“You’re so funny,” Nini informed the pink rabbit, whose nose continually moved as it sniffed the ground near trees. “How you can find these mufana mushrooms is uncanny. I think grandmother has only found one or two in the last few years, and yet we have five! They will help with my chi control so much!”

Fufu said nothing; instead, his red eyes peered into the thicket of trees, and his pink ears twitched, focused on whatever was off to the south.

Nini looked up from the mushroom she was carefully harvesting with her knife and saw the little rabbit and how he was acting. The pink hair on his back was almost standing up, bristled like when an animal was about to attack.

Stuffing the mushroom into her sack, Nini held the knife in a different position, glancing around the forest they were in. She realized they were much further south than she had ever been without Mimi, and as that truth sank in, the sound of something coming in her direction made her stomach churn.

“We need to go!” Nini shouted at Fufu. She raced toward the rabbit, but he easily dodged her attempt to grab him.

“Hold still!”

Nini was frantic, trying to grab the little ball of fur that each time simply bounded to the side, escaping her attempts at clutching him.

He made a chittering noise and shook his head, an ear cocking toward the direction of the creatures Nini knew were coming toward her. Like a fool, she had forgotten how her chi would attract such beasts.

There were hundreds of different kinds of animals, strange creatures, horrors from other dimensions, and more that prowled the world, seeking cultivators and draining them dry. Nini knew the truth. She couldn’t fight one of these creatures in these woods alone and win. Her skill and chi were too weak. The sounds coming through the forest told her that more than one was going to be upon them.

Red eyes stared at her, and somehow, the rabbit’s calm demeanor gave her a peace that made no sense. Its teeth began to grow, and Nini felt her eyes widen as the rabbit that had been less than a foot long started to expand.

Muscles that would have made every cultivator she had ever met jealous appeared as the cute pink rabbit grew. In less than a minute, it towered over here, standing eight feet tall with sharp claws coming from its two front paws. Its furry pink skin looked almost like a barrier of armor, tightly knit and pressed against every vein and undulation of muscle. Its soft pink tail was still there, covering the backside of its massive buttocks that it flexed every few seconds.

“Stay.”

The rabbit had pointed a claw at her and spoke. Only one word and how it had come out left Nini trying not to laugh or crap herself. For such a muscular and fearsome bunny with massive long teeth and glowing red eyes, its voice was higher than any she had ever heard before.

Fufu didn’t wait for a response. It turned and raced into the trees, leaving her alone in a small clearing.

Shrieking that would make most mortals unable to move sounded through the trees. Birds lept from the forest, flying into the sky, adding their squawks and tweets to the sound of death racing toward her.

Even if she ran now, unless that overmuscular rabbit managed to somehow slow them down for a while, she couldn’t hope to make it back to their place and the wards that kept them safe from these monsters.

A loud, high-pitched noise that almost sounded like a scream rose from the forest, and soon, the sounds of battle filled the forest. Loud thunderous booms, trees being shattered, roars, and more made Nini’s legs weak. She had witnessed her grandmother fighting a creature once, and it had been a horrible event. Since that last fight, she had limped, her hipbone having been shattered when the creature's long purple tongue had darted out and connected to it.

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Still, Mimi had pushed through the pain, scoring a cut with her knife on its tongue, and used her chi to control the blood of the creature. The monster realized in a moment it was in trouble, trying to close the distance and end the old woman’s life, but was stopped in midair.

Shuddering, Nini recalled the torture her grandmother had done to that beast. A blood cultivator was a dangerous thing.

“NINI!”

Those words echoed through the trees north of her, and relief flooded her. Her grandmother's voice carried the concern and worry even as far away as they were.

A high, piercing cry came from the trees, and a loud gurgling sound echoed for a moment before going quiet.

Sounds of paws or feet hitting the ground and coming at her made Nini turn back to the south. Movement came from her left in the trees, and she saw a creature, green and covered in warts, start to emerge from the shadows. Long webbed hands and feet told her what was coming even before she heard the croak that made her unable to move at all.

A nergaliid…

A lump in her throat came as the creature came forward, its recessed eyes scanning the small clearing she was in. Three clawed fingers on each hand twitched, ready to move as it smiled, a massive row of sharp, tiny teeth received an excited tongue that ran across them, covering each of them in a saliva she knew was a paralytic.

Fighting the fear inside her, Nini summoned her chi, forcing it into her hands.

I just need a cut… one small cut, and maybe I can hold it off till grandmother gets here…

The creature took two steps forward, its tongue darting out at her. The five yards between them were just a few bounds at most. It could rush her, yet it sensed her chi and knew that a cultivator was always a dangerous treat. Even with animal-like instincts and a hunger that often overwhelmed them, the monsters were smart enough to attack in packs and be careful around cultivators.

A pink blur came from the trees and caught Nini off guard. The nergaliid reacted slowly also.

Two large teeth sunk down in its neck from behind as Fufu’s massive arms wrapped around the creature, which was only a few feet shorter than it.

Hisses and gurgling sounds came as purple blood flowed from the monster. Fufu lifted it off the ground, keeping its powerful legs away from the dirt it might use to push off with and its pinned arms did little more than send patches of pink fur flying as the rabbit's black blood dripped down its body.

A cracking sound came as the rabbit squeezed tighter, its muscles expanding and getting bigger. Fufu’s arms seemed huge, now thicker than any Nini had ever seen, and the nergaliid was gasping and croaking. Purple blood came from its mouth and dribbled down its rubbery skin. Its eyes bulged from the pressure, and Nini broke from her shock, using her chi, and started pulling the blood of the weakened creature out.

As if a dam had been broken, it gushed from its open mouth, pooling into the air before its face as she focused everything inside her.

Fufu was panting, and blood was starting to run quickly as the monster fought with everything it had left. Legs twitching and claws flailing around it gave one last shudder as a massive crack came from its body.

Fufu dropped the creature, which was now broken in half, onto the ground. His massive girth was gone, and a two-foot ball of blood was circling about in the air.

The rabbit panted heavily, and Nini’s eyes saw that his arm, chest, and legs were all cut, blood running freely, staining its pink fur.

She sent the ball of blood at a tree and let it splatter, ignoring the hissing sound that came from it, and ran toward Fufu.

The rabbit held up a clawed hand and shook his head.

Noise from behind came, and Nini glanced over her shoulder, sensing the chi coming toward her.

“Nini!”

Her grandmother’s voice brought a peace that Nini desperately needed as she watched the rabbit that had protected her start to slowly shrink. Its massive muscles and body began to draw within, and as Mimi rushed into the small clearing she was in, the older woman almost tripped, taking in the sight before her.

Neither said a word as the seconds ticked away, and soon, a tiny pink rabbit was on the ground, covered in black and purple blood, struggling to breathe.

“Is that…”

Mimi never finished her question as Nini ran forward and used her chi, pulling and pushing the purple blood from the torn pink fur. Closing her eyes, she pushed her chi into Fufu and, after a moment, stopped the bleeding that was taking place.

Time ticked passed as the old woman stood there in awe at what she had just witnessed. She saw the blood dissolving a tree off to one side, yet seeing the body of the nergaliid broken in half startled her. Mimi knew what kind of strength it would take for one to manage such a feat.

Her skin prickled, and the hair on her neck rose as she stared at the pink rabbit her grandaughter was holding in her arms. Off to the south, she could sense another body, chi slowly starting to leak from it, and she knew that more than one creature had died at the hands of this furry pink thing.

“Take it home, continue to heal it,” Mimi said, her voice calm even though she raged inside at her grandaughter for ignoring the boundaries. “I’ll collect the monsters. We’ll need to talk when I get back.”