Chapter 3. Sacred Lands

As Lin and Boshu stepped on sacred land of the Forbidden Woods, they were on their tip toe. This place was quite unique. It was a levitating piece of land. However the gateway to the realm of the Tree of Ages was situated right at the centre of it. The most peculiar thing about the place was that it could gauge intentions.

Anybody with malice or ill intention would immediately turn to ashes the moment they set foot on this land. So before descending, one had to make a firm resolution with a pure heart and stick to that intention for the rest of their journey forward and back. Any difference of heart would be sensed by the sacred land and the person immediately eliminated from it. 

"Boshu.why exactly are you here?" Lin teased the already tensed Boshu as they strolled forward. "I.um ... I'm here to help you with solving the case of the eternal curse. " Boshu replied very carefully choosing his words as he stuttered. "Are you sure? Don't you have any ulterior motive behind it? " Lin continued teasing him. 

"Wha... Wha... What are you talking about Lin. Stop teasing me. " He was still stammering to get his words out. "Are you here to get close to me, you dirty little bird" Lin laughed as he tapped hard on Boshu's back. " Lin........ " And Lin ran as Boshu ran after him to catch him. By the time Roe and Xie landed on the place, it was already night. The sky was lit up with beautiful lamps hanging from the heavens. They stopped for a moment to admire the beauty before heading forward towards their destination. "Roe, do you have any set of question in mind you will be asking the tree of knowledge? " Xie asked his sister. 

"Uhhh.not really. I didn't think about that yet" Roe replied. "You know there will only be three chances" He let her know. "No, six. Three for you, three for me" She smiled wide pointing with her finger towards herself and her brother. "You" He pretended to hit her "you little girl. Don't you think you are being too clever. The tree of knowledge asks for a sacrifice in exchange for three answers. I might not be willing to make that sacrifice" He gave her a look. "Won't you? Not even for me? " She made a puppy face with winking eyes. 

"You... " Her brother pulled her along "your tricks won't work on me". She laughed as they walked forward. Suddenly they heard some rustling sound from behind the bush. " Carefull Roe Roe " Yelled xie as they stood back to back with their swords drawn in their hands. From nowhere, a whirlwind appeared and started coming right at them. They ducked and dodged.

Then there were whooshing of leaves and the branches started coming at them with force. "Roe, do whatever you can to dodge them but remember not to make a single scratch on them" Xie instructed his sister. "I know. I know brother. These are sacred lands and we are not allowed to cause anything any harm here. But why are they attacking us? " She asked confused. 

"I don't know. May be they are not satisfied with the reason we have for visiting this land. Or may be they are testing us. It's difficult to say" Xie replied. "Brother come here. Look there's a pit down here. Let's hide here for awhile" Roe said huffing and puffing from all the action. "Good good. Let's go" Xie pulled at his sisters hand and both went down the rabbit hole.

They landed on what seemed like a pile of hay. The surrounding was pitch dark and they couldn't see where they were initially. Then from nowhere a voice started screaming "Wolves.Those wolves are here too. Liiiiinnnn what am I going to do? Where will I hide. Help. Please somebody. Wolves help" It was Boshu shouting his heart out due to his phobia that he developed because of his previous encounter with the wolves. Boshu had once been brutally attacked and mauled by some rouge wolves. He was almost dead when Lin had saved him. He had been so grateful that he had dedicated his entire existence to serve Lin there after.

At the moment he was hanging upside down from a net. So was Lin. They had both fallen in a boobie trap. Lin was very relaxed. He was taking immense pleasure in Boshu's fright. "Who are you? " asked Roe. "It's a bird look Brother and a Fox. Whatever on heaven and earth are you doing here. And why are you in this state? " Roe answered her own question as she curiously checked them out. Xie pulled his sister away out of caution "what is you purpose here? " He asked them holding his sword out. "As you can see, we got stuck in these traps after suddenly being attacked by whirlwind and hale out of nowhere" Lin explained. "We too were attacked and fell in this pit" Roe said as she cut them loose. 

"What are you doing? " Her brother asked her in sign language "They look reliable" She said "tell us who you are and where are you headed" "Thank you. We are just travellers" Boshu tried avoiding the question timidly Roe immediately held him at her swords end "Don't you dare ignore me. I am the daughter of the wolf king" "My apology my lady" Lin showed courtesy "I am the seventh prince of the Fox clan and this is my bird friend Boshu. We are headed towards the tree of knowledge" "I think I have seen you somewhere" Xie was particularly suspicious about Lin. 

" That's great. So are we" Roe cut her brother short " You might have seen him, he is a prince, you are a prince. But I think the heavens wants us to work together, that is why the turmoil sent us here" She observed. ""Work together?" Lin pretended to be clueless."We are here to solve the puzzle about the curse" Roe said. "So are we" Boshu let out, now quite excited at the sight of the beautiful she-wolf. " I guess we are all stuck with each other for a while now," Lin said. "Guess there isn't much choice" Xie agreed quite annoyed. Roe and Boshu were the happiest with the arrangement.