Bai Chen rubbed the back of his neck as he trudged through the dense woods. His boots sank into the damp soil, every step heavy, the fog curling around him like ghostly hands.
"This Tio Forest really is vast… foggy at night too, and crawling with beasts," he muttered, voice low and sour. "I better be careful, or Heaven will write my death scene again."
A sharp crack under his boots snapped the silence. The smell of damp moss and rotting leaves rose in the air. Suddenly, a low growl echoed in the mist. Bai Chen's head snapped up, his body stiffening.
From the haze, a massive fox emerged—its fur dark as midnight, eyes gleaming with hunger. Behind it, four wolves padded forward, each the size of an Earth car, their jaws dripping saliva.
Bai Chen's lips twitched.
"…Really? The heavens send me a welcoming party already? System, what did I do to deserve this luck?!"
The wolves lunged first, claws tearing up the earth. Bai Chen grit his teeth, qi flaring in his fists. His blows cracked bones, sending one wolf sprawling, but claws slashed across his arm, blood spraying warm against the cold air. The fox darted in, its massive tail whipping like a hammer, nearly knocking him from his stance.
"Damn beasts!" Bai Chen roared, and with a desperate strike, he shattered the fox's skull. One by one, the wolves fell under his fists—ferocious, bloody. When the last wolf collapsed, Bai Chen staggered, dropping to one knee, chest heaving. His robes hung in tatters, soaked red.
"…System, you're too damn hard," he rasped, blood dripping from his lip. "If not for the little cultivation I have left, I'd already be wolf food. Hah… and this rotten luck… it's the real killer."
A faint green light flickered before him, the system's screen offering no comfort, only cold numbers:
[Survival Chance: 47% if night falls.]
Bai Chen spat blood and scowled.
"Forty-seven percent? That's not survival, that's gambling! Ugh… forget it. I need to get out before sunset. Or at least find a cave. Otherwise, I'll be sleeping in some beast's stomach tonight."
He limped forward, shadow stretching long in the dimming light. Growls echoed deeper in the forest—night in Tio Forest was just beginning.
The fog thickened as he trudged deeper, curling around his legs, whispering against his ears. The further he walked, the more fragments stirred in his inherited memories.
Tio Forest… a place of lovers.
He saw them in his mind: an immortal, hopelessly in love with the daughter of a sect leader. Both willing to defy the heavens, only to be crushed by mortal cruelty. The sect butchered her, slaughtered her without mercy. And the immortal—broken, powerless—buried her beneath these very trees.
Since then, the forest had soured. Mist was no longer mist, but sorrow lingering, thick and endless. Beasts prowled where lovers once whispered. Their howls rose like grief echoing through eternity.
Bai Chen tightened his grip on his sword hilt.
"So that's why villagers say this place swallows people whole. Herbs grow here, yes… but they're treasures watered by tears and blood. Mercenaries, clans—they all dare the danger. Yet only a handful crawl back alive. The others…" He glanced at the soil, damp and red. "…feeding the ground by now."
A distant howl cut through the fog. Bai Chen froze, scanning the gray haze, jaw tight.
"And here I am, of all places. Cursed with bad luck, wandering a graveyard of love turned beast-land. Hah… what a story."
His robe brushed against a branch as he walked, the torn cloth whispering like a warning.
"If I don't get out before nightfall," he muttered, "I might just end up another 'legend' of this forest myself."
As the sun sank, he searched desperately for shelter. No cave. Nothing. Wolves cried in the distance, their voices stretching long, pulling at his nerves.
Then, he saw it.
A tree—massive, ancient, its trunk stretching so high its crown vanished into the fog above.
Bai Chen nodded to himself. "Wolves can't climb trees… good enough."
He began to climb. Bark tore his hands, branches scratched his arms, but he didn't care. Higher and higher until he found a thick branch to sit upon. He leaned against the trunk, gazing at the blackening forest. Growls echoed far away, but up here… it felt safer.
He yawned, exhaustion dragging his eyelids. "I am Great Heaven… sleeping on a tree is no big deal. Let me rest. Tomorrow morning, the fog will fade. Then I'll find the way out."
The forest whispered below as he drifted into uneasy sleep.
Morning came.
Light struggled through the fog, pale and thin. Bai Chen stretched, shaking off the stiffness of a night on the tree. Then he heard it—movement below, heavy, bodies dragging across earth.
He looked down. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest.
"What the—crocodiles?!"
Not small ones either. Huge, monstrous, their bodies thick as beds, their teeth glinting like blades. And worse—
They were climbing the tree.
Sweat poured down Bai Chen's face. He gripped the branch so hard his knuckles whitened.
"What is this? Crocodiles climbing trees?! Heavenly Dao or not, this is too much…"
As the first beast neared, Bai Chen didn't wait. He leapt to the next tree, catching a branch by a hair's breadth. His feet slipped, bark ripping under his grip, but he held.
Then another leap. Then another. Soon he was darting from tree to tree like a monkey, breath ragged, blood roaring in his ears.
The crocodiles hissed below, their giant heads craning upward, confused.
Bai Chen barked out a laugh between gasps. "Hah! What now, you beasts? Try flying next time!"
He ran along the treetops until his eyes caught sight of the far mountain. The sun rose behind it, golden and blazing, breaking the fog apart like shattered glass.
He stopped, chest rising and falling, sweat dripping from his chin. And for the first time since entering this cursed forest, he smiled.
"What a wonderful world… this sun, this sky. Maybe being stuck here isn't so bad."
Light burned in his eyes as he turned toward the mountain. The exit. The way forward. He leapt ahead, fearless, the beasts below fading into the fog.
When he finally stepped out of Tio Forest, the world changed.
Noise. Life. The shouts of merchants, the laughter of children, the clash of coins and bargains. The market of Yan Kingdom hit his ears like a storm—warm, alive, reeking of sweat, spice, and roasted meat.
Bai Chen walked into the crowd, trying to blend in, but heads turned. Women especially.
He was young, tall, twenty-four, his face sharp and clean despite his torn robes. Simple clothes did nothing to hide his presence.
A group of women giggled as he passed, whispering to each other before stepping boldly into his path. One leaned forward, eyes playful, lips curling.
"Hey handsome, where are you going alone?"
Bai Chen's expression stiffened. He looked away quickly, but his eyes still caught them. His nose twitched. Then—
Drip.
A thin line of blood slid down his nostril.
"Damn… this body… still a pervert," he muttered, hurriedly wiping it. Memories of the old Bai Chen surfaced—the real one's tastes, the weakness for older, mature women full of curves and life. Even now, merged with Heavenly Dao, that flaw lingered.
But he was no longer the same. He was a father now. His son was waiting. His life wasn't his alone.
He shook his head violently. "No. No, I can't play around. I must leave."
Quickly, he faked a startled look behind them, pointing. "What's that?!"
The women blinked, turning their heads—and Bai Chen darted away.
Confused, then laughing, they called after him. "Hey! Don't run, come back!" Their footsteps followed.
Panic struck. Bai Chen's nose was still bleeding as he dove into a narrow alley, crouching behind wooden barrels. He held his breath, body tense, until the voices faded.
At last—silence.
"Safe…" he whispered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He glanced up at the sky, releasing a long sigh. "Even Heavenly Dao can't fight women… how scary."
He straightened, dusting dirt from his clothes. The noise of the market still thrummed in the distance, but his eyes turned toward a different road—one that led not to laughter or freedom, but to something heavier.
The Chen family.
His steps grew slow, heavy as stone. His hands clenched unconsciously.
"The Chen family… time to face it."