Beast Taming Star Journey

The Thunder Eagle's wings ripped through the silent night sky, the wind whistling. I gripped the Di Envoy's arm tightly, my heart pounding. Su Yao was still fighting valiantly; I had to find a safe place as soon as possible to honor her sacrifice. Finally, we reached the mountain peak I remembered. Pushing aside the dense vines, a hidden cave appeared before us. The entrance was small, well-concealed by the surrounding vegetation; it would be difficult to spot without careful observation. I had the Thunder Eagle stand guard outside while I led the Di Envoy inside. The cave was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. I fumbled for a tinderbox and lit it; the faint light illuminated the surroundings. The cave was deeper than I had imagined, winding and twisting, the air filled with the damp scent of earth. I took out several spirit stones from my storage bag and set up a simple defensive formation according to a specific layout. Although this formation couldn't withstand a strong attack, it could at least conceal our presence and prevent us from being tracked. After settling everything in, I retrieved the clue I'd found on the man in black—a parchment scroll written in ancient script. I'd risked my life to snatch this scroll from one of the men during our breakout, and I believed it held crucial information. By the dim firelight, I began to carefully study the script. The characters were obscure and difficult to understand, like some kind of ancient rune; I couldn't recognize a single one. I tried channeling my spiritual energy into the scroll, hoping to activate it, but there was no response. The more I looked, the more my head throbbed, as if sharp needles were piercing my brain. The script seemed to possess some kind of magic, unsettling my mind. I endured the discomfort and continued studying, but still found no clues. The Envoy Di sat silently to the side, his face pale, his eyes vacant, seemingly still reeling from the earlier terror. "Do you…recognize these characters?" I asked the Envoy Di, clinging to my last hope. He slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on the parchment scroll. After a long silence, he spoke in a hoarse voice, "I... I feel like I've seen this somewhere before..." His words were like a lightning bolt piercing the darkness, igniting a glimmer of hope in my heart. "Where have you seen it? Can you remember?" I asked urgently. The messenger frowned, seemingly struggling to recall. His lips trembled slightly, and a flicker of pain flashed in his eyes. "When I... I was imprisoned..." he said haltingly, "I seem to... have seen similar writing..." The messenger's words lifted my spirits, like seeing a ray of dawn in the vast darkness. I quickly pressed, "Think carefully, where exactly have you seen it? What do these words mean?" He clutched his head in anguish, his brow furrowed, as if desperately trying to remember something. After a long silence, he slowly said, "The place where I was imprisoned was covered with these characters... I was forced to look at them every day; those characters were like a nightmare, haunting me..." "On the walls?" My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly asked, "Do you remember the content of those characters? Or, how they were arranged?" The messenger tried to recall, describing the shape and arrangement of the characters haltingly. I took out my pen and ink and, based on his description, wrote down each character. As more and more characters were recorded, I gradually discovered that these characters were not arranged randomly; they seemed to follow a specific order, like a code. I tried to infuse them with spiritual power, and a miracle occurred! The characters on the parchment began to emit a faint light, and the obscure runes gradually transformed into characters I could understand. "Dark Sacrifice... Night of the Blood Moon... Soul Altar..." I murmured the characters that appeared on the parchment, a chill running through me. These words revealed a shocking conspiracy—the Dark Lord was about to launch a massive dark sacrifice ritual, offering the souls of countless beings as sacrifices to open the gate to another world! "The Night of the Blood Moon..." the Di Messenger murmured, "I remember! The Night of the Blood Moon is the day of the dark sacrifice ritual!" My heart sank. The Night of the Blood Moon was only three days away! If we couldn't stop this sacrifice ritual, the consequences would be unimaginable! Just then, a rustling sound came from outside the cave, as if something was approaching. My heart sank. Oh no, we'd been discovered! I quickly told the Di Messenger, "Hide! Don't make a sound!" Then, I rushed to the cave entrance and peered through the crack. In the dim moonlight, I saw several creatures exuding a dark aura slowly approaching the cave. They resembled wolves, but had bat-like wings, and their eyes were scarlet, gleaming with a bloodthirsty light. "Shadow Wolves!" My heart tightened. These dark creatures were extremely ferocious and highly sensitive to spiritual energy. I immediately recalled Thunder Eagle and whispered, "Hide your presence and prepare for a sneak attack!" Thunder Eagle nodded in understanding and vanished into the darkness in a flash. Su Yao was already standing beside me, longsword in hand, her eyes sharply fixed on the cave entrance, ready for battle at any moment. "Ready?" she asked in a low voice. I nodded, gripping my dagger tightly. The Shadow Wolves drew closer; they seemed to have caught our scent, emitting low growls. "Attack!" I shouted. Su Yao flashed out of the cave, her longsword flashing, sword energy crisscrossing, instantly cleaving one Shadow Wolf in two. At the same time, Thunder Eagle descended from the sky, its sharp claws slamming into the head of the other Shadow Wolf, blood splattering everywhere. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I moved like a ghost, flashing behind a Shadow Wolf and plunging my dagger deep into its heart. "And..." I wiped the blood from my face and looked outside the cave. Su Yao gripped her weapon tightly, her eyes wary. The sounds of fighting outside the cave abruptly ceased, and the eerie silence made my heart sink. Su Yao looked at me nervously, the moonlight making her face appear exceptionally pale. I gave her a reassuring look, and she grasped my hand in return; her fingertips were icy, yet conveyed a firm strength. I knew she trusted me, just as I trusted her. "They're gone?" Su Yao's voice trembled slightly; clearly, the battle had exhausted her. I nodded, cautiously observing our surroundings, not letting my guard down. "They must have sensed danger and retreated temporarily." I pondered for a moment. "These Shadow Wolves are just small fry; the real threat is yet to come." We returned to the cave, where the Di Envoy huddled in a corner, trembling. Seeing us return, he clung to us like a lifeline, his eyes filled with hope. "Are you...are you alright?" "We're fine," I replied briefly, then turned my gaze to the unsettling text on the parchment. "The Blood Moon Night in three days, the Dark Sacrifice Ritual...we must stop it!" Su Yao also came over, her brow furrowed as she looked at the text on the parchment. "Dark Sacrifice...that doesn't sound like a good thing." She turned to me. "What should we do?" I took a deep breath, a preliminary plan forming in my mind. "Envoy Di, you said you saw these texts where you were imprisoned, right?" He nodded quickly. "Yes, I was imprisoned in a castle dungeon, and these texts were everywhere on the walls..." "Castle?" My heart skipped a beat. "Do you remember the location of that castle?" Envoy Di tried to recall, describing the castle's approximate location and surrounding environment in broken sentences. "I know that place," Su Yao suddenly said. "It's an abandoned ancient castle, said to be haunted, and few dare to approach it." "Haunted?" I frowned slightly, a vague unease creeping into my heart. An abandoned castle, its walls covered in eerie inscriptions, coupled with rumors of hauntings… all pointed to a terrifying possibility—that castle might very well be the site of the dark sacrifice ritual! “We must go there!” I said firmly. Su Yao agreed without hesitation. “Alright, let’s go together!” I knew this journey would be extremely dangerous; the castle was undoubtedly fraught with peril, but to stop the Dark Lord’s conspiracy, we had no choice. I looked at Su Yao; her eyes shone with unwavering determination. I knew that no matter how many difficulties lay ahead, we would fight side by side, never retreating. I carefully put away the parchment scroll and said to the messenger, “You stay here and wait for us to return.” The messenger nodded gratefully; he knew he couldn’t be of much help and would only be a burden. We left the cave and headed towards the castle. The night deepened, the surrounding trees swaying in the wind, rustling like ghostly whispers. I gripped Su Yao's hand tightly, feeling the warmth of her palm, a strange unease filling my heart. I knew we were walking step by step into a dangerous abyss… Su Yao suddenly stopped, turned to look at me, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes. “Nong Yu…” “What’s wrong?” I asked. She took a deep breath and slowly said, “That castle…” She paused, her tone becoming serious, “We… must go back.”