As I walked forward with Wujin and Fang, I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched.
Ever since we approached the entrance to the Crimson Forest, the odd atmosphere has felt like it had begun to erode my soul.
I may be acting a bit over dramatic but the combination of our footsteps oozing a black miasma mixed with the eerie silence furthered my feelings of paranoia.
Occasionally we witnessed ravens and crows flying nearby but even they refused to get too close to the forest.
My footsteps met a sharp crunch and I looked down to see flesh colored leaves being torn to pieces by my shoes.
I winced as I looked at the oddity and continued forward.
My biggest motivator throughout this was the idea of me finally entering the inner sect after this mission.
"Hey, are you okay?" Fang Wei asked me, his hand resting on my shoulder.
I instinctively grabbed my stomach and met my eyes with his.
His silver eyes somehow served to calm me and I remembered his status as a veteran who had been here before.
It reassured me that everything may turn out alright.
"I'm fine, just a bit shaken by these sights I had not seen before." I said as I glanced down at my belt and took a deep breath.
I turned my head and started at Wujin. "Hey Wujin Ji, how are you holding-"
I stopped myself as I observed him.
He was walking care free, his arms behind his head, as relaxed as ever.
The jet black hair that swept across his head seemed to contrast well with the landscape around us.
I sighed as I looked at his body language.
He has always been an odd person, but throughout my time knowing him, he has proven to be reliable in any circumstance, this further hardened my heart.
Fang Wei let go of my shoulder and I refocused my gaze ahead, Wujin Ji looked at me but chose not to reply seeing as I didn't finish my sentence.
A cold wind swept through us as we walked further, a shiver ran down my spine and I shook.
As soon as a cultivator draws qi into their body, they no longer have to eat. The Qi being a nourishment that far surpasses mortal delicacies.
This usually assisted with fending off temperature changes, which is why it's odd that the wind did so.
I turned my head to look towards Fang Wei and he looked unmoved so I continued walking and through it to the back of my head.
If it was a problem, he would have warned us.
"Look, there it is!" Wujin Ji suddenly said and he pointed forwards.
I also saw the entrance and I wasn't very excited.
Twisted blood red trees with linings on them that seemed similar to faces frowning awaited us.
The leaves that we saw earlier littered the ground and the miasma filled floor was no longer visible, being easily masked by the skin leaves.
This made the entire scenery look quite odd.
Blood roots and trunks jutting out of what seemed like flesh was unnerving.
The trees swayed back and forth, though there was no wind present anymore.
The swaying made a strange clinking noise that broke the silence, echoing in the surrounding area.
"Stay close to each other. After passing the entrance, it becomes a maze. We will be randomly teleported and the layout changes every time." Fang Wei warned and I motioned Wujin Ji to get closer.
He didn't move sluggishly and made haste towards us.
I felt a worry in my heart.
The entire goal of me becoming an inner sect disciple in the first place was to take care of my younger sister.
If I am to die here, not only would I leave her nothing, but I would do so in vain. I must make it out alive.
—--
The trio entered the Crimson Forest together and as they did so they were indeed whisked away to a strange location inside.
If one were to observe as they entered from afar, they would just see them walking into the distance and disappearing.
As they popped out of existence, one of the tree's lines seemed to twist into a strange smile and three leaves on its branches fell down onto the floor, joining the piles of scattered flesh.
Lu Changsheng could not help but feel as if they had entered a place they were not supposed to.
He recalled the times he was caught by his parents when he was young doing something he was not supposed to.
It was a similar kind feeling to what he was experiencing right now.
He was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He ignored the feeling and took in his surroundings as did the other two.
They were surrounded by a large array of the same trees that were in abundance towards the entrance of the forest.
However the trees in front of them seemed more dead, they slumped and did not sway.
A deep blood color oozed from the creases of the trees like a sticky sap that had been left out for years.
A putrid decaying smell lingered deep within the air and a metallic taste was present in the air's moisture.
Wujin Ji gagged, jerking his head to the side as a rancid stench coiled into his nose. He quickly pulled his sleeve up, pressing it against his mouth and nostrils, muffling his coughs.
Beside him, Lu Changsheng's face turned pale. His chest heaved once, twice, before he doubled over and vomited onto the flesh-colored leaves, the wet sound echoing far too loudly in the eerie silence. The acidic smell mixed horribly with the already foul air.
"Ugh.." Wujin Ji winced, half-turning away but still reaching out to thump Changsheng's back with one hand. "Let it out, let it out. Better than keeping it in, brother."
"It will take some time getting used to, but the taste is better than the smell. Breathe out of your mouth and use these." Fang Wei laughed at the sight and said as he held out nose plugs, the two of them accepted them and hastily put them in.
"You're right senior, this is a lot better!" Wujin Ji smiled. He looked a bit ridiculous with the nasal plugs, but hey, it's effective!
"I should have asked more about the atmosphere to prepare.." Lu Changsheng felt bad for taking a valuable resource from Fang Wei.
"It's fine, they were cheap anyways. They don't have much use other than being supporting equipment for missions." Fang Wei said as he brushed it off.
Lu Changsheng felt a warmth in his heart.
Sure there was a lot of bad in the sect, but there was just as much good.
He thought back to the mysterious man from the bar and now Fang Wei.
Internally he promised himself to be more like them, especially towards those lower status than him.
"So, when are we going to run into some ancient knowledge?" Wujin Ji asked as he looked around.
"It's just a bunch of trees. I had expected more." Wujin Ji was honestly disappointed so far.
"We will come across oddities shortly, don't you worry about that. Instead of actively searching such things out, stay focused on surviving." Fang Wei then began to take the lead.
On their way forward they passed by a lot of strange sights.
Sure the environment itself was strange, but this was a different type of strange.
The type of strangeness that would have you turn your head more than once and second guess yourself.
Wujin Ji personally witnessed what seemed like a group of men wearing masks and blood soaked robes, but he turned his head back and it was just trees.
It wasn't more than once that they saw such things.
"Ignore any strange things you may see. They are not grounded in reality. They are real, but they aren't right now." Fang Wei said cryptically.
"What do you mean by that?" Wujin Ji scratched his head, trying to understand what Fang Wei meant.
"We entered an ancient formation the moment we stepped into the Crimson Forest." Fang Wei answered.
Nobody was surprised at this information aside from the fact that it was an ancient one.
"Through some tests when we've sent out disciples before, it appears that the Crimson Forest will show you sights that have happened in the past within the forest." Fang Wei explained, but this just left more questions than answers.
"Has there been any thought into utilizing this function? Maybe we could pass on knowledge or something of the sort to someone in the future?" Wujin Ji casually remarked.
"N-No, nobody has really thought about coming to such a place as the Crimson Forest in an attempt to impart knowledge." Fang Wei said, taken aback by Wujin Ji's question.
This gave Wujin Ji a good idea. If he were to impart the method of his foundation arts after he reaches a higher realm, then he would be able to make a lasting effect on the future of the world.
He then promised to himself that if he didn't find anything similar in the future, he'd come back here. Or hell, he'd learn how to make the array!
It was then that Lu Changsheng noticed a cornered woman. She was being approached by the same masked men Wujin Ji had seen previously, and she was crying.
"I-Is everything okay?" Lu Changsheng yelled out.
Fang Wei's eyes went wide as he immediately closed Lu Changsheng's mouth.
The woman stopped crying and the men stopped approaching..
In unison they slowly turned their heads towards Lu Changesheng's direction making eye contact!
Then, they dissipated into a type of smoke.
"We have to go, we've been noticed!" Fang Wei shouted as his face went pale.
"What did I say about ignoring it!" Fang Wei smacked the back of Lu Changsheng's head and Lu immediately rubbed it soothingly.
Before Lu Changsheng could defend his actions, Fang Wei began to bolt forward.
Wujin Ji followed suit.
"What exactly noticed us?" Wujin Ji huffed as he began to run with qi.
"There's a beast that we know of that resides in this forest.. Any who are noticed are torn to shreds!" Fang Wei said, running even faster than before.
"And you're just saying this now? If you had stressed the danger of being noticed, Lu wouldn't have made such a mistake!" Wujin Ji shouted.
Lu Changsheng desperately ran in an attempt to keep up with the two.
Fang Wei's Qi was stronger due to his experience, and Wujin's was more powerful due to condensation.
Lu Changsheng had felt like he had drawn the short of the end of the stick in terms of qi..
After a while of running, they stopped.
This wasn't because of qi consumption but out of wariness.
In front of them beyond the bush they were in, was a person.
They were sprinkling some powder on a tree and stroking a branch of it.
"Shh… It's okay. It's all over now.." The man said, looking sympathetic towards the tree.
Then a sound that was similar to muffled crying came from the tree that he was petting.
"It's alright, they're gone! It's just me here now.. Eat your food and relax." The man continued and the muffled crying began to fade.
"What's he doing?" Wujin Ji whispered to Fang Wei.
"I-I don't know, I haven't seen a person here before.." Fang Wei admitted.
"Great, the resident expert has no idea what we're witnessing.." Wujin Ji mumbled, watching the man begin to leave.
"So, what was that nonsense with the beast?" Wujin Ji asked.
Lu Changsheng was still actively shaking. His mind went to the worst possible answer to each situation.
"There are times that there are fake images that are strewn within the illusions of time that we see. They are not there by mistake but are being inputted within. There is unfortunately no way to tell what it is." Fang Wei sighed, admitting that this was just an unavoidable danger.
"This is precisely why it is better off ignoring anything you see unless you are sure it's grounded within reality." Fang Wei finished.
"I see.. That means you messed up big time huh!" Wujin Ji patted Lu Changsheng's back and brought him back to reality.
"T-that person.. Was that a demonic cultivator?" Lu Changsheng stammered.
"It very well could be. Or it could have been some kind guy who likes to tend to the trees!" Wujin Ji laughed.
"It's very likely that it was, which means we need to be even more careful. We've just escaped one danger and do not need to recklessly charge into an enemy's lair." Fang Wei said expressing his desire to remain cautious.
Lu Changsheng nodded, and Wujin Ji agreed.
They began to survey the surroundings once more and when they noticed nobody nearby, they cautiously moved forward.
Lu Changsheng promised himself to not make another stupid mistake like that again.
He had thought he was being the most cautious out of all of them, even preparing several life saving tools, but he had almost been the one to get everyone killed. A life saving tool is only possible to be used if it has time to activate..