The Mysterious Noise
A short while after Zheng-Fu started to absorb the energy from the Qi energy stone, his energy level had improved tremendously. However, he needed to stop the process because his mother was nearby, and she had not known about him going back to practice martial arts. So, he decided to go outside to practice the techniques from the “Practice of Fundamental Martial Arts” manual in a place where nobody was around…
2 shichens (4 hours) had passed…
At the Forbidden Forest at the back of the clan’s estate…
Rustle!
“Phew! I guess this should be it…slightly spread the legs and bend the knees.”
Whoosh!
“This is extremely exhausting, but it did help improve my fundamental forms much better. My lower body becomes sturdier too. It seems like this session could help me break through to the next level.”
Zheng-Fu wiped the sweat off his face after 2 shichens (4 hours) of energy absorption, while talking to himself about the improvement he gained with joy. Normally he would get exhausted easily, but with the manual, he could endure the practice longer.
“Why do they call this place the “Forbidden Forest” anyway? It doesn’t seem to be scary or anything like that at all. The weather is very refreshing and warm around here. I really wonder why it’s called the “Forbidden Forest”.” Zheng-Fu started to look around after taking some rest. The question just popped up as he really noticed the scenery in the forest…
He had been coming to the forest several times in the past years but never encountered anything strange. There was only a large lawn and a stupid-looking rock with a lot of trees in the area. However, there were a lot of eerie stories about this place such as people hearing moaning shrieks or screams. He had never heard or seen anything like that at all. This was the reason why he wanted to know why everyone called this place the “Forbidden Forest”. He wanted to ask his father about it, but was afraid to be yelled at…
“Well, whatever. Thinking about it wouldn’t help me get any stronger. There are only three months left to practice. I need to be much stronger so I can take back my father’s reputation!” Zheng-Fu said with a sign of strong determination on his face…
A month after that…
Boom!
“Finally, the bottleneck point was penetrated successfully. However, that isn’t enough. I need to break through to higher levels because most of the children around my age have reached at least the fourth or fifth level. Besides, I haven’t learned any fighting techniques at all. I think I should talk to father about this, just in case he can teach me something so excellent that I can use it in this upcoming test!”
Zheng-Fu eventually went from the third to the fourth level of the Qi Gathering stage after starting practicing on the basic techniques from the “Practice of Fundamental Martial Arts” manual a month ago. He had been practicing continually with utmost concentration too. However, he thought that this level of energy was not yet enough for him. He also did not have any fighting skills at all, so he thought that it would be good to get out of the forest to see his father for recommendations about fighting skills. And while he was about to run out of the forest…
Whoosh!
“Who’s that over there!?”
Zheng-Fu, all of a sudden, heard a sound as if something or someone was moving in the forest behind him. He had gained a sharper sensitivity because his energy had already increased to the fourth level. It was because he had been spending enough time practicing martial arts. So, when he heard the sound, he quickly turned back and fired the question loudly, while trying to fix his gaze in that direction…
???
Zheng-Fu waited for a while for someone to say something back but there was no one. So, he decided to yell out “If you don’t show yourself, you will be more than sorry!” Zheng-Fu started to get ready to fight right after he finished the sentence. But then he realized that it was not a smart move if he got too close to the enemy when he did not know who the enemy was. That made him bend down to pick up a rock in order to be prepared instead…
?
There was no sign of any movement or sound still, except for the sound of the wind and the whistling trees…
“Did I just hear things? Maybe I’m too exhausted. I’d better get going and ask father about the fighting skills!” Since Zheng-Fu did not see or hear anything, he thought that there might be something wrong with his ears. In order to waste no more time, he chose to ignore what he experienced earlier and went back home immediately…
Swoosh!
Whoosh!
Bang!
But as Zheng-Fu was about to leave, he heard that moving sound once again. This time, he would not wait to try to make any conversation with it. Instead, he threw that rock in his hand right in the direction that the sound came from. The speed of the rock thrown was as fast as the speed of the two fastest horses combined. The impact left a huge hole on the tree that Zheng-Fu aimed at. The rock just went right through…
“Come on out now otherwise I will throw another rock at you. And this time, I will make sure to really mean it. Zheng-Fu was a little trembling and quickly picked up another rock to prepare for another throw. He actually spent all of his strength to aim and make that throw the first time. But since he simply missed it, he decided to brag in order to boost his morale…
???
With all those attempts to call the thing out from Zheng-Fu, everything remained still and quiet…
“Fine! If you don’t want to say anything, then… I’m just gonna go!”
Poom!
“Not gonna stay!
Zheng-Fu was losing the courage that he once had little by little when he remembered the eerie stories about this Forbidden Forest. He started to believe that he must be haunted by a ghost, so he did not wait any longer and ran back to the exit of the forest towards his home with this frightened look on his face…
Poom!
“Does this mean that those stories are real!?”
Squeak!
When Zheng-Fu reached home, he met with his mother who was preparing a meal for him. When his mother saw him, she asked “Zheng-Fu, where have you been? Why are you covered up in sweat like that?” Zheng-Fu’s mother asked because she was curious because every time he came back home, he never looked this sweaty and messy. That was because he did not have many friends to play with and he did not have to go to martial arts classes anymore…
“Well, I was just hanging out with the kids my age around here, mother. I spotted them running about, so I joined them.” Zheng-Fu knew that he could not tell his mother the truth, so he had to come up with an excuse to make sure his mother would not worry about him…
“Hanging out!? With friends?”
“I didn’t know you have friends? Didn’t you tell me that no one wanted to play with you? But how come…?”
“That was a long time ago, mother. Today is different. People change their minds all the time. Anyway, I’m really exhausted, mother. May I go clean up and go to bed?” Zheng-Fu realized that his excuse contradicted his mother’s knowledge about him having no friends, so he decided to end the conversation and rushed to his room immediately…
“Um!”
“All right! Then go clean up. I’ve already prepared hot water for you.” Zheng-Fu’s mother knew well that her son lied to her, but she did not want to press him for far too much. It was alright if her son did not want her to know where he had been, so she let him go clean himself up…
“Thank you, mother!”
‘What actually was that noise anyway? It’s so torturing not knowing what it was! Should I go back to check it out? No! I don’t think that’s a good idea. If anything happens, I’ll be in trouble. But still, I need to know…. Argh! *Sigh!*
The flow of thoughts loomed within Zheng-Fu’s mind for he was eager to find out about the truth, but fear stopped him. He needed to know what was the origin of that noise that he heard. This was the exact trait that Jin-Yang possessed. In the previous world, Jin-Yang or Zheng-Fu was someone who thrived to learn things. Jin-Yang sought answers to everything he questioned about. So, even though he was reborn as Zheng-Fu, his old traits still persisted. But he thought that many people were that way like him. We liked to pry.
Next morning…
“Zheng-Fu!”
“Are you awake, Zheng-Fu?”
Squeak!
“Oh! He’s not in the room. Where has he gone?”
Zheng-Fu’s mother came to wake him up in the morning as usual, but she did not see him in bed. Not seeing her son there did not worry her because Zheng-Fu often got up very early…
At the Forbidden Forest, at the spot where Zheng-Fu used to secretly practice martial arts…
“Hai!”
“Yah!”
“Let me try this technique!”
The “Index of the Sword of Wind” technique...
Swoosh!
“Not working!? Why? I did everything accordingly. Maybe I let myself be tricked by those Xianxia novels. Darn! How am I going to acquire martial arts skills!”
Zheng-Fu got up early because he wanted to try the martial arts techniques that he learned from Xianxia novels from his previous life. But it seemed like those techniques did not really work for him. But then again, he could not say that they were completely impracticable. This was because he could sense that there was some kind of energy when he executed the techniques, but the energy did not seem to come out entirely. It was more like the technique was not being practiced in the most correct ways…
“Concentrate! Cultivate the energy and bring it to the Qi energy center, then slowly send it to your arms and legs according to the technique that you’re practicing. Once the energy reaches all parts of your body, try to maintain it there. Keep the energy stable in those places as long as you can. If you succeed in doing that, it means you’ve achieved the technique.”
‘Who’s that!?’
Zheng-Fu heard someone, so he quickly turned to the direction that was supposed to be the origin of the voice. He yelled out the question with mixed feelings. Then he decided to be brave and asked…
“Who are you? You’ve made strange noises since yesterday. If you’re not scared, come out. Come on out!”
After Zheng-Fu finished the sentence, he tried to look around him to see if anyone was coming out of the hiding. He was really in the moment and suddenly…
Rustle!
Not long after Zheng-Fu’s last sentence, there was some kind of a big shadow coming out from the trees. The shadow showed its horrifying bloody red eyes that fixed its gaze on Zheng-Fu. It did not seem to move anywhere and then it said…
“Concentrate! Cultivate the energy and bring it to the Qi energy center, then slowly send it to your arms and legs according to the technique that you’re practicing. Once the energy reaches all parts of your body, try to maintain it there. Keep the energy stable in those places as long as you can. If you succeed in doing that, it means you’ve achieved the technique.”
The owner of the shadow who appeared in front of Zheng-Fu kept repeating the same sentences. It seemed like the shadow did not try to answer Zheng-Fu’s question at all…