Twisted Canopies

The snow howled fiercely. It was hard to see.

The group of nine; three grown men and the shaking youths that followed behind them, crouched on top the roof of a small pavillion.

This structure was a distance away from the inn. The visibility was so poor that they could not see more than three meters ahead.

"We have to keep moving. The weather will cover us." This was said by Pu'er. Scarred man and short soldier grunted their agreements. Zero had his sharp sight fixed on the inn for a while.

They did not stay on the roof long. They were gone before the explosion. The black cloaked men lead them through narrow alleys, keeping away from sight. They managed to get far enough so they were at the edge of the fisherman village, right at the west bank of the frozen river.

"We have to cross. The ice is stable because of the weather. Just make sure not to slip."

Zero was absent minded. His hands were over his chest, clutching the scroll. How long till he faltered again? Anything could happen. Anything at all.

' Do not speak unless spoken to. Do not look anyone in the eyes. Breathe and do not think too much. '

He repeated these words in his mind, hoping to gain some semblance of control.

The wind blew on.

On the other side of the river, was a forest of giant trees. If one wanted to see the top of these trees, one would have to tip their head back to the very end. Even at that, it was impossible to see.

They had entered the Twisted Canopies. A corrupt land according to the scarred soldier. His eyes scanned the area. "Those imperials with their damned love of purity would not dare enter a place of great yin concentration like this. We'll look for a clearing and wait for Daiyu. "

Zero noticed how his senses dulled in the presence of such rich concentrations of dark mana. He took deep breaths, kept his eyes on his tattered, oversized boots and walked behind the group.

The trees, he noticed, seemed to breathe. As their name gave away, they had a twisted nature. Their trunks were severely mangled, resembling old and frayed ropes. In the darkness, it was hard to tell if their leaves were green or pure black. Scarred man had said they were pitch black but appeared green if stared at long enough.

Zero looked deeply at these things, wondering how something could look so dead yet alive at the same time.

A group of ravens cawed ahead, breaking through the whistling sound of the snow. The group of youths had begun shivering from the weather. The came upon a small clearing.

"No fire. If not we'll risk alerting the Phantoms. Keep together to stay warm. "

The only girl in the group, a short pudgy lass with pig tails and a nose that fit the description, frowned in discontent.

Pu'er took off his cloak. "Use this girl." To the rest of the group of youngsters, he said, "you all better get some sleep. The cold will not kill you in our presence. We will spare some Qi energy to keep you warm through the night."

Immediately he said so, the youngsters visibly relaxed and settled to the snow. Only Zero seemed on edge. His eyes were fixated on the trees around. The scroll felt hot.

"Did you not hear me, kid? Get some sleep. We set off at dawn. "

Zero nodded slowly, but chose a spot far from the rest. They watched him with caution, the others. He looked back at the trees. Something was not right. He did not know if it was a misleading intuition of his, but this clearing seemed grandly off.

"I'll take first watch," Scarred man said to Pu'er who patted his shoulder and lay with abandon on the cold, crunchy snow. In the darkness, a strange expression grew on the latter's face as he looked in the direction of the village. No one saw it, of course. The night was dark.

No one saw it but Zero, eyes as pale as the moon. He watched the satisfied and smug expression on the man's face with confusion.

What could possibly have made him so fulfilled?

Daiyu...

Zero glanced back to the man. Of course. Pu'er for some reason did not like her leadership. He did not like the woman. Or simply put, he wished to be the one in command. Zero looked away. He had his reasons, who was he to judge?

Daiyu was not particularly special to him. The only reason she stood out was the small but undoubtedly strong fact that since his death, she had been the only one to show him some semblance of kindness. It was extremely subtle, and she definitely had some motives behind it. But Zero who was so alone and uncertain within, had soaked up this kindness.

He shut his eyes, hands over the scroll, breaths slowing.

The night carried on.

Something slithered down Zero's back, waking him up swiftly. He rose, alarmed. The night was still pitch black and the snow had increased.

When his eyes cleared he saw Scarred man still on duty moving back in the direction of the frozen river. His eyes were blank, like he was far away. Zero thought this strange but did not approach him for fear of doing anything to prompt the Echo looking for an excuse to kill.

Instead, he chose to follow him quietly. The rest of the group were deep in sleep, Heaps of snow had blanketed over them. Zero followed in Scarred man's footsteps. He watched him go towards the river and suddenly stop. The man reached into his cloak and brought out a knife. Zero approached more carefully now, thinking he had been noticed.

That was not the case, however. The scarred man raised this knife to his mouth and with a forceful move, plunged it straight in so the tip peeked out the nape of his wide neck. Zero's eyes widened and he dashed forward, hoping to help the man.

The latter painfully gurgled up blood, hunched over the river. This blood flowed on top the ice, creating sizzling sounds. It was like the river was eating it up. He seemed to be struggling to move but only ended up hunching more over the ice. Zero pushed the man away from the banks and he fell on his back.

His eyes had lost the blank state and he appeared to be fully aware of himself now.

"Hold on, mister. I-I will help..." Zero did not know whether to rip the knife out or not. The man was a Golden Core cultivator. This would not kill him as it had not severed his dantian. His sea of Qi however would be damaged, nothing too serious of course. It was just a low grade knife.

Taking the man's strength level into consideration, Zero ripped out the knife and immediately, tore off a piece of his black cloak and wrapped it over his neck. He was still gurgling blood but it had slowed compared to before.

Zero wondered what would have happened had he stayed hunched over the hungry river. He would have bled out for sure. The young man's intuition was not wrong. This was a highly disturbing place. Underestimating a land of great Yin was a great mistake.

"Can you move, mister?" The scarred man tried to nod but stopped from the pain. Zero understood and helped him up.

Together, they staggered back to the clearing.

Twisted canopies beared down on them. Zero felt as though eyes were watching him from every angle. And this was just the entrance of the forest.

He helped the scarred man rest on the snow, close to the short injured soldier. Then he woke Pu'er and told him all that had happened. The man observed him distastefully. His eyes seemed to accuse him indirectly but he did not say anything. Zero's jaw clenched.

No.

The young man immediately retraced his steps back to the corner he had dozed off in. Avoid thinking anything, breathe, he told himself. His eyes closed and he slept.

By dawn, when the snow had ceased and the pitch black leaves of the twisted trees danced in the budding winter sun, Daiyu was nowhere to be seen.

"Let's get going then, " Pu'er commanded, an almost undetectable influx of satisfaction in his voice. Zero caught on to it but was unconcerned about that.

He looked warily at the trees surrounding them. The scent of yin was extremely strong. It reminded him of the rot of the flesh monsters.

The group moved deeper into this enigmatic forest. The trees seemed to sway in delight.