Bai Xing yawned as he stretched his body. He could finally wake up late in the morning without any formal work to do.

He stood in the kitchen in thought. A few minutes later, he took out the cooking equipment, eggs, chicken, butter, and the seasonings to make a simple breakfast.

He was used to cooking his own meal. Though he ordered take-out once in a while, more often than not, he cooked. He didn't want to eat too much fast food since it was bad for his health. He would need to go out to the hospital if he got sick.

Groceries weren't a problem since there was already an app that offered a grocery shopping service.

After finished eating, he washed the dishes before cleaning himself. Though he didn't have any work to do as a servant anymore, he still have a task to finish.

He wore his cloak, took his shotgun, and stepped out. Fortunately, the forest wasn't too bright and hot since the canopy covered the sun.

Now, the question was, what would the virus place use as a power source and where would it place it?

Last time, it was Cinderella's tree on his mother's grave. He didn't really understand the creation mechanism of the power source, but he suspected it would be the protagonists' most important item. The problem was, if that was true, he couldn't recall anything that Snow White cherished dearly.

For one, he doubted it was in the palace. With a witch there, it was risky to put a cursed item there. Though it was more accurately corrupted rather than cursed, it seemed that way to the world's residents. Even normal humans could sense it somewhat if they were close enough, not to mention a witch.

Then, should he try finding the dwarves' cottage? For now, he should try looking for it at important locations of the story.

He used the app's navigation and followed it, unaware of the shadow following behind.

After walking for an hour, Bai Xing found a place to rest. Sitting under a tree, there was a patch of unknown white flowers right in front of him. he wondered if it was a flower from this world or it also existed in his world.

Now that he thought about it, he probably walked a year's worth of distance in the few days since he was transferred away from his world. Not that he ever walked out of his apartment. So probably more than a year's worth.

Walking for an hour was his limit.

There was a rustle from the flower patch. Bai Xing's body tensed. But its figure wasn't as big as the flowers, so it shouldn't be anything dangerous, right? Maybe a rabbit?

His guess was off though and the one emerging from the flowers was a white snake.

Bai Xing froze in place, worried that if he made any sudden move the snake would attack him. Poisonous or not, he didn't want to get bitten by a snake. Moreover, snakes with bright-colored bodies were usually poisonous.

He glanced at his shotgun he put on the ground next to him. Should he shoot it? He grabbed it but couldn't get himself to pick it up.

Maybe the snake was just passing by…

Even when the snake was slithering towards him, Bai Xing still hoped that it was just passing by. Killing an animal just because he was afraid of it…would leave a bad feeling in his heart.

But still, it was very nerve-wracking when the snake slithered up his legs. He shut his eyes tightly and clenched his hands onto his trembling chest, praying for it to leave. He heard the snake hissed.

"Hmm…It really is a human. What is he doing in this part of the forest?"

Bai Xing opened his eyes and carefully looked around. Who was speaking? Was there someone else in this forest beside him?

"Trembling like this, how pathetic. You should leave if you're so cowardly."

Bai Xing slowly looked down at the snake. Why did the voice come from his lap where the snake was?

"No, I won't eat you. These flowers are my food," the snake hissed and slithered down to the ground, "Leave while the day is bright."

"…" Bai Xing opened his mouth, "Are you talking to me?"

"!?" The snake stopped and looked back at Bai Xing, "Human, you can understand me?"

Bai Xing nodded, "You can talk?"

"All animals can talk, no different than humans. But of course, we don't understand one other," the snake went up Bai Xing's lap again and curled up onto his arms to scrutinize him more closely, "How strange…I can also understand what you are saying to me. Are you actually a demon of some kind?"

If Bai Xing should guess the reason, the only thing that popped into his head was the auto-translation function M gave him. But he didn't expect M would go as far as to make him understand animals…

He pulled his face away from the snake nervously, "N-No, I'm a human. And c-can you not get too close? I'm actually pretty s-scared right now…"

"Hmph," the snake retreated back, "Though I am curious as to who you are, you should leave as soon as possible. This part of the forest is dangerous lately, especially at dark. We don't want any extra corpses here."

Bai Xing's ears were pricked at the word 'dangerous', "Why? What's wrong with the forest?"

"Starting a few years ago, a dense mist would envelope the forest when the moon is out. It led the humans astray and made them hallucinate. I don't know exactly what they are seeing, but it's definitely killing them one way or another. Some died from eating poisonous plants, some died from falling off the cliff, and some from other reasons."

"Do you know where the mist came from?"

"If I knew, I would already do something about it a long time ago," the snake answered in a matter-of-fact manner. It then stared at Bai Xing suspiciously, "Don't tell me you want to look for it?"

Bai Xing nodded again, "I need to…"

"Give it up. Someone like you wouldn't survive a night here."

"Of course, I will leave before dark. But I will try again tomorrow."

"You're pretty stubborn, aren't you?"

"I don't have any choice." Bai Xing moved the snake to the ground and stood up, "Thank you for the information and warning."

"You don't even have a horse. How far can you go with that 2 legs of yours?" the snake coiled up Bai Xing's leg until it circled around his neck generating goosebumps from its contact, "Fine, do as you wish. I'll introduce you to a friend of mine. Follow my directions."

"?"

Bai Xing went to where the snake pointed him to and arrived at a spring not long after. There, he saw a group of brown horses drinking and resting in leisure. The snake slithered down and approached one of them.

The horse noticed it, "Oh, it's you, snake. Are you here to bath?"

"Since when do I ever take a bath, stupid horse?" the snake hissed, "Didn't you say you want to know how it's like to be ridden by a human? I brought one for you."

The horse looked at Bai Xing and neighed happily, "Ooh! You are truly a great friend, snake!"

"Don't be too happy first. He's looking for the source of that strange mist. I don't know what you'll encounter in the journey."

"That is not a problem for this mighty horse, the fastest and strongest in this forest!" the horse went to Bai Xing, "You can count on me, human!"

"Oh…Mn, Thank you…" Bai Xing didn't know what to reply.

"!!!" the horse jumped in shock, "Did he just answer me???"

"Yes, he can communicate with us and vice versa. Be sure to get him out before dark. Off you go."

"Haha!! Those town horses certainly never have a rider that can understand them!" the horse laughed in excitement, "Hop on, human. Let us begin our journey!"

Bai Xing awkwardly sat on his back and grabbed its mane in panic when he almost fell. He had never ridden a horse before, would he be okay?

"Careful with him, horse. He's not a trained hunter or anything," the snake turned to Bai Xing, "Look after him too, will you?"

"Yes, I will. Thank you for your help."

The horse advanced forward, "Let's go!"

"!!" Bai Xing quickly balanced himself.

The snake inwardly sighed and left.

Behind a tree, the man who has been watching Bai Xing also moved. To think that the mysterious young man could talk to animals was certainly a surprise.

Normally, he would definitely kill that person after knowing he could do such a thing. It couldn't be explained as any other than the young man was a devil's child. Especially the fact that he understood the language of snakes.

But instead of killing intent, what surfaced from his heart was the complete opposite of that.

He couldn't let anyone find out about him. He also couldn't let him out of his sight.

He must protect the young man.