The Unknown

"You know you're extremely heavy!" Lai Wen was helping Lin Tao walk, due to him being so exhausted. As a Nascent Realm Cultivator, she can handle simple labor, but still, Lin Tao was heavy. It was like she was lifting a stone statue instead of a human.

'Well, I guess a normal human wouldn't have a tail…' She said this as she glanced towards Lin Tao's rear.

"Trying to take advantage of me while I'm weak?" She heard Lin Tao joke when he spotted her looking towards his rear end. She really couldn't get how he could joke when he just fought for his life.

"Of course not! I was just- Nevermind..." She gave up trying to explain when she thought more about the topic. As they walked she ended up squinting and spotted a cave up ahead. It was raining heavily now and they had lost their source of light.

With the moon being nearly blocked out it was a miracle she spotted it. Making their way inside, Lai Wen and Lin Tao set down.

"Jeez even in the cave it's cold." Holding out her hand a ring on Lai Wen's fingers flashed. Dry wood along with two special tools appeared in front of her.

'A Spatial Ring? Those are pretty expensive, I'm surprised she has one.' Within a few minute's Lai Wen managed to light a fire. The cave wasn't too big, just around fifty feet deep descending into the earth with the entrance being at the base of a large hill. It had enough space width-wise for three or four people.

As they sat next to the fire Lai Wen noticed Lin Tao was staring at her, with a slight smirk.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just like looking at nice things." He replied like he was doing nothing wrong, but that's when Lai Wen noticed. Looking down at herself, her clothes were completely drenched. She didn't notice before since it was so dark, but you could see her entire body clear as day thanks to the fire.

She immediately covered herself with her arms while glaring at Lin Tao. She was both angry and embarrassed at the same time, clear from the blush on her face. Still, when she asked him to turn around he did. He could hear the sound of clothes rustling behind him, along with her Spatial Ring being used.

When she was done she had changed into dry clothes she had packed before heading here. The firewood included it was obvious she came prepared despite how excitingly rash she was acting at the beginning.

"I can't believe you just looked at me! You could have said something." Lin Tao shrugged.

"True, but then I would have missed out." Lin Tao was blunt and didn't mince his words at all. Lai Wen was at a loss hearing him say that so casually. Now that she thought back despite looking at her, she didn't see any signs of lust at all. His face was completely natural, if not for him staring she wouldn't have noticed.

'Is he impotent down there or something…' She felt her thoughts wander, upon realizing that she shook her head. Why was she thinking about something like that? In the end, the two of them ended up sitting in silence.

Lin Tao was a lot more relaxed than Lai Wen who's mind seemed to keep wandering off. Eventually, her eyes began to droop as the urge to sleep washed over her. Lin Tao noticed this, she was constantly nodding away while dazedly staring into the fire. Lin Tao's words were what woke her up.

"You can go to sleep, I'll keep an eye out." His words sounded nice but in the end, Lai Wen couldn't help but feel a bit nervous and anxious. She did trust Lin Tao, but she was a woman in the end. Even if he didn't show any lustful intent around her, falling asleep with a stranger so close was dangerous.

"I won't say I'm a good guy, but you can trust I won't touch you while you sleep." Lin Tao looked more serious when he said this. She didn't know how to describe it, but she could tell he was being honest. He had given her no reason to doubt her and even protected her twice now. Thinking about it she eventually nodded.

As if that acceptance was all her body needed she soon ended up slinking over and falling asleep. It was like watching a kid fall asleep. Lin Tao couldn't help but smile a bit. But gradually that smile faded as he stared out of the cave entrance, into the dark forest. His mind fell into his own memories.

The smell of smoke invaded his nose, the fire crackling as the buildings burned to the ground. People and families ran through streets as the sound of screams echoed from ear to ear. And more importantly, the faces of those who were responsible. It was all so familiar despite all the time that had passed.

'It's been a while since I've thought about it. And here I thought I could just live and forget…' Closing his eyes he took a deep breath. He shook away those memories focusing his attention back on the cave entrance. He did not get distracted for the rest of the night, yet that memory still remained tucked away, festering slowly.

…

Soon the morning came, Lai Wen woke up drowsily as if she was in her own home. Slowly the memories of the previous day came flooding back, as she woke herself up forcefully. Light was shining into the cave and she spotted Lin Tao exactly where he was when she had gone to sleep.

'He really stayed there all night?' Being such a powerful Cultivator she doubted Lin Tao was tired, but still, he had stayed true to his word. She couldn't help but have her impression of him improve.

"How are your wounds?" After getting up she walked over to him. She was slightly worried after thinking about what happened last night.

"I'm fine, most of the internal injuries have healed themselves." She looked taken back from those words. She had seen the result of Lin Tao's fight. Even for Spirit Profound Realm Cultivator's, it was an insanely destructive battle, over two hundred meters worth of forest was destroyed as a result.

At the same time, Lin Tao was moving his body freely like he wasn't injured. In the end, she could only look towards the armor he was wearing and Ruyi Bang.

'I thought they were just normal mortal gear, but they must be some kind of Ancient Profound Artifacts.' She pondered on this as the two of them headed back out into the forest. The sun had just risen despite that the forest was dimly lit at best, with few streams of golden light here and there.

They walked for around an hour until they heard the sounds of running water up ahead. Following it they came across a massive river. It was at least a few hundred feet across. But there was something wrong with it that both Lin Tao and Lai Wen noticed immediately. First was the smell, akin to a rotting corpse.

"Oh god it's horrible." Covering her nose Lai Wen felt like she was going to throw up. Lin Tao frowned but was fine ignoring the smell entirely. His attention was on the water. You wouldn't notice if you were too far away, but looking closer the water had a blackish tint to it. Not only that but the grass, and trees near the river were dying and some had already rotted.

'This river might run through the entire forest considering how fast it's moving and how large it is.' He had a hunch and If he was right, then no wonder the Profound Beast were moving further out of the forest.

"We're following the river, come on." Lai Wen didn't know what Lin Tao was thinking but followed him. The river was long; they followed it for hours and still haven't found the source. Still, they had to be getting close, the water was becoming more black as they went and the plant life was becoming more scarce.

Sadly for Lai Wen, that meant the smell only got worse and worse. She even resorted to tearing off a piece of her skirt to use as a mask.

"Ugh, how can you bear that smell with a straight face…" Lai Wen couldn't help but ask.

"I've smelled worse..." He answered without thinking, his eye's fully trained ahead. Soon they came across a large mountain, the river ran through a cave entrance located near its base. No matter how one looked at it, the cave gave off an ominous feeling.

Before entering the cave he warned Lai Wen to be careful and stay close. The cave was chilly, not in the normal sense but in a way that made your hairs go on edge. Strange lights shined like stars from the cave wall's just barely illuminating their way. And eventually, they reached a massive body of water.

The center of the mountain was nearly entirely hollow, creating this large space. Pillars of stone stretched from deep within the lake into the abyss above, probably touching the top of the roof of the cave. From what Lin Tao could see there were multiple exits leading to different rivers spreading through the forest.

Not only that but there were tons of large tunnels stretching to different areas. The only thing that remained constant was the water was completely black. If that river was considered slightly contaminated then this was the most.

It was as he was looking around that he suddenly heard footsteps from afar. Along with it was light that came from a torch illuminating the walls of the area. He and Lai Wen quickly hid behind a rock as voices echoed out.

"Damn this is so boring. We've been here for months now, how much longer do we have to stay in this place. That encampment gives me claustrophobia."

"It shouldn't be much longer, the spring under the lake is almost completely contaminated. Once that happens a Profound Beast Stampede is imminent." Hearing this Lin Tao's eyes widened. A Profound Beast Stampede was a cataclysmic event. A few Profound Beasts could be dealt with by experts.

But a Stampede was nearly impossible to stop depending on its size. Entire towns could be wiped entirely off a map. Lin Tao peaked from behind the rock and spotted the two talking. They were dressed in a mix of grey and black and had a symbol on their shoulders resembling a horn.

Since he was focusing so heavily he didn't notice Lai Wen was also staring at the two people talking. Her eyes were narrowed and shined like daggers.

'So it really is them…' Taking a breath she spoke to Lin Tao.

"We should go and report this back to the Pavillion Master." Lin Tao looked at her and hesitated. He still hasn't actually solved the issue. Leaving now felt like it would be a waste. Seeing that hesitation Lai Wen spoke a bit more seriously.

"This is a large operation, there could be experts there. If we're caught we won't be able to escape fast enough." It was simply way too dangerous and risky to go in with just the two of them.

"Alright." Eventually, he agreed, he wasn't going to risk his life over this. The unknown caused reluctance in everyone no matter how strong. Hearing him agree, Lai Wen felt relieved. The two of them made their way from out of the mountain and began to head back in the direction of the Imperial City.

Luckily the journey back was less eventful than their arrival. It took them around a day and a half to make it that far into the forest, comparatively, it only took them half that time to make it out and an hour to get back to the city. Despite all of that Lai Wen insisted they make a beeline for the Request Pavillion.

Lin Tao didn't have an issue with this, since he had a reward to collect. When they arrived Lai Wen told him to wait as she entered the Pavillion Master's office. She was there for around twenty or so minutes before Lin Tao heard a familiar old voice call him. Entering he saw Lai Wen standing off to the side with a smile.

At the same time, the Pavillion Master also heard a wondrous look on his face. Lin Tao was confused by the atmosphere as the Pavillion Master spoke.

"I've heard what occurred in the forest, I have to admit I'm impressed. My granddaughter has never spoken of someone so kindly in front of me before." Lin Tao blinked before his eyes widened.

"Did you just say, granddaughter?"