Hae Ri’s palm trembled against the trunk of the tree. She was feeling light headed but she concentrated hard and finished the ritual along with Chanyeol. The blood shield was completed.

“All of you will be safe here,” she announced before she felt her head spun. Chanyeol caught her in his arms.

“T-thank you…for everything,” Myung Soo mumbled. He absentmindedly touched the bite mark on his neck and could not help but shiver. He would have died if not for them. Hae Ri gave a small smile and shook her head as Chanyeol helped her to stand up. All’s well that ends well. The villagers were making themselves comfortable in the forest and the trio – Yongguk, Zelo and Jongup – were talking animatedly with the soldiers. The trio was talking to them about the Bloodsuckers. The soldiers were learning about how the Bloodsuckers attack and their weakest points. They were planning on rebuilding the shelter according to the trio’s information and improving their defence. They had vastly underestimated the Bloodsuckers because they knew nothing about them. The humans would be a lot stronger with the good vampires’ help. Hae Ri and her gang smiled at the scene before them.

“We have to go,” Hae Ri said and everyone turned to look at her.

“She told me that what we are looking for is near. We have no time no lose,” she explained to her travel-mates and they nodded. Mother Nature had informed her that one of the tattoos was near when she had formed a connection with the tree.

Yongguk, Zelo and Jongup came towards Hae Ri and the gang to bid them farewell.

“It was a pleasure to meet all of you and we will forever be grateful for your help. We wish you all the best for your journey. This war will end soon,” Yongguk said as he shook hands with Hae Ri and her companions. Zelo gave all of them bear hugs whereas Jongup simply smiled shyly and nodded his head at all of them.

“Thank you!”

“All the best!”

“Hwaiting!”

The group walked slowly. Though the silver in their systems were completely detoxified, they were still physically weak. Even so, they did not have the luxury to stop and rest when their goal was finally within reach. The group walked straight, between 2 long rows of trees. Suddenly, Baekhyun deviated from the path and walked in between some trees that were closely situated next to each other. The group panicked and called after him but he did not respond and simply kept walking. Baekhyun was acting weird again. They never did find out why or how he had left the dungeon and came back with such dirty fingers and black fingernails. They hastily followed after him.

“Come find me…”

Baekhyun walked towards the source of the voice as if an invisible force was pushing him forward. He made his way through bushes and brambles until he arrived in front of a tree. The tree looked like any other tree but the only difference was a part of the tree’s bark had been scraped off, revealing some red ink. Baekhyun instinctively picked up a sharp stone and started to scrape off some more bark. When Hae Ri and the rest arrived, Baekhyun had already removed so much bark such that a shape was visible in red ink.

“What is that?” Chanyeol remarked.

They quietly stood around Baekhyun as he continued to scrape off more bark. His face was void of expression and his hands just kept on moving as if he were possessed. It was a freaky sight and none of them dared to intervene thus they just stood there waiting for him to stop. With one last scrape, Baekhyun dropped the stone on the ground. A lotus was imprinted with red ink below the surface of the tree’s trunk.

“Blood…”

A sharp light spear materialized in Baekhyun’s hand and he cut his palm. Fresh blood dripped out of the wound and Hae Ri felt her stomach grumble. Baekhyun placed his palm flat against the picture of the lotus, his blood staining it. At that moment, a voice spoke in all 5 of their minds.

“The far east of the east sea…”

Baekhyun awoke from his trance.

“What?” all of them thought.

The voice simply repeated itself again. Hae Ri curiously formed a connection with the tree. There was something off with the tree’s energy. It felt as if there was another source of energy within the tree’s being. Hae Ri bit off the skin of her thumb and pressed it against the trunk of the tree. The female figure in her mind’s eye answered her queries before she even posed her question.

“That is one of the tattoos that you have to find. It has revealed a part of Savant’s location. Seek the final tattoo. It looks just like the one on this tree.”

Hae Ri broke off the connection and relayed what she just heard to the rest. It seemed as if the tattoo had a life of his own because Hae Ri could clearly feel its energy when she had formed the connection.

“So we finally found one tattoo and we still don’t get anything concrete from it…” Baekhyun murmured.

He was right. They have been heading east all these while so knowing that Savant was in the ‘far east’ was not of much help.

“East sea…Do you think it means Donghae?” Hae Ri asked. Donghae was at the border of South Korea.

“If it’s even further east than Donghae then it is most likely that Savant is not on the Korean peninsula but on one of those surrounding smaller islands.” she continued.

It was a good guess and the rest nodded their heads. It was their best shot.

“Then let’s continue heading east and make our way to Donghae,” Lu Han concluded and the group carried on walking.

“What’s up with the riddle…Can’t he just reveal his location?...” Chanyeol grumbled as he kicked a small stone before him.

“Of course he can’t. He’s a member of the elder council for crying out loud,” Baekhyun replied in a snide manner, rolling his eyes.

Lu Han walked in between Chanyeol and Baekhyun as the duo began to throw each other nasty looks. He stretched out both his hands, pushing them away from each other.

“Enough, let’s just go,” Lu Han simply said.

For weeks they had not seen much of civilisation. The good thing was as time went by they found less dead bodies. There was no longer a heavy stench of rotten and dead bodies everywhere. The group believed that the humans have gradually found a way to better protect themselves and it was a pleasant thought. They have been walking through a deep forest for some time and it was getting claustrophobic. As they headed forward a little more, the path broadened out and they found themselves surrounded by flowers.

It had been only green for the longest time ever but now they were overwhelmed by colours - blue, yellow, pink, red and purple. It was beautiful. Hae Ri took in the fragrance of the flowers with a smile on her lips, her dimples showing. The flowers were neatly organized according to their colours and there was a variety of types. It was obvious that they were planted by people. The group was walking along a very straight path that was clearly marked out. Civilisation was near.

Hae Ri felt something in her hair and she was about to touch her hair when she felt warm fingers wrapped around her wrist, preventing her from doing so. She turned and looked at Baekhyun questioningly. His eyes were on the side of her head. He had plucked some fresh flowers and tucked them neatly into her hair. Upon feeling Hae Ri’s gaze, Baekhyun smiled at her gently, a crease forming on both of his cheeks.

“The flowers suit you well. You look beautiful,” he complimented. Hae Ri simply chuckled and wriggled her hand so that he would release his hold on her wrist. She was used to his sweet words. He had been nothing but awfully nice to her during their entire journey and Hae Ri felt blessed to have Baekhyun by her side. She has always felt this way whenever she received care and concern. Growing up in the NSA academy was tough and people were not nice to each other. Jong Hun and Chanyeol were the only ones who treated her as if she was someone special but now, Baekhyun, Lu Han and Lay treat her very nicely as well. That was why she was not repulsive towards Baekhyun’s affections. She did not think that he had other intentions.

Lu Han noticed Baekhyun’s actions from the corner of his eye. He knew that Baekhyun was naturally flirtatious and nice to girls but Baekhyun’s words in the dungeon made Lu Han think twice about the way he was treating Hae Ri. Lu Han hoped that Baekhyun would not try anything stupid. It was obvious that she likes Chanyeol and Baekhyun would only end up with heartbreak if he failed to control his feelings. Lay nudged Lu Han. He had noticed the same thing as well.

They arrived at a town shortly after. It was intimidating because there were soldiers everywhere. However, the atmosphere here was completely different from how it was like at NSA. It was like a carnival here even though the war had not ended. All the military personnel were talking loudly and happily. The infrastructure here was also very high tech. The whole place was running on a lot of electricity. Buildings and traffic lights were lighted up and everywhere there were signboards flashing even though it was midday. It looked a lot like the times before the healing wave. This area obviously belonged to the army – those who have little affinity with Mother Nature.

A soldier bumped into Lu Han. Upon seeing new faces, the soldier smiled a little too widely and slurred,

“Welcome to Soldier Town!” He was obviously not sober.

“Isn’t this Donghae?” Lu Han asked.

“It used to be…Are you refugees?” the soldier questioned while he stumbled a little on his two feet.

“Yes,” Lu Han replied. They have to keep their identities hidden.

“Then you’ve come to the BEST place!” the soldier replied, drawing two big circles with his arms when he said the word ‘best’ before he stumbled away.

The group looked at each other quizzically. It was a weird encounter. Lay noticed something from afar and he rushed towards it, gesturing the rest to follow him.

He stopped before a huge signboard that read,

“Welcome to the Lotus Club~”

There was a logo, a picture of a lotus, that was flashing on the signboard as well and it looked exactly like the one that was imprinted on the tree from before. The outer layer of petals formed the outlines of a flame and the bud of the lotus had not blossomed yet. It could not be a coincidence. The group followed the arrow that was pointing down on the signboard and walked down the steps towards the basement.

Loud, heavy beats could be heard as they made their way down and there were even laughter and squealing. The place was totally dark apart from the disco lights. The stench of smoke was overwhelming but the more overwhelming thing was the people in the club. The ladies were all scantily dressed, enjoying a good time drinking with the soldiers. The common outfit that they had on was an open back dress, showing off their from the shoulders all the way to their lower backs. All of them had the exact same lotus tattoo as the logo on the signboard inked from their shoulder blades all the way to their lower backs. 

Jyan Jyanggg~ A much longer update this time round :D

Oh and the lotus should look something like that:

Since this image isn't mine, I have to state its source :X

http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/37802988?view_mode=2

Yayayay hope that you guys had a great time reading this chapter and that nothing was too confusing :)