Star Dou Great Forest
Before dawn had fully broken, seven or eight people were already standing outside the mercenary guild.
The bald man stood at the front, clutching an old map of the Star Dou outskirts, a grass stem between his teeth as he spoke quietly to the short-haired woman. Behind him, two young men squatted on the steps, bored out of their minds, one carrying a short spear and the other cradling a longsword. When Ning Buhui arrived, the bald man glanced up at him without a word, then tilted his head to one side, signaling him to stand there.
After another quarter of an hour, everyone had arrived. The bald man spat out the grass stem and clapped his hands. "You all know the rules. Once we enter the forest, follow my orders. Don't run off, and don't get greedy. The outskirts haven't been peaceful lately. Soul Beasts are more numerous than usual. If we run into any, don't panic-fight in formation. A Hui-" He looked at Ning Buhui. "You'll stand near the middle, toward the rear, and control the battlefield. If anything blind enough to charge us comes at you, just bind it. Leave the rest to us."
Ning Buhui nodded.
Seeing that no one objected, the bald man said, "It's two thousand li by the main road from Star Luo City to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. We'll rent a decent carriage, travel by day, and take turns resting at night. If all goes smoothly, we can get there in ten days. Taking a shortcut through the wilderness would shave a few hundred li off the trip, but there are plenty of Soul Beasts along the way. We'd have to make detours, so it might not be worth it. We'll take the main road."
The seven of them drove their carriage out through the north gate of Star Luo City and headed northeast along the main road.
For the first seven days, they traveled along the main road, which was smooth, with relay stations and tea stalls along the way. The seven traveled by day and made camp at sunset. The bald man assigned them to night watch in pairs, and Ning Buhui was paired with the young man who carried the short spear. The young man spoke little, and Ning Buhui wasn't fond of idle chatter either. On watch, one sat to the east and the other to the west, each keeping lookout. It was peaceful enough.
On the eighth day, the main road came to an end. The "road" marked on the map became an old post road half hidden in wild grass, its carriage ruts intermittent and some stretches gouged into gullies by rain. The fields on either side had been abandoned, grassy slopes ran together, and the occasional ruined house with a collapsed roof came into view. The bald man said there had once been villages in the area, but after a beast tide, the people had moved away.
The farther east they went, the denser the woodland became. First came scattered shrubs, then clusters of small trees, and finally the trees joined into a continuous mass, squeezing the road down to a narrow gap. The bald man had everyone switch to single file, with himself in front, the short-haired woman bringing up the rear, and Ning Buhui in the middle. Birdsong grew more frequent all around them. Now and then, the shadow of a beast flashed past behind a tree, but none dared come close.
On the evening of the tenth day, as they made camp, the bald man squatted by the fire, gnawing on dry rations, and suddenly said, "We enter the forest tomorrow. Soul Beasts are a lot more concentrated in the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest than they used to be. All of you stay sharp. No more fooling around."
The young man with the short spear muttered, "It's not like we've never been in there before." The bald man shot him a glare, and he ducked his head and said no more.
Early the next morning, the seven entered the forest.
The Star Dou Great Forest was completely different from the Sunset Forest.
The Sunset Forest was gloomy, quiet, and shrouded in mist, like an ancient tomb forgotten by time. The Star Dou Great Forest, however, was alive. As soon as they entered, layers upon layers of canopy closed over their heads, letting through only a few scattered rays that dappled the ground. The fallen leaves underfoot were absurdly thick, fluffy and soft to tread on. Now and then, they stepped on bones left by some unknown beast, which cracked beneath their feet.
The air was thick with the smell of damp earth and the raw scent of vegetation, strong enough to sting the nose. Birdsong came from every direction, high and low, far and near, blending into a single chorus; something darted through the depths of the canopy, setting the branches and leaves rustling; and occasionally, deep, drawn-out roars rolled out from the depths of the forest, leaving their ears ringing.
Ning Buhui walked in the middle of the group. He had already summoned his Martial Soul, the Nine Hell Soul-Suppressing Pagoda, with two yellow Soul Rings encircling it. He stayed alert as he walked, his keen senses giving him the constant feeling that something in the shadows was watching them.
"That's a Shadow Leopard's territorial mark," the bald man said without looking back. "Don't be afraid. It's around a thousand years old. It'll hide as soon as it smells people. If we don't bother it, it won't come looking for trouble with us."
After they had walked for more than an hour, the forest grew denser still. The bald man slowed and glanced back, signaling the short-haired woman. She understood, crouched low, and darted to the front of the group. Drawing a curved blade from her waist, she swung it a couple of times to either side. She was scouting the way.
"Rock Wolves usually den in rocky hollows," the bald man said to Ning Buhui in a low voice. "There's a range of low stone hills on the eastern side of the Star Dou outskirts. Rock Wolves like to make their dens in the crevices. We're heading that way."
After they had gone a little farther, the short-haired woman suddenly crouched. She examined the ground, then looked back and gestured to the bald man. He went over, and the two crouched behind a rock and whispered for a moment. Standing behind them, Ning Buhui suddenly caught a smell. It was faint, a little musky and a little raw, mixed in with the scent of vegetation and impossible to distinguish without careful attention. He sniffed and took two steps forward, seeing a fresh pile of droppings on the ground in front of the woman, still steaming.
"Just ahead." The bald man stood, the scar on his face twitching. "Everyone, stay sharp."
The seven slowed their steps and crept forward in a loose formation. Ning Buhui's heart beat faster. He took a deep breath. The squad was of middling strength, and barring any surprises, dealing with a pack of thousand-year-old Rock Wolves wouldn't be too difficult. But he wouldn't put his safety in other people's hands, and he remained on guard as he should.
After another few dozen steps, the trees ahead suddenly thinned. A stretch of low stone hills appeared before them, their gray-white rocks rising to different heights like beast fangs thrust up from underground. Vines and wild grass grew thick in the crevices, rustling whenever the wind blew. Ning Buhui spotted something moving behind the rocks: gray-brown fur, crawling close to the ground. One, two, three... ten Rock Wolves emerged halfway from different crevices, ears pricked as they looked in the group's direction.
The pack leader hadn't come out. It was still in its rocky den.
"A Hui, the three on the left," the bald man said quietly. He summoned his Martial Soul, a thick-backed short axe, and strode to the right.
Ning Buhui didn't hesitate. His Second Soul Ring lit up. Vine Locks the Nine Nether Regions-the yin fish swung its tail, and a pitch-black chain shot from the pagoda, gliding silently along the ground. The first Rock Wolf on the left had just leaped from its crevice when the chain wrapped around it. The chain tightened, and the wolf whimpered as its whole body was yanked to one side. The second lunged after it. With a flick of Ning Buhui's wrist, another chain shot out, curved through the air, and coiled around the second wolf. Before the third could move, Ning Buhui pushed off and charged two steps forward. A third chain shot from the pagoda and bound the third wolf in an instant, tying it fast before it could even whimper.
The entire sequence flowed without a pause, taking no more than three breaths from beginning to end. The bald man glanced back and grinned without a word, then swung his short axe at a Rock Wolf on the right. The short-haired woman had already circled around to the side of the stone hill. Her Martial Soul appeared in her hand, a curved blade. Cold light flashed, and the hind legs of a Rock Wolf attempting to sneak up from the flank were severed.
Ning Buhui stood guard at the rear, ready for any other Rock Wolves that might attack by surprise.
In less than twenty breaths, three of the ten Rock Wolves had fallen. Only then did the remaining wolves react, surrounding them in an instant.
Suddenly, Ning Buhui felt an overwhelming pressure coming from the rocky cave. The pack leader was about to emerge. The others also stopped what they were doing and looked toward the cave entrance.
It was a giant wolf nearly two meters tall and four meters long, its body far more robust than that of an ordinary Rock Wolf, its bones as though cast from rock. Its entire body was covered in hard, gray-and-brown rock armor-not fur, but layers upon layers of rocky scales that extended along its spine all the way to the tip of its tail.
A ridge of jagged spines rose along its back like the exposed ridgeline of a mountain. Sunlight swept over its armor plates, drawing out a cold, hard, stony matte sheen. Its head was broad, its jawbones thick and powerful, and its sharp canine teeth protruded, gleaming with a deathly pale chill. Its vertical pupils were a dark, rocky red, calm yet carrying the oppressive weight of a mountain.
Its thick limbs were rooted in the forest floor, its paws enormous and its claw tips made of deep-black crystal. Standing on the fallen leaves, it could crush stones with a light step. Its long tail was thick and hard as a stone whip, with several sharp stone spikes at the end.
Standing quietly, it looked less like a beast than a giant living creature of rock awakened from a mountain. Dense, heavy earth-attribute Soul Power surrounded it, and the air trembled faintly. A deep growl rolled from its chest, rumbling like rocks grinding together.
The pack leader. At least six thousand years old. This was beyond what they had expected.