The Edge of Sunset Forest

The rain in Sunset Forest was colder than in Heaven Dou City.

Rain slipped through the dense canopy and shattered into mist before it reached the ground. Miasma drifted along the grass. From a distance, the whole forest looked veiled in gray-green gauze.

Dai Mubai led the way. With his White Tiger Martial Soul unleashed, his broad shoulders and back were like a wall. Zhu Zhuqing flickered in and out of the shadows to the right. Xiao Wu stayed beside Tang San, while Ning Rongrong and Oscar were sheltered in the middle of the group.

Ma Hongjun had been excited the entire way.

"Three rings!" He rubbed his hands together. "I, Ma Hongjun, am finally getting my third ring!"

Bai Jin walked at the rear, holding an umbrella he had acquired from who knew where. "Shout a little louder, and the Soul Beasts will line up to audition."

Ma Hongjun shut up at once.

Tang San crouched and plucked a blade of grass bent by the rain. Black spots marked its edges, but its roots had a faint red tinge.

"Someone gathered herbs here," he said. "Carelessly, too. They even snapped the roots. Whoever it was didn't know medicinal plants."

Bai Jin looked deeper into the forest.

A faint trace of Soul Power lingered there, like ink washed thin by the rain. Without his Six Eyes, he might have missed it.

Dugu Bo was nearby after all.

But the old poisoner had not shown himself, and Bai Jin could not be bothered to call out to him.

Soul Hunting proved faster than investigating the case.

Near noon, Zhu Zhuqing spotted a Flamehorn Lizard ahead. The Soul Beast was about seventeen hundred years old, dark red all over, with a row of flame-patterned bone spikes along its back. Its breath sprayed clinging fire. Its age would make it a challenge for Ma Hongjun, but it was just right.

Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up when he saw it.

"That one?"

Tang San studied the terrain. "It isn't fast, but its flames cling. We can't let it get close enough to ram Rongrong or Oscar. Boss Dai, hold it from the front. I'll bind its limbs with Blue Silver Grass. Zhuqing, sever its tail. Xiao Wu, stop it from turning. Fatty, finish with fire."

With Grandmaster absent, Tang San had instinctively taken on the analysis.

He did not seize command. He simply laid out each danger he had spotted. Dai Mubai nodded when he finished. Xiao Wu flexed her wrists, and Zhu Zhuqing had already shifted position without a sound. Ning Rongrong held the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, her face tense, but she did not retreat.

That was Shrek's unspoken coordination.

They bickered endlessly, but when it came time to fight, none of them held the others back.

Bai Jin yawned beside them. "Finally, I don't have to be the brains."

The battle erupted moments later.

Dai Mubai charged first, his White Tiger Protection Barrier taking the Flamehorn Lizard's breath head-on. Fire spread across the shield, warping the air with heat. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass burst from the muddy water and wrapped around the Soul Beast's forelegs, only to crackle as the flames burned it.

"Rongrong!"

Ning Rongrong did not panic. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda lit up, and two beams fell on Dai Mubai and Tang San.

"Strength!"

"Speed!"

Dai Mubai forced his way half a step forward. Tang San seized the opening and changed the angle of his Blue Silver Grass, winding it around the joints instead of binding them head-on. Zhu Zhuqing flashed past from the side, her Hell Stab striking the base of the Flamehorn Lizard's tail and knocking it off balance.

Xiao Wu sprang down from a tree trunk and kicked the Soul Beast in the side of its neck, knocking it off course just as it tried to turn toward Ning Rongrong.

"Fatty!"

Ma Hongjun drew a deep breath.

Instead of spraying wildly as it used to, his Phoenix Fire Line compressed into a solid beam of red light and blasted through the gap Tang San had left in the Blue Silver Grass, straight into the Flamehorn Lizard's open mouth.

Boom!

Fire burst from between the Soul Beast's back spikes, and the Flamehorn Lizard crashed to the ground.

Bai Jin raised a hand and stifled the surge of Soul Power from its dying counterattack. He grinned. "Not bad. You didn't roast your teammates along with it. That's huge progress."

Ma Hongjun panted and rolled his eyes. "Why, thank you for the compliment."

Absorbing the Soul Ring was no easy task.

The Flamehorn Lizard's Soul Power burned with heat and fury. Ma Hongjun sat cross-legged in the rain, veins pulsing on his forehead. Oscar set a Recovery Big Sausage within his reach. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing guarded either flank, Dai Mubai stood at the front, and Tang San watched the surrounding poisonous plants and Soul Beasts for movement.

Bai Jin stood behind Ma Hongjun, tilting his umbrella slightly to shield him from the heaviest rain.

Ma Hongjun kept his eyes shut and his teeth clenched. His lips had gone white, but he did not cry out.

Half an hour later, the purple Soul Ring finally settled into place.

Three Soul Rings circled Ma Hongjun.

Yellow, yellow, purple.

His Soul Power crossed the threshold and stabilized at level thirty-one.

"Third Soul Skill: Phoenix Wings Soaring!"

Ma Hongjun's eyes flew open. Flames unfurled behind him into two red wings that held their shape even in the rain. He had barely flown half a yard in his excitement when a branch snagged him, and he splatted back into the mud.

Oscar laughed so hard he nearly choked.

Bai Jin offered his assessment. "Promising. At least your landing was sincere."

Face-down in the mud, Ma Hongjun cried out indignantly, "I'll master it, just you wait!"

Awkward as his fall had been, everyone could feel the change in him.

His Phoenix Flame was much more concentrated than before, and the new Soul Ring had tamped down some of the restlessness brought on by his Evil Fire. Ma Hongjun noticed it too. Once he stood, he looked down at the flame in his palm and, for once, did not immediately crack a joke.

He used to laugh about his bad luck. His Martial Soul was powerful, but Evil Fire had always held him back. Now his third Soul Ring was like a new step beneath his feet. At last, he could climb higher.

Bai Jin glanced at him but offered no further praise.

Praise a young man too much at a moment like this, and it might go to his head.

After securing the ring, the group followed the route marked on their map southeast. The Old Quarry lay hidden behind a stretch of cliffs. Vines covered the rock face, and the rain had washed many footprints faint.

This place was different from an ordinary Soul Beast habitat.

The insect calls and beast roars that should have filled the forest had faded near the quarry. Black water pooled among the rubble, with a few dead leaves floating on its surface. Though rain fell hard, it seemed to be falling into a dead well; even the ripples looked sluggish.

Oscar rubbed his arms. "Why do I feel like this place is creepier than that lizard?"

Bai Jin glanced at him. "Congratulations. Your instincts have finally switched on."

Tang San crouched to inspect the ground, his brow furrowing. "Quite a few people have been here, and not just for one day."

Bai Jin walked up to the rock face and pulled the vines aside.

A section had been chiseled from the stone, leaving dark red powder around its edges. Beneath the powder lay half an engraving. It looked like a winding road—or an upside-down blade.

The rubbing paper Lu Heng had brought matched the missing section exactly.

The Slaughter Stele Rubbing.

Xiao Wu instinctively took half a step back.

Tang San noticed her expression and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Wu shook her head. "Nothing. This place just makes me uncomfortable."

Bai Jin did not look at her. He raised his gaze toward the depths of the rain and mist.

Someone was quietly leaving.

Dugu Bo's presence.

Bai Jin smiled and put the rubbing away.

"Let's go."

Dai Mubai asked, "Back to the city?"

"Back to the city."

Bai Jin turned, a string of raindrops falling from the rim of his umbrella.

"And on the way, let's see if anyone can't bear to let us leave."