Liu Yanping went to console the three children, while Meng Fan took it upon himself to comfort Li Xuerou.
After all, the young lady had almost struck those children, and guilt weighed heavily on her heart.
Had it not been for Meng Fan's intervention, she truly couldn't have borne the reality of her actions!
A moment later, Liu Yanping emerged from the cabin with the three children in tow.
The terror and fear on the children's faces had lessened considerably, yet they still eyed Meng Fan and Li Xuerou with extreme caution.
Especially when looking at Li Xuerou, deep fear was still evident in their gaze.
Meng Fan glanced at the three children, feeling too indifferent to offer them comfort.
After a thought, he said to Liu Yanping, "Sister Liu, take these children and wait for us outside the forest!"
Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible to venture deeper into the forest with the children in tow.
Leaving the children behind while they attended to their business was equally unsafe.
The best course of action was to have someone escort the children out of the forest first.
The forest's outskirts had been cleared and were safe!
Li Xuerou had frightened the children, so the task inevitably fell to Liu Yanping.
Upon hearing Meng Fan's words, Liu Yanping instinctively wanted to refuse, eager to venture deeper into the forest herself to witness its mysteries.
"If you want to see these children torn to shreds by demons, then go ahead and refuse!" Meng Fan said mercilessly.
Liu Yanping looked back at the children, one of whom was tugging at the hem of her clothes with dirty little hands.
With a sigh, she conceded, "Alright, I'll take them out first."
"Hold on, there's something else I need your help with," Meng Fan said to Liu Yanping.
"What is it?"
"Sister Xuerou, come over here too!"
Meng Fan led Liu Yanping and Li Xuerou to the second cabin, pointing to the half-filled chest of Spirit Stones and treasures.
"I've run out of storage space. Help me pack these, and I'll share one-tenth of the loot with you as a reward!"
Meng Fan certainly wasn't about to give away such treasures generously.
He felt that offering a tenth as a share was more than fair!
After all, without him, neither of them would have had the chance to come across these treasures.
Liu Yanping and Li Xuerou each packed half of the treasures into their Storage Rings, and the massive chest was finally emptied.
Shortly thereafter, Liu Yanping, with the three children in tow, headed in the opposite direction from Meng Fan and Li Xuerou.
Heading towards the forest's outskirts now posed little danger.
Even if they encountered a stray fox demon or bull demon, Liu Yanping was believed to be capable of handling it.
"Brother Meng Fan, thank you!" After Liu Yanping left with the children, Li Xuerou suddenly expressed her gratitude to Meng Fan.
She was thanking him for saving the three children, preventing her from making a grave mistake.
"I'm your brother, what's there to thank me for." Meng Fan tapped Li Xuerou's forehead with his finger and smiled, "Alright, let's keep moving forward!"
The dangers within the forest were actually more numerous than Meng Fan had anticipated.
They hadn't yet reached the forest's core and had already encountered a terrifying giant white snake.
Had it not been Meng Fan who encountered the white snake, but instead any other disciples from the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, they might now be inside the belly of the snake.
Meng Fan calculated that among the Shu Mountain Sword Sect's team, less than ten could handle the white snake!
And at the very heart of the forest, there were likely to be demons even more fearsome than the white snake.
If someone reached the forest's center before him, they could well encounter danger!
But there was nothing to be done about the risk; they were the ones who had rushed ahead.
***
Moments later, Meng Fan and Li Xuerou arrived at the central area of the forest.
The reason they knew this was the center was due to its distinctiveness.
A vast clearing had been made, and at the very center of the clearing stood a grand hall!
For a group of demons to construct such a hall here was no easy feat.
At the moment, there weren't many demons on the plaza; they had been dispersed to ambush the disciples of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.
It seemed that Shu Mountain Sword Sect disciples had already been here, drawing the majority of the fire.
Meng Fan looked towards the south of the plaza, where he could hear the sounds of battle.
"Sister Xuerou, if nothing unexpected happens, there's likely a large battle between the demon tribes and the Shu Mountain Sword Sect's forces to the south. Go lend a hand!"
Hearing Meng Fan's words, Li Xuerou asked in surprise, "Brother Meng Fan, what about you?"
Meng Fan smiled.
"Of course, I'm going after the big fish. It's not convenient to take you with me!"
He didn't beat around the bush or consider Li Xuerou's feelings, speaking bluntly.
Dealing with a central area boss-level entity, Li Xuerou would indeed be a hindrance, and Meng Fan would have to be distracted to look after her.
There really was no need for that!
"I…" Li Xuerou felt somewhat defiant and wanted to object instinctively, but recalling the gap between her abilities and Meng Fan's along the way, she ultimately let out a resigned sigh.
"Alright then!"
Although she really wanted to follow, going along only to be a drag was foolish.
Li Xuerou headed south to support the Shu Mountain Sword Sect's members.
Meanwhile, Meng Fan turned his attention to the grand hall in the center of the plaza.
With no demons present on the plaza, it was clear that the master of this place knew of the human invasion and had dispatched these demons to fight.
Among those engaged in the massive battle, there were undoubtedly some terrifyingly powerful demons.
But Meng Fan believed the most fearsome of them would still be inside the hall, too lazy to make a move.
And that creature was Meng Fan's target!
Even if he was wrong and the hall was empty, it wouldn't matter; he would simply join the battle to the south.
However, it was unlikely that the hall was empty!
If there were treasures in the wooden house of the white snake, how could the grand hall not have its own?
And where there were treasures, there were guardians; not all would have gone to fight the humans.
While demons might not seem intelligent, those powerful ones were undoubtedly cunning.
Meng Fan, wielding the Hong Qi Sword, crossed the plaza and walked slowly towards the grand hall.
Though the plaza was devoid of demons, as Meng Fan neared the hall, two bull heads suddenly charged out!
They were not minotaurs, nor bull demons, but rather looked similar to normal animals.
Except these creatures were much larger, comparable to an off-road vehicle, and their entire bodies were pitch black, giving off a somewhat eerie vibe.
"Heh!" Meng Fan let out a cold chuckle.
Though they looked like ordinary bulls and lacked the evolved appearance of minotaurs, Meng Fan did not underestimate the two giant black bulls.
Could anything that charged out of this grand hall be weak?
Certainly not!
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan