Forest at night, James has been a city folk most of his life, but he knows that is a bad combination. He hopes the proximity to the sect will make this trip safer.
The first priority is not to get lost, to do that he needs to get closer to the river, as he has deviated from it to avoid the watchtower.
The second is water and food. He had stocked a lot inside his ring, and it has a useful enchantment that slows the degradation of objects. So, he probably has the provision that can last him two months, and if he manages them correctly, probably three.
James kept walking using the light from the moon as his guide, then he got an idea and started to use his shadow perception to survey his surroundings, he had forgotten about it amid all the tension.
It has a radius of one hundred feet, and now he can sense some small animals moving around.
James kept walking parallel to the river for a while when he sensed something through shadow sense, he isn't sure, but he thinks it is a canine. There is still around eighty feet between them, and it is heading in his direction, or rather toward the river.
James accelerated his pace and deviated a little from his path. It didn't sense him and kept heading for the river.
After a while he noticed a big shadow ahead of him, from the shape and the way it was moving, James assumed it was a tent with a fire casting the shadow.
Not far from it, he sensed three more shadows, they were humans, James stopped there and didn’t advance further.
If it was one person, he may have risked it, just to see if they were ready to trade for a map. But he is still at the edge of the sect's territory and can’t gamble with more than one.
James circumvented their position and kept going.
This repeated several times, two with humans and seven with beasts. And each time James avoided contact.
It was just before dawn when tiredness caught up to him. He has probably crossed more than twenty li.
He has two choices, take a nap till the sun has risen, or just a slight pose to eat some food and keep going.
From Silva's note, the sect’s message for the old man should have arrived, and they will probably send someone to investigate.
Just that thought chased sleep from his mind.
After taking a small pause and eating a salad, and some refreshing fruits, James kept moving.
It was by sunrise when James noticed a lone traveler, they were heading in the opposite direction.
This looked like his best option to get a map, before the sect declared him a criminal, or simply started looking around and asking questions about him.
When there were eighty feet between them, the man stopped moving and stared in his direction. James kept going until they were at a hearing distance.
He looked to be in his late teens, with black hair, tanned skin, an angular face, the beginning of a barb, and was slightly taller than James.
He probably worked as a manual laborer before coming to the sect, from these muscles he has, as for his cultivation he is in the second stage, and he has a spear in his right hand.
James just wants to find a damned map, but if things go south, he is sure he can manage running at least.
“Hello sir, Just want to know if you have a map,” James said.
“Hello, are you a part of the sect” the young man replied
“Yes I am, and you?” James said
“I am, Can I see an identification?”
“I would rather not, all I want is a map, if you are up to trade for it of course,” James said.
“What do you have?”
“Fresh food, clean clothes, and other things that will make the rest of your journey more bearable,” James said.
After making the exchange, James continued on his road, after making sure the man is no longer around, he took the map and unfolded it.
Using the compass and the surrounding landmarks, he determined his position and looked for the closest city.
He is in the Griffin Wood, and the closest city to him is the city of Valera, but that is only if he goes through the sect, so it is not an option.
After that, there are two cities, each will take him around forty li from his position right now.
One is Navare, which is the administrative center for the province and has a large population, so it will be easier to blend in if he goes there.
The other is Torris, which is a hub for commerce and fishing. The river is heading toward it, so it will be easier to reach, but the population is smaller, and would be harder to blend in. Not to mention the road toward it is easy to predict and to follow.
He can also go deeper into the woods and farther from civilization, but his chance of surviving there with his current strength is slim.
He will go toward Navare and try to reach it before the sect reaches him.
It was in the early evening when tiredness caught up to him, it had been more than a day since the trip started, and he had probably crossed around sixty li.
The number of beasts he started to see has also increased, and it has been a while since he saw the presence of other humans.
He has been looking for a shelter for some time, and the best he has found so far is this hollow tree.
Without shadow sense, he wouldn’t have noticed that there was a hollow space. He will need to climb to get inside, but he hopes that will make it harder for predators to notice.
James collected some branches and leaves, made something to close the hole with, climbed inside, and slept.
When he woke up, James estimated it to be just after sunset. And if he picked his speed, he should be in the city tomorrow morning.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
It was in the middle of the night when James stopped moving, something has been following for some time now. From what he had glimpsed, it was a big canine, around the third level.
He had tried to ditch it, but it didn’t work. James is sure he can take it on, but he has to do that now before he gets tired from the travel, or gets cornered to another fight.
James waited in his position, holding a dagger filled with poison, the beast advanced toward him and when they were at eye level, it stopped.
It was a panther, more precisely a black panther, he had heard about them, and from what he knew they are usually solitary creators and tend to avoid humans, then James sensed the shadows that moved around the panther.
It is a shadow panther, so it should know he is a shadow cultivator. It kept staring at him for some time, and after that, it just retreated and slowly left.
James heaved a sigh of relief he really didn’t want to fight anything now, the time it would take and effort would delay his Journey. And especially not something with those eyes, they looked so intelligent for his liking.
James continued in his Journey, by the time the sun started to rise, he was close to the edge of the forest and had seen more signs of people, but he had avoided contact with most of them.
When he was at the edge of the forest, James sensed two cultivators, but unlike the others he had sensed before they were not leaving the forest or entering it, almost like they were standing guard.
James stopped advancing, and looked for a tree to hide in, after a while another cultivator came from inside the forest, the guard approached him and after some exchange they let him pass.
James didn’t like that one bit.
He changed his direction and kept walking parallel to the forest edge. When he was sure the two individuals couldn’t see him anymore, he started to head out of the forest. Only to discover another two.
Someone is putting a lot of force into monitoring what is getting outside the forest because this looks like an encirclement.
James checked their level; they were both at the third level, so stronger than him. To have this encirclement by cultivators of this level, only a sect can do this, and by the timing, it is probably the Verdant sect, and they are mostly looking for him.
They certainly acted fast; and how far did they make this encirclement? Was his matter not supposed to be a secret? And how did they justify this manhunt to their members?
He took out a cloak from his ring, it can hide his frame, but it is hard to travel on. He took out a cloth mask and put it around his face, now only his eyes are visible. Likewise, he has a knife filled with poison hidden, and others in his ring ready to be summoned.
When James got outside the forest he saw the two individuals, one was male and the other a female, both taller than him and both slightly older, probably by three years. The man had a sword and the woman was wielding a bow.
When they saw James, the woman's hand tightened around her bow but didn’t take any arrow. The man looked like he was ready for a fight.
James kept going as if he was going past them, then the man headed toward James. When they were ten feet apart, James spoke first.
“Not a step closer.”
The man was wearing the sect uniform, a white cloak with a symbol of two swords crossed in front of a mountain.
It has been a long time since he has seen someone wearing it. James and the old man didn’t, because they always stayed in the house, it wasn’t comfortable for that. And in the forest, most people prefer something more practical and easy to travel on.
“We are looking for a criminal, he was a disciple of the sect, before he killed a fellow one, and ran away.” The man said.
Well he sure as hell he wasn’t a disciple, he was a prisoner, and when he left the old man was still alive, and not at any risk of death.
But none of that matters now.
“What does he look like?” James asked.
The man put his hand in his pocket and showed James a portrait, well whoever did it knew James very well so probably the old man, damn he should have killed him.
James looked at his portrait for some time, then he shook his head.
“Well, your guy looks as dull as you can find them, nothing really to distinguish him with, so I am not sure if I have seen him,” James said.
“No problem, can you remove the hood and show your face, it is just a procedure.”
“I am pretty sure there was no such procedure in place before,” James replied.
“We are looking for a criminal”
Before the man could finish his sentence; James activated his protection techniques and empowered his body to the maximum. He took out his knife, summoned a vial of sleeping poison, and threw it at the women.
James headed toward the man with a knife in hand, the man had already drowned his sword and looked ready to face James.
When they were five feet apart, James leaped with all his strength past the man, landed behind him, and continued toward the woman.
She had already avoided the vial he had thrown at her and has a communication talisman she was about to use, before she could do that, James took out a small knife from his ring and threw it at the talisman.
It got torn apart and fell to the ground.
The women retreated from James and drew an arrow.
Using shadow sens, James observed that the man had already turned around and leaped after James, sword raised to cut him.
James kept going as if he didn't see that when the sword was about to touch him, James turned around letting it past him, it tore slightly through his cloak, cracked his shield but didn’t draw blood.
He used the momentum to put the knife on the man's chest.
Said knife was filled with the poison that disturbs Qi. The man’s eyes dilated and he looked like he was drunk.
That is how the poison works normally, not the same for monsters like the old man.
Before he could rejoice in the victory, he sensed an arrow headed toward his head, he was barely able to avoid it.
James used the man as a shield between him and the woman and put the knife on the man's neck.
The woman had another arrow in hand, before she could use it, James spoke first.
“Stop, or your friend will be headless,” James said.
She didn’t shoot another arrow but didn’t lower her bow either.
You are him aren’t you, they said he uses poison. Why did you kill a fellow disciple and why are you doing all of this,” the woman asked.
“Don’t waste time, your friend is dying as we speak” James said
“You are just prolonging the inevitable, you can’t run from the sect”
"Just to be clear, he will die before I do, and I will die before I get captured, so no funny business,” James said.
“What do you suggest?”
“First the wound on your friend, he will die from bleeding if it isn’t healed, second the poison will prevent healing it naturally, so you need the antidote if you want to save his life. Lucky for you, he has enough time to reach the city. We can go there together, you got your friend back, I got in the city, and we put all of this behind us.” James said.
The women took moments to contemplate the offer, James was ready to slit the man's throat and continue the battle, but in the end, the woman nodded her head.
“Does the sect have something to track you with?” James asked
“the rings” she replied.
James took the man’s ring and threw it toward her.
“Bury them, we have wasted enough time, we need to go.”
James carried the man on his shoulder, they proceeded toward the city.
All in all, he was able to get outside the encirclement without the reinforcements arriving, but he is now carrying a burden.
“Why are you doing this?” The women asked
And now she wants to chat.
“Doing what?” James asked.
“All of this, betraying the sect, killing a fellow disciple, running away, I fail to see why you did this. It doesn’t make any sense, You are young, you are talented, you had a bright future ahead of you, and you ruined all of that, Why?” The woman asked again.
James almost laughed at what she said. Instead, he replied.
“Just think, They said that the easiest explanation is usually the right one.”
They kept walking for a while after that, James thought the discussion was over, when she added.
“The simplest explanation is the right one. You didn’t have a future in the sect, for some reason they were going to kill you or worse. You are too young and too weak, you spent barely a year in the sect, and any action you did can not justify this reaction. It is either because of who you are or what you are, so which one is it?” She asked
James hated smart people.
“I can tell you, but I won’t be the only one running from the sect. Honestly I can use the company but do you still want to know?” James replied.
James couldn’t think someone expression could transform from curiosity to terror as fast as her did. And she didn’t ask a single question after that.
Well, knowledge can be a curse and ignorance a blessing.