Read The Blue Mountain (The Forbidden List Book 2) for Free Online Page B

yellow and black eyes, black fur and white whiskers. What have I become? he wondered.
    *Xióngmāo, there is somewhere I want to go.* Zhou stood and turned towards the north-west. *I am not sure how far away it is though.*
    *The distance we can travel is dependent upon our store of Qi ,* Xióngmāo said, *and today that is not a worry. We have been on the mountain for a long time, it is a natural store and supply of energy. Show me where we are going.*
    Zhou let his focus relax. No longer gazing at the water and trees, but now looking much further away. The mountains, valleys and forests disappeared and the world became a blur of blue, but there, on the far horizon a different colour pierced his vision. A red pillar of flame reached up through the cerulean landscape. It was larger than he remembered and now, around its base, the fire was spreading outwards. He fixed the vision in his mind and then, holding it steady, pushed it out towards Xióngmāo.
    *What is that?* she said in shock and surprise.
    *I don’t know. The Emperor showed it to me. He thinks it is the cause of the problems in the north and the refugee crisis. No one he has ever sent to investigate has returned.*
    *And you are suggesting that we go there?* Xióngmāo asked.
    *Well, we are not in the real world are we? We should be safe.*
    *Zhou, you have a lot to learn. There are things in the spirit world that can harm us. Larger animals, strange animals, beasts that have never existed in our world, there is much more here that you can imagine. If we are hurt here we can be hurt in our world too.*
    Zhou’s head drooped. *If you think it is not safe then, I guess, we shouldn’t go.*
    *However,* Xióngmāo said, *we have a duty to protect the land and, I suppose, it cannot do any harm to approach the edge. At least get a look at the land around it. We leave the moment I suspect a threat. Understand?*
    *Of course. I have no wish to get hurt or killed.* His ears, high on his head, twitched and his tail curled around his flank.
    *Then, let’s go,* and the panda blurred from view. Zhou took a deep breath and followed, passing over the land faster than any bird had ever flown.
     
    * * *
     
    The blue began to garner a tinge of red, turning from the purity of a bright primary to a purple progeny of its two parents. They descended from the last range of steep hills onto a plain of grass stretching endless into the distance, unbroken by any plant taller than a spindly shrub.
    His breath came harder and slow. The distance they had travelled was beyond his reckoning and this was a land new to him. Far away, still over the horizon and still burning, the red flame looked only a little closer.
    *Zhou, we must stop,* Xióngmāo said, an edge of fear in her voice.
    He saw her slow further and matched her pace. Her paws touched the ground again and, instead of gliding across, they caught on some obstruction. She tripped and tumbled. Rolling over and over. Dust and ripped ribbons of grass flew into the air.
    He tried to stop and felt something catch at his paws, seeking to trip him, but he bounded high into the air, twisting and landing on all fours facing in the opposite direction. He placed each paw with great care as he padded over to the fallen panda.
    *Are you ok?*
    Xióngmāo groaned and pulled herself back to her feet. On her forehead a clump of white fur was turning red as blood matted it together.
    *Zhou, something is very wrong here. Can you feel it? Like a force is pushing us away, resisting our movement across the land. I’ve never felt anything like this before.*
    *Let me look at your head,* he said and Xióngmāo ducked, giving him a clear view of the wound. A ragged cut, about a finger’s length, but not deep. *Head wounds tend to bleed the most, but it doesn’t look too bad. I am not sure how to help you in this form.*
    *I’ll be fine back on the mountain.* Zhou watched her. The great panda’s round, dark brown eyes focused far on the horizon. *Something