a lush green forest that was full of life. From time to time, ferocious beast howls could be heard in the distance. But every time that happened, the little Tuntun at the girl in green's side would emit a bark. Although the bark was not loud, the entire forest seemed to fall silent, as if they were afraid of this small creature.
Zhou Yuan could not help but took another look at the mysterious little beast. The little gray-dog-like creature seemed to be very special.
It was clear that the girl in green had not intentions of speaking with Zhou Yuan. Hence, Zhou Yuan could only maintain his silence as he closely followed behind.
They advanced in this manner for an hour, before Zhou Yuan finally sensed the girl in green's footsteps come to a stop.
"We're here."
The girl's voice echoed from the front. Zhou Yuan's heart jumped slightly as he raised his head and peered at through the greenery of the forest. A clearing had appeared within the forest where a cottage peacefully stood.
There were three fences around the cottage. Zhou Yuan's gaze ultimately paused on a recliner in front of the cottage where an old man in black was peacefully resting as he gently rocked back and forth.
As if he had sensed Zhou Yuan's gaze, the old man opened his eyes and looked at the former.
Zhou Yuan's heart faintly trembled when he saw the old man's eyes. Those eyes were filled with an indescribable ancientness, as if they had experienced countless eons.
At the same time, Zhou Yuan was able to feel a thick declining and decaying aura cloaking the old man.
However, the moment their gazes met, Zhou Yuan also felt the sensation of being seen through. It was as if all of his secrets had been put on display before the old man's eyes.
"Hehe, a little fellow who possess the sacred dragon blessing has indeed come." The old man in black slowly withdrew his gaze as a raspy voice was heard. However, the voice was akin to thunder when they fell upon Zhou Yuan's ears.
"However it's a pity that the sacred dragon blessing has been stolen, and even the sacred dragon root has been damaged. Oh, is this the Dragon's Resentment Poison?"
"Tragic, truly tragic."