Crimson Woods

Lin Fan didn't like any of this.

The feeling of being a pawn on someone else's chessboard.

Imperial officials, Beasts, Master Tan and Dark Envoys...

Damn all of you.

There was only one way for Lin Fan to get above all of this.

Get into the Qing Feng sect, learn to cultivate and become a Martial Arts Fighter.

With this determined thought, Lin Fan ran and got back to the village head's house.

By this time, the tax collections outside were already over; the villagers queuing up with their anxious looks were nowhere to be seen.

Inside the house were Ho Fu, the tax officers, and two men seated in the living room.

Lin Fan recognized the two men.

They were with Zhao Rui when he first saw them.

"Please, let me substitute this tea and have a toast with you," the tax officials offered to toast with the two men from Qing Feng sect.

Their attitude toward them was so demure, a far cry from their holier-than-thou attitude when dealing with the villagers.

The men from Qing Feng sect smiled awkwardly, took a sip from their teacups, and didn't engage any further with the tax officials.

"I..."

Being experienced officials, the one who proposed the toast knew better than to keep his mouth shut.

"Lin Fan, come in. I was about to find you."

Ho Fu waved his hand and motioned for Lin Fan to come join them.

"This is who I was talking about, one of the hunters in the village. The other experienced hunter is still recovering from an injury, so this young man, Lin Fan, will be your guide in the woods."

The two men from Qing Feng sect turned and had a good look at Lin Fan.

One of them saw the pendant, was pleasantly surprised and said, "Pleased to meet you.

"I am Bai Qiao, and this is my younger brother Bai Ti.

"You must be the hunter who sold the fire deer to our senior martial sister.

"With the fire deer, she was able to have her Breakthrough Elixir, and now she is in her breakthrough process from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation.

"She will join us when she successfully comes out of her breakthrough process."

The tax officials, seeing how Bai Qiao talked with Lin Fan, took a sip of their tea, and it somehow tasted bitter.

Bai Qiao had a clean look and face with gentle features like a scholar.

On the other hand, Bai Ti, with his stout figure, looked much more like a butcher, especially with his bushy eyebrows.

His personality was also what you'd expect.

"Enough of the chat and stop wasting time on this young boy. Let's just go to the woods, do what we have to, and call it a day," Bai Ti said impatiently.

Bai Qiao wasn't pleased and said, "Bai Ti, don't be rude."

"It's all right. Let me grab my stuff from home and we can set off to the woods," Lin Fan said.

"Then, we shall wait for you here."

Lin Fan clasped his hands and bowed to Bai Qiao, turned to grab his stuff at home.

"Breakthrough process...Foundation Establishment...Core Formation..."

On his way back, Lin Fan silently repeated all these new terms he had just encountered.

...

Inside the woods, it was not how Lin Fan remembered it to be.

No sunlight could get through.

The leaves of the trees should have turned yellow and withered onto the ground by now.

What he saw in front of him wasn't the case.

A sea of red when he looked up.

Dark crimson red to be precise, reminding Lin Fan of blood that had dried out, leaving a smudge of death up in the sky.

Red-colored mist also filled the air.

A very strong smell of decay and rot forcefully entered his nose, causing him to gag.

The three of them used their hands to try to fan away the smell.

It didn't do much.

The stench was everywhere.

Was this change due to the blood pool mentioned by the Dark Envoy?

"Was it always like this, or is this something new even for a local like you?" Bai Qiao asked.

"No, it's never been like this. Maybe the Dark Lotus Sect has something to do with it, trying out evil cultivation or something."

Lin Fan couldn't tell them about the blood pool directly and could only try to give out hints.

Bai Qiao frowned; he didn't expect to be facing something unfamiliar like this.

Even Bai Ti was now on full alert, holding his sword tight in his hands.

"I've heard about an evil cultivation method called the blood pool.

"Blood from human sacrifices will be drained into this pool.

"Demonic beasts will then be put inside the pool to kill each other.

"The last survivor of the demonic beasts will be harvested for its core, meat, and blood.

"The Dark Lotus sect must be desperate to try and do this.

"It is easily discovered due to the sheer number of human sacrifices needed.

"And yet, here we are..."

Bai Qiao explained what the blood pool was all about.

Scanning around for dangers, he had made his decision: withdraw and call for backup.

This was something out of his hands.

The mission that Qing Feng sect had received was just to clear beasts roaming near the edge of the woods.

They didn't expect to deal with Dark Lotus sect and blood pool.

"Let's get back to the village first. We need backup," Bai Qiao said as he started to take steps back.

Bai Ti nodded; he was hotheaded but not dumb.

"Shh..."

However, Lin Fan didn't move; he pointed to the front then took out his bow and armed it with an arrow.

Inside his head, a familiar sound had erupted.

[Ding!]

[Detected soul with malevolent intent incoming!]

[Terminate demonic beast with malevolent intent for 50 vengeance points.]

Lin Fan looked at the 50 vengeance points.

The highest out of all the enemies he had to deal with.

Suddenly, a huge roar erupted, and the birds flew away from the crimson red canopy.