He Looks At Me Strangely

They walked away from the lively festival and entered a path lined with pine trees. The decaying air and stifling atmosphere provided the perfect abode for those who worshipped the darkness rather than the light.

It was indeed an entrance to a demon god's lair. Every time their feet shuffled through the detritus, the branches creaked and the fallen leaves would whistle along with the icy wind, as though the forest were welcoming the two strangers inside.

She glanced at Wu Zhitian and noticed he seemed quite uneasy, or rather, disgusted. As though he wanted to block his eyes and nose from the rancid atmosphere. Maybe his nose was more sensitive than she thought, or maybe there was another reason.

It was only until now did Yu Xuelan realize that there were still so many things she didn't know about this boy. Even in the past, she didn't know whether she had actually tried getting close to him since there was always this one man that always got in the way.

Yu Xuelan scanned the decaying trees and sticks that lined on the ground before bending down to pick up a few. She dusted them with her robe before sliding them into her sleeve.

"What if Lin Changying is already in the hands of the Earth Demon God? Does that mean we're going to have to fight him?" Yu Xuelan asked.

The thought of fighting a demon god had never passed by Yu Xuelan's mind, especially since how everyone labelled them to be terrifying and ruthless. Among her list of near-death experiences, it seemed "being eaten by a demon" would soon join her list.

As everyone says, "Stepping straight into a Demon God's lair? That was basically suicide!"

"Don't worry," Wu Zhitian assured.

"Seeing as how much confidence you have, you must've grown really strong these past years," Xuelan responded jokingly.

He lowered his eyes in disdain, muttering, "I hope so..."

"AH!!"

"What the hell?!" Yu Xuelan jolted and whipped her head in the scream's direction.

"Is anyone there?! Help me! I hear footsteps!" A hoarse voice called out, though it sounded quite muffled like it filled its mouth with dirt.

The two stole glances at each other in silence before Wu Zhitian gave a nod and they walked towards the bushes.

The more they closed the distance between them and the peculiar voice, the pungent odour nurtured into something stronger, thicker even, as if a thousand rotting rats were decaying beneath them.

The disembodied voice continued calling, "I'm here! Help me!"

They continued to follow the speech of what they made to be a man, walking past a couple of bushes that trailed off from the main path.

"Here! Here!"

Yu Xuelan cast a sceptical gaze below as Zhitian raised his palm at the area. It let out a small breeze that was strong enough to blow away the detritus, revealing the dirty patch.

She expected to see a face, but to her surprise; it was only a hand.

The black-clad cultivator walked closer but suddenly; the hand stretched forwards from the ground and grabbed ahold of her ankle, gripping it tightly that the jagged nails clawed deeply into her flesh.

Yu Xuelan flung her leg back from shock, causing the brittle nails to leave a deep scratch around her ankle, where blood flowed out of the laceration.

Wu Zhitian's brows knotted in rage upon seeing the nails dig into Yu Xuelan's ankle and he immediately pulled her behind him.

"Are you alright?" He panicked.

"Do I look that beautiful that even dead people want me?" She scoffed in her thoughts.

"Yea, I'm fine!" Yu Xuelan smiled.

Wu Zhitian bent down on one knee and hovered his finger above her wounded ankle, attempting to heal it.

"I'm, I'm alright! It's just a scratch. It should heal-" Before she could finish her sentence, she remembered that this body was not her original body so her spiritual core and cultivation levels were probably not high enough to regenerate at a brisk speed.

"I can just heal it later if we find water," Yu Xuelan smiled at the kneeling boy.

The wound had closed a bit, but there was still a scar. She was just surprised that he could heal it at all since those who cultivated the arts of healing were extremely rare outside of HaiShen Yu.

Wu Zhitian glared at the squirming hand below as it dyed its fingertips in Yu Xuelan's blood.

"HELP ME HELP-"

Before it could finish its phrase, the hand recoiled and trembled. Although it had no head or eyes, you could tell that it was "looking" in Wu Zhitian's direction.

"You! You...! Why are you here?!"

It started squirming, screeching to the point it could pierce one's ears. Yu Xuelan's face twisted in a slight grimace of annoyance until Wu Zhitian stepped on the hand, crushing the poor thing. He compressed it slowly with the weight of his foot, inflicting even more pain for the hand as harsh cracks and snaps of the bones filled the silent gaps of the atmosphere.

Yet, the boy turned back around nonchalantly, completely ignoring the squashed fingers, and asked with a despondent expression, "Are you sure your ankle is alright?"

Yu Xuelan smiled, "Mn. We should keep moving, maybe there will be a pond or something for me to use."

He shook his head. "The water here isn't good. Sorry, I can't tend the wound completely."

Yu Xuelan blinked in confusion, "The scratch really isn't that bad anyway, you healed majority of it, anyway! And it's more important to find Lin Changying soon."

"There's so much demonic energy lurking ahead, we should be careful," Yu Xuelan mumbled.

"We are close. Lin Changying is still alive," the boy reassured.

…

Without even realising, they had already walked far into the forest that they could hear the noise of the festival.

Suddenly, light footsteps and the cracks of dried branches gradually became louder and clearer the further they walked in. A silhouette slowly emerged past the eerie darkness of the forest, gradually taking a form of a tall boy.

"Is someone there?" The figure asked.

Yu Xuelan noticed the voice was also familiar. As the distance closed, she could discern a boy wearing green cultivation robes.

"Long Rei?" Xuelan called.

"Sect Master Wu? Lady Lin? Ah, I apologize for my rudeness." Long Rei greeted in a calm tone, clasping his palms while maintaining his dignifying aura.

Yu Xuelan darted her eyes left and right, seeing if Long Wen would pop out of nowhere. However, she wasn't.

"What are you doing here?" Yu Xuelan asked, "Where's Young Madam Long?"

Long Rei's face immediately darkened. "Young Madam Long disappeared after having a talk with Miss Lin."

Yu Xuelan widened her eyes as her lips slightly parted. "Disappeared? I thought she went back to find you?"

"I tried to draw a guidance array to look for her and it pointed towards this mountain's direction but after I entered this forest, the formation kept wavering. I'm guessing it must've been because of the high levels of demonic energy lurking around here that it disrupted the formation," Long Rei pondered.

"If Long Wen also got taken by the Woman Eater, then it would be quite troublesome," Yu Xuelan said.

Judging the quality of this demonic energy, it's quite messy and inconsistent. So Long Wen should be alright, but I'm not sure about Lin Changying.

"She will be fine," Wu Zhitian reassured.

"May I ask why is Sect Master Wu and Miss Lin here?" Long Rei asked.

Yu Xuelan responded, "Ah well, my twin sister also disappeared here. Don't worry. We will look for Young Madam Long. You should head back to the festival and see if any irregular activities are happening. It's dangerous here and you wouldn't want to be involved with a demon god. It's a possibility that Bo Fan is trying to lead all the cultivators away and cause a ruckus at the festival instead."

"Thank you Sect Master Wu, Lady Lin. But I must inform you of something strange I saw."

"Something strange?"

"Yes, there was an entire garden filled with human heads and feet and hands growing out of the soil."

"An entire garden? Were they all males?" Yu Xuelan asked.

"Yes they were, and they seemed to all be in their twenties or thirties but since their faces were all rotting, it was quite difficult to tell," Long Rei added.

Yu Xuelan thought the Woman Eater sure lived up to his name. He probably thought male bodies were good for gardens as fertilizers, maybe that's why this mountain looks so "prosperous".

"Thank you for the information."

"No, I must thank Sect Master Wu and Lady Lin for their consideration. I will take my leave and return to the city. Thank you once again."

Long Rei bowed once again and walked away with his face riddled with worry.

Yu Xuelan made sure he left safely before the two continued progressing forwards into the forest. Into the Earth Demon God's lair.