Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"A Gold Tusk Elephander and a Five Element Parasol? Why are you looking for such things?"

The captain's eyes sharpened upon hearing those names. Why would someone like her ask about this?

She came closer, whispering into his ears. 

"I'm not looking for them specifically but those that are searching for it."

His eyes widened. 

"The Tao Feng..." he whispered. 

"While I have not seen these items with my own eyes, they had been recorded in a compendium when the forest was first mapped out. Even now, there are many creatures and objects that we have yet discover or identify. But those two things are not only incredibly rare but dangerous to collect."

He then leaned in. 

"From what I hear, the Tao Feng are searching for them, a group of six split into two groups. They had purchased information about them from a few brokers. But as far as I know, no one else has this information. At best, I can only tell you the general location. As for this person you are looking for, unfortunately, I have not heard nor seen a person like this. Though..."

Hesitating, the captain wasn't sure if he should speak of this, not because it was taboo but because such information seemed to unbelievable to be true. 

"Speak, what is it?" 

Ming Yue could sense the hesitation but she did not care. She had to find any and all leads about Hus Xiong. 

"It is said that within the Boundless Beast Forest, lies a third power who only awakens at the most chaotic of times. The last time was several years ago when the clashing of the two armies were extremely bad. In one particular battle, Commander Nie Xia and Commander Gao Ri joined together to stop one of King Zhi's three kings form taming another beast. If I remember correctly, it was a Totem Asura, a sentient tree with spear like branches. With it, they would've gained a powerful foothold in the forest."

"It was a ferocious battle, one that I will never forget."

His voice shuddered as he relived those moments, there was both fear and awe in his eyes as he retold this story. 

"When the battle grew to its peak, there was a thunderous roar, something only a king among beasts could produce. It emerged from the ground, cracking it in half. It was massive, enormous, towering over everything. Its size was comparable to mountains. It was a massive tortoise with dragon scales for skin. The shell itself could be considered its own forest. When it appeared, the tortoise took a single step, crushing the Totem Asura under its foot before roaring at everyone. Afterwards, it seemed to have fallen back asleep."

"That day, no one won the battle. From then on, no one dared to act so brashly against the tortoise. No matter how fast one was, no one would be able to escape its foot. But that was the only time the tortoise moved. But I remember the feeling I felt, how small I was compared to it."

Ming Yue looked into his eyes, watching them go through numerous changes: dread, terror, and respect. 

"But how does this relate to my question?" she asked. 

His trance broke and he looked at her with serious eyes. 

"Although we have avoided that area, both armies had kept eyes on it. Recently, ther had been reports, of a young woman wandering the area. Sometimes she would stop and pick fruits but no matter if it was us or Kong Zhi's men, none of us could approach her. It was as if we would die if we did."

"Could that be her?" Ming Yue thought, "But these reports... it does not seem right but it is worth finding out further."

She took out her map, asking him to mark the areas of the Gold Tusk Elephander, Five Element Parasol and where the tortoise was. Thanking them, she went on her way, leaving the group of soldiers with a few more bandages to replace. 

The entire exchange was only ten minutes or so and everyone felt like a whirlwind just came by. 

"Who... who was that?" 

Someone finally spoke up, asking the captain, who watched as Ming Yue ran off. He then looked to his men, gazingat their stunned faces. 

"That was most likely the "Fairy of the Moon", we've heard so much about", he said. 

"That was her?"

"Really? She seemed too young to be so?"

"Some people might even consider her to be a girl still."

None of them could quite believe it but as they thought more and more, it made sense. 

"She fits the stories and descriptions."

"Usually moving during the night, she is accompanied by an owl and a fox, skilled in battle and medical treatment, white robes that can transform into armor. And her sword, it is nearly equal to her in height. If she was younger, that sword would've been taller than her. Now it seems to reach up to her collarbone."*

"Still, Fairy of the Moon... She is pretty but she also keeps her distance. I can see why people say she feels unreachable like the moon. Even then, those skills, rather than unapproachable, I'd say her skills are unreachable."

"Hah, we're only soldiers. All of us basically practice the same martial arts and cultivation mehtod. Of course it would be like that."

"If we were someone like the captain, we would have more resources and skills to choose from."

They all looked to him who examined the bandages before putting them away.

"Alright, stop joking! We nearly lost our lives and you still have the energy to laugh? Let's return to the outpost and recover there. I expect all of you to train with me", he reprimanded them. 

"Ughhh, damn it."

His men grimaced at the thought of more training, it would be a gruesome few days for them. 

As for Ming Yue, she quietly went on her way to the deeper regions of the forest before stopping and camping as the sun rose. The forest was much more active during the day but that was not saying that the night did not have their own predators. Still, it was safer to move during the night. 

She looked at the map, eyeing the marked locations. 

"The Gold Tusk Elephander is furthest from me while the Five Element Parasol is the closest. Commander Nie Xia isn't too far from either locations as well. But for the tortoise... This is going to be interesting."

On the map, there was a mark in the south western area of the forest for the Elephander and the Five Element Parasol in the center. However, these two items were also in the vicinity of the tortoise which took the entire central area of the forest. 

Not to mention, Commander Nie Xia was quite close to that area.

"If it is like this... I should go to the Commander first. See if I can gather more information about this."

She looked in the direction of the commander, trying to gauge the distance before stopping and putting away her map. Looking around, Ming Yue kept watch of her surroundings. 

"This makes the twentieth group I've come across in the forest. With beasts, this is probably close to a hundred now. It certainly lives up to the name of the Boundless Beast Forest. You could find one at every moment."

"As for that beast, it must be somewhere around Rank 3 in terms of strength, if it were a Rank 5 I would have had to run away. Still, I haven't seen anything stronger than a rank 4 yet. That is too strange."

"Could it be that Kong Zhi's armies have been trying to tame monsters that were rank 5 and above?" she wondered. 

"Still that tortoise... Could it be a rank 10? Higher than that maybe? It's about as big as a kingdom... If Hua Xiong is there, was she being protected by it? If no one was able to approach her..."

There were many things on her mind and each one weighed on her heavily.. However, she could onyl find out when she reached her destination.