Many thoughts ran through Wu Jian’s head, but the one at the forefront of his mind was the knowledge that he could not fight against this person. He would surely die if he even attempted to.

“So what if I am?” asked Wu Jian. His mind raced a mile a minute as he tried to think of a way out of this mess.

“You’ve got a pretty big pair on you. Do you know who I am? I’m the master of the Raging Boars, and the Raging Boars is the most powerful sect in Chenhou. We’re connected to Wind-Lightning Pavilion. Do you know what that is, brat? It’s one of the Four Great Pavilions of the MIng Dynasty. Going against them is like fighting a dragon.”

The man spoke in a gruff voice, but he was pretty well-spoken for someone who looked like a typical bandit. His outfit was made of thick furrs, no doubt taken from the magical beasts in this forest. It reminded him of the mercenaries he had fought when he was younger.

Wu Jian shrugged. “It’s not like I wanted to beat up your son. He’s the one who caused me problems. If you were in my place, would you have just let yourself get taken advantage of?”

Mao Yuhan chuckled. “Point taken. I doubt I’d let a shitstain like my useless son take advantage of me. It seems you understand how this world works. The strong eat the weak. However…” Here, his eyes narrowed. “You are also woefully ignorant. My son might be useless, but he has my sect behind him. Further behind my sect is the Wind-Lightning Pavilion. Connections are also a type of power. You have no sect backing you and therefore no one to cover you. You might be strong for your age, but you are also just a frog in a well. Since you dared to snub my sect, I will be making an example of you.”

Wu Jian had already created a basic plan to escape while this man was talking. He couldn’t afford to let the others know since it would reveal what he intended to do, but he sent Xing Zhenya a look that she somehow managed to interpret. If nothing else, her rapidly paling face told him she had some inkling of what he planned to do.

“I have no intention of letting you or anyone else make an example out of me,” Wu Jian declared.

Mao Yuhan bared his fangs in a condescending smile. “You say that like you have a choice.”

Wu Jian shrugged. “There’s always a choice. Yōuměi! We’re getting out of here!”

A massive panther leapt from Wu Jian’s shadow, and he quickly jumped on her back as the creature bounded in the opposite direction of Mao Yuhan.

None of the men could respond fast enough. They were too shocked. Yōuměi used that surprise to kill five men with her sharp claws and shadow techniques. Spears of darkness erupted from four of the five men’s shadows, impaling them, while she tore apart the last one herself.

Then she was bounding away.

“Shit! That was a black yāomó panther! Those things are worth a fucking fortune! What are you all standing around for! After them! We need to teach that brat a lesson, and I want to capture that panther!” Mao Yuhan shouted.

As a magical beast with powerful muscles and a fifth subrealm Anima Realm cultivation, Yōuměi moved swiftly through the forest.

They heard the shouts of Mao Yuhan and his men behind them. They were quite fast too. The fact that he could still hear them shouting meant they were keeping pace with Yōuměi.

Yet no matter how fast they were, it was clear they couldn’t outlast his companion. It wasn’t long before even the sounds of their shouts disappeared.

Did we lose them?

Before he could answer his own question, Yōuměi was forced to stop when they reached a cliff edge. Wu Jian looked down and saw a drop that was at least two hundred chǐ. Down below was more forest that spread out as far as the eye could see.

“Looks like the end of the line for you,” a voice said behind Wu Jian.

He turned around. Mao Yuhan stepped out of the trees, one axe resting on his shoulder while the other dragged along the ground. The big man wore a grin that seemed to split his face. Malice and vindication were visible within it in equal measure.

Wu Jian felt his heart hammer in his chest and sweat drip down his face. He climbed off Yōuměi so they could stand side-by-side. This man was stronger than both of them combined, but that didn’t meant they were going to give up. He had no intention of dying here.

“Boy, give me that panther, and maybe I’ll leave your corpse whole,” Mao Yuhan demanded.

Wu Jian snorted. “So you’re going to kill me no matter what I do?”

“That’s right. I can’t let someone disrespect my sect and get away with it.”

“Then here’s my answer. Fuck you.”

“I see you’re choosing the hard way. That’s fine by me as well. Give King Yama my regards after I send your soul to the yellow river!”

Mao Yuhan slammed his left axe into the ground. Lightning raced across the dirt, forcing Wu Jian and Yōuměi to separate.

They ran toward Mao Yuhan from opposite sides of the lightning wall, but the man merely swung his other axe, which generated a powerful gust of wind. It felt like Wu Jian had slammed facefirst into a wall. He grunted as the attack launched him and Yōuměi back.

“These weapons were gifts from Wind-Lightning Pavilion. They’re middle-grade Earth Spirit Weapons. The one in my left hand can generate lightning. The one in my right creates gusts of wind. I can even make it create wind blades, just! Like! This!”

Mao Yuhan swung his axe three times, creating three blades of wind that attacked Wu Jian. He dodged each one by a hair’s breadth. He was unable to fully dodge the last attack. Sharp pain stung his cheek as the wind blade sliced into it.

Yōuměi raced forward while Mao Yuhan attacked Wu Jian. She tried to pounce on him, but he swung his other axe. Lightning crashed into Yōuměi, who howled in pain as she was sent crashing to the ground.

“Yōuměi! Dammit!”

Wu Jian felt desperation as he raced toward Mao Yuhan and attacked with a punch. It was blocked. The man had raised his axe and let Wu Jian’s fist hit the end it. A powerful burst of lightning surged from the axe. Wu Jian screamed in agony as his insides were fried.

His scream was abruptly silenced when Mao Yuhan kicked him hard enough to send him sailing through the air. The kick sent him far from the cliff edge. He soon saw Mao Yuhan disappear.

Wind whistled all around him. Blackness crept at the edge of his vision. He was having trouble breathing. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a black panther leaping over the cliff edge and fall toward him.

***

Huǒ Shuchang shouted a battle cry as he dropped a fire-coated fist down upon an Abysal Bear’s head. The creature didn’t even let out a whimper as the fist drilled through its skull, instantly killing it.

“Whew. Not bad. Not bad. It’s getting much easier to kill these things,” Huǒ Shuchang said as he hopped off the giant monster’s back.

Abysal Bears were part of the Abysal family of magical beast. They were stronger than the average magical beast. Each one would be born with a Anima Realm cultivation level. Some of the more powerful ones would be born at the Asura or even the Human Limit Realm. He’d even heard Abysal Dragons were born at the Deva Realm, which made him shudder to think about.

Huǒ Shuchang stared at his right hand as he flexed it several times.

“My cultivation has finally stabalized. Nice. The question is, what should I do now? Do I move on, or should I stick here and hone my fighting instinct?”

Talking to himself was something he picked up while training in this magical beast infested land. There was no one to talk to here.

“There’s still a few months before the Desolate White Tiger Ruins open, so it’s not like moving on will change anything. And I still need to hone my fighting instinct. Guess I can still around here for another month or two.”

With his decision made, Huǒ Shuchang began making his way back to camp. Wood crunched underneath his bare feet as he pushed aside leaves and branches. A few snake type magical beasts attacked him, but these ones were weak and easily dealt with.

As he wondered past a clearing, he caught something that made him stop and turn his head.

“Is that a… person?”

It was indeed a person. There was a body lying on the ground not far from him. He couldn’t see their face because they were lying on their stomach and their head was turned, but he could at least tell from the definition in their arms and legs that this person was male.

He slowly walked up to the body.

“Oooooi. You’re not dead, are you?”

The figure didn’t respond, but their back rose and fell as they breathed, so they were still alive. He wondered what this person was doing so far out here.

“I can’t sense any chi from this guy. Either he’s so young that his dantian hasn’t activated yet, or he never reached the Hunger Realm. What’s someone so weak doing out here? How did he even get here?”

After thinking about the situation for a moment, Huǒ Shuchang rolled the person onto their back. What he discovered was a young man who definitely couldn’t be that old. He was just a kid. Huǒ Shuchang now believed this person hadn’t even reached adulthood yet.

“This kid must be either very brave or very stupid to come out this way,” Huǒ Shuchang muttered. He tapped his chin. “What to do. What to do. I guess I’d feel pretty bad if I just left him all alone. I suppose there’s no harm in looking after him for a while--at least, until he wakes up and I can learn what he’s doing here.”

Huǒ Shuchang picked the kid up and slung him over his shoulder. He blinked several times when he saw something writhing within the boy’s shadow, but then he blinked again and it was gone. Was he seeing things? Maybe he was tired?

“Ugh, whatever. I must be seeing things. Time to head back to camp and get some grub! Food, food! I love me some food! Meat and potatoes, skewers and duck! By the great Phoenix, I wish I could have some pecking duck.”

Huǒ Shuchang cried as he thought about all the food he couldn’t have now that he was living out in the middle of nowhere. Life was so unfair sometimes.

***

“Failure!”

“You’re a failure!”

“How could you let us die, Wu Jian?!”

“You should have been the one who died!”

“You’re so weak…”

“Weak.”

“Weakling!”

Wu Jian woke up with a startled gasp. It felt like he was suffocating under the pressure of his own nightmare. The voices of his family continued to ring in his skull like a fading echo of despair, filling him with an overwhelming sense of shame.

His entire body tensed, but the horrible pain that suddenly assailed him forced Wu Jian to relax his muscles. He gritted his teeth and took several calming breaths, banishing the nightmare he had into the far recesses of his mind.

Since I’m in pain, that must mean I’m still alive. That’s good.

Blinking several times as he took in his surroundings, Wu Jian realized that he was in some kind of camp--well, he called it that, but it was just a tent and a firepit. The smell of something cooking caused him to glance at the firepit. A cauldron sat atop the open flame. There was a man crouched over it, singing an offtune song as he stirred whatever was in the pot.

“Rabbit soup. Rabbit soup. Love me some rabbit soup. Cut up the rabbits, boil them in a step. Gotta get me some of that rabbit soup.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re singing is horrible?” asked Wu Jian.

His words startled the man, who glanced over at him, eyes widening.

“Oh, wow! You’re already awake! Given your injuries, I didn’t think you’d wake up for another few days at least… wait. What do you mean my singing is horrible?! I’ll have you know that between me and my sister, my singing is the absolute best!”

“Is that so? My apologies. I just woke up, so I’m a little groggy. Maybe your singing sounds better when one’s thoughts aren’t muddled.”

“You’re not mocking me, are you?”

“I don’t even know you, so why would I mock you?”

The man narrowed his eyes for moment, then checked the soup. He nodded once before standing up. He made his way over to Wu Jian, who still couldn’t move a muscle, and grinned down at him.

“The name’s Huǒ Shuchang. What’s yours?”

“Jian Wu.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

“So… what’s a brat who still smells of his mother’s milk doing all the way out here? You know where you are, right? The Magical Beast Forest isn’t a place kids should play. How did you even get so deep into the forest anyway?”

Wu Jian twitched several times at being called a brat. He twitched even more when this guy said he “stunk of his mother’s milk,” which was an insult for someone who hadn’t activated their dantian yet.

This guy must be the type who runs his mouth without thinking. Ugh, whatever. It looks like he did save me, and it’s not like I can do anything else at the moment.

“It’s a long story,” Wu Jian said after a moment.

“We’ve got plenty of time,” responded Huǒ Shuchang.

“Right. Well, it all started when I arrived in Chenhou with some friends I met in my travels…”