Another World Trip: Journey with My Cat and an Otaku Loli Goddess Chapter 308 - Light Shroud Evil Durian

He pointed deeper into the forest. “I’m sensing something interesting in that direction.”

Pebbles followed his gaze, and his expression slightly changed. “Interesting, but I’m not helping.”

****

“What are you sensing?” Mina asked.

“It’s giving off energy similar to the Deathdrink Ghost Chrysanthemum I have,” he admitted.

When Xiannu Liang heard this, her expression changed. “D-D-Deathdrink Ghost Chrysanthemum!? You have a Deathdrink Ghost Chrysanthemum!?”

“Yeah, it’s the herb I used when I was fighting against the Divine Imperial Edict.”

“But I heard it only exists in places suffused with death energy! How many people did you ki–”

Before she could finish asking that question, Long Di interjected. “Now, while I can’t honestly answer that question and sound convincing in any capacity, allow me to say this at the very least. Mina took away the blessing she gave me in the Anima Palace and opened a portal to another world filled with death and I got the flower from there.”

When Xiannu Liang heard this, a few seconds of silence passed and when she realised that Long Di wasn’t saying anything more she begged him. “Please tell me there’s context for that.”

“I don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Bullshit!” Xiannu Liang knew that Long Di knew what context meant, he was just trolling her.

“You’re right,” Long Di admitted.

See!? Just like that!

“In any case, everything I said actually happened. We’ll go into it later, don’t worry about it.” Long Di waved it off even though Xiannu Liang and Shen Ling were extremely curious about what any of that meant.

“What I am saying is that I sense something similar in that direction and I want it,” he reiterated.

“Are you sure?” Pebbles asked. “It looks like a jacked-up version of a durian. Those things stink, don’t they?”

“It’s a durian!?” Xiannu Liang’s expression changed once more. “Is it black on the outside like it’s emitting black smoke?”

Pebbles was able to see farther than anyone here, so Xiannu Liang asking him was the right move.

“Now that you mention it, yeah it does. It’s smoking a lot, actually. It must be high as hell. Oh boy, what is that thing? Is that a monkey?”

When Xiannu Liang heard this her heart fell. She turned to face Long Di. “Let’s just leave that thing alone!”

“What is it?” Long Di was no fool, he could tell that Xiannu Liang knew what that spiritual herb was.

“It’s a Light Shroud Evil Durian,” she admitted. “It’s a very valuable spiritual herb, quite rare honestly, but I don’t wanna leave because of it! I want to leave because of what it’s usually accompanied by!”

Long Di’s curiosity was enkindled by this, and he asked. “And that is?”

“The Blood Drinking Devil Ape?” Long Di’s curiosity went from hot to a low simmer with this one. “So it’s just a powerful magical beast?”

“More than that!” she advised. “It is incomparably vicious, evil even! The Light Shroud Evil Durian is a contradictory spiritual herb that has curious characteristics.”

“Oh, do tell,” Long Di sat down on a chair before crossing his legs to take it all in.

Xiannu Liang was confused. “W-Where did you get the chair!? WHEN did you get the chai–”

“Remember that time you told me about the Light Shroud Evil Durian? What, you neither? Interesting, let’s fix it, shall we,” said Long Di, wanting her to stray off-topic.

“Right,” Xiannu Liang collected herself and tried to explain. “The Light Shroud Evil Durian is a spiritual herb covered in a miasma of darkness-attributed spiritual energy. That’s the smoke Pebbles sa–”

“Don’t let me beat that ass! It is Pebbles the Wondercat to you!”

Xiannu Liang flinched back under Pebbles the Wondercat’s scolding and quickly corrected herself.

“Sorry Pebbles the Wondercat! That’s the smoke you saw before. It also contains light-attributed spiritual energy inside of it. It is this quality that makes it a contradiction. The Blood Drinking Devil Ape cultivates using the darkness-attributed spiritual energy. They are strong and I’ve never heard of one being weaker than rank six!”

Long Di rubbed his chin in rumination upon hearing this, “Sounds like the Light Shroud Evil Durian would have many uses.”

“It would,” Xiannu Liang didn’t lie and admitted its worth. “It is a highly sought-after spiritual herb. It is used in recipes from life extension to enlightenment into certain elements of the Dao. However, what would you need it for? You’re not an alchemist.”

“First of all, the correct phrase is ‘I’m not an alchemist yet.’ Second of all, even if I wasn’t gonna become an alchemist, which I am, mind you, I would still need to be responsible for procuring my own ingredients, wouldn’t I?”

Xiannu Liang nodded to indicate he was right. Her expression then became resolute when she realised that he had already made up his mind.

“Then please, do me the favour of at least escaping if you realise you’re outmatched.”

Long Di, upon seeing her and hearing how she said it, knew that she wouldn’t budge on this point.

“You got it.”

“Then let’s get to it!” Mina said, finally running out of patience. “Anything’s better than just standing around! By the way, Long Di you owe me a couple more mangas!”

“You damn otaku! You’re still as useless as ever!” Pebbles cursed Mina out.

“Shut up, you stinking cat! You are everything wrong with this world! Global warming? You! Rampant murder? You! Racism? You! Gas prices? Who else could it be but you!?”

Long Di didn’t pay any more attention to this and got to heading where the Light Shroud Evil Durian and Blood Drinking Devil Ape were.

“By the way,” Shen Ling engaged in conversation with the Sun siblings. “Obviously, you’re all mortals. What are you all doing so deep in such a dangerous forest?”

Sun Zixin sighed when he heard this question. “We were hunting some regular animals for food. They live on the outskirts and it’s not too dangerous there.”

Long Di heard this and his brow raised ever so higher. “On the outskirts? High-level magical beasts normally live near the centre of the forest. Do you know how deep you are in the forest?”

Sun Zixin and Sun Mei looked at him in confusion and then at each before turning back to him with a shake of their head. “N-Not really… We normally gauge where we are based on the environment. Some harmless rank-one magical beasts don’t attack humans on the outskirts. As long as we don’t go past their territories, it’s considered safe. We didn’t see any this entire time, so we thought we were still on the periphery.”

“Pebbles, do me a favour and retract that aura of yours,” requested Long Di.

“Meo—?”

“Yeah, something tells me these beasts are susceptible to your draconic aura,” Long Di said, interrupting him. “I think, it’s causing the entire hierarchy of this forest to be thrown out of whack.”

Whoosh!

An unexplainable breath disappeared from the air, followed by a few seconds of silence.

Not long after this, roars and growls filled the forest all around them while several auras and pressures descended on them from all around.

Pebbles’s aura wasn’t as overbearing as Long Zhe’s mostly because he wasn’t actively propelling it forward while he was in his current form. However, magical beasts were extremely sensitive, so even though Pebbles wasn’t actively suppressing them, they still coiled and crouched since they felt Pebbles to be something they couldn’t afford to offend.

This was what their instinct towards life told them. So as soon as Pebbles fully retracted his aura, this was the result.

Immediately, the trio trembled as they felt eyes of bloodlust land on them from all around. Sun Kai in particular was on the verge of bursting into tears.

“W-We’re no longer on the periphery,” dread filled Sun Zixin as soon as he saw this.

He bashed himself for his foolishness that not only placed himself in danger, but his brother and sister as well.

“That’s an understatement, but you got the gist of it.” Long Di told him, seemingly unbothered by their current predicament.

Sun Zixin was no fool. Instantly his gaze landed on the cat-thing Long Di had on his shoulder and realised that this thing wasn’t so simple.

Simply by retracting its aura, it was able to cause such an effect? Moreover, it had aura!?

They heard from cultivators that there were magical beats here that not even they would dare to offend.

If that was the case, then what was the origin of this thing? How terrifying was it that not even these creatures dared to breathe as long as they knew of its presence!?

And above all, why did it look like a cat!?

I mean… it was kinda cute, not gonna lie, but why a cat!?

“Don’t worry, with me here, you’re not in any danger,” Long Di told the Sun siblings.

If they were being honest, they didn’t have much hope in Long Di. He looked… unremarkable for the most part. Not only that, his expressionless demeanour gave them the creeps.

However, they didn’t dare to go back on their own since they were already so deep in the forest. They could grit their teeth and stick with these, still esteemed, but extremely eccentric immortals.

“How far away are we from it?” asked Mina.

Long Di then looked at Lord Whiskers. “You can sense it, right?”

“Meow!”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Long Di, boarded Lord Whiskers and had everyone, including the Sun siblings, get on as well.

At the same time, the roar and growls that came from the forests grew louder. Immediately, a formless killing intent unfurled as Lord Whiskers entered predator mode.

Pebbles smiled upon seeing this, and Long Di didn’t stop Lord Whiskers in the least.

“Go.”

Shu!