Then something dropped from the branches without warning, its sharp claws reaching straight for Lin Chen's head. "Lin Chen, behind you!" Xu Yang shouted. Lin Chen turned just in time to raise his sword. The claws struck the blade with a loud clang, forcing him several steps backward. He steadied himself, his eyes fixed on the attacker. "What in the heavens is that thing?" Chen Yu exclaimed, staring at the dark shape.
It landed in the middle of the road, its long limbs bending as its feet touched the ground. Grey skin stretched tightly over its bones, and long black hair hung across its face. A crooked grin revealed rows of sharp teeth, while black veins spread across its neck like cracks in dried earth. Slowly, it lifted its head, revealing a pair of blood-red eyes beneath its tangled hair. A foul smell, like rotting flesh, drifted through the air. Xu Yang felt a chill run down his spine. Wonderful. A red-eyed demon with claws and a smell that could kill a person before the demon even got the chance. I was hoping for a peaceful walk through the forest, but apparently, even that is too much to ask...
Lin Chen tightened his grip on his sword. "That thing isn't an ordinary demon." Yan Luo stepped closer, his golden eyes narrowing. "I've never seen one like this. Its demonic energy feels strange." "Then try not to let it bite you while you're studying it," Qing Li remarked, though his attention never left the demon. Yan Luo glanced at him. "How thoughtful of you to worry about me." "Of course. Who else would I have to argue with if you were eaten?" "You would miss me more than you admit." Qing Li smiled faintly. "Perhaps. But don't let that encourage you."
Before Yan Luo could reply, the demon let out a low, raspy growl. Its claws dug into the ground,and its eyes slowly moved from one person to another.Suddenly, it sprang forward and its long arms swept across the road, forcing Lin Chen and Yan Luo to dodge in opposite directions. Yan Luo ducked beneath its claws and swung his sword at its side. The demon twisted away with alarming speed, its body bending backward with a series of sharp cracks. The blade missed by a hair's breadth. Before Yan Luo could strike again, it leaped onto a nearby tree trunk and clung to the bark with its claws.
Qing Li's faint smile disappeared. "That movement is unnatural. Be careful, Yan Luo." Yan Luo kept his sword raised and looked at Qing Li and smirked. "I thought you wanted to see me get eaten." Qing Li gave him side look."I said I might miss arguing with you. I never said I wanted to lose you so soon." For a brief moment, Yan Luo's expression softened. "Then keep your eyes on me." Qing Li met his gaze with a small smile. "Gladly." Above them, the demon suddenly shifted its position, its claws scraping against the tree bark. Both of them turned toward it as it prepared to strike again.
The demon pushed itself away from the tree and leaped toward Qing Li. Yan Luo stepped in front of him and blocked its claws with his sword. The impact sent sparks flying, forcing Yan Luo to slide backward across the dirt. Before the demon could strike again, Qing Li raised his hand and sent a blast of spiritual energy into its chest. It flew backward and crashed into a tree. The trunk shook, and dry leaves rained down around it. "Are you hurt?" Yan Luo asked, keeping his sword raised. "No. Watch out!" Qing Li warned.
The demon was already getting back up. A deep crack marked its chest where Qing Li's attack had struck, but no blood flowed from the wound. Instead, black smoke seeped through the broken skin before slowly fading into the air. Wei Han watched with a frown. "That attack should have caused more damage. Why is it barely affected?" Lin Chen moved beside him, his sword still ready. "Can it be killed?" "I don't know. Its demonic energy keeps changing. I can't tell what is keeping its body together."
The demon suddenly raised its head.Its Red eyes swept across the group before stopping on Xu Yang. Its crooked grin widened, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Xu Yang tightened his grip on his knife. Why is it looking at me? I haven't done anything to it. I don't even know its name. Can I go one day without something trying to kill me?... A whisper slipped into his mind.[Come closer.] Xu Yang stiffened. He glanced at the others, but none of them had moved their mouths. [Come closer. I know you.]He immediately stepped behind Lin Chen. "Did any of you hear that?" Lin Chen glanced back without lowering his sword. "Hear what?" "Someone is talking to me, but I can't hear the voice with my ears." Qing Li's expression changed. He turned toward Xu Yang, then looked at the demon. "Don't listen to it. Whatever is speaking may be trying to affect your mind." "Trust me, I have no intention of making friends with that thing."
Although, if it knows me, perhaps it could explain why I'm here.No, wait. That's how people end up possessed in every horror story.I can remain ignorant for a little longer...
The demon's grin suddenly vanished. It slammed both hands into the ground, and a wave of black smoke burst outward and ground cracked.Lin Chen caught Chen Yu by the shoulder and pulled him clear as the ground split between them. "Move!" Lin Chen shouted. Everyone scattered before the cracks could reach them.Yan Luo jumped over a broken root and swung his sword at the demon's neck. The blade struck, but the demon twisted at the last moment. Steel scraped against bone, and its claws slashed across Yan Luo's sleeve.
Qing Li appeared at its side and drove a concentrated blast of spiritual energy into its ribs. The impact bent its body sideways. Before it could recover, Lin Chen rushed in and cut across its arm. The severed limb hit the ground. For a moment, nobody moved. Then the fingers began to twitch. Xu Yang stared at the hand as it dragged itself across the dirt, its nails carving thin lines into the soil. "No. Absolutely not. A hand crawling around by itself is where I draw the line." Chen Yu stumbled backward, nearly tripping over a root. "You think that's the worst part? Look at its arm!"
Black smoke poured from the demon's shoulder. The severed limb lifted off the ground, drawn toward the wound as though an invisible thread connected them. It struck the stump and fused back into place with a wet crack. Lin Chen's jaw tightened. "Its body is repairing itself." "Not exactly," Wei Han said.He lifted one hand, sending a thin lines of spiritual energy toward the demon. "Something is pulling the damaged parts back together."
The lines trembled as it touched the black smoke. Wei Han immediately pulled his hand away, but a dark line spread across his palm. He sucked in a breath and pressed his other hand over it. "Wei Han!" Lin Chen called. "I'm fine." Wei Han rubbed his palm, his expression growing more serious. "Don't touch the smoke. It reacts to spiritual energy." The demon let out a harsh scream and charged again. Yan Luo met it head-on, his sword catching its claws with a sharp clang. The impact forced him onto one knee. The demon raised its other arm, preparing to strike his head, but Qing Li caught its wrist with a burst of spiritual energy and twisted it away. "Yan Luo, move!" Yan Luo rolled aside as Qing Li released another blast.
The attack drove the demon backward, but before it hit the ground, it twisted in midair and landed on all fours. Its head turned toward Xu Yang again. Oh, come on. There are several powerful people trying to kill you right now. Why are you still interested in the one person holding a small knife?...Xu Yang tightened his grip and forced himself to think. The demon had ignored Lin Chen's sword and Qing Li's spiritual attacks, yet its attention kept returning to him. That couldn't be a coincidence. Does it recognize me? Or does it sense something about me that I don't know?...He glanced at the black smoke leaking from its wounds.
The forest path had looped back on itself, the blue drops had rolled uphill, and the strange rain had left demons with memories they couldn't explain. Now this creature was acting as if it knew something about me. These things have to be connected somehow. But how? Is the forest hiding something, or is something here changing what we see?...
The whisper returned, clearer than before. You shouldn't be here.Xu Yang's fingers tightened around the handle. For a brief moment, the forest seemed to shift. The trees stretched into dark shapes, and a faint cracking sound rang through his head. Something moved between the trunks, too far away for him to see clearly. Then the vision vanished. "Xu Yang!" Lin Chen's voice pulled him back.
Xu Yang blinked and found the demon charging straight at him. He barely had time to react. Lin Chen rushed across his path and caught the attack on his sword. The impact drove him backward.The demon pressed down harder, forcing his blade closer to his face. "Qing Li!" Qing Li swept his hand sideways. A band of spiritual energy wrapped around the demon's waist and yanked it away from Lin Chen. Yan Luo immediately struck its back, sending it crashing onto the ground. This time, Wei Han acted before it could rise. He planted his palm against the soil. Thin lines of spiritual energy spread beneath the demon, forming a circle around its body. The black smoke suddenly gathered toward its chest, just as he had predicted. "There!" Wei Han shouted. "Its energy is concentrating in one place!" Lin Chen rushed forward, but the demon slammed its fist into the ground. The impact shattered Wei Han's formation. The resulting shock wave threw him backward, and Su Yuan caught him before he struck a tree.
At the same time, the demon sprang toward Qing Li. Yan Luo intercepted it, swinging his sword in a wide arc and forcing it to change direction. Qing Li seized the opportunity and struck its chest with a powerful blast of spiritual energy. Black smoke burst from the impact, swallowing the demon's upper body. A piercing scream tore through the forest. Chen Yu dropped to one knee, grimacing, while the horses farther down the path began to panic and pull at their reins. Then a sharp crack sounded from deep among the trees. The demon abruptly stopped screaming. Its claws dug into the ground as it slowly turned toward the sound.
The red glow in its eyes flickered,and its grin disappeared. Another crack echoed through the forest, followed by the unmistakable sound of something dragging across the ground. The demon took a hesitant step backward. Yan Luo lowered his sword slightly, watching its sudden change with narrowed eyes. "What is it looking at?" Nobody answered. Without warning, the demon spun around and scrambled toward the nearest tree.Its claws tore through the bark as it climbed with unnatural speed, disappearing among the branches before anyone could stop it.
Lin Chen started after it, but Wei Han caught his arm. "Don't." Lin Chen looked down at Wei Han's hand, then followed his gaze toward the trees. Wei Han's face had lost its usual calm. "It wasn't retreating because of us." A heavy branch snapped somewhere in the darkness. Something moved behind the trees.Then what was it running from?... Xu Yang glanced toward the darkness where the demon had disappeared.Great. Something that can scare a demon like that is hiding nearby, and apparently, we're standing right in its way. I really need to stop following suspicious things into forests...
Su Yuan slowly stepped away from the trees. His usual smile had disappeared. "Whatever that is, it doesn't want to be seen." Qing Li raised his hand, gathering spiritual energy around his fingers. Yan Luo moved beside him, his sword ready, while Lin Chen positioned himself between Xu Yang and the darkness.For several seconds, nothing happened. Then a low scraping sound came from behind them. Everyone turned at once. The place where the demon had fallen was empty, but something pale now marked the ground beneath the broken leaves. Wei Han approached cautiously and crouched, holding his hand above the stain without touching it."There's energy here, but I can't identify it." Lin Chen stepped closer. "Can you tell whether it belongs to the demon?" Wei Han shook his head. "No. Its energy is completely different."
Xu Yang looked from the pale stain to the trees where the shadow had disappeared. The group waited for a while, watching the dark trees. Nothing emerged from the trees, and the strange sounds had stopped. Lin Chen kept his sword ready until Wei Han finally lowered his hand. "Whatever it was, it has gone." Chen Yu whispered. "Let us hope it stays gone," Su Yuan said, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. Yan Luo looked toward the place where the Demon had disappeared. "It was strong enough to fight all of us, yet it ran without finishing the fight. Something in these woods frightened it." "Or it was leading us somewhere." Qing Li said.
They continued along the path. Yan Luo and Qing Li walked ahead, while Wei Han kept his spiritual lines extended around them. Lin Chen stayed near Xu Yang, and Chen Yu followed Su Yuan, looking back every few steps. "Watch where you're going." Su Yuan said when Chen Yu nearly walked into him. "I'm watching the rear." "Then perhaps you should watch the front as well." Chen Yu turned forward with an embarrassed cough. Xu Yang almost smiled, but his attention soon returned to the road. Something about it looked wrong.
The path seemed wider than before, and the roots that had crossed it earlier were nowhere to be seen. "Lin Chen," he said, slowing down. "Was the road always this wide?" Lin Chen stopped and looked around. "No. We passed a rocky slope before reaching this part." "Then why does this look like a different road?" Yan Luo turned toward them. "Perhaps we took a wrong turn." "We have been following the same road since leaving the settlement," Wei Han said. "There was no fork." "Unless the forest has decided to add one." Chen Yu muttered.
Xu Yang stepped toward a crooked tree beside the path. Three red ribbons hung from its trunk. He stared at them, then looked up at a split in one of the branches. "I have seen this tree before." Lin Chen walked over. "Where?" "Before the creature attacked us. I remember these three ribbons and that split branch." Chen Yu examined the tree. "Are you sure? This forest is full of strange trees." "How many have three red ribbons tied around them?" Chen Yu looked at the tree again and said nothing. Xu Yang crouched beside the roots.
The ground was uneven, and pale stains marked part of the bark. He remembered seeing similar stains along the road."This is the same tree. We passed it before the fight. But we have been walking forward the whole time. How did we return here? "Look for the marks we left earlier." Lin Chen ordered. Chen Yu hurried along the edge of the road, searching the stones.After a moment, he called out, "I found one!" The others gathered around him.
There was stone beside the path, marked with a shallow line Xu Yang had carved into it earlier. Chen Yu crouched and brushed the dirt from its surface. "This is definitely ours." Lin Chen looked around. "How far have we walked since leaving it?" "At least half an hour." Chen Yu replied. "We passed the rocky slope and the narrow stream. We should be much farther away." Yan Luo stepped away from the group and examined the road behind them. He checked the trees on either side, then looked toward the path ahead. Both directions seemed to lead into the same stretch of forest. "But the stone is here," Qing Li said. Nobody spoke for a moment. A faint rustling came from the trees.
Lin Chen immediately drew his sword and turned toward the sound. Yan Luo moved in front of Qing Li and Xu Yang, his eyes fixed on the darkness. Su Yuan pulled Chen Yu away from the edge of the path while Wei Han sent spiritual lines toward the rustling leaves. The lines passed between the branches, but nothing moved in response. After a few moments, the rustling stopped. Yan Luo drew his sword fully. "An illusion." "Perhaps." Qing Li replied. He approached the tree and touched one of the ribbons. A faint light passed over the cloth.
The ribbon trembled beneath his fingers, though there was no wind. He narrowed his eyes and examined its faded colour. "Something is affecting these ribbons. Look at their colour." The red had faded, leaving the fabric dull and pale. Qing Li rubbed the edge between his fingers, and a faint red stain appeared on his skin. He turned his hand over, studying the mark before wiping it away. "The colour is being drained from them," he said. "But the cloth itself is not damaged." Xu Yang looked at the other two ribbons. "The ribbons we saw along the road were red too. Some of them turned black." He glanced at the ground around the tree. The pale stains on the bark seemed to grow darker near the roots, but when he leaned closer, they looked unchanged. Am I seeing things, or is this forest trying to mess with my eyes too?... "Then the stains and the fading may be connected." Wei Han said. He stepped away from the group and raised his hand. Several thin spiritual lines slipped between his fingers and spread through the trees. They moved around the trunks and through the branches without trouble.
Wei Han slowly turned his wrist, guiding the lines farther into the forest. Then one line suddenly bent toward the darkness. His fingers tightened. The line stretched sharply, pulling his hand forward a step. Wei Han planted his foot and tried to draw it back, but something seemed to hold it from the other end. He pulled harder. The line snapped, and his hand jerked backward. Lin Chen stepped closer. "What happened?" Wei Han lowered his hand and stared at the place where the thread had disappeared. "Something pulled my spiritual thread away from its original path. I could not control its direction."
Yan Luo moved toward the trees with his sword raised. He stopped near a thick root and looked into the darkness. "Can you sense what caught your thread?" "No. The connection disappeared too quickly." Wei Han flexed his fingers as Qing Li stepped closer and checked his wrist. "Are you hurt?" "No. The thread was cut off, but I felt nothing." Lin Chen glanced at the trees and tightened his grip on his sword. "Then we should be careful around them." Before anyone could reply, a branch creaked overhead.
Lin Chen quickly stepped in front of Xu Yang while Yan Luo turned his sword toward the branch. Qing Li raised his hand, gathering spiritual energy in his palm. Xu Yang looked up, then noticed the branch's shadow stretching across the road in the wrong direction. For a moment, it seemed to move toward their feet. He caught Lin Chen's sleeve. "Did you see that?" Lin Chen glanced down. "See what?" Xu Yang pointed at the ground. "The shadow. It moved." Yan Luo shifted to check it from another angle, but the shadow looked normal now. His expression grew serious. "Stay away from the trees. We cannot trust what we see here."
Chen Yu edged closer to Su Yuan and glanced nervously at the branches. "Can whatever did that pull us away from the road too?" Wei Han shook his head. "I don't know." He raised his hand and sent a few spiritual lines around the group, keeping them close instead of letting them reach too far into the forest. Su Yuan gently pulled Chen Yu away from the nearest roots. "Stay behind me." Chen Yu grabbed the back of his robe. "I wasn't planning to go anywhere else." Then crack came from behind them. Yan Luo turned at once, and Lin Chen raised his sword toward the sound. Qing Li sent a wave of spiritual energy between the trees. The leaves shook, and a few dead branches fell, but nothing appeared.
Wei Han's rings appeared around him and then blue ring moved through the nearby trees, searching for anything hidden among them. Ring returned without finding a trace. Xu Yang tightened his grip on his small knife. Is it trying to confuse us, or does it want us to look in the wrong direction?... He glanced behind them, but the road was empty. The forest grew quiet again. Lin Chen watched the trees while Yan Luo kept his sword ready. Xu Yang listened carefully, waiting for another sound, but nothing appeared.
Xu Yang was about to suggest they keep moving when a faint blue light caught his attention between the trees. One of Wei Han's rings hovered beside a twisted root, glowing brighter than the others. Wei Han raised his hand, looking puzzled. "That's strange. I didn't send it there." Xu Yang approached cautiously, keeping his small knife in hand. "Did it find something?" "Either that, or something found it." Wei Han walked toward the root, and Xu Yang followed. The blue ring circled the root twice before slowly sinking into the ground.Wei Han's expression changed. "Wait." Xu Yang stopped beside him. "What happened?" "Something is pulling it down."
Wei Han turned his wrist, trying to call the ring back, but it shook violently. A thin blue line appeared along the ground, stretching from the root deeper into the forest. Xu Yang reached for Wei Han's arm when the ring suddenly jerked downward. Their fingers brushed, and Wei Han caught his hand to keep him from stumbling forward. "Careful." Xu Yang steadied himself and realized how close they were standing. "I'm beginning to think this forest has a personal problem with us," he muttered. "Perhaps it dislikes your questions." Wei Han replied. Xu Yang looked up at him. "You're joking at a time like this?" "You seem calmer when someone answers you."
Xu Yang opened his mouth to argue, only to notice that Wei Han was still holding his hand. Wei Han seemed to realize it at the same moment. Their eyes met, and both paused briefly before Wei Han let go. "Sorry. I didn't want you to stumble." "I wasn't going to stumble," Xu Yang replied quickly, turning back to the ring. He was just helping me. That's all. So why did I suddenly forget what I was going to say? Focus, Xu Yang. I have more important things to worry about... Wei Han glanced at him and smiled. "Are you sure you're all right?" "Yes. Just keep your ring away from hungry roots." "I'll try." Wei Han raised his hand again, and the blue ring trembled near the ground. His smile disappeared as the thin blue line began to spread farther between the trees. "Xu Yang, look."