Chapter 831: Lost Bamboo Forest

"I heard talk of braised rabbit head the moment I returned; could it be that you, Tewi, have been researching how to cook lately?" Lingyun's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

"Eek—" Upon hearing Lingyun's voice, Inaba Tewi jumped up all at once, looking as if she were trembling with fear.

Seeing Inaba Tewi in this state, the corners of Lingyun's mouth couldn't help but twitch; could this be the lingering trauma from the last time he brought out a rabbit cookbook in front of her?

"Master, you're back! You, are you alright?" Seeing Lingyun appear, Fujiwara no Mokou immediately bounced up and ran before him, scrutinizing him incessantly as if checking to see if he had been injured.

"Rest assured, your master here has plenty of strength; nothing will happen to me!" Lingyun reached out to ruffle Mokou's hair in comfort.

"Mm." Seeing that there were no wounds on Lingyun's body and that his complexion was normal, Fujiwara no Mokou nodded vigorously.

"Right, there is another matter. When I was returning earlier, I saw that there were many outsiders in the Small Village where Taketori no Okina resides, and at the same time, there were many Onmyoji in the Bamboo Forest searching for something. Furthermore, they seemed to mention you, Kaguya; what is the situation with this?" Lingyun asked.

"This..." Seeing Lingyun bring up this question, Inaba Tewi's eyes began to dart around.

"Is this matter caused by you, Tewi?" Lingyun raised an eyebrow slightly.

"No, it's not like that! There's a reason for this!" Fujiwara no Mokou, who was to the side, hurriedly spoke up.

"Oh, what is the reason?" Lingyun asked.

"This matter has to start from several days ago. That day, Tewi said she was going to play in the Bamboo Forest, but for some reason, several Onmyoji appeared in the forest. When those Onmyoji saw Tewi, they wanted to capture her, and one of them even said he would peel off Tewi's fur to present to the nobility," Kaguya said. "Tewi was angry at the time, and after a bout of fighting, she beat all those Onmyoji to the ground and threw them out of the Bamboo Forest."

"And what does this have to do with so many people knowing of your beauty, Kaguya? Could it be that this matter had a follow-up?"

"After those Onmyoji were beaten away by Tewi, they actually called over several powerful Onmyoji from who knows where, claiming there was a bloodthirsty Great Youkai here that had to be subjugated. Tewi was no match for those Onmyoji at the time and could only barely escape their hands. In the end, it was Sister Kaguya who took action and routed those Onmyoji. Because the situation was urgent at the time, Sister Kaguya didn't have time to apply a Shielding Technique to herself and was seen in her true form by those Onmyoji, which is what led to the subsequent events," Fujiwara no Mokou said indignantly.

Recalling how Tewi looked covered in blood at that time, Fujiwara no Mokou still felt lingering fear. If not for the medicine Kaguya had brought out then, she wasn't even sure if Inaba Tewi would still be alive today. Although those medicines had strange side effects, compared to life, those things could be pushed to the back.

"Is that so? I didn't expect that while I was away, so many things would actually happen here!" Lingyun nodded. "It was my lack of consideration not to add a barrier to the Bamboo Forest, allowing just anyone to enter."

"Lingyun, are you not blaming me?" Inaba Tewi asked somewhat cautiously.

"Blame you? Why would I blame you? The fault this time cannot be laid at your feet. However, after experiencing this, you should also become vigilant; if you possessed sufficient strength, this situation would certainly not have happened!" Lingyun reminded her.

"I understand, I will work hard to cultivate!" Inaba Tewi nodded forcefully.

The last incident had already sounded an alarm for her; in this era, if one wants to live well, force is an absolutely indispensable thing.

"However, there is another important matter to attend to now," Lingyun said.

"An important matter?"

"This Bamboo Forest is simply too easy for people to invade. If the forest could possess sufficient defensive power to keep people from entering, then the situation of Tewi being injured by Onmyoji in the forest wouldn't have occurred, right?" Lingyun said.

"Teacher, what do you mean?" Kaguya's eyes held some confusion.

"I want to use the Bamboo Forest as a foundation to set up a large Array to block others from entering. That way, others won't be able to easily disturb our lives," Lingyun said.

"Use the Bamboo Forest as a foundation to set up an Array?" A flash of light crossed Kaguya's eyes.

For a period of time afterward, Lingyun became busy, and one Array Pattern after another was carved by him into the Bamboo Forest.

"Teacher's array techniques are ones I have never seen before!" Kaguya gazed at the Array Patterns carved into the Void, her tone filled with a trace of astonishment.

As a Moon Princess who had existed for a long, long time, Kaguya's horizons were naturally extremely broad. Although she had not studied arrays in depth, she had dabbled in them. However, the array techniques Lingyun displayed before her were ones she had never seen.

"These Array Patterns should be considered unique to me in this world!" Lingyun drew the final Array Pattern before him and said to Kaguya.

"Teacher's unique Array Patterns?" Fujiwara no Mokou's tone held undisguised astonishment.

"If you want to learn, they are on the third shelf of the bookcase," Lingyun said while continuously pouring powerful Source Power into the Array Patterns.

Under the infusion of Lingyun's Source Power, dazzling light began to emerge throughout the entire Bamboo Forest. After the intensity of the light reached its peak, it suddenly extinguished. Although the Bamboo Forest looked no different from the original, Kaguya always felt that this forest had something different compared to before.

"Teacher, what kind of Array did you just set up?" Kaguya asked.

"It is a large Maze Array. With this Maze Array in place, finding the Bamboo House in the forest will not be an easy task," Lingyun said. "Moreover, this Array can autonomously absorb Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, allowing it to continue operating indefinitely, and it may even grow stronger as time passes."

"Grow stronger as time passes?" Kaguya's eyes were full of disbelief. "Teacher, does this array have a name?"

"A name? I call it the Lost Array," Lingyun withdrew his hand and spread out his Divine Sense to carefully inspect the state of the Array. "Walking into this Array is like stepping into a maze; it becomes difficult to find the correct path again."

"The Lost Array? Then can this Bamboo Forest be called the Lost Bamboo Forest from now on?" Kaguya asked, squinting her eyes.

"If you want to call it that, there is absolutely no problem!" Lingyun shrugged and said.

"Is that so? Then from now on, this Bamboo Forest shall be called the Lost Bamboo Forest!" Kaguya said, finalizing the decision.

"Mm, I always feel like this name sounds somewhat familiar!" Lingyun muttered, then threw the matter to the back of his mind.