Heaven Awaits in Hell

"Zion!" Fana grabbed Zion's shoulder and shook it. This finally brought Zion out of his state, and he turned towards Fana.

With a worried expression, she asked him, "What's wrong?! Why weren't you responding? Is everything alright?"

She called out his name several times before, but he never responded. It was only when she touched him that he was stirred awake, but even then, Fana found him in a trance-like state, smiling to himself.

It was natural for her to grow worried and anxious after witnessing something so abnormal.

"Nothing's wrong…. sorry I was just thinking about something and got a little excited," Zion explained with an apologetic expression.

"What were you thinking?" Fana didn't believe him and asked. His earlier actions even made her question whether Zion was mentally stable or not.

"About escaping from this forest. I believe we'll be able to do it!" Zion said with conviction.

Fana looked at him doubtfully, "Are you still not in your stable mind? Let's go and freshen up near the river, it will open up your mind."

Not wanting to listen to his gibberish any more, Fana stood up. She was in a hurry to relieve herself, and Zion's actions had already delayed things.

'Yeah, she'll find it hard to believe it easily. I'll explain everything to her from the start later,' Zion thought and stood up.

He could guess from Fana's restless action what was going on, and without wasting time, they left for the river.

Fifteen minutes later, they finally reached the river's bank.

While Fana left Zion alone, he once again sat down in the lotus position and closed his eyes. He was way too excited to test some conjectures in his mind.

He started breathing in the set pattern, and just like he had imagined, he was still able to absorb Qi!

Zion opened his eyes the next moment and thought in excitement, 'Even after eight hours of practising, I can still go on!'

Not wanting to waste any second, he immediately began filling his Qi reserves.

The flow of the river beside him was more on the rougher side. Its constant melody seemed to have a calming effect on one's soul and helped Zion concentrate better.

However, in that constant rhythmic sound, Zion suddenly noticed a change in the sound. With a furrowed expression, he opened his eyes but saw no changes whatsoever.

'Was it a mistake?' Zion tried to dismiss it, but his heart felt restless. Knowing that he won't be able to concentrate if he didn't settle this feeling, he stood up. He then walked right next to the river's bank and observed for anything unusual.

'Was it just a fish that jumped out of the water?' Zion thought as he closely observed the river.

Everything looked normal, the river was flowing at the same speed as usual, and the banks were also clear of any animals.

While Zion was looking for any changes in the banks to his left and right at about a meter away ahead of him, a chilling pair of eyes surfaced from the water and moved towards him.

Finding nothing around Zion sighed in relief and looked at the water for one last time, but the very next moment, his gaze met the snake-like eyes, and his whole being froze.

SPLASH!

The very next moment, a gator leapt out of the water. It wanted to pull Zion in, but Zion was a second early and immediately distanced himself. He fell on his butt a meter away.

"What the hell is that?!" Zion exclaimed in shock as he looked at the terrifying existence in front of him. Seeing that it had failed to catch Zion, it gave out a loud grunt, slapped the water with its tail in annoyance and swam back to the deeper waters.

During this whole moment, Zion just stared at the ghastly looking figure in horror.

Their village had never encountered any gators before, so this was truly his first time seeing one.

Just thinking that the rivers which he had taken for granted all these years were a home to such a terrifying monster made a chill run down his spine.

It also made him change his plans.

'What happened?!" Fana soon rushed to the spot in panic. Seeing Zion's horrified state, she couldn't help but observe their surroundings in panic.

Finding no signs of anything, she finally took a deep sigh and helped Zion stand up.

"There's a monster in this river," Zion said grimly.

"A monster?!" Fana asked in shock and surprise.

"Yes, it has a long jaw which could easily tear off one's arm…" Zion described the gator's appearance, and with each word, Fana's expression worsened.

"What if it attacks when we are collecting water in the future? Won't we get attacked again?" Fana asked a crucial question that came to her mind.

"We might…that's why we must always stay vigilant. If not for that, I would have been dragged into the river by that monster," Zion said.

Zion's words made Fana remember how she was freshening by the riverside a few moments back without any worries, and her whole body started shaking from fright.

Zion understood her sentiments. It's a miracle that in the last few days they hadn't encountered this monster.

At this moment, Zion suggested,

"Let's go back to our previous shelter," Zion suddenly suggested.

"….Why? Shouldn't we be focusing on covering as much distance as possible?" Fana asked in confusion.

"That's how it was supposed to be, but not anymore," Zion pursed his lips and continued, "After seeing that monster, I changed my mind. This is just the start, just imagine how many new and dangerous animals we'll come across in the coming days if we keep moving like this,"

"But what's the alternative?! We have to keep moving, otherwise we'll always stay stuck in this hell." Fana rebutted. She felt Zion wasn't thinking straight in this situation.

"I'll explain everything to you, but first let's head back to our shelter. It would be much safer than staying here in the open," Zion answered firmly.

He understood Fana's worries and knew that if he didn't explain everything about his plan to her, then she would find it difficult to cooperate with him in the coming days.

Fana sighed to control her frustration and nodded, "Alright, your explanation better be rational, as right now I'm full of doubts."

"It will all make sense to you, so don't worry, let's go," Zion said as he led the way back to the shelter, and Fana followed right behind him.