Ye Zi was traversing through the treetops and leaves, searching for the figures of Lightning and Maisie.

In fact, "traversing" wasn't entirely accurate. Her main body had already merged into the dense forest, and only her line of sight was moving.

The feeling was incredibly magical. She felt even more at ease than a bird—at least a bird would fall to the ground if it didn't flap its wings, but she wouldn't. As long as she maintained this form, she could instantly travel from one end of the fused forest to the other.

Of course, compared to the overall appearance of the Misty Forest, the area Ye Zi currently controlled was still just a drop in the ocean.

Since her ability evolved, she had focused her attention on the Misty Forest west of the town.

If she could bring this vast forest under control, it would be of great help to Roland, whether in fighting off the evil beasts or collecting supplies. She had few ways to repay His Highness, and besides improving crops, this was the only other thing she could do.

Compared to the castle's back garden, this place was a true forest, and its complexity was far beyond what an ecosystem of olive trees and grapevines could compare to. Every inch of land contained numerous creatures. If you looked down along the plant roots, you could feel hibernating animals, wriggling insects, decaying corpses, and the gurgling flow of tiny water sources.

To avoid losing her mind, she carefully expanded her territory, starting from the western city wall, merging a little each day, and adding a new forest area after fully adapting.

At this rate, in two or three years, she would be able to cover the entire Misty Forest with her consciousness.

Before long, Ye Zi found the two who were hunting in the forest—if she wasn't flying along the treetops, but walking on the snow, she would have been able to feel their location more quickly.

"I found prey," Ye Zi said, shaking a branch.

"Ah," Lightning shuddered at first, then patted her chest, "You startled me."

"Goo goo goo!" Maisie nodded repeatedly.

"Sorry," Ye Zi allowed her figure to emerge from the tree trunk, like a newly grown branch, "Is this better?"

"Yeah, at least it's not like talking to a ghost," Lightning landed nimbly on the ground, "Can you appear anywhere in the forest at will?"

"As long as it's within the area I control," she nodded.

Maisie landed directly on Ye Zi's back, walked back and forth a few steps, and pecked at the connection between her body and the tree trunk, "You've actually grown into a tree goo!"

Ye Zi felt ticklish on her back and couldn't help but laugh, "This is my ability."

"Feels a little weird goo."

"You have the nerve to call others weird when you can turn into a giant devil bird yourself," Lightning rolled her eyes at the pigeon, then looked at Ye Zi, "Where's the prey?"

"Follow me," she tilted her head.

Since she couldn't maintain her human form while moving, Ye Zi simply had vines rise from the ground, guiding the one person and one bird forward.

"What kind of prey is it?" Lightning asked.

"A big wild boar that ran over from the depths of the forest," she replied, "Are you really going to do it yourself? I can use the grapevines to tie it up and throw it at the foot of the city wall."

"Of course, explorers pursue more than just the result," the little girl raised her head, "Sometimes the process is more memorable than the result."

"As long as there's meat to eat, goo!"

Ye Zi couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth. Before she had merged with the Misty Forest, the two of them were already regulars here. Their way of practicing magic was to hunt in the forest, and all the prey they obtained was carried back to the castle by Maisie. Now, half of the meat on the table was provided by them.

"There, over there," Ye Zi said.

A huge wild boar was squatting by the stream, licking the cold stream water. The tusks at the corners of its mouth were thick and sharp, and the bristles standing on its body were about the length of a finger, making it look very difficult to deal with. If a hunter encountered such a beast, they would generally retreat, but for a witch, the other party was just a good meal.

"I'm going," Lightning said, drawing out her bishou.

"No gun?" Ye Zi asked in surprise.

"That would be too unchallenging." She confidently touched her nose and rushed straight toward the target.

"Go goo!"

The little girl's figure was like a golden ray of light, instantly pouncing on the top of the wild boar's head from behind, and then with an upward movement, the target suddenly shook its head and burst out with a high-pitched roar.

Didn't hit? No... Ye Zi noticed that one of the wild boar's eyes had turned into a bloody hole. It seemed that Lightning intended to use her agility to eliminate the enemy's counterattack threat first, and then slowly drain the prey's life force through attrition.

In the face of Lightning's aerial advantage, the wild boar was as clumsy as a stone, and soon lost its ability to resist, collapsing on the snow.

She whistled, "How was that?"

"Not bad," Ye Zi controlled the vines to entangle the wild boar's hind legs and hung it up. "Let's drain its blood first. His Highness said that meat without blood stains tastes better."

"Goo," Maisie swallowed, "We can have a feast tonight goo."

"Wait..." Ye Zi suddenly felt that another creature had broken into the forest. She turned her gaze to the edge of the controlled area and saw two gray wolves approaching.

Something was wrong, she frowned. These kinds of beasts generally live in the depths of the forest, and even in winter they rarely run so close to Border Town.

Just as she was hesitating whether to tell Lightning this news, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of her—Ye Zi felt the hairs on her body stand on end, and the tragic battle she encountered in the Barren Land instantly returned to her mind.

Devil!

She saw two burly devils slowly advancing towards the city wall. They were not wearing magic stones on their arms, nor were they carrying spears on their backs, as if they were unarmed, but Ye Zi noticed that they were both wearing a black iron gauntlet—that was the weapon that killed Red Pepper and the others.

Why are the devils here?

With great fear and unease, she focused her consciousness back to Lightning, "Get out of here quickly, the devils are coming!"

"What?" The two of them were slightly stunned.

After Ye Zi briefly described what she had seen, she urged, "Let's go quickly, they don't have mounts, they can't catch up with you two, I'll follow you later."

To her surprise, Lightning hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "I'm going to stay and fight them."

"Figh... fight?" Ye Zi was stunned, "Why?"

"If we run away every time we meet an enemy, how will we ever be able to defeat them in the future?" The little girl took a deep breath and pulled out the sniper rifle from her waist, "Dad said, if you fall down somewhere, you have to get up from there. I won't run away anymore."