It had not yet become completely dark, so Mai could still talk to the girl who had also encountered a crocodile man in the forest before it got dark. In case she ran into danger, she quickly returned to the military and retrieved her sword, the jian, which had a silver blade.

As she was heading out of the armory, she passed by the archery training area where targets were set up in various places—some hung on the trees. Mai's archery skills were not bad; she hit the target every time. The hardest part was shooting from a distance. Her trainer had said that in war, you just shoot and hope to hit something.

She took a dark brown leather quiver with her and found 30 arrows, taking some extra ones which she pushed in.

"It's better to be safe."

Mai put the quiver on her back and tucked her painkillers into her sleeves. She closed the hanging sleeves with a ribbon and tied a tight knot. The pills were the most important things on her in case she got injured.

She looked at the large dark brown longbow in her right hand.

"I look like I'm going to war or hunting."

As she was about to leave the entrance, she bumped into a large group of soldiers who greeted her.

"Junior Brother Luo Tian, are you going out to hunt so late? It will soon be dark, and normally no one stays in the forest after it's evening."

Mai furrowed her brows and asked, "Is there something dangerous in the forest since people don't stay there?"

A soldier shook his head and replied, "The Holy Temple uses it for ceremonies in the evening which no one interferes with."

The Holy Temple was the largest temple in the Thousand Blossom City and the holiest, performing all spiritual ceremonies there.

Mai found it strange that the palace was called the Immortal Palace when there was a holy temple. Wasn't immortality seen as something bad in some religions because it went against what was realistically possible?

She smiled kindly at them, "Brothers, it's just precaution. Have a good day. If you see Senior Brother Wang Hao, you can tell him I miss him."

After a short conversation with the girl's mother, Mai checked the girl's wound on her leg and healed it with the Finger System before heading out of town.

The forest was only 200 meters from the city wall, so Mai hoped to take a quick look around and then return home.

At the same time, Wang Hao had just returned home from a short expedition from the city and was passing by Mai's place to see how she was doing but was stopped by a physician.

"Young Master Luo Tian has gone into town to investigate something for Grand Inspector Lin."

Wang Hao frowned and was about to head towards the town but chose instead to go to the Investigation Bureau, where he was also stopped.

"Junior Luo Tian has gone out to investigate something for Grand Inspector Ling."

At the herb hall, he was met by Jin, who was carrying a large basket of citrus leaves that filled the entire room with fragrance.

"Senior Brother Wang Hao. What can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Junior Brother Luo Tian recently? I know he has inspection rounds here sometimes." Wang Hao replied.

"He was investigating something about an animal. I haven't seen him since. Have you tried asking your brothers in the military?" Jin bid him farewell and went about his work in silence.

Wang Hao heard the sound of knives chopping loudly on a cutting board, and he glanced at a basket of mandrakes.

"Where could he be? It's unlike him to wander around alone. Is he with Grand Inspector Lin?"

Mai stood in front of a large lush forest, the weather was mild. May evenings were pleasant. Tall ferns and thick moss crawled up the trees like thick green vines. A green iguana sat on a tree that Mai was sure she wouldn't have spotted if she hadn't trained for so many years. She just wanted to check the area which should be a few meters past the trees here.

She walked quickly into the forest, and everything was so thick and dense that she had to hack her way forward. The air thickened even though she had only walked a few meters, and the sky grew darker with each step she took.

Twilight arrived, and Mai stood at the top of a cliff, looking down at a vast marsh with a view to the other side where there was a flat grassy area with tall reeds at the edge of the marsh. There was a dark fog-like layer over the marsh like a thick blanket, and Mai wondered what it was exactly. It was a high and steep cliff, and she counted many meters down.

"A fall would break my neck."

It was completely silent, and not even the sound of animals could be heard, which made her wonder. She sniffed the air around her and could suddenly smell iron. No, it was...blood! There was a putrid foul smell, a sour odor that made her nauseous, and she wrinkled her nose. She covered her mouth, and her stomach tightened.

"Ugh. Is it a dead animal?"

It smelled worse than a dead rat she had once found.

She looked out at the marsh again, and to her right, she spotted a large hill which she went over to investigate.

"This is where Brother Jin and the others encountered the crocodile men. Do they live on the other side?"

As Mai stood at the foot of the hill, she saw a large dark pile to the left, and curiously, she went over to check it out. A strong rotten stench emanated from it, and she took out a cloth and tied it around her mouth. As she studied the pile, she was shocked to see human heads sticking out. There were large holes in their skin, and they had been bitten in various places by something that had left bite marks. Their jaws were dislocated, and some were missing. Their entrails had been torn out, and some were missing limbs. They all had a scar on their neck of a flower, and their eyes had been gouged out, resembling black holes. Flies buzzed around, and rats crawled among the pile, searching for scraps of food in the pockets of the corpses. All the bodies were feminine, and something dawned on her. It's only women! She felt a cold rush in her stomach, and her heart raced loudly.

"What is this? An altar of sacrifice?" She whispered, feeling frightened.

Fuck it, I'm screwed! Mai knew when something was wrong. Her hands trembled, and she unsheathed her sword cautiously.

*Crack*

A branch snapped loudly, and she slowly turned her head to the right. There stood a two-meter tall humanoid figure on two legs with a lizard-like body with a thick tail. It was dark, had yellow reptilian eyes, and stared at the pile of corpses. It had long thick crocodile claws but had human arms and a human face. It was a man. He walked towards her, and she gripped her sword tightly with both hands. As he arrived near her, she was about to defend herself, but suddenly, he continued walking towards the pile of corpses.

Mai furrowed her brows at the sight and studied him carefully from a distance. Is he blind?

The man began rummaging through the corpses and dug out a specific one, a young girl whom he began sinking his teeth into. He emitted a deep growling sound reminiscent of a crocodile, and a terrible stench spread in the area.

Mai didn't need to see any more and took a cautious step back. She slid her foot silently in the grass and slowly backed away. Her heart was pounding in her throat and sweat poured down her. She felt chills. She had only managed to take three steps back before the man stopped eating. Mai also stopped and stood completely still, holding her breath. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, and adrenaline pumped. Don't look over here! She bit her lip and waited. The man turned his head around and began eating the body again like a wild animal. Mai took the chance and took a step back.

*Crack*

She stepped on a small snail shell and stopped immediately. Fuck it! Her heart skipped a beat.

The man stopped and slowly turned his head to the right. Intestines hung out of his mouth, and his eyes had a reddish glow and looked very large. He stood up and held the body in his right hand, slowly walking towards Mai, who tried to move her leg, but they had suddenly become very heavy. She felt frozen in place. Fuck my life! She gripped her sword tightly and prepared herself.

The man came closer, and she smelled his foul breath, stinking like a dead rat that had rotted for too long in nature - sour, sweet, and rotten at the same time, making her nauseous. It was dark, and the stars shone beautifully in the sky, even though it was slightly cloudy. Suddenly, a cool wind passed, and the clouds moved. The large full moon emerged, illuminating the entire sky, and the man's full form became visible. He had a well-trained broad upper body with dark green and gray crocodile skin with rough bumps and thick horns on his forehead. A yellowish mucus floated out of his open mouth, revealing large white crocodile teeth with large chunks of flesh hanging. He stood only two meters from Mai. Suddenly, he looked at her and raised his eyebrows. He roared loudly, pounding his chest like a gorilla, and his sharp claws grew longer and wider. He ran quickly towards her. She thrust the sword into his right chest and quickly turned her sword around.

*Crack*

Something snapped inside him. It was Mai's signal. She quickly pulled out the sword and stabbed it into his right side, twisting the sword again.

*Crack*

She quickly pulled out the sword, jumped back, and looked at the man. He groaned and held his chest while some dark thick mucus flowed out.

Mai furrowed her brows at the sight. "Is it blood? What the hell is that?"

She looked at her sword and saw the same black mucus, which suddenly started crawling around. Her heart skipped a beat.

"What the hell!"

She quickly stabbed the sword deep into the ground and quickly pulled it out. The black mucus was gone, and she felt relieved.

The man suddenly roared loudly, echoing loudly in the forest, and birds squawked loudly from the trees, flying away quickly. He got down on all fours like a wild reptile and ran towards Mai, opening his mouth with froth hanging out along with dark slime.

Mai gritted her teeth and slashed the man on the neck.

*Thud*

The sword was stuck, which startled her. Her heart raced. She quickly pulled it out, but at that moment, the man lunged at her. He grabbed her left leg hard and bit down.

Mai felt a burning pain spread throughout her leg, which then spread to the rest of her body. It tingled on her skin, feeling like ants crawling constantly. She gritted her teeth and swung at the man's head, but the sword got stuck again. Frustrated, she pulled it back and swung at his front left leg.

*Clunk*

It was hard as steel, and she felt electricity in her hands, which began to tremble. Frustrated, Mai quickly looked at the man's body, and her gaze fell on his eyes. She swung at his eye. In response he roared loudly, released his bite, and backed away.

"You damned pig. How dare you!" He grunted loudly.