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墨書 Inktalez
Ye Tian and the others hurried along, entering a dense forest around noon. Previously, Ye Tian had climbed to a high point and observed that this forest stretched for about a hundred miles; beyond it should be Huanggang Ridge.
The forest was filled with tall shrubs, many of which were thick enough for several people to embrace. The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, carrying a faint musty smell.
"It seems we won't make it before dark," Duan Liu said as he leaped down from a giant tree, shaking his head with a sigh.
Upon hearing Duan Liu's words, everyone showed expressions of helplessness. Spending the night in such a deep forest was not a pleasant prospect. They were not afraid of fierce beasts; rather, they feared mosquitoes larger than flies.
"There's nothing we can do; it's your fault for playing around on the way," Wine Kid said with a serious expression, though in reality, no one had relaxed during the journey. He was the one truly holding them back.
Everyone knew he was just joking, so they ignored him and continued on their way.
To speed up their progress, using Skyward Martial Arts was inevitable. They agreed to use Skyward Martial Arts for half an hour, then walk briskly for an hour to recover before using Skyward Martial Arts again, repeating this cycle.
However, the group's strengths varied. Apart from Ye Tian and Cold Moon, Duan Liu, Bai Kuo, and Yun'er could barely keep up, but Wine Kid and Luo Shanshan lacked such endurance. Luo Shanshan was a First-Stage Martial Artist, while Wine Kid was only an Eighth-Dan Warrior. These two were like dead weight, complaining and unable to keep pace within less than half an hour.
With no other choice, they had to slow down completely. Firstly, this was indeed a deep forest; although they had yet to see any beasts, that didn't mean there weren't any lurking around, so they couldn't just abandon the two of them. Secondly, even if they rushed with all their might, they might not cross this forest before dark. Weighing their options, they decided to leave it to fate and take it as it comes.
As they slowed down, Wine Kid perked up again, chatting with one person here and another there, showing no signs of fatigue.
Luo Shanshan was being somewhat dramatic; she was currently clinging to Duan Liu, complaining about how tiring the journey had been and expressing her desire to rest.
In fact, both Wine Kid and Luo Shanshan could have pushed through if they tried harder. Thus, Cold Moon felt a bit displeased. Seeing Luo Shanshan wanting to slack off further ignited the temper of the Boss Lady, who coldly reprimanded them.
Among those present, except for Ye Tian and Yun'er, the other three held considerable fear of Cold Moon. So after hearing her scolding, Luo Shanshan dared not complain further, while Duan Liu wore an awkward smile of helplessness.
Ye Tian quickly stepped forward to mediate, and the group rested for a while before continuing their journey.
Before nightfall, Ye Tian climbed up to take a look back. He saw that the group had barely covered a third of the distance; compared to their expectations, it felt as if they hadn't made any progress at all through the dense forest.
Since they wouldn't be able to traverse the forest even if they traveled all night, they decided to find a sheltered spot while there was still some light. The sky was darkening, the wind was picking up, and thick clouds were gathering, indicating that a heavy rain was likely to fall during the night.
Reluctant to continue traveling, Wine Kid began to act up again, grumbling and causing a ruckus.
"This isn't too bad; at least we have a cave to shelter from the rain," Bai Kuo said with a bitter smile as raindrops began to fall from the sky.
Upon hearing this, Wine Kid muttered a few more complaints until Cold Moon shot him a glare, which finally silenced him.
The group found a rather concealed cave, its entrance obscured by dense vines that made it hard to spot from afar. If it weren't for the strong wind blowing aside the vines at the entrance, they would have undoubtedly missed this place.
The cave was situated on top of a Cliff, about three meters above the ground. This height would be difficult for an ordinary person to reach, but everyone possessed Skyward Martial Arts, so it was no challenge for them.
Crack!
A thunderous sound echoed as lightning streaked across the dark clouds. Soon after, large raindrops began to pour down heavily.
"Let's get inside," everyone urged as they used Skyward Martial Arts and quickly appeared in the cave.
Ye Tian was the first to enter. He was concerned that there might be some kind of beast lurking inside. The entrance showed clear scratch marks from claws, and being three meters off the ground suggested that it could have been excavated by some creature. However, despite the likelihood of a beast residing in the cave, Ye Tian did not sense any beastly aura, indicating that it might very well be an abandoned cave.
Due to the lack of light, visibility inside the cave was quite poor. Ye Tian took out a fire starter and lit it, using its faint glow to explore further inside.
"I'll go with you."
Yun'er quickly took a few steps to catch up with Ye Tian, who turned back to glance at her and nodded. Due to the limited light from the torch, their figures soon disappeared into the darkness.
Cold Moon withdrew her gaze from the dimness, pushed aside the vines blocking the cave entrance, and stared blankly at the pouring rain.
"What are you thinking about?" Bai Kuo walked slowly to Cold Moon's side and followed her gaze. After a moment, he spoke softly.
Cold Moon did not look at him in response. Over the past month, she had gradually sensed that Bai Kuo seemed to have a different feeling towards her, which made her uncomfortable.
"Nothing," Cold Moon replied, placing her hand on the vines before turning to join Duan Liu, Wine Kid, and Luo Shanshan, who were chatting idly.
A hint of helplessness flashed in Bai Kuo's eyes. After watching the heavy rain for a while, he joined the others. They chatted aimlessly; wherever Wine Kid was, there would definitely be no dull moments.
After about an incense stick's worth of time, footsteps echoed from inside the cave, followed by a faint light from the torch—Ye Tian and Yun'er had returned.
From the outside, the cave entrance appeared small, leading everyone to believe that the interior would not be spacious. However, once they entered, they were instantly astonished; the cave was extremely spacious, approximately ten zhang wide. Ahead was a stretch of darkness, making it impossible to determine its length. But given that it was dark, it certainly implied that its depth was considerable as well.
Although Ye Tian had prepared them for it, the news he brought back still surprised everyone.
"The cave is over three li deep. Besides a few ordinary lizards, there are no other large creatures," Ye Tian brushed off some dust from a flat stone and then gestured for Yun'er to sit down.
A glimmer of light flashed in Yun'er's eyes as she smiled and sat down. She then looked around, clearly searching for a place for Ye Tian to sit.
"What do you think this place could be a den for?" Duan Liu asked bluntly. His meaning was clear; he had also noticed the claw marks at the cave entrance. Those paw prints were not something an ordinary beast could leave behind. Not only did it take strength to dig through such hard rock, but just looking at the marks that were as long as an arm was enough to send chills down one's spine.
Before Yun'er could find a suitable spot for Ye Tian to sit, Ye Tian had no intention of looking for one himself; he simply sat cross-legged on the ground and started talking with Duan Liu.
"Who cares? Anyway, this is our den now," Ye Tian joked while taking out some dried food from his pocket.
The dry rations were prepared by them when they set out from the Cloud Sea Sect, fearing situations like this where there was no village in sight and no shops around. In the past few days, they had always found places to rest, so the others found the dry rations useless, and since they were a burden when kept in their pockets, they all discarded them. Only Ye Tian did not, so at this moment, when he took them out, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Of course, aside from Wine Kid, the others did not want to touch them; they only felt that Ye Tian's decision at that time was very right, and they should not have thrown away their rations.
There were too few dry rations to share among everyone, so Ye Tian divided them into three portions, one for each of the three women. After all, they were all Martial Practitioners; it was no big deal to go hungry for a day or even five to seven days.
But since there was food available, they still wanted to eat it; after all, the feeling of hunger was uncomfortable.
Wine Kid looked eagerly at the dry rations in the hands of the three. He was only eleven or twelve years old and had the lowest strength and control, so his desire was openly displayed in his eyes without any restraint.
"Here." Cold Moon tossed a portion of the dry rations to Wine Kid, showcasing Boss Lady's demeanor once again.
Wine Kid accepted it without saying thanks, grinning as if to say: You understand me. It also seemed to mock Yun'er and Luo Shanshan for not understanding how to pity the weak...
The two naturally ignored him. Yun'er squatted down next to Ye Tian and broke a portion of the dry rations to give half to Ye Tian, but he did not accept it; he just smiled and shook his head.
Seeing this, Luo Shanshan's face turned red. She hurried over and broke half of her portion to stuff it into Duan Liu's hands. Duan Liu happily accepted it and opened his mouth to eat...
Ye Tian observed this and first looked at Yun'er before sweeping his gaze toward Bai Kuo, seemingly signaling something.
Yun'er was clever and immediately understood Ye Tian's meaning. She walked up to Bai Kuo and said, "Brother Bai, this half is for you."
Bai Kuo smiled and declined; a hint of comfort crossed his eyes. The sense of loneliness he felt earlier upon seeing Yun'er with Ye Tian and Duan Liu with Luo Shanshan diminished somewhat.
"Take it." Yun'er placed the dry rations in Bai Kuo's arms. She was a straightforward girl, so she acted accordingly. After tossing down the rations, she no longer spoke to Bai Kuo but instead turned back to squat beside Ye Tian.
Crack!
Lightning flashed outside the cave, and the wind and rain seemed to intensify.
"Fortunately, otherwise we would have been drenched like drowned rats," Duan Liu said, resting his head on his hands against the cave wall, seemingly enjoying the moment.
"Sister Ningyue, how many Contribution Points can we earn if we complete this mission?" Ye Tian asked, as he had not been very concerned about the mission until now, feeling bored enough to ask.
"If we can bring back the head of Bandit Leader Dong Tiancheng, we could earn one thousand five hundred Contribution Points."
"What if he escapes?" Wine Kid interjected.
"If he escapes, it's a failure. Do you think Contribution Points are that easy to obtain?" Cold Moon replied, but Ye Tian suddenly made a shushing gesture.
Everyone's nerves tightened instantly because Ye Tian's expression was serious, and they could vaguely hear the sound of many people moving outside.
Gently pushing aside the vines blocking the cave entrance, Ye Tian focused intently on what lay beyond.
In the rainy night, shadows moved in the dense forest. The torches they used were made of some kind of oil, which did not extinguish even in such heavy rain; instead, they reflected a dazzling light off their blades.
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