Going their separate ways

"..."

Everyone's face darkened at the old beggar's sigh.

After all, who wanted to hear such ill-omened words just as they set out?

Ye Qianfan, on the other hand...

Counting this trip, he had already gone in and out of the mist three times, so he felt little pressure. After all, he knew he was no longer human, and those evil entities had little interest in him!

If everyone hadn't been waiting here for him, and he hadn't wanted to stand out too much...

Ye Qianfan really wouldn't have wanted to travel with this group.

Going alone...

Wouldn't that be sweeter?

"Do you know the way?"

But just as Ye Qianfan was wondering how to break away from the main group, the Daoist landed a blow straight to his heart!

Ye Qianfan could only force a smile. "What does it matter if I don't? I've still got you, haven't I?"

"Sorry, but without a compass, even an immortal couldn't tell directions in this thick fog." The Daoist unhesitatingly doused Ye Qianfan with cold water. "That old beggar has a few tricks up his sleeve. I suggest you behave yourself and stick with the group."

"F... fine, then!"

Once they left the outskirts, the mist quickly thickened again.

Whether these people had genuine skills or were simply overconfident, Ye Qianfan couldn't say. In any case, even when the front of the group could no longer see the rear, nobody used a red cord to stay together or kept their eyes fixed on the person ahead to avoid getting separated.

They still all walked on their own!

Ye Qianfan didn't care. He no longer needed to worry about attacks from evil entities anyway. As long as he could hear people moving nearby, he only had to follow.

But they hadn't been in the Fog Forest long before Ye Qianfan spotted scattered weapons and hats beside the path, along with a blue bundle.

Ye Qianfan remembered that bundle. A woman in a long black dress had been carrying it.

He had originally thought highly of that cold, aloof woman, but she had fallen here too. When the rake had told him that everyone who ignored the old beggar had died, he must have meant them, right?

They walked for roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, without incident.

Until the old beggar's shout rang out from the front once again!

"Great danger ahead! Go around!"

Then...

Ye Qianfan heard everyone's footsteps begin moving north. Naturally, he hurried after them, since he had no idea what kind of great danger the old beggar meant.

What if it wasn't an evil entity?

"Hey, brother."

As the rake turned, he happened to bump into Ye Qianfan. He immediately stuck to him like a stubborn medicinal plaster again. "At first, I thought you were just here to make up the numbers and get yourself killed. Who knew you were actually pretty capable!"

"What makes you say that?"

Ye Qianfan couldn't understand what the rake found so impressive about him.

He hadn't done anything, had he?

"Anyone who can keep a straight face and a steady heartbeat in this Fog Forest has a few tricks up their sleeve." The rake twirled his flute and smiled. "I've been watching you for a while. Your expression hasn't changed once from beginning to end. Whether you saw those abandoned belongings or the bloodstains in the forest, you acted as though you'd seen it all before. That convinced me you were no ordinary fellow, brother!"

"Thanks. I just have a naturally stiff face."

Ye Qianfan was rather speechless at the rake's fanciful deductions. He had thought the man possessed some great insight, but it all came down to his Painted Skin face being naturally expressionless.

What, was a paper man supposed to flash a smile whenever he pleased and scare someone to death?

"Hehe, no need to be modest, brother." The rake tilted his head toward Ye Qianfan's chest. "Plenty of people pretend to be calm, but you're the only one whose heartbeat hasn't changed at all! By the way, I'm Shen Lang. What should I call you, brother?"

"Ye..." Ye Qianfan was about to give his name, but then remembered what old Fu Lao had done to him. His guard immediately went up. "Ye Sheng!"

"Ye Sheng! What a fine name!" Shen Lang showered him with praise. "It sounds auspicious the moment you hear it! Unlike mine..."

"Aah!"

Suddenly, disaster struck!

Someone walking ahead of Ye Qianfan abruptly screamed. Then Ye Qianfan saw a dark shape flash through the air and snatch someone away.

The dark shape moved extremely fast. Its upper end seemed connected to something, and it was thick at the top and thin at the bottom!

The person dragged away looked as though something had tightened around their neck!

Their legs kicked incessantly in midair as they struggled...

Unfortunately.

It all happened too quickly. By the time everyone reacted, the person had already vanished!

"We're under attack! Close ranks!"

The old beggar suddenly shouted, and everyone immediately converged in the same direction.

Shen Lang hurriedly pulled Ye Qianfan with him and sprinted south. "Brother Ye, quick! Keep up!"

Soon.

The people who had been walking separately gathered together again.

Ye Qianfan swept his gaze over them. The old beggar was still in the lead, but of the fifty or sixty people who had originally joined the assessment, nearly half were now missing. Only thirty-odd remained. Most of those who had disappeared had probably gone ahead or died.

"Clack, clack, clack!"

The old beggar shook the bowl in his hand again, making the coins inside jingle and clatter.

But everyone looked far less composed than they had at the city gate. Instead, they glanced anxiously from side to side, their faces heavy with worry!

"Aah!"

Just as everyone tightened into a cluster and the old beggar shook his bowl to divine their fate, someone else screamed.

This time, a sharp-eyed swordsman reacted swiftly, slashing his sword at the dark shape attacking that person...

"Clang!"

But what none of them had expected was...

When the swordsman's blade struck the dark shape, it rang out like metal striking jade. The dark shape paused for only half a beat before dragging its victim away completely.

Yet that half-beat was enough for Ye Qianfan to see it clearly!

That dark shape was actually...

A vine!

"Clack!"

"Clack, clack—snap!"

The old beggar's bowl-shaking divination stopped at that very moment.

Perhaps because he couldn't see, the dark shape hadn't affected him at all. He continued feeling the copper coins as usual, but the longer he felt them, the graver his expression became.

"The Zhen Trigram... wood affinity..."

"It's a tree!"

"A Tree Demon!!!"

At those words, everyone looked up at the indistinct tree silhouettes looming in the mist!

If they truly encountered a Tree Demon in the middle of a vast forest, they were in serious trouble. Worse still, this was the Fog Forest. With vines and trunks hidden in the mist, if they suddenly attacked...

They would be all but impossible to guard against!

"How did we run into a Tree Demon?"

"Could the Demon-Quelling Office have released it deliberately to test us? I don't remember there being a Tree Demon in this Fog Forest!"

"If a Tree Demon really has returned to the forest, fewer than one in ten of us might survive this assessment!"

"What do we do now?"

Everyone was horrified. Even Shen Lang, who had maintained his carefree, irreverent attitude all along, now wore an utterly grim expression!

The old beggar raised a hand. "Everyone! Hear this old man out!"

"I originally thought that if we banded together to resist the evil entities in this Fog Forest, we would have an easier time. Once we reached the second and third stages, we could compete fairly."

"But I never imagined the Demon-Quelling Office's methods would be so formidable!"

"This old beggar knows he cannot protect so many people. All I can do now is lead those of seventh rank or above out of this damned place as quickly as possible."

"Those willing to follow me, come closer. Those unwilling, I won't force you. We'll meet again if fate allows!"

"What about those of us in eighth and ninth rank?" an exceptionally burly martial artist demanded angrily. "You were the one who told us to stick together, and now you're the one who wants to abandon us!"

"Old man, are you planning to leave us to fend for ourselves?"

"There are so many of us, and it's already this dangerous. Wouldn't splitting up make it even worse?"

Half the people there disagreed with the old beggar's proposal.

After all...

There was no shortage of experts among them, yet they still couldn't fend off the Tree Demon lurking in the shadows. If the old beggar took all the experts of seventh rank and above away, how would those left behind be doing anything but waiting to die?

"Below seventh rank, your qi cannot sink, and you cannot practice Footwork." Faced with their accusations, the old beggar answered calmly, "The only way to pass this stage now is to rely on speed to evade the Tree Demon's attacks! As for the rest of you, this old man is willing in heart but powerless to help!"