Lan Jing Forest (7)

The sect leader's gaze fell to Zhou Xin which made her freeze in her spot.

Shin Minji noticed the gesture and glanced at her as well.

"It seems that only a handful of Tan residents know of this information," she guessed.

The sect leader hummed.

"The elders, and few servants."

He held a finger close to his mouth while keeping his eye contact with Zhou Xin. 

He said, "Wouldn't want to discourage the students from practicing magic now, do we?"

Zhou Xin tensed and nodded hesitantly.

He knew I wouldn't be discouraged by this information. That's why I'm allowed to know.

And then, whether it was a coincidence or not, Zhou Xin made eye contact with Shin Minji.

Somehow, the mage's gaze pierced even deeper than that of the head of Tan Sect. It was as if she could see through everything.

It only lasted a second until Shin Minji turned back facing the sect leader.

"May I have a look into the forest? Perhaps I can provide help in some ways."

"Sure."

The sect leader had replied without thinking too much.

"We'd be honored. Would you like to see the forest first before finishing the matter of our alliance?"

At this point, Zhou Xin grew suspicious of him. She couldn't really pinpoint what bothered her, but something was definitely off.

Shin Minji responded, "Actually, may I first have a look at the victim? Of course, I completely understand if it's too difficult. However, I must say that I have considerable experience in dealing with curses."

Hearing that, Zhou Xin had an idea in her head. If she could listen in on Shin Minji's observation of the victim's corpse, then maybe she could report it to Kou and have him finish this case faster.

That is, if the sect leader allowed Shin Minji to take a look. And it wouldn't matter whether Zhou Xin was allowed to tag along, because she would sneak in anyways.

Fortunately, the sect leader said, "You may."

He gave a look to Zhou Xin to dismiss her before continuing.

"A little deeper in the forest, there's an old family shrine where the victim rests. I'll take you there."

"Thank you," Shin Minji replied.

Zhou Xin bowed slightly despite feeling a little disappointed. She was determined to follow them secretly.

As she was about to walk away in the other direction, Shin Minji spoke again.

"Oh, one more thing."

Shin minji pointed at Zhou Xin. There was a smile on her face.

"I'd like to take her with us."

Shin Minji was undoubtedly referring to Zhou Xin. Her finger was directly pointing at her.

Zhou Xin was confused and a little scared.

Why? Is there something she might need? It's not because she recognized me, right?

If she did, then Zhou Xin would have noticed something from Shin Minji's expression from the beginning. Zhou Xin was sure that nothing seemed off.

But what was more confusing was what the sect leader said.

"Ho! I agree."

He gave Zhou Xin a short nod and both mages resumed walking towards the forest. Zhou Xin obediently followed.

She couldn't help but wonder why she would be allowed to see the victim.

If they needed a hand somewhere along the way, then the sect leader could have called upon the servants stationed around there. Other than that, wouldn't it be better if they had an older and more experienced servant to follow them?

With the way the two of them looked at her, Zhou Xin had a growing fear that they might know something about her.

If it was Shin Minji, Zhou Xin wasn't too scared.

Sure, Shin Minji might have recognized her, but there really wasn't anything to be afraid of. It's not like she knew Zhou Xin was traveling with Kou.

Zhou Xin was more wary of the sect leader.

Up to this point, both Kou and her still didn't know who sent the anonymous request to the jade house. Moreover, what reasons drove them to send the request.

If the sect leader knows something, Zhou Xin couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad thing.

Shin Minji and Zhou Xin were led out of the residence and into the forest. 

They went past the academy where the sect leader made a brief stop to talk to one of the servants. He seemed to have ordered them to do something. Afterwards, they carried on and walked quite far until the bustling of people could only be heard faintly.

After about five minutes of walking, Zhou Xin could make out an outline of a temple.

Unlike most structures in Tan residence, the temple had a sophisticated design with a symmetrical layout. A refined calligraphy was written above the gates, "Tan Clan Ancestral Hall".

However, the sect leader did not enter the temple and merely walked past it.

Another two minutes of walking, and they found a smaller temple with much simpler design. Rather than a temple, it looked more like a shrine. It was made of wood and there was no writing on the gate.

The sect leader stepped through the threshold and started to talk.

"This used to be our family shrine, but we don't use it anymore."

It seemed that the ancestral hall was more recently built and the clan had been using that temple for rituals and ceremonies ever since.

Shin Minji and Zhou Xin entered the shrine as well. A foul stench of odor filled the room.

Inside, there were five coffins. Four of them were empty as they had their lids opened.

The sect leader approached the coffin with the closed lid.

He said, "This is the first, and hopefully only victim of the curse from the spirits of the forest, a disciple of our academy."

As he opened the lid, Shin Minji stepped closer to get a better look. Zhou Xin was perfectly content standing where she was and had quite a clear view.

In the coffin, rested the body of a young man that looked to be in his late teenage years. His pale hands held on to a wooden piece with something written on it.

Zhou Xin read the letters.

'Tan Ming'

The wooden piece also caught Shin Minji's attention. After reading the writings, she spoke.

"His name… He bears the name 'Tan'. Why is his body placed here and not the ancestral hall?"

At the same time, Zhou Xin sensed something shifted very faintly from within the forest. It was not far from the temple. 

Someone or something was watching.

Zhou Xin was worried that it might be Kou, but she was sure that he was working somewhere further deep in the forest. In addition, that skilled thief would not have slipped up to the point of getting caught.

Then it must be someone else less experienced.

If Zhou Xin could sense it, then the two mages that were far more advanced than her level would have noticed it too. There was no way they could have missed it.

But both of them acted as if nothing happened.

Instead, the sect leader answered Shin Minji's question.

"His grandfather insisted on having him rest here. There is also less risk of having the students discover this."

"I see."

Shin Minji held her arms over the coffin and looked over to the sect leader, as if to ask for permission.

Once the sect leader nodded, Shin Minji made a gesture and the dust around the coffin swirled.

"Please excuse me," she said.

Then, Shin Minji grabbed the arms of the corpse and slowly examined it. She inspected the skin, eyeballs, hair, and almost every part of the corpse.

Zhou Xin gulped down and covered her nose and mouth with her hands. The terrible smell itself was vomit inducing, but to see the mage probing the discolored corpse that was halfway decaying, Zhou Xin was at her limit.

She didn't want to look away. Her eyes stared fixedly at how Shin Minji searched every detail she could find on the body.

After what felt like a long time, Shin Minji stepped away from the coffin and made another gesture.

The dust that swirled around, swept through her hands and the corpse. Zhou Xin didn't really understand, but it looked like some kind of cleansing process.

"Sect leader," Shin Minji called out.

Her stern face had softened somehow and if Zhou Xin wasn't too nauseous, she could have sworn there was a worried frown.

"It is indeed a spirit's curse that caused his death, but there was another inflictor."

That was Shin Minji's conclusion.

Another inflictor meant that there was another curse on top of the one that killed the victim.

"A mage."

The sect leader's expression turned slightly darker, but he didn't look too surprised.

Shin Minji nodded as she continued, "And it had to be someone close to him. Most likely from this sect."

"Hmm."

A second later, the sect leader's face returned to how it was.

"That information is very helpful. Thank you. I'll have to investigate my residence a lot more thoroughly."

The way he said it sounded resolute.

Zhou Xin was silently glad that she would leave this place soon. It was filled with terrifying people. Why did she have to tag along with these two powerful mages anyway?

The sect leader closed the coffin lid back and the three of them bowed to give respect for the deceased.

"Now then, shall we take a look around the forest?" The sect leader asked as he walked out of the shrine. "I've called a few elders that knew of this incident and asked for help. It's a big forest, so they'll search ahead and mark the areas where the dark energy is more concentrated."

Shin Minji followed right after, but Zhou Xin stopped once she was in front of the threshold.

Earlier, the sect leader talked to the servant. Was it to inform the other elders? I was too far behind to hear what he said. I should have paid more attention.

Zhou Xin turned to her left and stared at something behind a large tree. Whoever had been hiding there had gone someplace else.

After making sure no one was around, and that the two mages in front of her had walked quite a distance, Zhou Xin pulled out a paper talisman from her sleeve. 

It was given to her by Kou this morning. Made out of regular paper with regular ink, it shouldn't draw too much attention as it didn't hold much spiritual energy.

Zhou Xin remembered his words.

'You know how to counter tracking spells, right? This one isn't activated, but I connected it with another one'

He had held out another paper talisman. It had different strokes and was made of materials with better qualities.

'If you burn this, then the one I have on me will perish as well. Light it up if you see anyone going into the forest. I won't be anywhere near the residence, so it should give me enough time to hide.'

He had created a simple warning system.

Zhou Xin held the paper talisman within two fingers, and muttered a few words.

The paper lit up in flames.

Then, Zhou Xin walked quickly towards the two mages she was supposed to follow before they got too far.

Somewhere deep in the forest.

On the drawn array that had dried, something glowed under the fabric of Kou's left sleeve.

And in another reality, Kou felt a stinging burn on his left upper arm.

Ouch!

If he was in control of his own body, he would definitely wince and take a look at his arm. However, the body he was in was still running without taking any notice of the pain.

Because Jiajia did not experience any burns in the current scene.

That must be A-Xin. Someone had gone into the forest.

Jiajia had been running for a while, but she was still halfway to reaching Tan residence. 

I can't go back yet. I still haven't found out about what happened to Jiajia. At the very least, I should find out how the Tan Clan responded to Jiajia's plea for help.

He can't go back empty handed. Kou had a habit of finishing any job he took on properly.

Of course, eliminating the spirits would have been quicker and a lot more efficient, but what if the curse comes back? What caused it?

How many resentful spirits were buried in that forest? Who did it?

Sure, Kou could break the curse right now, but what if there were more corpses buried here in the future? What if there were more curses?

As he was thinking about how to put an end to this incident, he caught a glance of a figure in the dark through Jiajia's sight.