Chapter 38 - Trust is not always present

Caw Caw Caw

Crows' voices ranged in the forest.

"Hm?"

"Angela, what happened?" Eloise asked her.

"Ah... Nothing. Felt a little... Heavy." She replied.

"Hmm, I see. Anyway look I guess we already have a plan."

"So everyone! This is what you have to do." Luan grabbed their attention and they started discussing their next move.

...

"How does it sound?" He asked everyone. Most of them agreed but some denied.

"Wouldn't that make our us weaker?" One of the adult asked.

After waking himself and his fellow disciples up, Luan also woke up people who were stuck here way before they arrived. This certainly had it's ups and downs.

"That's a good question, and yeah. That would make us a little weaker but this is the fastest way to cover the entire forest. We don't know if this dungeon has a time limit or not."

"Why are you in charge? You're just a kid." One of the younger boy said.

"Yeah! He's right. There are much better people than you who can lead us." A person besides him agreed.

Luan closed his eyes and nodded, "... You're right. I'm still naive, but do you know anyone here who can take initiative right now? I'll be happy to step down if that's the case."

He waited for a few seconds for someone's response and after not watching everyone hesitate the young boy clicked his tongue. *Che!*

Another person of the same age raised his hand politely, "How are we going to distribute the treasures?" The pond near by reflecting not only the reflection of the numerous trees but also his robe which was made with different saturation of blue with a slightly orange-ish belt.

His front hair at the two side of his head just reaching his chest and the back hair his waist. He was above average height for his 16 year old self.

"After collecting everything we will distribute it equally, if anyone tries to steal the treasures, they will be removed from the teams and might suffer consequences."

"Uhum" Alden said.

"Yes." Angela said too. Hearing them, some people began to agree slowly.

There were others who didn't like the idea one bit and one of them said, "I won't be teaming up with you lots! I'd rather go find those treasures on my own!"

The person started moving away from the group, "If any one of you want to come with me, then this is the last chance!"

The people looked hesitant, they looked at each other's faces before finally some decided to go with the guy.

"Hoo...He sure is right." A guy said with smirk.

"Rules and regulations sure are annoying~" Another said. They both went to the new group.

In just a matter of minutes, the people were divided into two sides. Both of them had almost same number of people.

Swoosh

The other group decided to go on their way, but not before their "leader" gave off a smirk in their direction.

Swish, woosh

After they were gone, the people wondering if what choice they made was right or not.

A girl raised her hand of the same age raised her hand, "Can we trust your battle prowess?" She asked, "Although the disciples of the 10 flower sect count up to half of the total people here, can you tell how strong you are?"

She was wearing the robe with vibrant pink included with different shades of same color and pale green belt. She was a little bit shorter than the one with blue robe.

Hearing her words everyone whispered among themselves. Luan and the team saw this and he started thinking of something.

'Telling them my strength and Angela's wouldn't be too good.' He said, 'But we have to gain their trust as well..." He looked at Alden.

"My friend here might answer your question." He gestured at Alden, "Most of the disciples here are under him."

?

Alden was puzzled at him but with a kind smile he said, "I understand what you mean, but rest assured everyone here can not only protect themselves but others as well. They won't fail in that!"

'He's amazing at gaining people's trust easily.' Luan said nodding.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled, "...Understood."

But this conversation didn't satisfy them, others still had doubt.

Chatter Mumbling

"Wa...s is really the right thing to do...?"

"They might be stronger than these guys."

Che! Rage!

"Ya people act like weaklings! Ya are cultivators too but all you do is cry 'bout how you want protection! Is that what 'cha capable of?! 'Follow the strong' is what ya think all the time. Where is your pride in that?!!" Ding Yunru exclaimed.

"....." This outburst from Yunru silenced the people. No one dared to say anything else.

"Damn he's wild." Luan said.

"...Mhm." Alden agreed with sweat drops on his forehead.

?

"What happened...?" Angela asked.

" I think... His personality changed." She said pointing at Alden.

...!

"..." Angela scratched her head as she didn't knew Alden that much, and what his personality was, so she couldn't answer that question.

"Haha. So you noticed?" Luo Xiaobo who was hearing them from the sides said, "Actually, the leader was always cheerful and kind but lately it looked like he was always depressed and tired."

"Why didn't you try to console him before?" She asked.

"We did, actually. But it always turned out like this..."

Flashback

"Leader! Why don't you come with us to the market for souvenirs? We'll buy you that!" Xiaobo said.

"Oh... Sure..." Alden replied nonchalant but tried to show some intrest.

The next day

"... Spar?" Pan Cheng asked with hope.

"... Spar...? Sure." Alden said with depression.

The winner of the fight was Pan Cheng.

The next day

"Chief wanna go to a tavern? My money!" Ding Yunru asked.

"Uhum."

They went to a tavern for food but Alden still didn't give much of a reaction.

Present

"But... Lately he's beginning to go back to his original self." Luo continued, "I've talked long enough I guess, but just wanted to answer your question that he was quite different from the way he now. He started changing after that incident..."

"Incident...?" Eloise asked.

"... I'm sorry but it's a secret we can't tell." He answered in apologetic tone, "Unless the leader decides to reveal it himself."

"Uhum" Eloise nods in understanding.

...

Looking that everything has settled down, the people went to their respective teams and went to different directions.

The different teams were for different reasons like:

Team 1: Attack team

Team 2: Treasure Gathering team

Team 3: Exploration team/Navigation team

Team 4: Communication team

The teams were further divided into A and B and group.

Every team had atleast 7-10 people in them. They were distributed to the teams with respect to their abilities. Like for example someone who is fast has been given to the communication team.

Luan and Angela were in the A group of the combat team with some other people. It was decided that Alden and Luo Xiaobo will be in the treasure gathering team and Pan Cheng and Eloise will be in the Communication team. While Ding Yunru is in the Exploration team.

"Hey Xiaobo, why is our group separated?" Ding yunru asked.

Luo Xiaobo looked at him in disappointment and shook his head, "Yunru, that stupidity of yours is even greater than your temper dude."

"Huh?! Well I'm at least stronger than you. *heh*" Ding mocked him.

Luo ignored him and continued, "Well the reason is simple. We can't trust these people yet. They might try to stab us for all we know... So there has to be someone we can trust inside each group."

The combat team will help fend off monsters and other creatures while aiding the other teams throughout the forest. The treasure gathering team will gather as must treasures as possible while the exploration team make a map of the whole area. Lastly, the communication team will establish communication between all of the teams.

"I guess we'll be in the same group then?" The boy from before spoke to Luan and Angela, and bowed down slightly.

"Guess so." Luan greeted him as well and Angela did the same.

"Hello everyone" Another person spoke from the side. The new girl and one of her companion, "I'll be in your care." She said.

"Well, before going why don't we introduce ourselves...?" Luan asked them, "I'll go first. I'm Luan from the 10 Flower Sect."

"I'm Angela from...the Same sect."

"Nice to meet everyone. My name is Yan ling from the Yan family" The girl replied.

"I am Tan Wen from the Tan family. Greetings to all three of you."

Tan Wen as well as Yan ling were not from 10 flower sect. They were from a medium sized sect.

Both of them bowed down slightly to show respect.

After their short introduction they moved to the South Side of the forest to look for monsters.

...

[...] The figure said, [Things keep getting more and more interesting. Those who were supposed to die survived and got through their respective trials just because of that kid.]

[I can predict him becoming a great cultivator in the future...]

[But...If they want to be my successor, It won't be so easy to get out this place!]

Swoosh

He moved his hand forward and initiated the traps all over the forest.

[Let the next trial begin.]

...

"What should we do now?" Someone in Team B asked.

To his answer Xiaobo spoke, "We should start looking for ruins now. Usually treasures are accumulated there."

"This forest is huge, it might even take a few hours to search for treasures."

Swoosh thump

"Hey, what're you doing there...?' Alden asked the boy who stooped midway.

"Huh?" Everyone unconsciously spoke. There was a Ginseng in his hands.

His eyes were wide open and he couldn't believe it.

[Ginseng, huh. It can heal people and their wounds as long as the limb is not cut off or the wound isn't too deep. For Qi gathering cultivators and even many meridian opening experts, Ginseng is extremely valuable.] The figure said.

"..." A person from the group said, "Hey... Won't you give that to us...?" He looked at the Ginseng without blinking for a second.

..!

The boy who found the Ginseng looked at the person and then back at the Ginseng. This whole time the person didn't stop looking at it.

"... So what's it gonna be? You know you can't have it right?" The person said.

"Oh, yeah. You're right." The boy gave the ginseng to the person.

Heh

His face changed immediately after getting the Ginseng in his hand, "Hahaha, cultivators must help each other's in times of need right? You're a good guy you know!" He said, "Haha, you shall be my brother from now on!"

"..." Luo just looked at him and smirked, 'This guy is dangerous.'

Rumble Rumble

?!

"Did you hear that?" Alden spoke. They felt the ground under them shake heavily.

"..." Luo looked down on the ground and he felt uneasy.

Krr Grr Grr Cracking!

"...!" Alden and two other kids started falling inside the pit. There were sharp bloody rock spikes at the very bottom of the pit.

"Leader!" Luo jumped in the the pit and prepared his spear.

"Wait Luo why did you jump?!" Alden said.

"Grgh!" Luo threw the spear with all of his strength just below where Alden and the boy were falling.

Thud Creek Swoop

Bam!

"Arkh!"

"Fu*k!"

A small crater formed in that area by Xiaobo's spear.

Both of them had some injuries but at least they didn't experience the worst case scenario.

...

Outside the pit, they person with Ginseng was having another thoughts. He picked up the Ginseng and increased his distance from the pit.

...

"Leader and boy are you alright?!" Xiaobo asked Alden the two.

"*Cough* *Cough* Y...eah" Alden spitted a mouth full of blood, "I guess dust went inside my eyes."*Rub* *Rub*"

Xiaobo breathed a sight of relief and asked the other boy with worry and helped him get up, "Are you ok too?"

He nodded and rubbed his eyes as well and they went upside again. *Huf!*

"Where's the person with Ginseng?" Xiaobo asked.

They looked at close to them but couldn't see him in distance.

"There" The boy said. They could barely see him in the distance.

"Ha, ha, ha Ginseng..." The person laughed alone somewhat away from the others.

[People never change no matter the era, huh?] The figure said to himself, [When one work with someone else, the biggest threat is not their enemy but betrayal. Most creatures who have a consciousness are capable of betrayal....Valuable treasures can often lead to sacrifices and...]

"You're finding a Ginseng right?" Xiaobo asked him from behind.

!!

"Wha-" He was taken a back, 'How did they get out so fast?!'

"I'll ask again, you were searching for Ginseng right...?" This time, Xiaobo used killing intent on the person.

"...! Yea-Yeah that's right! I was actually trying to find a Ginseng in the time you were inside the pit!" The person said.

[Internal conflicts.] The figure said.