The dark and twisted forest screamed. The previous silent and tortured moans of those that slowly fell into oblivion were now replaced with terrified screams and shouts of those under the butcher's blade. Louder and louder with every second that passed. Unbearable and horrible. The sound threatened to snuff out the souls of any that dared to listen.
Li Lai barely held on to her mount as shock and doubts overtook her. " How could this be? " she struggled to understand the situation. " We didn't cause nearly enough destruction for the curse to activate. " She watched her companions fall from their mounts and stumble in pain as they tried to reach her side where their lord just might have enough sanity left to protect them. Yet all of it was in vain. As the agonizing screaming continued all but the strongest remained standing and they had the great privilege of witnessing the curse of the Wailing forest at its full glory. The inhuman screams came to a halt as suddenly as they began, but the silence didn't dare to return as the whole forest came alive.
The forest creaked and groaned like a giant that woke up from a millennia-long sleep. Twisted tree branches unnaturally extended like greedy serpents and ancient roots ruptured from the ground with a mighty rumble. It didn't matter if they wore armor or cloth, the proud members of the Skeleton manor suffered nonetheless. Many souls were fated to return to earth that day. " Thus declared the Heavens, " at least that's how Li Lai felt.
The ancient roots crushed and pierced armor like it was paper while devious tree branches squeezed out life from raw flesh. Flying swords and bolts of ice destroyed branch after branch but like an ancient hydra for each limb that the forest lost it grew out 2 more. The constant onslaught overwhelmed all but 2 members of the great skeleton manor. The Lord of bones and his loyal knight in pale armor Li Lai.
As Li Lai desperately fought for her life she never expected to have spare attention for other things, but after each slash of her sword, each successful dodge, each block, she heard them. Her companions. Dying. Her sword wavered as she heard the death of lifelong brothers and rivals. They screamed, they suffered and all Li Lai could do was swing her sword so that she wouldn't meet the same fate. Their unfortunate cultivators fell one after another as the cursed forest squeezed their innards and crushed every bone in their body until the only thing that left their mouths was a soup of blood and torn guts.
Li Lai wanted to shout, " Why does Heaven scorn us so? ". Even at their end, the members of the Skeleton manor were denied of any glory. As they breathed their last, with great care, the serpent-like branches pulled the torn bodies to the closest tree trunk where the cultivators were accepted with motherly affection.
Pitch black treebark detached and embraced the weary and beaten bodies, it slipped past clothing and armor and merged with naked flesh until a new face was added to the wailing forest. Arms were ripped off and dried up until they became branches. Bodies were broken in two and planted at the treetops so that the long pink lines of their guts would become pretty little black leaves. Like fireworks screams of pain and anguish lit up the forest and died a few seconds later replaced by the slow and lazy death moans so very common in the Wailing forest. Torn light blue robes and fragments of broken bone were all that was left of the souls that perished there, all else was taken by the Wailing forest that hungered for vengeance.
Li Lai's strikes faltered by the constant assault. It was too much for, simply too much. She tumbled from her skeletal mount and watched as the forest quickly broke it to pieces. She desperately moved closer to her lord perfectly aware his weapons might as easily reap her life as they could save it. Thankfully for now he still had enough sense of mind not to attack her, but only Heavens knew how long that would last. She dared a single look back only to be met with a visage of a half-dead skeleton.
Surrounded by 4 white flying swords the lord of bones resembled death itself as his robes hung from his haggard frame and his hair reached down to his shins. Any and all wooden limbs that reached out for him were cut down in a flash, no matter their strength, no matter their number. The ground was torn up by countless cuts and littered with broken wooden fragments that twisted and squirmed like living things. Yet Li Lai noticed that his eyes were closed and he barely gave any attention to the forest that was trying to kill him. " What in the name of Hell are you doing? " she screamed as her world and all that she knew fell apart.
Either because of arrogance or insanity, it seemed the Lord of Bones didn't consider her worthy enough of an answer. She did see how her great lord opened his sunken eyes and screeched in a barely human way, " Finally found you! " He abandoned his chariot and floated just above the treetops before he flew away like a ghost in the night. Li Lai followed the back of her mad lord while the forest attempted to crush them both. " That was all I could do in the past and that is all I can do now. Follow. "
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Han Bei stumbled outside of the cave back into the ravine and almost immediately fell to his knees. His stomach churned and he vomited but nothing other than acid left his body. " I can still hear them scream, Heavens, I can still hear them. " He grabbed onto the rock wall and forced himself up. His eyes looked dead.
The ambush worked like a charm. The moment Han Bei saw the forest come alive he knew none would survive. " I used myself as bait while a simple fire formation silently set the forest behind me ablaze, then in a convenient moment I used a single yin soldier to lure them away while I got my ass to safety. " While Han Bei received a few superficial cuts when he escaped he emerged virtually unscathed. The undoubted victor. " Yet why do I feel like this? " He held on to the wall as he slowly made his way forward. His steps were heavy. Breathing labored. It was almost like he had returned to those miserable first days he found himself on Myris.
He recalled what little he saw of the charging members of the skeleton. " There were men and woman there, old and young, and I killed them all. No, " Han Bei admonished himself. " I didn't kill them, I don't get to claim that. The forest killed them while I fled. There was no battle, there was no honor there, no glory. Nothing that can be learned. " As his temper flared up his muscles tensed and the part of the wall he held onto shattered underneath his grasp.
He fell to the ground and suddenly felt very confused. " So many dead and for what, I can't even remember? " Besides sorrow, there were other emotions that muddled his heart. " Then what was I supposed to do, lay down and die? " He gritted his teeth as he remembered his martial siblings. " Then what about them, who will avenge them, who will kill that bastard Fang Ming if not me? " His voice echoed through the ravine as he shouted, " WHO WILL AVENGE THEM IF NOT ME? " Han Bei cradled his head in his arms as he convinced himself, " I had to do it. I cannot die yet. Not until that Fang bastard is dead and they are avenged." Han Bei's word rang true and his fury was righteous, yet these words still turned into bile inside his mouth.
Neither Heaven nor ghosts deemed him worthy of an answer. Silence was all he got. " Maybe silence is the only thing I'm worthy of now. " He leaned against the wall in a defeated manner. Unsure of what to do next he simply closed his eyes. For the next few minutes he silently thought of the things he had done, and the things he will have to do on this bloody path that he was forced unto.
The ravine quaked. Han Bei's contemplation came to an abrupt end as a massive bone blade came from above. It carved through solid rock like butter and almost split him in half. He barely managed to dodge as the great weapon passed by him. A moment later the white blade flew back to its withered master that descended with the fury of a storm.
