Just like her, the old man was lost in his own thoughts. There wasn’t much time left for them. The barrier sill had a few days left before disappearing completely but Reli had to leave before that. The old man’s eyes sparkled dangerously. The forest seemed silent yet he was sure there were already numerous groups of people camping outside the barrier. Whether driven by greed or thirst for revenge, one was sure. Like hungry beasts, they wouldn’t let anything or anyone escape their fangs.

Peering out of the crack on the wooden wall, the alluring back of a carefree woman came into his field of view. Her hands were gliding playfully over the water surface. Just the vague outline of her face from the far distance was enough to hint at an extraordinary beauty. It would be easy for him to take a closer look yet he closed his eyes and slowly turned away. He didn’t dare to watch that scene any longer. Within the darkness inside the wooden house, he stood there silently and waited.

The sun was sinking quietly into the horizon. Only the lazy howl of some beasts occasionally resounded from the gloomy forest. Lady Kim had already put her clothes back on and was slowly making her way back to the riverside. As she came closer, a tall figure stepped out the wooden house. Seeing the two big sacks on the old man’s back, lady Kim cast a questioning glance at him. The old man looked deeply into her eyes and nodded firmly, confirming her guess.

“It’s time. I will need your help.”

He closed the door and walked calmly towards the ground next to the fading fire. Reli was sleeping soundly next to the big black golden-paw bear. After carefully tying the boy onto his own back, the old man extinguished the fire and waved at lady Kim, signalising her to follow him.

Standing now at the edge of the forest, he turned his head and took one last glance at the familiar riverside. A cold wind blew over the large area of wet, green grass and through the shabby wooden house. The river flow is getting unusually stronger at this moment. Blended in with the continuous sound of churning water, the faint whistles coming from the wooden house resounded sorrowfully through the air, as if to say goodbye to good old friends. It had been more than five years since they settled down at this riverside. The old man sighed and as the last sunbeam was devoured by the night, his figure vanished into to dark forest. The black golden-paw bear looked at the spot where the old man stood and a hazy expression appeared in its eyes.

Lady Kim followed the old man closely. She was curious about his plan but she didn’t ask. Her instinct told her that the old man wouldn’t harm her. After a long run in the darkness, she could hear the sound of babbling water becoming louder. A huge waterfall slowly emerged in front of them. With swift movements, the old man climbed up on a steep rock wall and disappeared behind the waterfall. Lady Kim strangely inspected the small cave entrance. No wonder she had never noticed it even though she had passed this waterfall many times in the past. The old man had covered the entrance with various plants and rocks the whole time.

The tunnel leading through this cave looked almost the same like the one where the bearded man is locked in. An absurd thought crossed her mind as she glanced at the old man’s back. Were they all created by him? If so, how many caves like this existed? As expected, they arrived at a tunnel part, which was also blocked by a blue barrier. The only difference to the last one was, that this barrier was riddled with thick white line and the blue glowing was pulsing nonstop.

“This barrier is much weaker than the other one. All you need to do is to strike at those spots in a certain periodic pattern. Please watch closely.”

The old man placed his hand on the barrier and let them glide along the white lines. Whenever his hand reached certain spots, he would strike with his palms against them. Every time with a different amount of force. After a moment he backed up from the barrier and turned his head towards lady Kim.

“For how long should I do it?”

She nodded and took a step closer to him.

“There exist other barriers like this one and I will take care of them. Since you and that mad man are attacking two barriers, we can weaken the main barrier much faster than I originally planned. Even though these blue barriers have lost most of their connection to the main barrier, their existences are still linked tightly together. If one of them breaks, so will the others. Six hours. I want to destroy the main barrier in six hours. When the first sunlight shone down on the earth, the forgotten forest will finally reappear in the world. Heaven will crumble. Earth will collapse.”

The old man raised his voice as his breath grew heavier with each word. There was a madness rising in his eyes but they still remained clear and determined as ever.

“Hide in here till you hear my scream. After that, just follow your instinct. The legend is true. There are unimaginable powers hidden in this forgotten land. But they are only meant for the chosen ones.”

Looking back into lady Kim’s gentle eyes, he regained his calmness and his tightly clenched fists loosened up.

“What about you and Reli?”

Observing his changing expressions intently, lady Kim had a bad premonition. They could silently escape from this place together right when this blue barrier disappeared. Why did it seem to her that the old man wanted to ignite perilous chaos instead? She doubted the old man would let Reli get caught in dangerous situation unnecessarily.

“Reli will be fine.”

The old man took a deep breath and straightened his back. He nodded firmly as if to reassure her. Or maybe himself.

Lady Kim could detect a strange atmosphere. She really wanted to ask him more questions but she knew there were times when a man had to make hard decisions and stick to it. The old man had already made his.

“Any liquid stored in it for long enough will be purified. It’s my gift to Reli.”

She lowered her head and pulled out the green bamboo water holder from under her robe.

He could feel her soft fingertips on his palm as she put the water holder into his hand. It was unclear how much time had passed but their hands still remained in the same position in the air. Coming back to his sense, he looked up from the green bamboo water holder and met her hesitant eyes. Just as she was about to tell something he averted his eyes and stored the water holder under his shirt. While still avoiding eye contact, he hastily walked back into the dark tunnel.

“Take care.”

He halted his step and slightly turned his head.

Hearing his warm voice slowly fading away, lady Kim raised her hand in front of her as if to attempt to hold back his slowly disappearing figure. She lowered her head and touched with her fingertips gently on her other palm.

“If only we have met at another time, at another place.”

A quiet sigh resounded in the air. Just her lonely figure remained in the blue illuminated tunnel part.

Standing in front of the waterfall, the old man could still feel the warmth of her hand on the water holder in front of his chest. He took a deep breath and shook his head strongly. Touching Reli’s small head on his back, his eyes became determined.

It was deadly silent as the crescent moon shed its poorly light on the murky forest. The rustling purple leaves of an enormous tree woke up some beasts sleeping on the ground next to it. The old man figure appeared on a hidden spot of the tree. His eyes scanned every single one of its branches meticulously. After some time he struck out with his sharp sword and cut off a big part of a thick branch. A purple, pulsing tube-like something was revealed under the bark. He crushed some fruits and draw with the juice some mysterious pattern on the tube-like something. Reli was earnestly observing everything from behind the old man.

They repeated the same procedure at many other enormous trees across the whole forest. Every time another tube-like something was revealed, the beasts in the whole forest seemed to sense something as more and more of them were waking up from their deep sleep. Countless howls rang out from every corner, waking up other survivors in this forgotten land. Everyone was extremely nervous. Such occurrence had never appeared before. Many of them were wondering if this had to do with the weakening barrier.

Hearing the agitated cry of various beasts, a decisive expression appeared in the old man face. He smeared his sword blade with a special herbal mixture and sneaked towards a sounder of black needle boars. He waited patiently in a bush till one black needle squeaker was moving a bit far away from the rest. Within a second his figure leapt out and disappear into the darkness. A huge female boar sensed something and turned its head, only to discover the lifeless squeaker on the ground.

Furious growls rung out from behind him as the old man quickly dived into another group of beasts. This time he didn’t bother to hide and directly killed one of the youngest in that group while throwing a big potion of herbal powder at the adult beasts. Everything happened so quickly that before all of them could chase after him, the black needle boar had already arrived and angrily attacked everyone.

The group of beasts chasing him grew larger with every minute. Thunderous roars rung out far and wide as the battle between the raging beasts let the earth tremble. The forest was now not only covered in fear and fury but also soaked with blood and saliva. After making sure the turmoil would keep growing by itself, the old man accelerated his running speed and shook off his pursuers.

“Reli, when I count to three, take a deep breath.”

He spoke sternly to Reli as they arrived next to a small lake. Reli nodded and clung his arms tightly on the old man’s shoulders. Soon their figures silently disappeared.

Just a short moment later, the old man shot out from the water and landed on soft earth. He gently let Reli down on the ground and dried him up. The young boy was still catching his breath frantically. After he calmed down, the old man brought him through a long dark tunnel till a blue barrier appeared in front of them.

Looking at the glowing barrier a heavy feeling weighted on the old man’s chest. He crouched down to Reli and embraced the boy tightly. Reli had always liked to be hugged by his grandpa. He rubbed his cheek on the old man’s warm neck and smiled naively.

The old man let loose of Reli and took a deep breath to control his emotion. He inspected the young boy in front of him closely. Reli is standing firmly there. His body was still small but strong and nimble. His cheeks were a bit chubby but his eyes were sharp. He had a calm expression on his face along with a faint smile, just like how the old man looked like most of the time. The old man nodded and tied Reli damp hair to a ponytail.

“Always wear your clothes and hair neatly, so they won’t hinder your movement.”

He then took one of the two sacks and opened it.

“Aside from usual stuff, there are also the few books I have shown you before. Try to study them when you have learnt how to read. Keep this small knife strapped to your thigh and hide it under your pant like how I taught you. And this green bamboo water holder is from lady Kim. She gifted it to you. Its real form is actually quite exquisite but she had disguised it in a green bamboo culm. Everything stored in it will be purified. Normal poisonous wild fruit will turn edible instantly. It’s an unimaginable treasure. Don’t ever let anyone know about it. With this, we can change our plan a bit.”

Touching the green bamboo water holder, a wistful feeling rose in his heart as her lonely figure in that cave came to his mind.

“Wow, lady Kim is so lovely. Here, please gift her my animal hide. And you will gift her your sword.”

Reli smiled brightly and took off his animal hide as the old man was startled by his action.

“Silly boy. Why would she want those?”

The old man had an amused smile on his face and put the animal hide back on Reli.

“She gave us her most valuable treasure so we should give her our most valuable too.”

Reli nodded while answering earnestly.

“Hahah, you’re right. I will talk with her about it. But for now, keep your hide on.”

Pinching Reli’s chubby cheek, the old man laughed heartily. He thought it might be good if Reli could keep such a pure mind.

“Yes, I know you like to talk to her and she likes to talk to you.”

Reli spoke in an agreeing manner.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get back to our topic.”

Feeling a bit awkward, the old man cleared his throat and smoothed the wrinkles on Reli’s clothe. The small figure in front of him would start his own journey soon. He had tried his best to prepare the boy for all the dangers awaiting him out there in the boundless world. Five years was not long enough to pass all of his experience onto Reli but fate is merciless.

“Reli, remember what I have been telling you all these years. We have been preparing everything just for this moment. After going to the world outside, don’t look for me and don’t try to learn about my past. If you ever feel threatened, run. If you ever feel sad, run. If you ever feel unsure, just run. Don’t be scared to be alone. You were born by nature, and nature will always be by your side.”

The old man felt Reli’s tiny fist in his hand tightened. They both looked at each other and their eyes shared the same sharpness. The old man stood up in front of Reli. His figure was tall and strong. Nothing under heaven could shake it. His gaze was calm and wise. Nothing on earth could escape it.

The old man’s posture was imprinted in Reli’s eyes and the young boy subconsciously mimicked him. He slowly turned towards the blue barrier. His back was still straight and his gaze still resolute. He seemed just like a small version of the old man. His lips trembled slightly but he stood firmly there. He wanted to show that he was alright and the old man didn’t have to worry about him. He wanted to make his grandpa proud.

Only after the old man had left for a while, did Reli’s eyes slowly turned red as small teardrops occasionally dripped from his long eyelashes.