11 Forest Run
Grey nimbuses clogged up all the sunlight with their gargantuan masses. With this, there came a cooling temperature that gradually enveloped the pink and green treed forest.
Underneath the diversely colored treetops, on the forest floor, there was Wu Niu. He was racing away at the fastest speed that his body would let him. Sweat droplets slithered off of his body, and what remained drenched his robes and pants. He was and had been sprinting at max speed for nearly the last fifteen miles.
Wu Niu's body was at wits' end. Each of his aching cells desperately cried out for not but a moment's breath, one they wouldn't receive.
Wu Niu disregarded his exhaustion, for he knew he couldn't stop moving forward. Since he, like all others, was born with "Earthly" realm qi (and also hadn't improved upon it since birth), it was guaranteed that his stamina was nominally weaker than the stamina of his pursuers.
Having lived his whole life on the tiny Wu family estate, Wu Niu knew the qi of each and every person living there. To this effect, he was almost certain that at least a few of the men chasing him would have some variation of detection qi.
Detection qis are a group of qis that are classified by their ability to sense the locations of creatures, objects, or potentially anything. Hunters, military scouts, and sometimes even escorts; use this type of qi. It's an all-around practical qi, good for reconnaissance and tracking
Wu Niu didn't know much about the finer details of detection qi, but he did know that it could spread out for miles. Now how far exactly was dependent on the qi strength of the user.
Unfortunately, as things stood, it was nigh impossible to ascertain whether or not that range extended out to Wu Niu. All the more reason to keep running.
As long as Wu Niu had a pulse, he wouldn't yield to fatigue.
***
After an indeterminate amount of time, Wu Niu had started to hyperventilate. And yet, he nevertheless managed to maintain his sprinting speed.
Every second from this point on was integral for Wu Niu. As long as he could run them out of stamina, there was a chance that he could win. That's all he wanted—to win.
-Keep running! Keep running! Keep running! Keep running! Keep running!
Wu Niu repeated those two words over and over in his head. It was his way of coping with the physical toll his body was taking.
- Keep running! Keep running! Keep running! Keep running! Keep running!
***
Hours had passed, and Wu Niu hadn't even recognized it. His thoughts were practically vacant from fatigue. Yet, in some blatant defiance to human biology, he still clung to consciousness. Moreover, he was even maintaining a running speed.
Wu Niu had, at this point, ran out of the pink and green forest without even realizing it. He was now running through a large field of tall grass. Within it, there was a various assortment of critters and demon beasts, all of which Wu Niu unknowingly ran past blissfully unaware. His brain was far too exhausted to react to any external stimuli other than the ones related to running forward.
If one of the demon beasts were to attack Wu Niu, he'd be well and truly screwed. Luckily, none of them showed so much as an ounce of interest in him.
Those encouraging words still repeated in what little conscious thought Wu Niu still held.
- Keep running! Keep running! Keep running! Keep running! Keep running!
***
The Sun had begun to set behind a large mountain range. The orange sunlight discolored the green flora of the forest, in where Wu Niu now was.
Wu Niu was incapable of recognizing the forest he was now in. The trees of this forest were all of the same species, one that was entirely green—completely different from the trees back home. Also, this forest had bamboo canes that stuck out from the moist ground every few steps.
Although no longer running, Wu Niu was still jogging onward. Every couple of seconds Wu Niu would bounce from cane to cane, completely unaware of it happening.
-Ru-n-n. K-e-ep.
His thoughts were completely unintelligible and incoherent—much more liken to noise then thought. His dull, unfocused eyes quite clearly represented this much. They remained unmoving in his head, rendered inactive.
***
Coming out from a clearing, Wu Niu obliviously ran toward a fast-moving river.
As Wu Niu entered the frigid water, his body gradually came to a stop. The adrenaline of movement was the only thing that was keeping him from passing out, and now that he had stopped moving, so to did his mind stop thinking.
Falling onto his back, Wu Niu was quickly swept away by the frigid river's current. A state of deep unconsciousness overtook him.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump…
