Chapter 61: Barrier

The centaur girl fluttered her long eyelashes, hesitated a moment, then spoke in a very soft voice: "My name is Ailu, I am not a monster."

Hearing the centaur girl's self-introduction, Fulade couldn't help but be slightly startled.

"Monster? Someone has said that about you before." Fulade asked.

The centaur girl Ailu nodded in resentment, responding: "Hmm~"

"They hit me, drove me away, and called me a monster."

"I never thought of hurting them; I was just hungry and wanted to ask if they could give me some food."

Ailu slowly hugged her legs, looking very sorrowful.

At this moment, Fulade also understood why the other party had not heeded advice and kept hiding in the house without coming out.

Suddenly, Fulade asked: "Ailu, have you been like this since childhood?"

"Yeah, I've been like this since birth, so Mom doesn't let us go out."

Fulade's eyes lit up, and he pressed: "You guys?"

A flicker of panic flashed in the centaur girl's eyes, and she quickly added: "No, you misheard; I said I, not we."

Fulade looked at the somewhat nervous Ailu; it was obvious she was concealing traces of other centaurs' existence—it seems their living conditions are not optimistic.

"Ailu, rest assured, I will not harm you; you should be able to see that I harbor no prejudice or ill will toward you, right?"

A red gleam flashed in Fulade's eyes, and his voice carried a hint of allure.

At the same time, a thread of spiritual thought surged toward the centaur girl, continually soothing her tense emotions.

Ailu's previously tense emotions relaxed; gazing at Fulade's handsome face, an inexplicable trust rose within her.

"Hmm~ you're a good person." Ailu blinked her eyes and said to Fulade.

"I'm a good person?" Fulade, oddly handed a "good person" card, could clearly feel that this was the girl's genuine thought.

It seems the girl's definition of a good person is truly simple—just having no bias toward her already counts as rare kindness for her.

I really don't know what kind of life she had lived before.

"Can you tell me about your situation? Perhaps I can help you."

Fulade lifted the centaur girl's arm, while pointing his finger at Ailu.

One could see that the abrasions on Ailu's body, caused by the impact of the explosion, as blood accelerated and surged, soon stopped bleeding and began to recover at a visible speed.

After a brief moment, the wounds had scabbed and quickly fell off, giving way to a layer of new, tender skin tissue.

"How amazing~! Is this magic?" The centaur girl gazed in astonishment at this wondrous sight on her body.

Suddenly, as if recalling something, her expression became very torn.

Seeing Ailu with furrowed brows, Fulade's mind stirred, and he proactively said: "Is there anything you need? I can help you."

"I~" Ailu opened her mouth to speak, as if worried about something.

After a moment, Ailu seemed to have made a decision: "Big brother, can you save my mother? She's suffered grave injury and is about to die."

Saying this, she tightly grasped Fulade's shirt corner, her face full of pleading.

"Of course, but you must first tell me what kind of injury she has; otherwise I cannot guarantee I can heal her." Fulade said.

Seeing this, Ailu showed a hint of delight and hurriedly began to explain.

It turned out that not long ago, Ailu's mother went out to find food, unfortunately discovered by a group of hunters, who then launched a fierce encirclement and attack against her.

Although Ailu's mother eventually broke free from the hunters' encirclement, she nonetheless sustained serious injuries.

Originally, Ailu's mother thought that relying on the centaurs' strong physique and some magical herbs she had found would allow her to recover from her injuries.

Unexpectedly, the hunters' weapons were all poisoned.

Although thanks to the centaurs' extraordinary strong physique, Ailu's mother did not die immediately, yet she was tormented by deadly poison to the point of being near death.

Having roughly understood the situation, Fulade did not hesitate and said to the centaur girl Ailu:

"Then lead the way quickly; perhaps I can help you."

"Hmm~" Ailu nodded eagerly, quickly striding forward with her long legs, running toward the forest.

Watching Ailu run through the forest like the wind, her agile posture was as if on flat ground.

No matter what obstacles lay ahead—numerous trees, gullies, or scattered rocks—she could easily avoid them, and her speed remained unaffected.

At this moment, Fulade couldn't help but grow more interested in the centaur species.

The centaur girl Ailu leading the way ahead would occasionally glance back at Fulade, fearing that if she went too fast he might lose her.

But upon seeing Fulade easily keeping pace behind her, she relaxed.

"We've arrived."

Shortly after, with centaur Ailu leading, Fulade arrived before a cliff.

"Follow me."

One saw Ailu call out, then charge straight at the steep cliff; just as Fulade felt a start and grew puzzled, Ailu's figure had already vanished.

Fulade stared in astonishment at everything before him, instinctively reaching out to touch the steep rock wall.

When his right index finger touched the wall, it felt like touching a layer of icy water surface, with ripples spreading outward as his finger made contact.

"A barrier!?" Fulade exclaimed in surprise, examining it.

"Big brother, come in quickly."

A ripple continued to spread; one saw Ailu again extend half her body from the barrier, looking at the curious Fulade, and she hurriedly urged him on.

Perhaps noticing Ailu's anxious mood at this moment, Fulade delayed no further.

Passing through the barrier, what appeared before Fulade was a shallow stream, and along its direction lay a dense thicket.

Yet strangely, this lush, dense forest was extraordinarily quiet, showing no signs of animal life.

"Something's off." Fulade couldn't help but frown.

For some reason, Fulade always felt that the forest exuded an inexplicable eeriness.

And then, Ailu deliberately stayed away from the forest, which only strengthened her suspicion, but Fulade didn't rush to ask.

Following behind Ailu, the two crossed a shallow stream, skirted the edge of the dense jungle, and headed toward the northwest corner of this secret realm.

Soon, Fulade followed behind Ailu and arrived in front of a dilapidated wooden house.

Although the house was run-down, it could still shelter from wind and rain.

Judging by the degree of disrepair of this wooden hut, it had been standing for quite some time.

Before Ailu could push open the door, a faint voice came from inside the wooden hut.

"Leiya, where is your sister? Why haven't I seen her lately?"

A woman's voice came through, and from its faint tremor one could tell she was currently suffering considerable weakness and pain.

"Mom, you're finally awake—don't move around, I'll help you up." A girl's voice full of joy rang out.

After a rustling sound, the woman's voice again questioned the girl inside the house.

Obviously the girl was not used to lying; faced with her mother's questioning, she became somewhat flustered.

"Ah~ sister, sister went to borrow some food; she'll be back soon."

"Don't lie to Mom, Mom is injured but not stupid; they can't even fill their own stomachs, where would they get food to lend us."

"Leiya, tell Mom, did your sister sneak out?" The woman had a vague suspicion; her voice began to grow anxious.

"The last time I woke up, I saw her face was somewhat swollen; wasn't it then that she sneaked out and got hurt?"

Perhaps her tone was too hurried, causing the woman in the room to start coughing incessantly.

"Mom, you're coughing up blood!"

With a sudden exclamation from the girl inside, Ailu, who had been hesitating at the doorway, suddenly shoved the door open in a panic.

(End of chapter)