Chapter 13: A warning from the Forest.

A Warning from the Forest

Yiling instinctively gripped her knife. She stood still, her ears straining for any sound over the pounding of her heart.

Out from the shadows, a small figure stepped into view—a boy, perhaps eight or nine years old, barefoot and dressed in tattered, mismatched clothes. His face was streaked with dirt, but his eyes were sharp, almost too wise for his age.

"Are you the one who left the coin?" Yiling asked, keeping her voice steady despite the oddity of the encounter.

The boy tilted his head, as though considering her words. Then, without answering, he pointed at the ginseng root in her hand. "That doesn't belong to you."

Yiling blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"It's from the forbidden ground," the boy said, his voice quiet but firm. "If you take it, something will come for you."

Her grip on the root tightened. "This is the forest. Everything here belongs to the one brave enough to take it. Who are you to decide?"

The boy's gaze didn't waver. "Leave it, or you'll bring the wrath of the forest spirits upon you. That's all I can say."

Before she could reply, the boy turned and slipped back into the trees, his footsteps unnaturally silent for someone moving through the underbrush.