Acheron took a look at the dreary rain before giving a farewell to the Shrek group.
They could only watch as the wandering ranger moved further and further away until that last touch of red had disappeared.
Acheron wandered about and around before eventually arriving in a forest again. However the sight of the forest was similar to the forest he had once met Qian Renxue.
The sky was beginning to darken as he soon made his way to a cave after gathering some berries and firewood.
A single lightning spark was enough to set a small spark. The slow growing fire gave of that same crimson that gave him a sense of security.
It had been long...
So long since those days long gone.
He took a look at his hair with the small strand of white. He let out a sigh of relief, ever since he had stepped into the shadow of the formless one, he had been doing his best to retain his color and memories.
The color red was a color of safety. The color of life and existence. Seeing the fire grow bigger gave him a sense of warmth he had lost.
The red flames told him that he was still alive.
Acheron slowly dozed off with his sword in hand as he slowly drifted off.
The emerald swan screeched in pain as it continued to run while the surrounding beasts decided to give their lives to giver her enough time to run.
Bi Ji lamented internally, the one time Di Tian and Zi Ji were gone, everything had gone wrong. Even worse was that she had almost died.
Her cultivation may have been 570,000 years, however she had almost zero combat capability. She looked left and right looking for shelter and a place to hide.
Eventually a small cave entered her vision, obscured from view with heavy foliage and trees. A perfect hiding spot for her.
She cast one more large scale healing skill before seeing the other soul beasts urge her to run and call for Di Tian or Zi Ji.
She could only survive for now and return to deliver the news to the others. However Bi Ji realised she had miscalculated. The smell of flames wafted from the depths of the cave, meaning someone was residing in the cave.
Bi Ji was riddled with wounds and low on soul power after mass spamming healing and skills for the soul beasts. Repeatedly healing her own wounds and the wounds of the mass amount of soul beasts had exhausted her mentally too.
A decision had to be made, to go back out would be asking for death and spitting insult on the sacrifices of the other soul beasts.
However, going into the cave would mean nowhere to run if there was someone bad within the cave.
A sharp pang alerted her to her wound as the beautiful emerald feathers were marred in blood, gashes and cuts.
She simply walked deeper into the cave as she saw a sleeping human.
At least she thought was a human, a human without a martial spirit nor spirit power. Yet that long blade the human was sleeping with suggested he was anything but weak.
Bi Ji's curiosity grew as the color of the human's hair was slowly fading away. Bi Ji didn't know why, but the view of such fading of color was pitiful.
She flinched as the single visible eye of the human opened as he jolted awake causing the white hair to return back to its purple color.
He simply stared at her before speaking, "You're lucky to have found shelter."
Acheron stared at the wounded swan before rummaging through his sleeve and retrieving a paste.
"Here, this will help with healing the wounds. I have little healing skill, however what I can do is take away the pain." The swan seemed unsure before deciding to trust him with a nod.
The pain sizzled from the wound as the medicine did it's work. However Acheron warned the swan first.
"My way of taking away the pain is to take away all sensation of the area. Are you fine with that?"
Bi Ji thought for a bit before speaking in human tone, "Yes that's fine. Thank you, I'll remember this."
In an instant the pain disappeared, however she could no longer feel that area of her body. It was numbed to non-existence.
Acheron stretched before pulling out a satchel filled with collected berries. Bi Ji looked at them before trying to warn him.
"Wait, saviour those berries-"
Her swan head tilted in confusion as Acheron simply finished them one by one and remaked, "It's a pity, these berries don't have much flavor"
Bi Ji stared at him with curiosity, "Those berries are edible and juicy, but the soul beasts in the forest dislike it because once you chew it... It get's too spicy."
Seeing Acheron without any response Bi Ji asked, "Have you lost your sense of taste?"
Acheron simply nodded, "Not entirely... I can still taste certain things such as the subtle sweetness of a peach."
Bi Ji could see it was a sore topic, "I remember once traveling to a place called Orkron. The burgundy snow there once fell onto my tongue. It tasted like raspberries."
Bi Ji felt a pang of pity as she asked, "I'm a soul beast specialising in healing. Would you like me to try fix it?"
Acheron shook his head, "This is not something from an injury or illness. This is the destiny of every self-annihilator. Eventually we'll lose more and more of ourselves. Those more lucky like me can retain our individuality and memories."
Bi Ji felt something awry listening to his recounts.
"Some lose their memories, their emotions, their lives, their individuality, eventually they loose everything that makes them theirselves."
It was a horrifying existence but then Bi Ji remembered the hair fading white in his sleep.
Acheron simply stoked the fire a bit more as he watched over the emerald swan. "Get some rest. I'll wake up if anything comes close."
Bi Ji soon fell asleep as Acheron soon closed his eyes after adding more firewood.
The sound of birds chirping and the roosters crowing woke Acheron up as he soon saw a singular emerald feather placed in front of him.
The intention for him to take it was pretty clear as he pocketed it noting that the emerald swan had disappeared.
He soon exited the cave only to be stunned finding himself in a snowy region.
"It seems I'm lost again." Acheron could only lament as he trudged through the snow appreciating the momentary companionship.
It was not the huge events, but the small moments that tied his existence together. He walked on while reminding himself to never forget the glimpses of red.
"Don't forget."