White Tiger Forest

After crossing the grassy plains, Xuan Yueji had to travel across a fast moving river. Thankfully, there were already settlers nearby that built a bridge to go across so that they could access the forest beyond the river.

In the past life, Xuan Yueji had only wandered around and it had taken him ten days to find this forest. At first, he was not trying to find forests or mountains to habitat in, but after wandering around for weeks, he found that they were the best place to live in. Minus the hostile animals, everything was good about a forest.

This forest that Xuan Yueji was going to had a famous name. It was named White Tiger Forest by the settlers and later on, the name spread to villages.

When Xuan Yueji first came to the forest, it was because he had stumbled across it. He did not know the forest's name. Even if he knew its name, he would still not know about the white tiger that traversed the forest.

He only found out when he was injured by the white tiger when he was harvesting fruits. As he made his escape and tried his best to outsmart the lion, the settlers had helped him run. After chasing off the tiger, the settlers had invited him to their house and tended to his injuries.

The settlers were surprised to see a little child in such a large and infamous forest, so they thought that Xuan Yueji was a lost child.

With a soft voice, a female settler had asked, "Little child, where are your parents?"

Xuan Yueji had no trust towards anyone at the time, so he coldly answered, "Dead."

It had shocked the settlers in multiples. His cold and steely voice, and his answer. Especially his uncaring tone to the death of his parents.

Though it surprised the settlers, all of them were welcoming and warm to Xuan Yueji. They had asked him for his name and introduced themselves to him. He ended up staying at the settlers' place for three days before leaving with a bag full of medicine, food, and clothing given to him by the settlers.

Once he made his way across the bridge, he stared at the forest entrance. The unending darkness of the entrance and the white fog that hid the secrets of the forest was scary. However, in his eyes, it was the happiest thing.

Walking to a sign that hung on a tree, Xuan Yueji read, "Enter the forest with caution! Fog limits sight and the white tiger lurks!"

Though those two were the most dangerous things and what prevented many humans to stay away from the forest, it was also what caused the forest to have an abundance of food. Also, the outside was merely a disguise to the jewels that were hidden at the center of the forest.

Xuan Yueji had spent a long time in the forest to find all the nooks and crannies intending to make this place a new settlement for Bai Shuixian. He just did not expect Bai Shuixian to run away and even manage to get out. The forest was like a maze with many illusions and he did not expect her to be able to leave.

One of the most important illusions was the trees. The reason why he was attacked by a white tiger without knowing was because the forest was home to white birches.

The forest had three layers to it. The inner layer had green vibrant trees with many plants and animals living in it. The second layer had tall white birches and the third had interlocking silver birches.

Thankfully, he had learned his mistakes from the past, so he knew how to change the outcome this time.

Walking into the forest, his body began to get hidden by the thick white fog and he started looking around for food sources. He could just rip the bark off of the trees and cook them, but that would destroy the growth of the trees and he did not want that. Though there were food sources deeper in the forest, it would take him multiple days before he could reach the most populated area.

His body would probably collapse before he found food if he tried to go deeper in the forest. Looking around, he saw the usual weeds on the ground. He really did not want to stomach these bitter plants if he did not have to.

Not only that, it was spring. The season in which holds the most bitter food in a forest. Though he knew he had no other choice but the bitter weeds, he still sighed, saying that he should have chosen another route.

Since he really did not want to resign to eating bitter weeds, he decided to walk more deeper into the forest in hopes of finding better food choices. Since there was little light, he could not really tell what time it was or how low the sun was now. However, based on his hunger, he could tell that quite a bit of time had passed.

Deciding to rest up for the day, he scoured for a dry enough place in the humid area and looked for sticks and stones. After finding an adequate place, he once again looked on the ground to search for edible weeds.

He actually had no knowledge of wild or edible herbs, so he could only enlist the help of another alternate.

Though it sounded like he was talking to himself, he asked, "Chi Chi, can you help me find food?"

Immediately, a voice resounded in his head, "Xuan Yueji, I swear, you better stop calling me Chi Chi."

Laughing, Xuan Yueji said, "Just tell me where I can find some food. I'm hungry."

"Stop calling me Chi Chi and I'll tell you," the alternate ordered.

"No way. It's a great name," Xuan Yueji jokingly said. "Just feed me first. This body is about to collapse."

"Fine," the alternate relented.

Xuan Yueji laughed inside. He knew that the alternate persona was cursing him and only managing to calm themself by repeating, 'Xuan Yueji can die, but not the body.'

Looking at the vision in front, the alternate pointed out, "There's some curly docks near the rock."

With a wry smile, Xuan Yueji asked, "Do I really have to eat this again?"

"If her body dies, I'm going to kill you too," the alternate said.

"If her body dies, we also die," Xuan Yueji sighed while walking to the plant, intending to harvest its leaves.

"At the dark soil there's some bittercress," the alternate said. "Also, get the dandelions."

After harvesting all the plants that the alternate told him, Xuan Yueji asked, "Do I eat them raw again?"

"What else? You want a chef?" the alternate harshly answered.

"Can't you speak nicely to me even once?" Xuan Yueji wrly asked.

The alternate did not answer. It seemed that it had already left the forefront.

Though saddened by the thought of the horrible tasting food, Xuan Yueji was happy that he would not starve. Starting the fire and trying his best to clean the dirt from the plants, he munched on the edible parts that could be eaten raw.

Finished eating for the day, Xuan Yueji said, "Brother Ji is going to sleep. Little Xian, please don't leave this place. If you get hungry, eat the plants that brother has left here."