Night fell, and a bright moon hung overhead. As though bewitched, the Star Dou Great Forest danced wildly, the rustle of leaves rubbing against leaves echoing for miles. The crows in the forest sang a concerto of death, and the owls began their hunt.
Evergreen broadleaf trees dominated the hills, but some trees had shed their leaves, lending the forest a stark clarity and a strong sense of depth. Blood-red moonlight poured through gaps in the branches, illuminating the gnarled limbs and weathered bark of ancient trees. They looked like picturesque photographs, yet at this moment, they seemed sinister and terrifying.
Ma Hongjun led Xiao Wentian and the other five into the Star Dou Great Forest. Their soles crunched against years of accumulated leaves, sounding especially loud in the silent night. The soil was soft, and as the seven walked, they left footprints of varying depths along the way.
A sharp gleam shone in Ma Hongjun's eyes as his wary gaze constantly swept his surroundings. At the same time, he used his still-unpracticed spiritual power to establish a spiritual radar nearby. Although it could only reveal the area within three meters of him, it would give him advance warning if a soul beast lay hidden, waiting to ambush them.
As for Xiao Wentian and the other five, they naturally did not stand around doing nothing.
Ma Hongjun was the vanguard general, not their nanny. Although all six were Yang Ming's newly accepted disciples, he still had no obligation to protect them from every possible angle.
Each of the six held an entrenching shovel. They cleared the way ahead as they walked, hacking at the dense bushes and thorny growth nearby and shoveling them aside to open a passage wide enough for one person.
There was no helping it. After the