Late on the fourth night in the spirit lands, Wu Ying and the guards were harvesting herbs, as had fast become the routine. In the deep darkness of an overcast night, Wu Ying grimaced as he held up the lantern and shone it across the ground. Still seeing nothing, he turned to Ru Ping.
“Senior, we seem to have traveled farther from the camp than normal,” Wu Ying said.
“We have. The Yu Fire Exploding Cucumber[24] can send its seeds up to two hundred feet away,” Ru Ping said. “If you had taken better care, we would not be looking for them. Now, keep shining the light. They will glow when the seeds encounter the light.”
“I’m sorry. My hand slipped,” Wu Ying said.
The darkness, an errant wind, and exhaustion meant that the back of Wu Ying’s hand had brushed against the cucumber pod, making the plant explode and send its seeds flying. Wu Ying had managed to catch a few, but a few was insufficient for Ru Ping, which led to them traversing the undergrowth, searching for the fire-aspected seeds.
“Each of those seeds is worth a hundred taels,” Ru Ping said.
“A hundred taels! Liu, you could even—” one of the three guards exclaimed. He turned to where his friend had been, only to realize his friend was missing. “Liu? Liu!”
“Quiet,” Li Yao snapped as she shifted her spear closer to her body. She looked around cautiously and moved to where they’d last seen the guard, crouching low as she spotted something. “Light!”
Wu Ying complied, shifting the beam of light to where Li Yao looked. The light reflected off a dark wetness.
Li Yao touched the spot, her finger sinking into the deep red before she raised her stained finger and rubbed it with her thumb. “Blood.”
Wu Ying felt the dread that had taken root in his stomach clench harder. As he watched, another drop fell onto the spot. Li Yao hissed, jerking backward and raising her head to stare at the dense foliage above. Seeing nothing, she gestured for more light, but she never completed the action as Wu Ying was already moving.
In the branches of the tree, the remains of the missing guard lay. His body was torn apart, half-eaten. To Wu Ying’s surprise, there was little blood, even as intestines and other innards spilled from the figure. Wu Ying frowned and drew a deeper breath, realizing the smell of charred and cauterized meat came not from the distant cooking fires but from the corpse.
“What could have done that?” Wu Ying said softly.
Li Yao, much more practical, gestured for the team to pull in close, directing the guards to shine their lights into the branches as well. However, whatever creature had managed to abduct, kill, and eat their friend right above them was nowhere to be seen.
As Li Yao guided the team back to the encampment, Wu Ying shuddered at the martial cultivator’s ignoble death. From what Wu Ying could recall, the cultivator had been in the lower end of the Energy Storage stage and had still died without a sound. If it had been him, Wu Ying could not imagine he would have fared any better.
The danger in the spirit lands was not to be underestimated.
Over the next few days, their monstrous attacker stalked the team. More than once, the guards or Elders caught a glimpse of the creature’s silhouette as the day darkened. Each time, it was a glimpse of black fur and a creature that moved on all fours as it prowled the tops of the trees, stalking the expedition.
Even under the increased threat, Elder Li insisted they harvest as they traveled. While no one had spotted the creature during the day, no one could guarantee the creature only hunted at night. As such, even during the day, Wu Ying found the number of guards who joined them on the gathering expeditions increased. Moving in the cordon of wary sentries, Wu Ying found himself making more mistakes.
“Stop worrying about the demon beast,” Ru Ping chided Wu Ying later in the encampment.
“Demon?”
“Of course. Did you think a normal spirit beast would hunt us like this?” Ru Ping shook his head. “It must be a demon beast. But that is beside the point.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just… hard,” Wu Ying said.
“It is not your job to be on guard,” Ru Ping said. “Your job is to harvest the herbs competently. It is your job to help ensure Elder Li can pay for this expedition.”
“We can’t pay for it?” Wu Ying said, horrified.
Ru Ping’s eyes widened and he sliced his hand parallel to the ground, as if he was chopping his words apart. “No, no. We can pay for the expedition. We already have. But we want to make a profit on this expedition, not break even. Do you understand?”
Wu Ying’s eyes narrowed, but he chose to say nothing. The profitability, or lack of it, of the expedition was not his problem. “I’ll do better.”
“Make sure you do.”
As the expedition traveled deeper into the spirit lands, the number of spirit herbs grew more plentiful. For the first time, Ru Ping became selective of what they harvested. As they traversed the undergrowth, shining light on the surroundings, the guards warily watched for their unseen predator.
Two hours of tense foraging ended with the group returning to the encampment and the defense of the hastily constructed formation flags. As they neared the flags, the cultivators relaxed—a touch too early. The demon beast launched itself from a tree outside the boundary created by the formation flags, targeting the second guard in line.
As it fell, Wu Ying caught his first clear glimpse of the creature. A feline presence, larger than any he had ever seen before. Short black fur and a cropped ear flashed by as it slammed into the guard, its sharp claws piercing the cultivator’s armor. Wu Ying, who was directly behind the man, had stepped aside as the creature bore its prey to the ground, his hand falling to his sheathed jian.
The Dragon unsheathes its Claws.
The cut caught the demon cat along its back, tearing at wiry fur. Yet the monster ignored the attack as it clamped its jaws around the cultivator’s throat. Legs bunched and released as the creature bounded forward, carrying the guard, the cultivator’s lifeblood falling on the ground.
Wu Ying threw another cut, the jian skipping along the monster’s hindquarters as it left. Ahead of the demon beast, Senior Ge forsook his weapon and threw a fist strike at the monster. The attack forced the monster to jerk away, the sudden movement tearing open the cultivator’s wounds even further. A follow-up punch glanced off the beast’s body, forcing its jaws open. A spear strike from the side caught the creature along its chest before it gave up its prey, disappearing into the dark.
The entire attack had happened in seconds, so quickly finished that the cultivators within the encampment had no time to react. Senior Ge snarled, facing the direction the monster left, while Ru Ping dropped to his knees and pressed bandages on the guard’s wounds. Wu Ying hurried over as he sheathed his jian, scrambling for bandages too.
“I’ve got it. You there!” Ru Ping called to another guard, who had just fumbled his dao out. “Help us carry your friend in.”
As they lifted the body, the lights in the encampment increased, bobbing lanterns and torches moving toward the harvesting group. Wu Ying and the dao-wielding guard carried the injured cultivator into the camp, where they were met by Elder Li. Directed by the old woman’s cane, they deposited the bleeding man near the fire, where another cultivator readied boiled water. Elder Li barked orders at Ru Ping, who removed his hands from the wounds and fished out needles and thread for the Elder. Together, the pair worked on cleaning and sewing the wounds of the dying guard.
Long minutes of desperate work, supplemented by a powerful healing pill, paid off as the cultivator stabilized. His once-pale face grew rosy, the torn wounds in his throat and chest clotting. Satisfied, Elder Li left the cultivator alone, her bloody hands held before her. Ru Ping gestured for additional help in completing the man’s cleaning and bandaging. Wu Ying found himself breathing easier when he realized the guard would survive, and he walked a short a distance away to sit, his feet giving way as he lowered himself.