Fortunate Survivors

After the closure ended, Chen Mo returned to the martial arts hall.

The moment he entered the outer courtyard, he heard a burst of noisy discussion.

"Have you heard? Something happened in the west again."

"Didn't they say that just a few days ago?"

"This time's different. I heard three sheep died together at the foot of the mountain."

"Wild beasts again?"

"What else could it be besides wild beasts?"

The voices drifted over from beneath the corridor and carried all the way into the training ground.

Chen Mo's steps paused.

Ever since the martial arts hall expanded its enrollment, there had already been more people around. With the recent news from the mountains, everyone liked to gather and chat whenever they had spare time.

Some said hunters had been bitten by wolves.

Some said a crazed wild boar had appeared in the mountains.

Others said they had heard strange howls coming from the mountains at night.

By the end of it, even Zhao Chuan could not help growing suspicious.

"Do you think there might really be a tiger in those mountains?"

Chen Mo was wiping away sweat. Hearing that, he looked up at him.

"Didn't you say it was a wild boar two days ago?"

"Today, I heard it was a tiger."

"What about tomorrow?"

Zhao Chuan thought seriously for a moment.

"Tomorrow, it might be a bear."

Chen Mo laughed.

"Your news changes with every passing day."

A few apprentices nearby laughed along with him.

Still, laughter was laughter. After hearing so many of these rumors lately, everyone felt a little uneasy.

One of the newly arrived apprentices said:

"My father told me not to go west lately."

Another person, however, did not think much of it.

"It only happened a few times outside town. It hasn't reached the town itself."

"The mountains are huge. How could you run into it so easily?"

"Exactly."

Someone even laughed.

"We're not hunters who burrow into the deep mountains every day."

"As long as we don't go in, what could happen?"

The people around them nodded one after another.

That remark quickly won even more agreement.

Chen Mo listened without joining in.

It actually sounded reasonable.

No matter how fierce wild beasts were, they could not simply wander into town for no reason.

Besides, the authorities had posted notices saying that wild beasts in the mountains had multiplied, and changing weather had caused them to attack people again and again.

In the end, as long as one did not venture into the deep mountains, those incidents were still far away.

Thinking of that, the faint unease in Chen Mo's heart loosened somewhat.

He even felt that perhaps he had truly been overthinking it.

After all, the wolf from Chapter Ten might simply have encountered some unexpected incident.

But by lunchtime, new information spread in.

"Old Zhou, the medicinal herb gatherer from west of town, still hasn't returned."

The dining hall fell quiet.

Someone put down his chopsticks.

"Are you sure he hasn't come back?"

"His family has already gone looking for him, but they couldn't find him."

"Could he have gone somewhere else?"

"Who knows?"

An older apprentice frowned.

"Old Zhou has gathered herbs around here for more than ten years. What mountain path hasn't he walked? Even if he really ran into a wild beast, there shouldn't be no news at all."

Someone beside him hurriedly said:

"Keep your voice down."

"Didn't the authorities already say it? The wild beasts have gone mad."

"What's the use of saying that?"

The man obediently fell silent.

Before long, the dining hall became lively again.

Some people continued eating.

Some changed the subject.

Others claimed not to care, yet kept glancing toward the door halfway through their meals.

Zhao Chuan carried his bowl over beside Chen Mo.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Old Zhou's disappearance."

Chen Mo took a mouthful of rice.

"I don't know."

"You don't know either?"

"I've never seen something like this."

Zhao Chuan thought for a moment.

"That's true."

After saying that, he lowered his head and took another two bites.

After a while, he suddenly said:

"But haven't there been a little too many incidents in the mountains lately?"

Chen Mo did not answer immediately.

"There have been a little too many."

"See?"

Zhao Chuan looked as though he had found a companion.

"That's what I'm saying."

Chen Mo smiled faintly.

"I only said there were many. I never said there were ghosts."

"Then you think something's wrong."

"I never said that either."

Zhao Chuan shot him a glance.

"Whenever you talk like that, it means you're definitely thinking about something."

"Eat your food."

Chen Mo picked up a piece of vegetable and stuffed it into his bowl.

"Stop guessing wildly all day."

Zhao Chuan muttered a few words but said nothing further.

Afternoon training began as usual.

Yet the atmosphere on the training ground was clearly different from before.

In the past, people would sit to the side and laugh after tiring themselves out. Now, after even a brief rest, the conversation always circled back to the mountains.

Some said the mountains were off-limits lately.

Some said things should calm down in a few days.

Others felt that as long as the authorities were willing to send people to investigate, these matters would naturally pass.

There were not many people who were truly afraid.

At least, most still believed that disaster was happening in the mountains, far from themselves.

Even Zhou Ye did not take those rumors to heart.

He had only been at the martial arts hall for a short time and was practicing the basic fist technique over and over.

Others rested after finishing one set, but he was already on his third.

After watching for a while, Zhao Chuan said quietly:

"Does this guy not need to rest?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Aren't you tired?"

"He didn't ask me to keep up with him."

Zhao Chuan chuckled.

"You two are both quieter than a sealed jar."

Chen Mo was about to retort when Zhou Ye happened to finish his stance.

Hearing that, he turned his head.

"I heard that."

Zhao Chuan froze for a moment.

"Your hearing's pretty good."

Zhou Ye ignored him and continued practicing his fist technique.

Zhao Chuan looked at Chen Mo.

"See? He won't even talk to me."

Chen Mo said with a smile:

"That means you're annoying."

"You're annoying too."

The three of them rarely exchanged so many words. The atmosphere actually relaxed a little.

But that ease did not last long.

At dusk, Instructor Li called several instructors beneath the corridor.

Chen Mo happened to be passing by and vaguely caught a few words.

"Something happened west of town again."

"What happened this time?"

"Not sure."

"Does the hall master know?"

"Someone has already gone to tell him."

Their voices were very low.

Chen Mo did not stop to eavesdrop. He merely slowed his pace.

Soon, Instructor Li's voice carried over.

"Disciples who need to go out on errands lately should avoid going west if possible."

"And don't leave the hall alone at night."

"The authorities are still saying it's wild beasts?"

"Mm."

"Then we'll handle things according to that for now."

Instructor Li did not continue after that.

By the time Chen Mo walked over, the instructors had already dispersed.

He stood where he was and watched for a moment.

Instructor Li noticed him as well.

"Why haven't you gone to eat yet?"

"I'm going now."

Chen Mo answered.

After taking two steps, he still turned back and asked:

"Instructor."

"Hmm?"

"Have the recent incidents in the mountains... really only been caused by wild beasts?"

Instructor Li looked at him for a moment.

"What do you think?"

Chen Mo hadn't expected him to throw the question back at him, and for a moment, he didn't know how to respond.

"I..."

He scratched his head.

"I just heard everyone talking about it."

Instructor Li said blandly:

"Don't make wild guesses about things you haven't seen."

"Stay out of the mountains more often lately."

"Got it."

Chen Mo nodded.

Instructor Li said nothing more and turned to leave.

Chen Mo left as well.

After returning to his quarters, he had originally been ready to sleep.

But after lying down, his mind was still filled with the things he had heard during the day.

Hunters.

Livestock.

Herb gatherers.

One incident after another.

If it had only happened once or twice, that would have been one thing.

But now even the instructors at the martial arts school had begun warning their disciples not to go west.

He turned over.

"It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it..."

After saying it, he himself felt there was little confidence behind those words.

He thought of his father.

The family's money for food was tied to the mountains, one way or another.

His father could not stay out of the mountains forever.

As long as he went into the mountains, those dangers would always exist.

Chen Mo sat up.

After thinking for a while, he decided to go home during tomorrow's break and take a look.

At the very least, he needed to ask whether his father still planned to enter the mountains anytime soon.

Early the next morning, just as he stepped out of his quarters, he ran into Zhao Chuan at the entrance to the training grounds.

Zhao Chuan yawned.

"I slept badly last night."

"What happened?"

"I dreamed a tiger was chasing me."

Chen Mo laughed.

"Didn't you say there were only wild boars in the mountains?"

Who could say for sure what happened in dreams?

"What a coward."

Zhao Chuan shot him a glare.

"So, did you sleep well last night?"

Chen Mo paused.

"Not bad."

"Your eye circles look a little dark to me."

"You really stick your nose into everything."

The two were talking as they prepared to head toward the training grounds when someone suddenly called out to Chen Mo from behind.

"Chen Mo."

He turned around.

It was an apprentice who had returned from the west side of town.

After the man approached, he first glanced at Zhao Chuan before speaking.

"Does your father still go into the mountains lately?"

Chen Mo's smile slowly faded.

"What is it?"

The apprentice hesitated.

"Nothing."

"It's just..."

He lowered his voice.

"Someone got hurt again over on the west side of town yesterday."

Chen Mo frowned.

"Who?"

The man shook his head.

"I don't know him either."

"But I heard it happened while he was entering the mountains."

Chen Mo fell silent for a moment.

"Which road?"

The apprentice thought for a while.

"I think it was the old road to the west."

After saying that, he added:

"Didn't your father used to enter the mountains that way all the time?"

Chen Mo did not answer.

He stood there for a moment, then suddenly turned around.

Zhao Chuan froze.

"Where are you going?"

Without looking back, Chen Mo said:

"Home."

"Now?"

"Yeah."

Zhao Chuan watched his retreating figure.

"What about training?"

Chen Mo waved a hand.

"Help me tell the instructor."

His steps grew faster and faster.

"I need to go back and check on my father."

The wind swept beneath the corridor, sending a fallen leaf spiraling into the air.

Chen Mo did not look back again.