SORCERESS 101 261 Sanguine Tundra

Ecia, the troll maiden introduced to the group as she gestured at the hanging bridge behind her.

"Rest a.s.sured that this hanging bridge is as st.u.r.dy as ever. Though it does not look like one. What I can tell you is that countless troll blood was spilled in this hanging bridge before to reinforce it and allow the bridge to withstand the pa.s.sing of time."

Pain and sadness surfaced in Ecia's eyes for a brief second when she said that. But she quickly averted her gaze so that no one can notice it.

"Is there anything we need to do before we could gain access to the entrance and cross the hanging bridge??"

Yun Xue asked skeptically.

They were no first-timer when it comes to using portals guarded by the guardians.

On every occasion, regardless of where they are, there will always be something that they have to do before they could use the portal and get teleported to the other side.

Just come to think of the talking oak tree in the heart of Enchanted Forest inside Magus Academia.

Whoever wished to use that portal have to first flash their magic emblem to represent their ident.i.ty and utter a specific introduction before they will be teleported.

The same goes for the Vegan merfolk, Arya at the entrance to the land of Echurid.

One has to be capable of holding their breath underwater or at least consume a mermaid's tear to cross the underwater portal leading to the land of Echurid.

While Flora, the sunflower plant that has the face of a baby requires her travelers to answer a riddle first before she would give them access to the portal.

The same goes for the Whomping Sakura Tree and its fierce trial of life and death in the desert land. As well as the hug of faith with Cactniss Evergreen in the Rhapsody Swamp.

Every guardian has their own trial and prerequisite that they require before they let one have access to the portal that they were guarding.

So Mu Lingxi and her friends wonder what could be the trial or the requirements set by the Troll maiden named, Ecia.

"You are indeed sharp, young man"

Said Ecia as she smiled at Yun Xue and the others before continuing.

"I do require something from you. Anyone of you who wish to cross this hanging bridge safely will have to pay a price."

"Price???"

Well, that is new!

So far, they haven't been into a portal before that requires one to pay a price. It was clearly unheard of.

"MEOW"

[Woah? I never thought that there is already an entrance fee when using a portal!]

"I require a gift for each head that wants to cross the hanging bridge. In return, I will guarantee your safety and I will personally accompany and guide you within the hanging bridge."

"MEOW"

[Ohh??? A gift... She wants to felt the warmth of Christmas, I think. After all, the holidays are just around the corner. I bet she hasn't received any gift from anyone before without her requiring one. Poor soul. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk]

Ja.n.u.s keeps on commenting on the side as he clicked his tongue.

Thankfully, only Mu Lingxi can understand what he was saying.

Or else, there is a high chance that Ecia will be offended by his comments.

"A gift???"

"Yes, a gift. Anything will do. As long as it is a treasure."

Ecia the troll maiden said with a smile as she placed her hands behind her back.

From the way she says it, it sounded as if what she said is really nothing worth a mention and it is the most common thing at all.

On the other hand, upon hearing the other party's condition, Mu Lingxi and the rest of her friends can't help but twitch their facial features.

A gift you say???

Then anything will do...

But then you follow it with 'as long as it is a treasure...'

From the current looks of it, it seemed that you will not accept just an 'anything'

It has to be something 'valuable'!

But considering that troll blood runs in Ecia's gene, this also make sense. It seemed that this is the trait that she inherited from her Troll parent.

It was common knowledge that trolls are also known for being fond of anything sparkling such as gold and silver.

So they tend to h.o.a.rd piles of treasures in their homes. Most likely, the half breed troll maidens are no exemption for this rule as well.

So one by one, the group took each of their turns to give their gifts to Ecia. However, when it was Mu Lingxi's turn to give her gift, Ja.n.u.s interrupted her for a second.

"MEOW"

[Little la.s.s, why don't we just gift her the annoying baby snow dragon who was always busy pigging out inside your storage ring?? She can also be considered valuable right???]

"Errr???"

It seemed that Ja.n.u.s was already vexed in disposing the bossy snow dragon that was currently having her staycation inside Mu Lingxi's storage ring.

Well, Mu Lingxi is not entirely surprised learning about that. Because just yesterday, Ja.n.u.s and Guinevere had a fight over a jar of meat jerky.

Guinevere is a troublesome fellow who doesn't wish to meet any other people. She kept on telling them that she might end up burning a person into ashes if she got annoyed by them.

So to prevent such an accident to happen, Mu Lingxi just let her stay inside her storage ring.

But since Ja.n.u.s can easily have food outside, unlike the troublesome Guinevere Mu Lingxi chose to give the meat jerky to Guinevere.

So she believed that Ja.n.u.s' desire to get rid of Guinevere is to be expected.

"I can hear you stinky cat!"

Guinevere's voice can be heard outside as she shouted out from the storage ring.

"MEOW"

[Err... Never mind. I was just merely giving a suggestion.]

"Ja.n.u.s, you cannot say that. At least not within her earshot."

Mu Lingxi gave her cat a light tap and a meaningful stare.

Feeling reprimanded by both Guinevere and Mu Lingxi, Ja.n.u.s felt that he was wronged.

"MEOW"

[Why?? I was just merely suggesting a good deal here. Look, little la.s.s, instead of giving away a good treasure for the sake of entrance fee. Why not gift her Guinevere instead and have ourselves get rid of a spendthrift fellow.]

Just thinking about how he had been putting up with that bossy baby snow dragon all this time.

As well as how voracious it was eating all their meat jerky in a flash was enough for Ja.n.u.s' blood pressure to rise to its limit.

If a cat happens to have one.

When the group was done giving their 'gift' to Ecia, they proceeded on crossing the hanging bridge with Ecia at their back to keep them safe.

Crossing the hanging bridge, the group could feel it swaying whenever a strong wind blew past it.

Each of the planks of the wooden steps of the bridge creaks noisily whenever they put their weigh on it.

It seemed that if one dares to run or purposely shake the hanging bridge, it will eventually tip to the side and all that was crossing the bridge will fall.

It is also a good thing that Mu Lingxi's group has no plan of tricking Ecia in giving their treasure.

Because apparently, those who choose not to follow Ecia's condition will definitely meet their tragic end in the hanging bridge.

Over time, there were already a number of warlocks who tried doing that before. Crossing the hanging bridge without the guardian's permission.

But only misfortune follow them after that.

Without Ecia as a guide, whoever dares to cross the hanging bridge alone will only end up being trapped within the deep cloud of fog without any chance of escaping.

The hanging bridge was relatively long, compared to what they actually expected.

Nevertheless, after an hour or so of crossing the hanging bridge, Mu Lingxi's group managed to reach the other end of the bridge without any mishap.

The moment they step out of the hanging bridge, the thick fog behind them started to move and it engulfed the entire bridge.

It was as if the fog swallowed both the hanging bridge and Ecia, perfectly hiding the two away from their sight.

When they try to look around them once more, they were greeted by an old mansion. But what makes the place bizarre is the atmosphere, as well as the ambient light, present on the place.

It is not dark nor bright. But just like the name implies, it has a sanguine touch on it. Everywhere their eyes set upon, there is only one unique color that dominates the place.

It is a reddish-brown color, so much like the color of dried blood.  Even the soil beneath them has the same reddish color.

It was as if bloodbath occurred in this place in the past. Soaking everything around before basking it under the extreme heat of the sun.

Resulting for the surrounding area to looked like as if dried blood cover its entire place