Chapter 113: The Savage Forest

The cultivators of the White Cloud Sect were quite different; their attire was casual and unconstrained, as could be seen in the contrasting dress of the sister disciples Yunxi and Yunruo. After a general observation, Zhou Qing noted that there were about twenty disciples from the Myriad Laws Sect, a dozen or so from the Pure Profound Gate, and the White Cloud Sect had numbers similar to the Myriad Laws Sect. Altogether, there were roughly sixty cultivators present.

At the far end of the earthen dwellings, Zhou Qing entered a tidily arranged hut where he found four people. The oldest among them appeared to be around twenty-four or twenty-five, while the youngest was about Zhou Qing's age.

These four were three men and one woman. Through Lin Yunxi's introduction, Zhou Qing learned that the portly youth was named Ao Xuan; the short man, barely half a meter tall, was Jing Yun; the sickly-looking boy of Zhou Qing's age was Wu Feng; and the young woman was named Jing Xue.

Among them, Long Aotian and Ao Xuan belonged to the same branch; Jing Yun and Jing Xue were brother and sister of another branch; Yunxi and Yunruo were disciples under yet another branch; and Wu Feng had no fellow disciples from his branch present.

With Yunxi's introduction, the four originally in the hut also learned Zhou Qing's name and purpose.

After the introductions, Zhou Qing sat quietly to the side, listening as the seven White Cloud Sect disciples discussed their plan to enter the Wildman Forest.

From their conversation, he gleaned that the White Cloud Sect was divided into four branches: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow. Each branch had several elders and specialized in different disciplines. The Heaven branch practiced divination, the Earth branch specialized in combat arts, the Mystery branch focused on arrays, while the Yellow branch mastered medicine and alchemy.

Among these, Wu Feng was a disciple of the Heaven branch; Long Aotian and Ao Xuan shared the same master in the Earth branch; Jing Yun and Jing Xue were siblings of the Mystery branch; Yunxi and Yunruo were disciples under an elder of the Yellow branch.

Now Zhou Qing understood why, at the riverside earlier, Yunruo had said that traveling with them into the Wildman Forest would be much safer for him. Judging by Zhou Qing's abilities, he would be classified under the Earth branch, specializing in combat. Entering the Wildman Forest meant encountering all manner of demons and spirits, so having an additional combat disciple was certainly safer.

Having grasped the basics of the White Cloud Sect, Zhou Qing next learned from their conversation some details about the Wildman Forest.

Wildman Forest was the largest expanse of untouched woodland in the country of Tianyue, covering over a million acres, and teeming with rare flora and fauna unseen elsewhere.

Originally, many small mountain villages were scattered around its perimeter, but over the past year, the inhabitants of these villages had mysteriously vanished. The village where Zhou Qing and the others were now staying, once home to more than twenty families, was deserted overnight, without explanation.

This was not an isolated incident. Around Wildman Forest, countless villages experienced the same fate: in a single night, their populations vanished entirely. Initial estimates suggested that up to twenty thousand people had disappeared without a trace.

When the governing authorities of Tianyue learned of these events, they dispatched five thousand elite troops into Wildman Forest to seek the truth. But none of those five thousand soldiers ever returned.

Thus, disciples from the three major sects of Tianyue gathered at the edge of Wildman Forest.

Beyond the sixty or so cultivators Zhou Qing saw in the abandoned village, there were over twenty more who were absent at the moment. These cultivators had already entered the forest, and most were of the older generation, senior to Long Aotian's group.

Apart from the current village, three other locations around the forest hosted similar numbers of cultivators, all from the same three sects.

Three days had passed since the senior cultivators entered Wildman Forest, with no word from them. After some deliberation, the group in the hut decided to venture into the forest themselves the next morning to search for their sect elders.

Once their plans were settled, Lin Yunxi turned to Zhou Qing, "Now that you understand the situation, are you still willing to protect me and enter the forest together?"

"Of course. A gentleman’s word is his bond," Zhou Qing replied.

In the corner of the earthen hut, Lin Yunxi sat beside Zhou Qing, speaking softly with him. Seeing this, Long Aotian hurried over and sat next to Zhou Qing, laughing, "Haha, Sister Yunxi, what are you two talking about?"

As Long Aotian approached, Yunruo also came to sit beside Yunxi, smiling at Long Aotian. From their interactions at the riverside and now, Zhou Qing guessed that Yunruo harbored feelings for Long Aotian, who, in turn, seemed devoted to her elder sister, Lin Yunxi. Yet Lin Yunxi appeared indifferent to Long Aotian.

After Long Aotian sat down, Lin Yunxi replied casually with a few words, then rose and walked outside.

Zhou Qing quickly followed, as he was unfamiliar with the others in the hut, and his purpose was solely to protect Lin Yunxi and help her find her sect elders in Wildman Forest.

"By the way, Friend Zhou, I forgot to ask—which sect are you from?"

"My master did not belong to a famous sect. In fact, I am the only disciple of my lineage. If I must give it a name, it could be called 'Tianyi'." Zhou Qing paused, then added, "Sister Yunxi, you may simply call me Zhou Qing."

Once outside, Lin Yunxi saw Zhou Qing had followed, and began to converse with him.

"Very well," Yunxi replied. "Is there any special meaning behind your sect's name?"

"None, really. My lineage began with my grandmaster, and has never grown beyond a single disciple at a time, so it never truly had a formal name. But my master once said, if it must be named, it could bear my grandmaster’s name—Tianyi."

"I see. Your grandmaster must have been a remarkable cultivator."

"Indeed. Although I never met him, he left me a book called 'Traveling Notes,' which records many tales of his journeys across the land."

"'Traveling Notes'? Could you share some stories with me?"

As they spoke, Zhou Qing and Lin Yunxi unwittingly wandered back to the riverside.

Sitting on the grassy bank, Zhou Qing began to recount a short story from 'Traveling Notes.'

This particular tale was called 'The Corpse Handler of the Southern Range,' describing how his grandmaster, Tianyi, once passed through the Southern Range and encountered a corpse handler, leading to a series of strange events.

The stories in 'Traveling Notes' were brief, but each, upon closer reflection, carried its own unique flavor.

When Zhou Qing finished telling the story, he noticed Lin Yunxi beside him gazing at him with her beautiful, sparkling eyes.

"My master often said that wandering cultivators find enlightenment more easily than those tied to sects, for their experiences are beyond what sect disciples can ever know, and moreover…"