Yin Hu stood outside the gate of his impromptu living space. It hadn't been a couple days and he was already abandoning it. Running for his life. There was no time to figure out his chaotic thoughts and come to terms if he had some strength or if he was like a newborn babe compared to cultivators.

He held onto his spear. It comforted him, as though the entire world could collapse around him, but it would still stand.

He couldn’t spar with Xinyi, if she ends up beating the life out of him, he would only fall from the elevated station he had them believing he was. What type of ancestor that had cultivated from longer than their greatest grandfathers had been alive was weaker than one of the youngest generations?

The risks were too great.

Not mentioning the possibility of breaking his cover and having to escape the wrath of Xinyi and sorrow of Shui. He had to deal with knowing no one and almost nothing. He couldn’t be sure if he had met with someone willing to help or a bandit edging him on until they had the perfect situation to stick him with a blade in his liver.

He had more wealth than anyone could imagine. Without the almost sacred fealty to an ancestor the Hu girls had, he couldn’t trust anyone that learned of it.

Fuck, it’s dark.

Yin Hu complained to himself. The moon was covered by thick and stormy clouds. He wasn't sure if it was about to rain, but that didn’t matter. His life held more priority than not getting wet and muddy.

He believed it was to their benefit.

Some spider son guy was rushing here right now. He could already imagine the hunting dogs and loads of people flying through trees to get here. If the rain covered their tracks and prevented the hunting dogs from catching their scent, then it was fate to leave now.

Did they even have them? How do they even use them?

“Ancestor…” Xinyi came out with a bundle. She had a cape he had given her to protect her identity. The hood covered her face with the night's shadows. “Do we really need to leave? Where would we go?”

Yin Hu could barely see her face even with their proximity. Hu Shui’s tiny figure poked her head out from behind Xinyi. He could see the outline of a pack on her shoulders that nearly matched Xinyi’s in size.

He ignored her question. “You made sure to not leave anything behind?”

She nodded, that nervous tension she carried was obvious even in the darkness.

“Good. You know the general layout of the land?”

“Yes, ancestor. We are deep in Evil sect lands.” She whispered, pulling Shui’s hand and closed the gate shut.

Shit. We need to get to the good people side. Fast.

He turned around, sent his spear back into the rice bag, and began walking towards the direction he remembered they had come from the first day he had followed Hu Shui. The directions had already been etched into his mind. There was no way he would forget.

Setting a blistering pace was quite simple with his long strides. They didn’t need to worry about getting caught because there were no lanterns or lights in the town roads. Every home had them inside or in their courtyards.

And the Bandit Lord wasn’t about to spend an extra dime to make the night less foreboding.

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Yin Hu didn’t know the extent of the hulking man’s abilities, but he hoped it didn’t include finding them when they were sneaking away. He wasn’t aware how he stood with him after their last interaction. For all he knew, they could be on the verge of trying to seek vengeance for some trumped up reason.

Humiliation. Kill them!

You assaulted a Silver Mountain Gang member. Kill them!

How dare you nearly kill a clearly important person? Kill them!

He was not about to wait and find out what was going to happen next. Being proactive not reactive would now be his life motto. He was tied to no land, no real estate, family, friends, or memories. Get up and get out.

Once they reached the tree line, he felt that same feeling as when he arrived. It was like a permeable membrane–a bubble–seemed to rush away from him. Like a hole was made which Xinyi and Shui followed through.

It was like they knew where the hole was.

“Xinyi,” He called. “Lead us towards the edges of the Evil Sect Lands. The closest real city we can get to that isn't full of homicidal maniacs.”

There was a pause. Yin Hu turned to look at her. Something was wrong.

He could see her figure sag slightly. “Ancestor. I-I dont think it's possible.”

“Explain.”

“I…” she paused to collect her thoughts. “It's a waste land. The area in between the neutral clans and the evil sects. A battlefield. It won't be possible to get through that area without having to fight through the full strength of the three Evil Hegemonies and the Major Clan powers. Once you’re on one side of the border, you’re stuck there.”

Fuck.

He took a deep breath.

Think, James. Think.

He stood there, subconsciously posing as an ancient master, and thought deeply. He could try to hide in the forests, but the thought of hunting dogs on steroids quickly shot that down. Trying to hide deep within an Evil Sect city was also shot down. If they were ever figured out, then they literally went from the fire into the bubbling oil pot.

The first might take some time. The other is an instant reaction.

Fuck. What the hell–

“Are there natural barriers? Like forests or mountains? Something of that nature?”

How many legendary battle moments occurred when a genius general passed through what was supposed to be impassable terrain? He could remember a Roman general putting down wooden planks and moving an entire navy over land to catch their enemies unaware.

It was in a movie, so he wasn’t sure if it was real, but he had the aura thing. Most predators and prey were high strung and any change caused them to jump out of danger. He could use blasts to frighten them with the surprise of it while escaping unwanted situations.

It was safer than having to fight through entire kingdoms worth of cultivators, some ancient and others fodder. Humans were too unpredictable and that meant more danger than what a physical specimen of a simpleminded animal could bring forth. Not mentioning they, in general, avoided people.

It was a percentage. Probability. A guaranteed death sentence fighting the sects and the clans not knowing who we are other than trying to get past their defenses and running the risk they might stumble into something dangerous enough not to care about his Aura.

He just needed to figure out how to bring it to bare. He would need to make a reasonable excuse to practice it before they reached the edges of the evil sect lands.

And if he was right, Hu Shui had some type of special ability. He clearly remembered her trying to talk to his spear. Yin Hu recognized that the second tier had something more to them, like a spirit, so he wouldn’t be surprised if his spear actually had one.

The System did its job with integrating Dao’s and cultivation manuals, it probably did that with the ‘spirit’ of the weapon too. Another passive bonus he could get from the faulty cheat system he had been provided.

Xinyi laughed nervously, she could see where he was going with that question. “Ancestor. Even the Hegemonies and Major Clans dare not to go through the Bleak Forests–”

“So there is?”

“–because that's a death sentence.” She sighed when he didn’t respond to the death part. “Yes, ancestor.”

“Good. Leads us in that direction.” He waved her forward and pulled out his spear as a walking stick. He had to be ready to protect himself in case they ran to anything unsavory.

She audibly gulped, but nodded nonetheless. Xinyi held Shui’s hand, the foreboding darkness of the forest seemed to grow knowing they planned to go through an area where horror stories were told about to children.