The snake-like white fabric rushed over to the cart and flipped it back on its wheels. No matter how thin and fragile the white fabric appeared, it possessed the strength to flip a battered wooden cart as if it was a simple twig.
"W-what are you doing!" Ester urgently exclaimed after watching the white fabric heading for Tula next.
"No need to be frightened, young maiden. I'm helping the four of you to be on your way. This is not a nice place for three young maidens and an injured person to remain for a long time. I'm simply going to lower the young maiden into the cart slowly and nothing else." Feng Mengli reassured.
The white fabric gently wrapped around Tula's waist. The next second, her body was lifted in the air as if she had no weight. The armor and body's weight combined didn't hinder the mysterious white fabric one bit.
Ester and Lupa couldn't believe what their eyes were witnessing. Flipping the cart over with strength was one thing, but to precisely and gently lift, then place Tula in the cart was another.
Furthermore, the two of them didn't hear a sound. As if the metal armor Tula is wearing didn't touch the wood of the cart.
Feng Mengli could be the perfect assassin who delivers death to his target without a sound. Such thoughts made Lupa sweat since her heightened wolf hearing picked not even the slightest of a clanging sound.
'Is the white fabric a legendary treasure? Or is it all because of the old man's might?' The two bewildered girls thought.
"Now, let me help Vincent survive with all my Celestial Pearlscaled Snake Mending bandages." Feng Mengli stored the mystical white fabric roll and then held three moist white rolls between each finger on both hands. Six so-called bandages appeared.
A sudden intimidating pressure suppressed Ester and Lupa once again. The powerful old man leaked his mighty intent whenever he placed all his focus on his objective.
The six moist white fabric rolled like six snakes prepared to devour Vincent. In a sense, this was Feng Mengli's goal. As the white fabric extended, the roll became smaller. The rolls weren't endless like the previous one.
One white fabric snake after the other wrapped around Vincent's body. Four fabric snakes wrapped around a limb each, and the remaining two wrapped from the neck down to cover his chest, stomach, bottom, and groin. Vincent now resembled a living and breathing mummy.
"Fret not young maidens. I bestowed Vincent all my six last resort healing items and the healing pill my wife gave me before departing from my sect."
"The Celestial Pearlscaled Snake Mending bandage will help restore Vincent's blood flow and boost his body's regeneration. The bandages can absorb certain filth and expel them to a certain degree."
"But I couldn't understand what my wife meant since medicine from beasts is her thing. In other words, there is no need to change or remove the bandages and worry if Vincent soils himself or not. That is a simple explanation anyone can understand as I did."
Feng Mengli then took out and used the mysterious never-ending white fabric to lift Vincent and gently place him in the cart beside Tula.
"Now, you two young maidens know my reasons. I want to talk to Vincent and validate the truth on the half-burnt book in my possession. I have a bit of a curious personality, as my wife and children say, hoho." Feng Mengli brushed his long white beard while he followed Ester and Lupa to the cart.
"Maybe Vincent will accept to become my disciple, and then we will find a way to cure him together, hoho." Feng Mengli chuckled, but Lupa quickly turned her head with a visible frown and angrily said, "Vincent is Lupa's and Ester's! We won't give him to you! You won't lay your claim on my mate!"
"..." Ester didn't know what to say. Lupa overexaggerated as if he was about to take Vincent away from them.
"Our savior won't take Vicent away from us..." Ester turned her gaze on Feng Mengli and continued, "Right?"
"Fret not young maidens. This old man only has good intentions in his heart... well, maybe a pang of curiosity here and there. But never the less, I only wish to meet the three of you in good health one day." Feng Mengli waved his hand while trying to show his honesty and denying the accusations.
Ester could now start to grasp the old man's intentions. He was a powerful being, yet he possessed a mighty curious soul.
Feng Mengli wasn't blackmailing them. His insatiable curiosity to hear the whole story about the half-burnt book was blackmailing him instead. He was a prisoner to his own personality. It was what disrupted his cultivation base, and he had to improvise for further growth.
"Vincent himself will have to agree with this decision. We will follow his wish if he isn't forced to accept." Ester said while patting Lupa's shoulder to stop her hostility. In the end, it was for Vincent to decide his way of life.
Feng Mengli revealed a bright smile and joyfully chuckled like a little kid getting what he wanted. It wasn't because of what Ester said. It was for what she implied. That Feng Mengli will one day meet Vincent healthy as a stallion.
"I'm sorry, but this is all I have on me. There are one to two days worth of food and water for the four of you to live on. " Feng Mengli took out a large bag filled to the brim with supplies and placed it in the cart.
Feng Mengli then gazed at a few stumps with ant eggs inside. His intent was clear as a cloudless day. Ester and Lupa would take more than a week until they arrived in the city in their current condition. So a different kind of food was required for them to sustain themselves.
"Don't worry, young maidens; there is no need to frown. I'm proficient with my wind silk control. As the prodigy I was, my teacher would force me to eat without cutlery on the dining table. There was also the condition that I couldn't pick the food with my bare hands."
"On a table with a handkerchief and a plate with food, I had to master the advanced Qi technique to eat or starve. I had to be precise with my control as the fabric I have to manipulate needed to be soft, flexible, elastic, and hard at various times."
"It took me about two weeks of only drinking water that I managed to harden the silk enough to pierce the meat barely... Ahem. Sorry for explaining the pain I suffered because I was a prodigy. I derailed from the subject once again, hoho." Feng Mengli decided to stop when Ester and Lupa kept frowning at him.
Feng Mengli turned around to ask how many ant eggs they wanted to take, but something felt off since Ester and Lupa seemed bothered. As he said, "Now, let me pick a few eggs..." Ester interrupted him.
Ester, "Wait! The eggs soaked in acid!"
Lupa, "Ye! It will melt Vincent and Tula!"
"Hoho. You young maidens don't know much about these ants since they mostly reside in the Northern and Eastern Continent. These ants are vulnerable to acid like everyone else. Only their acid sack, glands, and a few other parts where the acid passes are immune to acid."
"The acid is diluted with the nutrients of the melted tree. They would leave the nutritious acid to sit in the stump and leave the eggs inside. The stumps and eggs would melt if the acid was still acidic."
"Ahem... My wife is from the Godly Beast sect. She taught me a lot about common animals and insects in the Northern Continent." Feng Mengli then controlled the long white fabric and lifted an egg.
The diluted faded acid dripped from the soaked egg, yet the fabric remained pristine white. It didn't appear to get wet nor stained as if a protective layer pushed the liquid away. It added another layer of mystery as to what the fabric lifting the ant egg was.
The fabric wiggled like a snake causing the egg to slowly and gently spin. The ant egg was shortly cleaned as if placed in an automatic cleaning machine. Feng Mengli nodded at the clean ant's egg and gently placed it in the cart.
One after another, the ant eggs were swiftly cleaned with unfathomable precision and placed with care so that they don't break. Ester and Lupa could only silently wait while the cart became filled with ant eggs.
When enough ant eggs filled the cart, Ester asked, "Can we eat the ants inside? They aren't poisonous or need to be cooked in a special way?" The idea of eating insects for a long time disturbed her thoughts after seeing a cart full of ant eggs.
"Survival of the fittest is the rule of every place. The winner eats, and the loser gets eaten. So don't be choosy young..." Feng Mengli abruptly stopped when he noticed something funny.
"Hoho. The other young maiden wants to eat the ant egg without any second thoughts." Feng Mengli resumed after watching Lupa's tail wag and drool appearing on her mouth.
Ester quickly turned her head and saw Lupa wishing to taste the ant egg as if it was already cooked.
'I know Lupa ate everything to survive but still... an ant?' Ester thought with a frown.
Ester then remembered how Tula had the large bag inside the Blood Bound Bag Of Holding. Vincent had placed some water and food supplies inside as a backup plan. Ester sighed in relief after remembering this.
"Preparations are complete. Hmm... " Feng Mengli frowned once again. Shortly, the three of them could feel the ground shake with greater ferocity, and a feeling of bloodlust neared with the sound.
"You better leave now, young maidens. I might have talked a bit too much, but it was necessary to show my honest intentions."
"I'm your ally, so here, take this disciple Heavenly God Mantis Sect ID plate. You can use it to find me when Vincent gets better, but I don't know when we might meet again. I might be away if I find from where the ship came based on the type of Queen Ant." Feng Mengli took out a metallic plate and gave it to Ester. It had a mantis engraved on it and a few words indicating the sect's name and rank.
As Feng Mengli was about to say something else...
*Skroar!*
A loud insect-like roar rang in the forest. Multiple roars followed like a chain reaction, showing numerous monstrous ants approaching.
Their shout was similar to the Royal Guard Ant. The possibility of over six Royal Guard Ants closing in was high.