“Be quick about this. We do not want to be here too long,” Elder Po said. “This must be the xing tians’ hunting grounds. If they have established themselves, there will be more.”
At Elder Po’s warning, the cultivators sped up their actions. None wanted to repeat this fight. Even if they had won it with relative ease, it was only because they had outnumbered the xing tian. The result of the battle could easily change if the expedition group were outnumbered. Better to hurry out of the xing tians’ hunting grounds and, hopefully, enter a safer location.
The group ran, barely stopping long enough to eat. No more cooked meals, just pre-wrapped food, sometimes heated by those with fire-aspected chi but more often eaten cold. The guards spread out, keeping an eye on the flanks and their rear, while the Elders watched for problems in front.
By the time sunlight completely left the forest they traversed, the group had covered over thirty li. As they set up for the evening, the guards took even further precautions, laying out warding talismans and temporary traps. Elder Dong created a low-level security formation, one meant to disorient and hide, rather than injure potential attackers. Dinner was cold rations again—leftover, stale porridge and gummy, dried, salted sausages.
Rather than sit with the others and assault them with his stench, Wu Ying sat downwind, near the edges of the wards and behind the sole tent. To Wu Ying’s surprise, as he chewed on his stale meal, he found he could overhear the conversation being held within the tent.
“There were no xing tian here seven years ago,” Elder Li insisted. “Just like there were none ten years ago when Po passed through.”
“You say that, but the signs show a considerable-sized clan,” Elder Dong said.
“They could have been pushed here from another location,” Elder Po said.
“Does it matter?” Elder Wei said. “We still need to leave their hunting grounds as quickly as we can.”
“It matters if they have been pushed aside. Any demonic or spirit beast that could drive them away might be too strong for us to win against,” Elder Po said. “This expedition has grown more dangerous.”
“Do you want to return?” Elder Li asked, her voice a challenge.
“No. But we should be aware of the increased dangers.” Elder Po lowered his voice even further. Wu Ying had to strain to catch his next words. “We are likely to see more deaths before this is over.”
Someone sniffed.
Then Elder Wei’s voice came, cold and merciless. “Only among the unimportant. I’m sure you all have your contingencies, as I do.”
“And they don’t matter?” Elder Dong said, anger tingeing his voice. “I thought you brought one of your direct disciples, Ye Fan.”
“My least-promising direct disciple, ” Elder Wei replied. “Though it would be a pity to lose her and Chao Kun. They have some minor talent.”
Wu Ying winced, wondering how Liu Tsong would feel if she heard her master so casually dismiss her potential death. A moment later, Wu Ying realized his own life had not even merited a mention. As his face flushed with anger, Wu Ying bit into his tongue by accident, and he released a little yelp. The arguing voices in the tent stilled, and Wu Ying scrambled to his feet as Elder Dong poked his head out of the tent.
“You there. What are you doing here? What was that noise?” Elder Dong asked.
“Uhh… cleaning my bowl, Elder,” Wu Ying hastily replied and bowed. “I bit my tongue while eating and walking. I’m sorry for disturbing you.”
“You can’t even move and eat. Idiot.” Elder Dong sniffed. “You’re the smelly one, aren’t you? Go clean the bowl and yourself. And do not come near this tent again.”
“Yes, Elder! My apologies Elder,” Wu Ying said, bowing again before he scrambled away.
When he was a distance away, Wu Ying tenderly probed his bit tongue and breathed a sigh of relief. Getting caught eavesdropping was unlikely to do him any additional favors.
Still, Wu Ying could not shake the memory of the conversation. And how casually the Elders, Elders who were meant to look after them, had dismissed their lives.
The next day, the expedition began running at first light. Hours passed before they met the first scouting party. Unlike before, the xing tian pulled back rather than clash with the cultivators and trailed the group at a distance. As the group ran, they heard the clash of axe against shield punctuating the silent forest.
“Why are they doing that?” Tou He growled as the second hour of the xing tian trailing them passed.
“Can’t you tell?” Wu Ying said, tilting his head to where the last clash came from. “Can’t you sense it?”
“Sense what?” Tou He said.
“The increase in demonic chi. They’re drawing in more of their people,” Wu Ying said.
As the xing tian were currently mute, the clash of axe and shield must be their way of signaling for more of their clan.
“We should kill them then.”
“And how are you intending to catch them?” Li Yao said as she swung around from where she ran. “They are at least at the Energy Storage, maybe Core stage. Once you leave the group, they will flee from you. Senior Ge and the Elders might be able to catch them, but that would give the xing tian a chance to catch them alone. And if they leave, who protects us?”
Tou He jumped over a knee-high root, landing lightly, while Wu Ying swung around the root. As Wu Ying ran, he felt his chi churn, pushing through his meridians. If there was one advantage to all this running and constant re-use of his chi, it was how clean his opened meridians were. It did nothing for the uncleared meridians that were still clogged with impurities, but he found the stench others complained of had reduced significantly. If they kept this up for the next couple of weeks, he might be able to move and cultivate without becoming so reek, maybe even break through to the next stage.
“So what do we do?” Tou He said after the group had run for another hundred feet.
“Run. We run and hope to leave their hunting grounds,” Li Yao said.
“Won’t it allow them to gather their people? If we all head in the same direction and fight them…” Wu Ying offered.
“I’m sure the Elders have a plan,” Li Yao said.
Wu Ying frowned, recalling the overheard conversation from last night. Perhaps the Elders did have a plan, but as he looked back to where the injured cultivator flagged and the porters struggled, Wu Ying wondered if the plan was to leave bait behind. He shook his head, discarding the thought. He would worry about that when it happened. If it happened. It was not as if he could do much to stop them.
On and on they ran. In time, even the least sensitive of the cultivators could feel the ominous presence of the demonic chi in the distance, surrounding their group. Twice, the expedition group moved so fast, they overtook the xing tian deployed ahead of them and clashed with the scouting groups. Each battle was fast and furious, the entirety of the expedition group taking part in the attack.
“We won, didn’t we?” Tou He asked blithely after the second fight, looking forward to where the Elders were speaking in soft tones. “Why do they look even more worried?”
“Numbers,” Wu Ying panted. He had been of little use in the fights, barely contributing to the demise of a single Energy Storage-level xing tian. And even then, he had to pierce it with a bracer-reinforced attack while it had been distracted by his friend. Now, Wu Ying was finding it hard to keep up, his breathing ragged, his chi stores dropping precipitously.
“I don’t understand,” Tou He complained.
“He means there are too many xian ting. We have defeated over twenty, but there are still more. How large a clan have we found?” Chao Kun said as he dropped back to speak with them. The senior martial specialist had been shifting position along the line as they ran, ensuring no one had been left behind.