CHAPTER

21

Into the Forest

I

Hao Zhen felt oddly peaceful as he walked through the forest. Despite his initial hesitation and apprehension, the more he walked, the more at ease he felt. He reckoned that the forest itself played some role in it. Because of how massive the forest was, even though over a thousand outer disciples had entered it, they had all gone off in different directions, so there was nobody else nearby besides Tian Jin and Duo Lan, so at least for the time being, it was just the three of them and nature.

The forest was pleasantly quiet. All Hao Zhen could hear were his and his teammates’ footsteps as they trod the undergrowth, with the occasional snapping of branches and crackling of dry leaves. This quietness, together with the shade provided by the many layers of branches and leaves above, which only allowed stray streaks of sunshine through, and the deep, calming scent of nature, gave rise in him a feeling of tranquility.

Hao Zhen didn’t remember feeling this way back in the woodlands of the Gentle Green Valley. He was unsure if that was because this forest was special, or if the difference lay with him. Back then, he had only explored the forest before regaining his memories, which meant that he had still been in that odd, clouded state of mind in which he wasn’t really in control of his actions. Then, after regaining his memories, he had been too preoccupied with the situation at hand to pay any attention to the scenery. The existential crisis he went through hadn’t helped, either.

“Let’s take a turn here,” Duo Lan said, not bothering to look back at them for confirmation as she just started walking in a new direction.

Hao Zhen and Tian Jin simply followed. Duo Lan had been leading the way for a while now. Shortly after entering the forest, they consulted the map of the valley—not the one given to them by the prime elder, but the one Duo Lan had provided—to determine where exactly they were. As they didn’t really have any landmarks to situate themselves, he and Tian Jin initially tried to roughly guess their location based on where they had entered the forest from. Before they could do anything, however, Duo Lan had promptly interrupted them, confidently pointing out on the map where exactly they were.

After that, she had decided that she’d be in charge of leading the way, and neither he nor Tian Jin objected to it. Some time had already passed since then, and according to the plans they had made back at Duo Lan’s place, they were heading in the direction of the nearest river. Many monsters could be found both near and inside rivers, and all sorts of magical plants were known to grow on river banks.

“Give me a moment,” Duo Lan suddenly said, and just as she had done a couple of times already, she suddenly went still, closing her eyes. Hao Zhen and Tian Jin halted their steps and waited for her. A heartbeat later, Duo Lan promptly resumed walking, and Hao Zhen and Tian Jin exchanged helpless glances before following her.

So far, even though Duo Lan hadn’t consulted the map even once, she was leading them without a hint of hesitation, confidently making her way through the forest. Every once in a while she’d pause, however, close her eyes, and stand still for a few moments before she started walking again, usually changing directions afterward. The first time she did that, Hao Zhen had thought she was consulting the jade slip with the map, but he had paid attention the second time and saw that her hands were empty. Hao Zhen had yet to ask what exactly she was doing. The same went for Tian Jin.

Hao Zhen found Duo Lan’s actions… curious, to say the least—not just what she was doing, but how openly she went about it. So far, he had come up with two explanations. One was that Duo Lan was oblivious to the point she didn’t realize how odd her behavior was. The other was that she had caught on to the fact that he and Tian Jin had decided to overlook her slip-ups, so she was taking advantage of that to act freely. However, Hao Zhen didn’t think anyone could lack that much self-awareness for the former to be possible, but at the same time, he didn’t believe Duo Lan was sharp and subtle enough to pull off the latter.

The list of odd things about Duo Lan just kept getting bigger and bigger, and Hao Zhen believed that this latest addition had to do with a spiritual skill. Back when they were making plans for the hunt, Duo Lan had denied having one, but he was fairly certain that was a lie.

He had no idea what spiritual skill it could be, though. Most cultivators of the Blazing Light Sect had either Radiant Light Field or Blazing Sun Aura, with a minority having Ethereal String Puppetry. According to Duo Lan, the number of sect members with a spiritual skill that wasn’t one of those three could be counted on one hand. And he couldn’t think of any way Duo Lan could be using any of those three spiritual skills to find her way around the forest. Duo Lan had gone over each of those three skills for his and Tian Jin’s benefit, listing all of their properties and effects, so Hao Zhen knew that none of them could be used for scouting.

The most likely possibility was that she was one of the select few members of the sect with an unusual spiritual skill. If that was the case, however, then Hao Zhen had no idea what it could do. The only spiritual skills he was familiar with were the sect’s three main skills and Tian Jin’s, so Hao Zhen wasn’t sure what exactly the limits of a spiritual skill were or just what kind of properties and effects a spiritual skill could have.

“We’re almost there.” Duo Lan came to a stop, motioning for them to stop with her arm. “We don’t know whether there’ll be any monsters there, so try not to make any sounds,” she said, in a quieter voice.

Hao Zhen and Tian Jin nodded their heads. Although the locations monsters were known to dwell in were marked on Duo Lan’s map, that didn’t mean monsters could always be found in those locations—or that they couldn’t be found outside of them. According to the map, no monsters lived around the river they were headed toward, but that didn’t guarantee anything.

The way Duo Lan had issued that command just now only reaffirmed an impression that had been on his mind for a while now. Duo Lan was more than competent at being in charge. She carried herself with the same effortless grace and dignity Tian Jin had, and she gave instructions easily and firmly, without a hint of hesitation. Hao Zhen didn’t know Duo Lan’s exact age, but given how old new outer disciples were, she was likely between sixteen and eighteen. At such an age, he doubted she had had much experience leading people, so she was most likely a natural leader, much like Tian Jin.

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Then again, Tian Jin was born inside a magical clan, and Duo Lan was also probably from a magical background. You could only start cultivating after turning sixteen—Hao Zhen wasn’t certain why that was case, though he had heard it had something to do with spiritual stability—so he reckoned children from magical families were given all sorts of lessons and instructions that would help them once they became cultivators. Most likely, besides learning martial arts—something Hao Zhen was certain they were taught—they also received some instructions on leadership and command.

Regardless, Hao Zhen had pretty much completely dismissed the possibility of Duo Lan being merely a love interest for Tian Jin. She was definitely either a rival or another protagonist—if not both.

Cautiously, the three of them advanced, and moments later, Hao Zhen caught sight of a large clearing, through which a river was running through. Hao Zhen froze, coming to an abrupt stop—not because he had seen their destination, but because of what was inside it.

Right next to the river, with its head down, was a massive creature.

It was stocky, with an immense body and large head. It had gray, thick skin, and a massive horn jutted out from its forehead. If its size wasn’t enough indication, the horn left no doubt that this creature was magical—it was kaleidoscopic, and it glistened under the sun.

There was only one creature in the forest that fit this description.

“A glistening horn rhinoceros,” Duo Lan murmured, tensing. She quickly moved over to one of the nearby trees, hiding behind it, whereas he and Tian Jin crouched down in front of a shrub.

Glistening horn rhinoceroses were second-level red-grade monsters, and one of the monsters they were planning on hunting. According to the plan, however, they would first hunt a couple of first-level monsters to get some experience with fighting together—something Hao Zhen suggested— before moving on to second-level ones.

Hao Zhen glanced at Duo Lan, who was still standing with her back against the tree, and Tian Jin, who was crouched beside him. They looked tense, on edge, but not apprehensive. Instead, they were looking at the monster appraisingly.

Hao Zhen narrowed his eyes. It was clear what they were thinking. He had to stop himself from groaning. He really didn’t want to start out with a second-level monster. He was fairly certain he could convince Tian Jin to turn around and leave the glistening horn rhinoceros alone for the time being, and though it wouldn’t be nearly as easy, he believed he could also talk Duo Lan into doing the same.

However, doing so would be the same as holding them back. There was a monster worth quite a lot of contribution points right in from of them—presenting the horn alone as proof of killing it would net each of them hundreds of contribution points, and many of its body parts could also be separately exchanged for points, as they were useful in alchemy—and he was fairly certain that Tian Jin and Duo Lan would be able to handle it. Hao Zhen was the weak link in the group, but he wouldn’t stand in the way of his teammates if he could help it.

Hao Zhen returned his attention to the clearing. The glistening horn rhinoceros was still drinking from the river. It hadn’t noticed them yet. There didn’t appear to be any other monsters around, and he doubted there’d be. He had used some contribution points to buy a jade slip with a bestiary containing details of monsters that could be found in the region, and he had looked up each monster listed in the jade slip Duo Lan had given him.

Glistening horn rhinoceros were solitary creatures, highly aggressive, and very territorial. They were particularly dangerous even compared to other second-level red-grade monsters, and pretty much the most powerful monster that could be found in the Outer Forest.

Hao Zhen took in a deep breath, then glanced at Tian Jin and Duo Lan. “How do you want to do this?” he whispered to them.

Tian Jin turned to look at him, eyes wide in surprise. He then frowned. “You… Are you sure?” he whispered back. “I thought you wanted to hunt weaker monsters first.”

Duo Lan glanced between Tian Jin and him, opened her mouth, then as if she had thought better of it, closed it, her brow also slightly furrowed.

“There’s a monster right in front of us,” Hao Zhen said, shaking his head. Inside, he felt warm. Tian Jin really was too nice for his own good. He had seen the intent way Tian Jin had been looking at the monster, but he was still ready to give up on it because of him. “Since an opportunity has already presented itself, we should take it.”

He didn’t say anything about not wanting to hold Tian Jin and Duo Lan back. He didn’t think Duo Lan would mind it much—knowing her, she’d agree with him if he brought that up—but he had a feeling that would only make Tian Jin double down on giving up on the monster.

Tian Jin gave him a long, deep look, before nodding his head. Duo Lan, who had been simply observing them, had a similar reaction, assessing Hao Zhen with her gaze for a moment before giving him a curt nod. Hao Zhen couldn’t tell for sure, but he believed her impression of him had improved a little.

“Anyway,” Hao Zhen said, returning his attention to the clearing, “are we going with the large-monster strategy, after all?”

The three of them had come up with a couple of different plans for facing different kinds of monsters—another one of his ideas. Originally, he had wanted to come up with a unique plan for each different monster that could be found in the forest, but he ultimately came to the conclusion that this would simply take too much time and that it wouldn’t be worth the effort, so he settled for separating the monsters into large groups and coming up with plans for those groups.

The glistening horn rhinoceros belonged to the large-monster group, and the strategy for dealing with such monsters was pretty straightforward: Hao Zhen would stay in the back, ideally somewhere the monster couldn’t see, and use One String Puppetry on it, while Tian Jin and Duo Lan faced it head-on. Tian Jin would then focus on neutralizing the monster using his spiritual skill, drawing its attention, whereas Duo Lan would be in charge of actually killing it.

Ethereal String Puppetry, Duo Lan had revealed, was more effective against monsters than cultivators. They weren’t usually intelligent enough to understand what was happening, so they couldn’t properly consciously resist the user’s influence. Hao Zhen wouldn’t be able to do anything to a third-level monster—a difference of two levels was simply too much—but second-level monsters were a different story. He wouldn’t be able to fully control one, but his spiritual skill should have enough of an effect on it to at least confuse it.

It wasn’t a particularly detailed plan—they decided that they’d need to fight alongside each other a couple of times before they could come up with a proper strategy—but it was a start.

Hao Zhen quickly went over the plan with Tian Jin and Duo Lan, and after confirming that everyone knew what to do, Hao Zhen and Duo Lan swapped positions, Duo Lan crouching down beside Tian Jin and Hao Zhen taking cover behind the tree.

Tian Jin and Duo Lan exchanged glances before shifting their gaze to the clearing.

Hao Zhen took in a deep breath. His heart raced in his chest, and his belly cramped. He felt an icy feeling inside of him.

In theory, he wasn’t supposed to be in any danger. But this was still a second-level monster they were about to take on—a creature that usually required over five second-level redsouls to face. If something went wrong…

No. Hao Zhen tightened his jaw. He clenched his hands into fists, steeling himself.

He had made his decision, and he’d see it through.