Zachary tensed. It was the same owl call again. Hearing it before was just a coincidence. Hearing now meant something was not right. Someone was here.

“Wander, wake up!” He shouted within his soul, rousing the turtle from his shell, “We have trouble!”

“Ugggh…” Wander groaned, blinking his big eyes several times in discontent, “What kind of trouble? Is it edible?”

Ignoring him, Zachary called back Blue and summoned Boba.

“What do you guys see? Who is out there?” He whispered.

Blue shook its wings up and down. It had not found anything unusual. Boba, however, squeezed his arm once, indicating that it had. It flicked its tongue to taste the air and pointed its head towards a certain area to the west. Whatever it was, it wasn’t on the ground but in the trees like them.

Zachary thought quickly. He was currently only at the Two Paths Adept Rank. He could only summon two adept rank Ensouled and one of them had to be Wander. Therefore, he could only summon one more to fight for him. The choice was simple.

“Blue, go down and alert Heather, be silent!”

Blue flapped its wings once and took off, emitting only a slight flutter of feathers that was drowned out by the noise of the jungle. He then touched a particular soul orb on his summoning belt, one that he had used sparingly during this trip so far.

“Voodoo,” He whispered as the poison worm at his feet.

The beast looked around in confusion, hissing and spitting, “Where am I? What is happening?”

It realized the presence behind him and shot Zachary a sullen look. He ignored it and pointed in the general direction that Boba indicated.

“Shoot that area with your poison.” He ordered.

“Hiss… I don’t see the enemy.” Vodoo retorted.

“Doesn’t matter, just spray that area, don’t be stingy.”

Voodoo grumbled something unintelligible as it opened its mandibles and then its mouth.

Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!

It shot out a continuous barrage of poison spitballs, peppering the darkness with its killing move. For a few breaths afterward, he could almost hear the black poison burning holes in tree trunks or through the thick foliage as it spread death to whatever it touched.

“Stop,” Zachary ordered.

Voodoo closed its mouth and the jungle became peaceful once more. There was a noticeably lower amount of ambient noise as most small critters were frightened away by the poison worm’s sudden appearance and deathly aura.

He looked around, his eyes failing to catch anything interesting in the inky night. He couldn’t hear the owl anymore but he doubted it stuck around long enough to get hit. He could not discern anything with his soul sense or his special sense. It was a jumble of small emotions and minute intentions with no clarity.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

With a light flap of wings, Heather’s parrot, which she had named Jerry for some odd reason, landed on his shoulder. It let out a low, throaty chirp which probably meant Heather had roused the others.

“Hoo.”

It was that damn owl again.

Voodoo reacted immediately, even before Zachary could give out a command. It twisted its ugly head in the direction the hoot came from and fired wildly, poison spraying everywhere like a high-pressure sprinkler.

This time, there was a faint rustle amongst the leaves before the poison barrage landed. Whatever it was, the creature had dodged in time. How it could see anything in this utter darkness was something else.

Voodoo’s little black eyes shined with excitement. Its desire to kill erupted, surging out like a baleful tide. It looked all around, scanning the jungle, trying to locate the target.

“Hoo, hoo!” The owl called out again.

This time, it was not a soft spooky tone but one filled with indignation and challenge.

Voodoo rears its head, ready to attack once more. But this time, Zachary firmly held it back with his soul force and a firm command.

“Stop, wait.”

Voodoo let out a stream of silent curses through their soul bond. Zachary let it be, reminding himself to punish the little rebel later. Right now, he was focused on the mysterious entity in the woods. He already had some idea about what was happening.

If the owl was a wild beast, it wouldn’t have followed him from the outskirts of Rowan Oak Village all the way here. If the owl was simply hunting for food, it would have left after facing one round of Voodoo’s poison, knowing it had no chance. Therefore, it clearly wasn’t wild and it had a specific purpose. It was clear that this was a summoned beast.

Zachary sent a silent command to Wander to be ready to protect him from a sneak attack. Then he cleared his throat and spoke clearly and loudly, “Whoever is out there… since you haven’t fled yet, you must be confident in your strength. You also haven’t attacked me or my group even though you could have a long time ago. So… how about we talk things out?”

This was followed by a long pause as his voice echoed through the tall trees and was lost in the thick foliage. The jungle fell back into silence and normalcy for a while before a human laugh drew his attention toward the location of the owl’s first haunting call.

“Hahaha, I don’t see you for a few months and you’ve completely changed. Do you still remember me, Zachary Zhang?”

The voice was so familiar and distinctive. Zachary only had to think about it for a few seconds before he recalled who it was.

“Jean-Pierre Beaumont? Is that you?”

After a few tense breaths, the leaves of the tree directly beside them rustled as something appeared. Under the dim light of the stars, there were two distinct shapes. One was a person, slender and unassuming. The other could only be described as a fluffy pillar of black fog that was slightly taller than the person.

“Haha, my good brother, it’s good to see you again.”

Zachary stepped out from the shadows to reveal himself, getting a better look at the other person in the process. They resembled Jean-Pierre, at least in terms of the slender male frame and short hair. But it was too dark to make out his face. They certainly sounded like Jean-Pierre. But there were ways to mimic voices.

If it really was him, then the other party probably wouldn’t start a fight. But if it wasn’t, that person was probably stalling for time until the help arrived.

Below them, Heather was on the move, no doubt worrying about the same scenario. She and the others had already summoned their strongest fighters. And scouts had surely been sent out to scour the jungle for incoming threats.

“Zach! What are we doing?” Heather shouted.

“Hang on!” Zachary replied and turned back to the shadowy person, “You seem sure of my identity. But how do I know you are who you say you are?”

“Oh, come on. When did you become so distrustful? Heh, fine… I see you still have the summon I gave you. Hi Boba! Remember me?”

Boba flicked its tongue and hissed.

Zachary let out a small laugh and finally relaxed.

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