Encounter

"Someone from their group has gone missing?"

Qian Hai quietly woke when he heard the commotion.

"Don't know if it's true. They might be here to probe our strength."

Qin Yang shook his head slightly.

"Mm. Most of these Jianghu wanderers have crooked hearts. Out here in the wilderness, it's perfectly normal for them to be tempted by wealth."

Qian Hai nodded.

"Ignore them. As long as they don't provoke me, it's fine."

Qin Yang was unconcerned.

"Exactly. If they provoke you, they're the unlucky ones."

That brat Li Baling had actually woken up too.

"I thought you were sleeping pretty soundly. Why are you awake?"

Qin Yang was a little surprised.

"Out in the wilds, you have to stay somewhat alert."

"I still understand that much."

Li Baling chuckled.

"Nothing's wrong. You can keep sleeping."

Qin Yang said softly.

Just as the two were about to lie back down.

Movement came again from ahead.

Qin Yang looked over and saw two figures emerge from the pitch-black forest.

"Gentlemen, have you seen one of our companions?"

The scruffy-bearded wanderer cupped his fists and asked.

"What are you doing? Just now, you were—mmph—"

Li Baling was about to speak when Qian Hai clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Didn't see anyone."

Qin Yang narrowed his eyes.

"Then they may not be this way. We'll search elsewhere."

The wanderer nodded and left with his companion in another direction.

After they vanished.

Qian Hai finally let Li Baling speak.

"Qin Yang, weren't those two the ones who came by earlier?"

"How did they come back in the blink of an eye and ask the exact same question?"

Li Baling looked alarmed and suspicious.

"Didn't you notice?"

"The moonlight fell over those two just now."

"They had no shadows."

Qin Yang said blandly.

A chill ran through Li Baling's whole body. He forced a smile. "Qin Yang, don't scare me in the middle of the night."

He truly had not noticed that detail just now and had no idea whether it was real.

"I saw it too."

"Those two really had no shadows."

Qian Hai said evenly.

Li Baling's scalp went numb.

People without shadows—were they still people?

"What are you afraid of? Did you think those nightmares you had before were just because you were sick?"

Qin Yang smiled.

"What do you mean? Could it be that I really was haunted by an evil spirit that time?"

Li Baling had actually suspected it many times.

But every time he asked his father, Li Tong, the latter always spoke vaguely.

"Of course. I was the one who dealt with it for you."

Qin Yang briefly recounted what had happened at Huaxiang Tower.

Only then did Li Baling learn the reason behind his nightmares.

"Good heavens. Looks like I should visit brothels to listen to music less often from now on."

After learning the truth, Li Baling was clearly still frightened.

"Young Master, what do we do now?"

Qian Hai asked softly.

"Leave this forest."

"If it comes to it, I'll send them on their way."

Qin Yang said calmly.

He woke Xiao Huan, who was asleep in the carriage.

The girl knew nothing. Hearing Qin Yang say they were leaving, she merely nodded obediently without asking a single extra question.

Qian Hai led the horse while Qin Yang watched their surroundings from the side.

Li Baling did not dare get into the carriage either. He felt safer staying near Qin Yang.

He still held a crude torch, driving back a little of the darkness ahead.

Li Baling felt that the dense forest was becoming increasingly strange. Everywhere was filled with bizarre, faintly audible sounds that made him restless and tense.

He feared that a dark shadow might leap out from somewhere.

Qin Yang saw this but said nothing.

This sort of fear had to be overcome by oneself. No matter how much others said, it was useless.

About the time it took for an incense stick to burn.

"Young Master, look."

Qian Hai suddenly frowned.

Firelight flickered in the clearing ahead.

"Let's go take a look."

Qin Yang said in a low voice.

When they drew near.

Li Baling's face instantly turned deathly pale.

It was a campsite built around a bonfire.

The bonfire was still burning fiercely.

Yet two bloody corpses lay on the ground.

One of them was the scruffy-bearded wanderer wearing a bamboo hat.

That

"The corpses have stiffened. They've probably been dead for quite a while." Qian Hai's expression was grave.

If they had been dead for so long, then who were the two wanderers they had encountered earlier?

"Something's wrong. The direction is wrong."

"Based on the direction we took, this bonfire campsite shouldn't have appeared here."

Qin Yang said blandly.

"That's right, we clearly headed in the opposite direction."

"Could we have taken the wrong path?"

Li Baling asked in alarm.

"Impossible. The direction should be right."

Qian Hai said deeply.

"If the direction is right, then this forest is wrong."

Qin Yang said softly.

His words left Qian Hai and Li Baling staring at each other.

"Let's walk a little farther and see."

"If it really doesn't work, we'll wait until dawn."

Qin Yang said solemnly.

Xiao Huan was about to stick her head out to see what was happening, but Qin Yang stopped her and told her to stay properly inside the carriage.

The group continued onward through the gloomy dense forest.

Rustle—

Qin Yang's ears twitched as he heard the faint sound of leaves scraping together.

"Who's there?!"

He barked.

"Don't be afraid."

"We mean no harm."

Four figures emerged from the dark dense forest.

But once both sides saw each other clearly, they were utterly shocked!

"Yu Cheng, Old Li!!!" Qian Hai cried in disbelief.

These people were all guards who had followed Qin Dongsheng.

"Young Master, Uncle Qian?!!!"

Yu Cheng and the others looked equally astonished.

They had not expected to encounter Qin Yang's group here.

"Why are you here?"

Qin Yang asked in a low voice.

"It's a long story."

"We've been trapped in this forest for several months."

"This forest is extremely strange. Once living people enter, it becomes very difficult for them to leave."

Yu Cheng sighed.

"Is that so? Then where is my father?"

Qin Yang asked again.

"The Family Head, he—" Yu Cheng was about to speak.

"I'm here."

A stern-looking middle-aged man slowly walked out from within the forest.

"Family Head?"

"Uncle Qin?"

Qian Hai and Li Baling each cried out in surprise.

Only Qin Yang frowned slightly.

"You go back first. Qin Yang and I have some things to discuss."

Qin Dongsheng looked toward Yu Cheng and the others.

Yu Cheng and the others hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded and turned to leave.

"Why did you come here too?"

Qin Dongsheng looked at Qin Yang, his brow faintly furrowed.

"I came to find you."

"You've been missing for nearly half a year."

Qin Yang smiled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want this either."

Qin Dongsheng sighed softly.

"Family Head, while you were gone, the Young Master changed so much."

"You probably never imagined that he's now a Qi Gathering Martial Artist."

Qian Hai could not help saying.

"A Qi Gathering Martial Artist?"

"Things must have been difficult for you while I was away."

Upon hearing this, Qin Dongsheng was delighted, but also carried a trace of guilt.

He found it difficult to imagine how much pressure Qin Yang had endured, supporting Qin Manor alone.

"It wasn't difficult."

"I was simply too inadequate before."

Qin Yang said this on behalf of the original owner of this body.

"It's not too late, not too late. In just half a year, you've surpassed more than a decade of my cultivation."

"You were born to practice martial arts. Perhaps my disappearance was instead a good thing for you."

"Come. I'll take you out of here first."

Qin Dongsheng seemed rather anxious.