Ling Hua walked out through the gate of the hidden market, casting a quick glance behind him before continuing along the mountain path leading to the Sui family compound. The wooden box was tightly sealed under his arm, and every so often it gave off a faint sound from the four crabs bumping against each other inside.
Ling Hua let out a breath of relief; the market trip was finally over. Even though his pouch was now much lighter than before, he felt the deal hadn't been bad. Four crabs capable of living in water with low spiritual concentration, which he could feed with the spirit insects that gathered in his field.
A faint smile appeared on his lips as he thought:
"At least I won't have to clean up those insect carcasses myself anymore."
He continued on with quiet steps, unaware that a pair of eyes had been watching him since the moment he left.
The mountain path was unusually quiet. Dense trees blocked out the sunlight, and the wind stirred the branches, producing a continuous rustling.
Ling Hua took a few more steps, and then everything happened in a split second.
A cold shiver crept up his back. Before he could turn, a black shadow shot out from among the trees at terrifying speed, a cold killing gleam flashing before him.
He instinctively jumped back, and in the next instant sharp iron tore through the empty space where he had been standing a fraction of a second earlier.
Tsk!
The strike split the air violently. Ling Hua's eyes widened and he stumbled back several steps, clutching the box to his chest.
"Who are you?!"
He got no answer. A masked man stood before him, his dark clothes hiding his features completely, nothing visible but a pair of cold eyes fixed on him without hesitation.
The stranger gave him no chance to catch his breath before lunging at him again.
"Damn it!"
Ling Hua spun around and bolted with all his strength, and at that same moment the sound of rapid footsteps rang out behind him, followed by an unexpected cry:
"Run, Young Master Ling Hua!"
He froze for a moment. Young Master?
There was no time to think. He glanced sideways and saw people suddenly appear, clashing with several other masked figures. Only then did he understand the truth: someone had been following and protecting him in secret.
But those defenders weren't able to easily stop the main attacker.
"Run! Don't stop!"
Ling Hua gritted his teeth and dashed off the path, plunging deeper among the trees, heedless of where his feet were taking him. Branches scratched at his face and clothes, while he gripped the wooden box tightly, unwilling to give up the crabs he'd just paid for.
But the light, swift footsteps of his pursuer were steadily closing in.
"Is he still chasing me?!"
His mind paused for a moment, then he remembered something. His hand pulled out a talisman from among his belongings — one of the talismans his father had given him before he set out.
"Thank goodness Father gave me this talisman!"
He pumped qi into the talisman, and its symbols lit up with a faint glow, turning into a spiritual current that surged through his legs.
Qi!
His speed exploded in an instant, and the trees vanished before him like phantoms. The speed was astonishing, and the sound of his pursuer's footsteps gradually began to fade.
"I finally lost him..."
But no sooner had the thought crossed his mind than something slammed into the ground behind him with force:
Boom!
He turned cautiously; the masked man was still on his trail. Ling Hua kept fleeing, using what little remained of the talisman's effect, pushing deeper into the forest where the ground grew rougher and the path less clear.
As the talisman's effect faded, the pursuer began closing in again.
"If this keeps up, he'll catch me sooner or later."
His eyes fell on a massive tree towering over the rest. He headed straight for it, leaping onto one of its high branches to hide among the dense leaves. He carefully set the wooden box beside him, then clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle his breathing.
Footsteps reached his ears, drawing closer...
One step...
Then another...
Then they stopped completely beneath the tree.
He held his breath, his heart pounding so hard he feared its sound would give him away.
The masked man appeared among the trunks, blood seeping from a small wound in his clothes from the earlier clash, but he kept scanning around, searching for a trace.
Tense moments passed, then the masked man took two steps away, moving in another direction.
Ling Hua slowly opened his eyes and pulled out the "Void Blades" talisman he had recently bought from the tower. He pumped qi into it and waited for the moment to strike.
"Now!"
The talisman shot out like a flash of light toward the masked man's back. But the man's sharp senses made him swerve at the very last fraction of a second, so the talisman tore into his side instead of his heart.
"Argh!"
The man screamed and staggered back several steps, clutching his deep wound as blood splattered across his black clothes. His breathing grew ragged, but his eyes only grew fiercer and colder.
Ling Hua gave him no chance to think, lunging with all his strength toward the branch where he'd been hiding.
The masked man's strike hit Ling Hua's shoulder before he could brace himself, throwing him out of the tree to crash to the ground, groaning in pain:
"Ugh!"
The pursuer seized the moment and lunged again to finish the fight. In that split second, Ling Hua drew out a defensive talisman:
"Spirit Shield!"
Boom!
The masked man's strike collided with the transparent barrier, and the surrounding trees shook from the force of the impact, before the talisman's light faded away completely.
The two staggered back; Ling Hua was panting after exhausting most of his spiritual energy, while the masked man swayed from the bleeding in his abdomen and the strain of that last blow.
Ling Hua saw the opening and rapidly wove complex patterns with his hand, unleashing the "Pine Arrows" talisman.
Qi!
Four arrows of light shot out at lightning speed. The exhausted masked man was unable to defend himself, and the arrows pierced his body, one burying itself deep in the center of his forehead.
The man's movement froze for a second, then he collapsed, a lifeless corpse on the ground.
Thud.
Silence fell over the forest.
Ling Hua remained standing where he was, staring at the corpse; this was the first time he had ever killed a person.
He raised his hand to his injured shoulder and winced in pain:
"Damn, that really hurts..."
He sat down to catch his breath, then turned toward the wooden box; it was intact, undamaged.
"At least none of the crabs died."
After regaining some composure, he began to survey his surroundings. He had strayed far from the mountain path, his desperate flight having driven him deep into the forest. The trees here were denser, and an eerie stillness blanketed the place.
After about the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn (roughly 15 minutes)...
Bzzzz...
Ling Hua lifted his head and listened closely.
Bzzzz... bzzzz...
It wasn't the sound of wind, nor the commotion of some beast, but a faint, steady buzzing coming from deep within.
He rose slowly. He should have been looking for the way back, but curiosity overcame his caution. He crept between the trunks, tracking the source of the sound, and with every step forward the buzzing grew clearer.
He pushed aside a thick branch in front of him... and froze in place.
Before him stood a massive black tree, completely bare of leaves, as if it had been dead for decades. And yet, it wasn't simply dead wood — its bark was covered in twisting patterns and symbols glowing faintly with a purple light amid the darkness of the forest.
He took a step closer and slowly raised his head:
"What is this...?"
On one of the high branches sat an enormous beehive, from within which that strange buzzing emanated:
Bzzzz... bzzzz...
Ling Hua stared at the hive, then at the glowing purple symbols, and for the first time since entering the forest, he felt that what stood before him didn't belong to this ordinary world.