Shi Mo felt a presence behind her and she turned. It was the Shadow Guard from before. She stared at him and then immediately turned away, as if hating the sight of him. 

“Shi Mo, how is the young master?”  

“He’s coming out now. You can ask her yourself if you dare to.” 

“...Why did you not call for anyone?” 

“Who? Who do you suppose I can even call in this situation?” 

“...” 

Shi Yun and Shi Mo have always been at odds every time they spoke to one another. Being the ones always by Xu Ningyan’s side, they see each other often and oftentimes, they would get mad with each other at every interaction. 

“As for the trigger, it was one of the cultivators that came with us. Someone checking up on it as we speak.”

“Sorry,” Shi Yun apologised, feeling slightly embarrassed over the way he spoke to her. 

“It’s nothing...for you to come all the way; did everything go smoothly on your side?” 

Not wanting to continue the previous topic, she asked about his mission. For him to come over, everything must have proceeded as planned? If not, why could he drop everything and come over? Even if they knew their master was in trouble, they would not come over without completing their own tasks. 

“Thanks to the blessings of the Young Master, everything went well…” his voice was low and cold but Shi Mo could still hear a hint of uncertainty in his voice.  

“I see. They are on the way down?” Whatever it was, it should not be spoken in public. Shi Mo asked a general question instead. 

“Yes. Look, Young Master Xu is coming out.” 

What was left of the cave moved and Xu Ningyan climbed out. There were scratches all over and both his hands were bleeding. Seeing that he was well and was able to stand, Shi Yun bowed respectfully at him when he looked over and took his leave. Xu Ningyan remained unfazed, picking up his swords. 

“Young Master,” Shi Mo spoke calmly and approached him. She was so worried but she could not voice it. Their duty was not to worry, after all. “Is everything fine now?” 

Xu Ningyan looked at Shi Mo and then sighed. “Do you think it’s fine? I have broken ribs and it hurts when I walk.” Seeing Shi Mo’s calm demeanour falter, he snickered. “I’m fine. My healing abilities, it’s not like you do not know of them. I just need some rest.”  

Shi Mo with her brows furrowed, took Xu Ningyan’s bleeding hands and started cleaning the blood away with her cleaning spells. Xu Ningyan almost pulled away in reflex but he held the urge in. 

“He was there,” Xu Ningyan said suddenly after a moment of silence. 

Shi Mo’s eyes widened as she looked up at her master in disbelief. How could that person be there? How did he slip past their screening? They made sure everyone’s background was clear before letting them in…  

Seeing the disbelief in Shi Mo’s eyes, he laughed. He looked at his clean hands and took them back. Then, he stuffed both swords and scabbards into Shi Mo’s hands. Good riddance. Do you know how these two weigh on his back? If it were not for the instability of the energies in his body, would he have needed these two? 

“I would not mistake him for another person.”  

Xu Ningyan commented, before turning and walking back in his tattered attire.  

“Let’s head back, Shi Mo.” 

Shi Mo watched Xu Ningyan’s departing back, her feet still. When she regained her senses, she ran after the Palace Master. 

“Young Master Xu, a change of attire would be highly suggested.” 

“Why would I be affected by measly torn clothes? I’m fine. It’s not too late to change when we get back.” 

There was a lot she wanted to voice out in complaint but she swallowed back her words. Who was she kidding?  

“I’m fine. It’s going to get dirty if I change now anyways.” 

Shi Mo shuddered, opted to follow her master closely instead without a word. The feeling that her thoughts were being read was unpleasant. Besides, it was just dirt. Their master was not the type to be afraid of such things hurting their image too.  

Xu Ningyan was not lying about his broken ribs, and his lungs were probably punctured. He could feel a piercing sharp pain from his broken ribs every time he laughed or took a breath. What a joke. Everyone was getting hurt because of their enemies and he got hurt because of himself. 

“Nothing any of you do will change anything. Be it the Alliance, be it the Poetry Garden, be it Yunwu Shi. Even though every ruler of each region was here, there is absolutely nothing you guys can do to change the fact that we are the rightful ruler of Listeria. In the end, it would only return to our hands. Those who resist will only die. You’re stronger than you look, aren’t you? Join us, and our master will never treat you wrong.” 

Xu Ningyan was eating sunflower seeds, uncaringly as their prisoner—the demonic cultivator—was bound and left in a corner of his tent, speaking relentlessly, cussing and looking down at them. No matter what he said, Xu Ningyan was unbothered, acting like he never existed, which pissed him off even more. 

Song Wenyue, on the other hand, was looking at Xu Ningyan worriedly. While he did not look like he was unwell in any way at the moment, he caught a glimpse of him when they set off the mountain towards a certain meeting point with people from the Poetry Garden. 

Compared to when he was with him, he was covered with wounds and bloodstains, looking to be in a terribly unpleasant state. His robes were tattered, and his hands looked injured. He had a hand on his sides, rubbing them gently and acted really carefully. 

Did she hurt her ribs? Was she fine now? 

Can she really be just laying there uncaringly eating sunflower seeds? Even though she seemed to be in a much better state, in clean attire and wounds properly taken care of… No matter how good her cultivation was, a person does not just heal in the blink of an eye!  

As much as he wanted to go up to Xu Ningyan and ask how he was doing, it did not seem like he was in the mood of talking to anyone. Even though he had always acted familiar towards him, since coming down from the mountain, he did not seem that interested in talking at all and seemed a little cold. 

Who was that person, really? 

When they came down, he suddenly separated from the rest and entered the woods. Feeling concerned, Song Wenyue went after him. There, a man clad in black approached him, introducing himself as a wandering cultivator. Even though his face was hidden, Song Wenyue felt like he had seen him somewhere.  

There, the man asked if he, the young master of Poetry Garden, knew him. For he did not feel like it was their first time meeting each other. He explained his situation of the Yunwu Shi disciples always making things hard on him and wondered if Young Master Xu knew anything about it.   

Xu Ningyan seemed to be angered at the sight of him. It was like meeting with an ill-fated enemy, he shuddered at the sight of him and refused to neither respond to his questions nor look at him.  

He tried to leave but he stopped him and then in the heat of the moment, he lunged at him and they exchanged blows, each hit stronger than the previous. He seemed a bit unlike how Song Wenyue had seen him—composed and relaxed—he seemed disturbed and was attacking the man relentlessly. 

Song Wenyue could not feel uncomfortable watching him like that. 

He was no match for the man in that state. The man caught him off guard, and noticing the strange glint in his eyes, he reached for Xu Ningyan’s mask. It was then Song Wenyue made a move unconsciously, pulling Xu Ningyan away, forcing them apart.  

His body had moved without clearly understanding the situation. 

Before the man and Song Wenyue could face off one another, Xu Ningyan gripped tightly at his sleeve, and he noticed his bloodshot eyes. It was in that moment, he finally saw a feeble side to him. All of a sudden his figure seemed small and his thin shoulders were trembling. And in Xu Ningyan’s eyes—Song Wenyue could see bone deep madness, unwillingness, resentment and obsession flickering relentlessly.  

Deathly white slender fingers gripped tightly at his sleeve. He felt like he could see invisible shackles weighing heavily on those delicate wrists of his.

 

Seeing that he refused to speak and that he could understand that he wanted to leave, he took Xu Ningyan with him and left without giving the man another glance. The man was left standing there—grinned—his interest in Xu Ningyan further piqued.  

The look in Xu Ningyan’s eyes reminded him of someone but he could not recall. If he could recall, it could only mean that it was not important. He seemed dependent on that young master, and he guessed he knew where he should start probing first. 

As they rejoined the others, the tents had already been set up. What awaited them in the tent was Shi Mo, the captured demonic cultivator and another Yunwu Shi disciple he did not recognise. As Shi Mo tended to Xu Ningyan’s wounds, Song Wenyue was left to clean up after himself. 

Thinking back only further worried him. He glanced at the demonic cultivator and at Xu Ningyan, wondering if he should speak up. He sighed inwardly; he was never an indecisive person. But these days, he was really acting that way. What was up with that?  

He should at least say something, he thought as he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could speak up, she spoke up first. 

“Shi Yun, state your concerns.” 

The other disciple, hearing his name, quickly knelt before Xu Ningyan. He glanced at the captured demonic cultivator and then at Song Wenyue. 

“Don’t worry about him. He can’t hear us, and as for Song Wenyue,” Xu Ningyan’s gaze finally fell upon Song Wenyue. 

“I can leave the room if you want me to—” 

“It’s fine. Speak at ease, Shi Yun.” 

“There is a powerhouse lurking behind the scenes here…” 

“Oh?” 

“If it weren’t for Young Master’s pressure back then, I’m afraid… we wouldn’t be here right now and neither would there be any survivors…” 

Song Wenyue felt his heart skip a beat. Was his friend one of them?! He mentioned that some other group went to rescue the survivors… Was this person one of them? He stayed with him the entire time and there was not a single mention about the rescue team.  

Hearing Shi Yun’s words and seeing Song Wenyue’s reaction, Xu Ningyan snorted coldly. He almost lost control and ran wild and that itself helped them??? What an unpleasant blessing in disguise. Well, he did expect there to be a powerhouse. If not, the Fallens here would not be that powerful. His guts told him that it was only going to get worse. 

“...Glad to be of service. Tell me, are there any special characteristics to this powerhouse?”  

If he was worried about their survival, despite the five of them being there, then what sort of monster might that person be? Compared to himself, which was worse? He laughed coldly at that thought.  

Shi Yun could only disappoint his master and shook his head. They could see him at all, behind him was the Sun. All they could feel was his immense strength and pressure. 

“Between that person and myself, who would win if we were to clash?” 

He asked, rubbing his sides, letting his qi flow to restore his broken ribs as he breathed slowly. His each and every action filled Song Wenyue with concern and anxiety. 

Why? He did not know. 

Even if it did not seem that way to Xu Ningyan, he was truly worried about him. To what extent one may ask? If the person himself did not know, nor did he understand his own feelings towards this new friend of his, how would we know? 

Their time together was still too short. Way too short. 

“...I’m not sure,” Shi Yun’s voice cracked with uncertainty. Xu Ningyan stared at him thoughtfully before making him return to his team.  

Before he left, he gave Song Wenyue a glance, he did not understand. He turned to Shi Mo but there was not a reaction. She was sitting at one side, watching the prisoner and cleaning her master’s swords with utmost concentration. By Shi Mo’s unresponsive behaviour, having Song Wenyue during an important conversation like this was not the first time—and certainly, this would not be the last.  

Was there anything special about Song Wenyue? His cultivation level was… at the beginning of the Nascent Soul stage? And that was just a little better than most of the young cultivators they brought along on this street?  

Shi Yun squinted, thinking to himself that he would check on his identity when they returned to Nancheng. For them, there was always a reasonable reason behind their master’s every action. While it might be true for Xu Ningyan’s two other brothers—Xu Ningshu, whose actions are guided by the interests of the sect and Xu Ningze whose actions are guided by benefits—Xu Ningyan did not care about any of that.  

Why? 

If the Moon had to disappear one day, there was nothing they could do to prevent its departure or end. Even without the Moon, their lives still had to go on. He would go where the wind took him. 

Xu Ningyan leaned backwards, lying on his mattress; eyes closed—carefully recounted everything that had happened so far, since his arrival at Nancheng. 

Song Wenyue’s lips pursed into a thin line. Shi Mo placed the swords by Xu Ningyan’s side, knowing he would not feel comfortable without them around. And then, without further words from her master, Shi Mo took the prisoner with her, leaving only Xu Ningyan and himself in the room.  

Noting the long gaze on him, Xu Ningyan decided to speak up. 

“What’s wrong? Are you that worried about your friend?” 

“No! I am just—” 

“There is nothing to worry about. You can go check on them soon.” 

It did not seem like he wanted to speak any longer so he stayed as he was and closed his mouth.  

He felt a little guilty towards his friend. He was only here because of him and yet, he did not know when but Xu Ningyan’s existence had intruded all of his thoughts. Maybe, it was his first time having this sort of friend, someone who was high above him and he could not help wanting to be standing at the same place as he was and see the world he was seeing. 

Friend?  

Were they truly friends?  

Perhaps, not in the Palace Master’s eyes but for Song Wenyue, it did not take much for one to be considered a friend to him. To exceed that would require more effort, and thankfully that was something not many people had required of him. Minus his best friend, the King of Ming but even then, right now, their friendship seemed to be in turmoil thanks to his unnecessary feelings for that person. 

It was almost time to head back and… he could not avoid those two forever. And, he should not make it difficult for that person too.  

He glanced at Xu Ningyan and sighed inwardly. If any other person was to pester him when he did not want to entertain them at all, it would annoy him, would it not? Song Wenyue did not want to come off as annoying to Xu Ningyan at all.  

Was he feeling better already? 

When everyone had gotten patched up, they left for the meeting point with the attendants of Poetry Garden. The whole time, his eyes never left Xu Ningyan, who was preoccupied with stabilising his qi. By now he would have realised his concerns for his well being, even if he did not understand why there was any need too. 

That was the same with his followers. He did not understand their worries at all. He was called a monster for a reason. Even his brothers would not be worried if they saw his injuries. Neither would he be worried about them. They knew that they would be fine. 

He would have understood if it was a life threatening injury, but this was not even worth mentioning. Right, for Song Wenyue, it might be a little scary but he did not even know the extent of his injuries and he was acting like this already. If he saw his flesh wound then, would he faint right where he stood? 

He snorted coldly. Was he looking down on him? 

When morning came, they were all prepared to return to Nancheng. Xu Ningyan was taking the prisoner with her to the Poetry Garden’s branch in Ming Jing, so she would separate from them before they reached the gates of Nancheng. The branch was located in a port town 15 kilometers away from Nancheng. She was going to have somebody from the sect pretend as herself and return to her grandfather’s side while she settled things on the Poetry Garden’s side.   

Shi Yun and the other four Shadow Guards were not present visibly but they, as per usual, would be following her from a distance. Alongside the Poetry Garden’s attendants, they would take one carriage.  

Song Wenyue, the rest of the raid team, alongside the survivors would return to Nancheng in three carriages. Shi Mo would return with them, going to pick up the person who was pretending to be Xu Ningyan half way before returning to the Song Residence. 

That said, Xu Ningyan, Shi Mo, Song Wenyue and a few Yunwu Shi disciples would be riding the horse instead to scout ahead. As they parted ways, Song Wenyue felt a little unwilling. He still did not know if he got better or if he was enduring it.  

Xu Ningyan did not say a word to him since last night. He rode close to the Poetry Garden’s attendants who were recounting the wounds and everything they found when they checked on the survivors. Listening to them, he felt something strangely amiss.  

“What did you say you found on them again?”  

“Every one of them had demonic magic formations drawn on them with knives. We found two different formations.”  

“How different?”  

“One was the ones they used to sacrifice their blood and qi to turn them into Fallens. Another was...” 

“Food for the Fallens.”   

“Youngest Master already knew?” 

“I noticed that some dead Fallens were left alone, while some were devoured. I guessed.” 

“...this is surely unforgivable. Young Master, you must avenge them!!!” 

“What else?” 

“...” 

The attendant was a little caught off guard by Xu Ningyan’s lack of reaction towards the whole thing. He waited for him to continue. 

“Any other injuries?”

“Some of them showed initial signs of poisoning. So, we separated them into different carriages so the other cultivators could look after them.”  

“Were the blood on them all theirs? They all looked so weak and sick. Are you sure not everyone was poisoned?” 

“There were only some with devil qi blood on them but…”  

“Are all of them resting in the carriages?” 

“No—” 

“No?” 

Xu Ningyan stared at the attendant coldly and he shrunk back. His imposing aura caused them great pressure that some of them even had their ears and tails forced out. 

“What do you mean by that? There’s actually some well enough to ride the horses?” Xu Ningyan’s tone was harsh and cold.

“He said he was fine, and we even checked his condition. And then, he exchanged spots with that young cultivator Xiangyang who looked worse than him…” He said softly, unable to look up at the young master. At this point, the attendant seemed like he was kneeling for mercy.

“He looked fine? Does that sound fine to you knowing what those survivors had gone through? Even if it was just preliminary checking, you have seen those bodies right?”  

He raised an eyebrow on his words. Those people were either tortured or forced to a state they rather die, how would they look fine? 

“...he said—” 

“Quiet!” 

He did not dare to speak after that. His colleagues quickly took over, apologising incessantly. 

Xu Ningyan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Looked fine? Without looking at the attendants, he asked coldly. “Where is that person now?”  

“Riding alongside Young Master Song. They seemed to be friends.” 

Another attendant hurriedly answered. They looked at each other worriedly. Was there something really wrong with that young man? 

Xu Ningyan scoffed. As it turned out, the one most suspicious is the one Young Master Song was looking for?  

“Didn’t Song Wenyue ask him to rest in the carriage instead?” 

“He tried to but the young man convinced him otherwise…” 

“...” 

“We’ll go check on him now!” 

“No need. Just tell me this, was there anything strange about him?” 

“Not really. Although he kept looking at Young Master Song… I didn’t think much about it then. I thought it was normal since everything… he must be really happy his friend came for him...but…” 

“But?”  

“His gaze was a little strange.” 

“Are you sure you’re not overthinking it?” 

“I’m not! And he… scares the other survivors…” He said in a rushed, quiet voice. 

Xu Ningyan squinted at him as though trying to decide if his words were trustable. Noticing as much, he added. “It’s hard to catch it but they seemed to be avoiding his eye contact…” 

“Did you ask them about it?” 

“Yea, they said they were just worried about his injuries. He was the one protecting them so they felt really guilty about it.”  

“Are you talking about the one that was in a really bad state when he just got here? He got better…?” Another attendant interjected, sounding really surprised. 

“But he suddenly got better. Weren’t they the least suspicious?”

“They said they were really happy he got better… saying he always recovers fast, given time to rest.” 

“But it’s barely even a day?!” 

“No matter how you look at it, it’s definitely weird!” 

“Why did you not tell us about it before!” 

“It did not seem like a big deal then…” 

Xu Ningyan laughed coldly, and the group of attendants that were fighting amongst themselves quickly swallowed whatever insults they had wanted to throw at each other. 

“Does Song Wenyue know of his previous bad state?” 

“No… only the five Yunwu Shi disciples and we knew…” 

“...” 

“Youngest Master, we…” 

“You guys just wait, once I come back… I will slowly settle it with y’all.” 

“...” 

“Go back, don’t wait for me. Make sure to have a report ready when I am back,” he snorted, jumping away from the horse and withdrawing the white sword. Settling his footing on it, he strode across the woods, towards Nancheng’s direction.   

Shi Yun and the gang quickly followed after him. 

 

The three carriages and five horses could be seen riding through the woods. After that, they would reach a cliff and from there, they could see Nancheng from a distance. After coming down from the cliff, they would reach Nancheng in no time. A part of the capital was surrounded by mountains, which made it a good place to defend from enemy attacks. 

Feeling a familiar spiritual energy in the air, Song Wenyue turned to Xu Ningyan’s direction. Seeing him brought questions. His eyelids twitched and there were ominous feelings surging from the bottom of his stomach.  

When their eyes met, it was at this moment that Xu Ningyan opened his mouth. “Look out!” 

Song Wenyue was alarmed, realising his friend who was talking to him a while ago suddenly swung his sword at him. He pulled up his sword in defence, trying to pull away from his friend.

He looked at his friend in surprise, who then tried to lunge at Song Wenyue but Shi Mo, who was then alerted by Xu Ningyan’s voice, threw out a drug-tipped dart at Shun Yuan. His friend fell from his horse and lost consciousness. Shi Mo jumped out then. 

This exchange had caught the people in the carriages and the other three riders by surprise. And as if that was not surprising enough, an ambush came. A group of demonic cultivators ran out, attacking them. 

They were soon forced to fend off enemy attacks and soon reached the end of the woods, meeting with a cliff. One of the demonic cultivators threw explosives in a suicidal attempt to bring everyone down with them.

The impact threw Song Wenyue off the cliff. 

Xu Ningyan, who was near him at that time, jumped off without hesitation and both of them fell down into the Forgotten Woods. More explosives followed. Xu Ningyan’s shadow guards opted to follow after her master but Shi Yun stopped them. 

Bodies scattered on the ground and none of the assailants were alive. Knowing Shi Mo would want to go after Xu Ningyan he quickly gave out orders.

“Shi Mo, you bring them back. Shi Rui, the survivors, send them to the local garrison and get the Poetry Garden’s healers look at them.”

Shi Mo quickly refused. “No! I want to go-”

Shi Yun looked at her sternly. “This is an order. Watch over things till we send the signal. Everything must wait until our master’s return.”

The Forgotten Woods of Nancheng was not somewhere anyone could enter.