Back to the Future 1999: Raining at the Same Time

Chapter 179: Burnt Forest

In a luxurious reception hall, the girl's excited voice echoed.

"Mr. Carson, Sofubi has grown up. And I'm not just going out for fun this time. I have an important mission to save people."

"Okay, okay. As long as you're not going to sell your new nutritional potion formula, it'll be fine. If I come back and see you looking disappointed, Teacher Mo Sang will be worried too."

Beside her, an old man who looked like a housekeeper patiently reminded her of the words that had been repeated countless times.

"...Then I'm off!"

With a cheer, the young lady in the puffy skirt ran towards the side door of the hall.

"You're going the wrong way, miss. The car is parked at the main entrance."

The housekeeper quickly stopped his young lady who had already taken a few steps forward.

Fortunately, his old bones were not yet so weak that he could not move, allowing him to stop Su Fubi before she rushed too far.

"Ah... I, I don't need any bodyguards. You promised me that you would let me go out alone this time~!"

"Mind your manners, miss."

The butler reached out and straightened Soufubi's hat, which was tilted a little from running.

"We didn't arrange bodyguards for you this time. The forest near the bar is very dangerous. We can only feel at ease if we pick you up in person."

After that, he also let go of the hand that was holding the lady's hat, and then continued to instruct:

"Anyway, once you enter the bar, someone will come to arrange a seat for you. Remember, you can only watch. You cannot drink any alcoholic or stimulating potions, and you are not allowed to do any swing dancing or close-up dancing."

"Well, miss?"

"I know!"

By the time the nagging butler reacted, Su Fubi had already run far away. Only the long response came with the wind, but it could not soothe his worried heart.

"Ugh……"

……

"The atmosphere of the forest here is so eerie..."

"All the plants were dead, not a single life. Even the bark on the branches was charred black."

"It looks like it's been through a fire. Hmm, if it's not a necessary route, I really don't want to go through this forest..."

The orange puppy took out his staff and held it tightly with some uneasiness.

"Speaking of which, Sonnet, have you ever heard a ghost story about 'The Great Fire'?"

Seeing Sonnet's reaction, Virtin felt a teasing feeling that hadn't been seen in a long time.

While trying to keep his tone calm and hoarse, he couldn't suppress a smile on his face.

"...?!"

"No, I haven't heard of it."

He gasped, a noticeable tremor already in the orange puppy's voice.

"I see. It's said that there was a devastating forest fire in Washington State. Those who died there refused to leave and transformed into forest ghosts, constantly wandering among the charred, dead trees."

"Well……"

Sonnet's neck was obviously shrunken compared to when she first came in. She looked at Virtin with some fear but also some anticipation, waiting for what would happen next.

"They would follow travelers, in order to see each of their faces clearly, they..."

"what!"

An exclamation interrupted Virtin's malicious narration, and the sonnet also tried to make amends for itself at this time.

"I can't hear clearly. Walking on these dead leaves makes too much noise. There's a rustling sound behind me."

"Indeed, I heard a loud noise, too."

Apple spoke up at the right time, preventing the sonnet from falling to the ground.

But this is obviously not what the sonnet wants.

"……what?"

"Mr. Apple, why are you in front of me? That—"

A withered bony hand suddenly patted Sonnet's shoulder, frightening her so much that she screamed but didn't dare to look back, and she froze in place, trembling all over.

"Okay, okay, it's me. If I had known you were so scared, I wouldn't have scared you."

Let the hand be covered with flesh and blood again, Chen Xi's gentle voice sounded behind the sonnet.

"Mr. Chen Xi?"

Sonnet asked with a trembling voice, uncertainty still lingering in her tone.

"Yes, it was me. It was wrong of me to scare you. I apologize. Let's take a look later."

Feeling those gentle words that were no different from his usual ones, Sonnet breathed a sigh of relief, let down his guard, and turned back.

"Chen..."

But what greeted her was a frightened face!

"what--!"

Seeing Sonnet's pupils shrink in fear, Chen Xi quickly crushed the demon in his hand, and at the same time reached out to hold her in his arms, stroking her head and patting her back gently.

"Alright, alright, Fourteen isn't afraid. It was my fault, it was my fault. I won't dare to do it again. Now that the mission is over, I'll apply to the foundation to take you to the amusement park in your free time. Please forgive me."

After a lot of coaxing, the soul of the overly frightened Sonnet was finally called back to life.

But she sighed deeply, her eyes full of self-blame but not a trace of blame.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen Xi, for letting me know that I still have such flaws and shortcomings. I will focus on practicing on this point after returning to the foundation."

He did something bad but was thanked instead. Even though Chen Xi was thick-skinned, he couldn't help but blush when facing the apology from such an innocent girl.

"Then I'll help you when we get back. My fantasy simulation is more advanced than the Foundation's artificial dream."

"Then I'll leave it to Mr. Chenxi."

After Sonnet nodded in thanks, the matter was over.

However, when Sonnet was held in Chen Xi's arms before, she felt a kind of crowding that was different from an ordinary hug.

Looking closely, I discovered that Chen Xi was holding a child of about eight or nine years old in his arms.

"Mr. Chen Xi, who is she?"

"This is the owner of the finger that Apple found in the basement garage."

"After I parted with you, I found her with that severed finger."

"Fortunately, she's still alive. Even though she was tortured to death by those two beasts, at least she still had a breath left. I saved her."

After hearing Chen Xi's words, Sonnet and Verdin both had complicated expressions.

But they didn't say anything more. During the Foundation's mission, completing the mission was the top priority. Under the circumstances at that time, there was no way they could waste a lot of time looking for a person whose life or death was unknown.

and……

Several people looked at the child's hands at the same time. Apart from being a little thin due to malnutrition, there were no other external injuries.

In other words, the child's injuries at the time were even more serious than they had imagined.

It's the kind of situation that neither they nor the Foundation may be able to save.

Only Chen Xi could let her sleep so soundly and safely in his warm embrace.

The two women looked at each other and were once again shocked by the power that Chen Xi possessed.

"Okay, don't make the atmosphere so heavy. We should have more important things to deal with right now, right?"

As he spoke, Chen Xi pointed at the ghostly demons that emerged from the shadows one after another.

"If we don't get rid of them quickly, I don't think our fate will be any better than when I first met this child."

At the same time, the owner of the scorched forest also noticed the unusual movements in the forest.

She opened her emerald green eyes and looked from afar at Chen Xi and his group who were gradually surrounded by demons.

She swayed her toes slightly, and the crystal high heel slowly slipped off her jade foot and was gently hooked by her toes, as if with just the slightest disturbance, it would playfully escape and fall into the arms of some unknown lucky spectator.

Chen Xi and his group fought off the demons while retreating towards the tree where the mistletoe was.

During the process, Chen Xi was also extremely conflicted.

According to common sense, the group should be defeated here, so Sonnet volunteered to protect Virtim and Apple so that they could leave safely.

But now that I'm here, if a group of little devils like this force Sonnet to sacrifice himself to cover for me, then what's the point of me standing here?

However, if the sonnet is not allowed to go, and the line of Sophoby is missed, then this rich little woman cannot be tied into Verdin's box.

But, if I go to cover myself, let's not talk about the fact that when the mistletoe lunch box falls from the tree, I can't have an epic lung-breaking experience.

The main thing is to let Verdin and the others face Arcana alone, and he has no idea what to do.

Chen Xi felt a familiar taste from Daniel's mysterious magic fluctuations.

It was obvious that when she was reshaping herself, Arcana took her own blood and added it to her mask.

What is even more frightening is that these things that should be under one's control do not respond to one's calls at all.

This was also an important reason why Daniel was able to escape at that time.

Arcana, the Hand of Reshaping has actually studied his blood so thoroughly that it has even snatched control from him!

Who knows what will happen if Veldin and the others encounter the current Arcana without me in charge!

So in the current situation, the best thing to do is to let the sonnet go alone.

But, how should I start...

And just at this moment, the sonnet opens:

"Si Chen, Mr. Chen Xi. Did you see the mark I made on the map? This is the place closest to the edge of the forest according to my calculations."

"In one minute, I'll cover you as you move in the opposite direction! Remember, there's a gentle slope two miles away that can slow down the speed of the mobs!"

"Mr. Chen Xi just treated a seriously injured patient. Don't push yourself any further."

"Miss Sonnet, won't you come with us?"

Facing Sonnet's determined expression, Apple asked worriedly.

"Under the pressure of such a large-scale enemy, we can't escape unscathed!"

"Don't worry, a person's action strategy is more flexible."

"Where shall we meet?"

In a hurry, Verdin asked the most important question at the moment.

Sonnet was silent for a moment, then said firmly:

"I will find you eventually. Please retreat immediately."

Verdin took a deep breath and said to Chenxi and Apple:

"Let's go. Don't waste Sonnet's resolve."

Turning around, Sonnet faced the swarm of demons and said: