For several days, Xing Yun stayed in Mu Bai's tent. Mu Bai began with the Discipline Enforcement Army under his own command, setting an example, tightening military discipline, and stamping out the unhealthy practices that had emerged among the troops. Their bearing and morale improved greatly.
Yet with no sign of the beast tide after so long, Mu Bai felt deeply uneasy. He planned to slip into Jialan when an opportunity arose and investigate the beast tide there.
Xing Yun's injuries had healed, and she had gained considerable benefits from the nourishment of vital energy. Unable to stay cooped up in the tent any longer, she begged Mu Bai to take her out for a stroll, claiming it would help her recovery.
How could Mu Bai not know what Xing Yun was thinking? Since he happened to want to go out and investigate as well, he agreed.
More unusually still, the fog had dispersed, revealing the true face of the Southern Marsh's vast forests, mountains, lakes, and wetlands. Great herds of elk and wildebeest grazed leisurely on lush green grass. Mandarin ducks paired on the lakes while white cranes wandered, and fish leaped joyously from the water, chasing and playing among lotus blossoms and leaves that stretched to the horizon.
Without any trace of the Human Race, the Southern Marsh presented a scene of perfect peace and tranquility.
Xing Yun flew merrily ahead, sometimes leaping onto a mountaintop, sometimes skimming over the water, startling flocks of white cranes into the sky and scattering the fish beneath the lake's surface.
"Why must you disturb them?"
"Humans and beasts coexist in this world. To take part in one another's lives without slaughter-that is the way of harmony."
"Where there is life, the weak are prey to the strong. Even cultivators slaughter one