Chapter fourteen: At the forest

"Wow! So many trees!"Yingyue exclaimed, her eyes large pools of stars as she gaped around.

Their destination had turned out to be a massive forest, but she didn't mind at all. Why should she, when she could climb to her heart's content?

"A-Ling, look. Don't you like it?".

Ling looked up at the trees, but offered no response, his face a little too blank.

He had been like that since the sword episode with his sister. Yingyue knew this wasn't the time to prod, so she let him be.

"Listen up".

All attention turned to Meilian.

"The exercise begins now. You will be grouped in teams of four, and will work together with your teammates. Your first task will be to pitch the team tents. Afterwards, you will be free to hunt for game, also as a team. Keep in mind that during the hunt, I will be everywhere, keeping an eye on everything, so don't even think about going against the rules. The hunt isn't indefinite, so once you hear my whistle playing, return here immediately, whether you have caught anything or not. And if you haven't, you will have empty stomachs to reprimand you. If, while hunting, you run into any trouble, release a signal, and I'll be there. Is all of this understood?".

"Yes, Shijie".

"Good. Now for the teams"she said, taking a large scroll out of her sleeves.

Assigning the teams didn't take as long as Yingyue expected. In the end, her team comprised of herself, Ling, Chao and Haoran.

"We're together"she beamed at them.

"My misfortune, my nightmare"Haoran rolled his eyes.

"Hey"Chao nudged him with an elbow.

"Don't 'hey' me,"Haoran retorted"you can display enough niceness for the two of us".

"Please don't mind him"Chao said apologetically to the other two.

"I don't plan to"Yingyue assured him.

"So, can you pitch a tent?"Chao asked.

"No. Can you?".

"No. I've never had to".

"Me neither"Haoran added.

"Wow"was Yingyue's conclusion.

"Aren't we a jolly bunch"Haoran rolled his eyes again.

"Hey,"Yingyue replied"you're just as useless as the rest of us right now".

"Now now, you two"Chao cut in before Haoran could retaliate"we can figure it out, I'm sure".

"Yes, let's do it together"Yingyue agreed"A-Ling... A-Ling?".

The trio turned to see the fourth teammate standing off to one side like a fence sitter, staring up at the darkening sky.

"Is he serious?"Haoran muttered.

"A-Ling"Yingyue called again.

But he was clearly present only bodily, because he did not hear her. Not until she snapped her fingers at his ears.

His gaze snapped to her, slightly irritated.

"What?".

"We're trying to figure out how to pitch a tent".

"Oh,"his irritation vanished"I can do that".

"You can?".

"Sure".

Minutes later, three of them gathered around like children witnessing a magic trick for the first time as they watched him somehow convert a colorful bundle into a proper shelter fit for four people.

"Wow, you're not as useless as I thought after all"Haoran remarked.

"A-Han"Chao called sternly.

"What? That was a compliment".

"What compliment?"Yingyue retorted"don't you dare bully A-Ling".

"We should get going. We don't have much time"Ling said, already walking away.

"That's right"Yingyue hurried to catch up with him.

The other two followed suit, and they walked in silence for a while, going deeper into the forest.

Haoran glared at Ling's back, still miffed that Chao had been forced to defend this total stranger,who had not even uttered a single word of thanks.

Instead, he had ignored Chao and ridden with this idiot friend of his.

"They say the members of the Guangchang clan are masters of archery. Does that include a spineless vegetable like you?"he said.

"Hey..."Chao and Yingyue began at the same time, but Ling interrupted.

"So says the one who couldn't hold his own against an apple"he said coolly, turning to face Haoran with a detached expression.

"You...".

"If I shoot down one of those", Ling continued, pointing up at a cluster of pawpaws on a tall tree"you'll kowtow and apologize for your rudeness. How's that?".

Haoran's face went purple with anger.

"How dare you...".

"What? If you won't even let me try, you're basically admitting that you're just an idiot running your mouth, and you'll have to apologize for that".

Haoran looked from left to right, but neither Yingyue nor Chao was willing to help him out of this unprecedented situation.

"Fine. Let's watch you give it a shot".

Without further ado, Ling nocked an arrow and let it fly. As though guided by an unseen force, it struck true, and the next second, one of the fruits had fallen at their feet.

He cocked his head.

"Well?".

"Well, what?"Haoran retorted"how are we to know that wasn't just a stroke of luck?".

Ling raised an eyebrow, and Haoran could not understand why that simple gesture suddenly made him feel like the most ridiculous being in living history.

Then Ling shot three arrows at once, and three more pawpaws fell.

Now Haoran was really screwed.

"I suppose you can go ahead now. Or else it's a secret mantra of the Pan clan to avoid fulfilling your own part of bargains?".

"Don't bring my clan into this!".

"Sure. Just kowtow".

Haoran gritted his teeth. Three pairs of eyes were digging into him, and worst of all, Chao was not even taking his side.

Finally, with painfully stiff movements, he knelt down and bowed until his forehead met the ground. No matter how much he hated to do this, the dignity of the Pan clan meant a lot more to him than his pride.

"Guangchang Ling, I apologize for my rudeness to you".

"That will do. Let's continue"Ling turned around and walked on.

Chao leaned closer to Yingyue.

"I've never seen that side of him before"he whispered "have you?".

"Nope. Guess that's how he gets when he's pissed off".

"A-Han certainly went a little too far"Chao said.

Haoran,who had wasted no time at all in standing up, glared at him before marching off after Ling.

"Wait, A-Han"Chao ran after him"are you mad at me? But you were being mean. You can't expect me to take your side when you're being a bully, can you? A-Han?!".

"Don't call me. You have new friends now, lucky you"Haoran harrumphed.

"Quit acting like you're jealous or something".

"Who's jealous?Quit talking nonsense".

"Stop,"Yingyue suddenly spoke,"do you guys hear that?".

The boys went silent, listening carefully even as they looked around.

Sure enough, they could hear leaves rustling, but for some reason the sound seemed to be coming from everywhere. Then a pair of glowing silver eyes emerged from a cluster of thicket some steps from Ling.

"There"Ling said.

The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Yingyue stepped in front of him, effectively hiding him behind her.

"What is that thing?"she asked.

"A wolf, maybe?"Chao spoke uncertainly.

"Wolf? That seems unlikely".

"Hey, you guys probably haven't noticed,"Haoran said"but we've strayed really far away from the camp".

"We have, right?"Yingyue added.

Before anyone could comment further, the creature lunged.

The team scattered.

Yingyue and Ling went east, while the other two stood in a cluster of bamboo towards the west, where Haoran kept a firm hold on Chao's hand as though he feared that the creature would somehow drag him away from a distance of several feet.

Having missed its prey, the creature turned slowly to face Yingyue and Ling, stinky drool dripping from the massive fangs jutting out of its gaping mouth.

"What the hell is that thing?"Yingyue blurted out.

Her rhetorical question was not without good reason. It was a beast unlike any they had ever seen. It had the body a very large dog, with fangs no dog could possess, large silver eyes that glowed like lamps, and was so hairy she could have made fur coats for every single person in the Pan sect (including the elders) out of its shaggy black hide.

As soon as it made to move again, Ling fired at it, but his arrow snapped like a twig on its hide.

"Wow"Yingyue muttered"now I'm too scared to try Xinying on it".

Ling's attack seemed to have annoyed it, because it suddenly made a beeline for him.

Without thinking, Yingyue drew Xinying and struck a very fierce blow.

A human being would have been bisected, but it simply reacted like a dog that had been whipped, turning its face to the other side.

"This is strange"Chao said.

"What is?"Yingyue asked.

"There shouldn't be any monsters here. The seniors just carried out a clean sweep in this forest yesterday night, to prepare it for us juniors".

"Maybe they missed this one?"she suggested.

"Can you even hear yourself?"Haoran retorted "the A-list were there,dunce".

"A-Han..."Chao sighed.

Even in this situation, he could still find time to call someone names?

Unfortunately, Chao could not find the time to say anything else, because the beast went for them next. Immediately, Haoran pushed the other boy behind him and drew his sword, but before either party could attack,a gold tinted sword flew seemingly out of nowhere and slashed powerfully at its side.

The beast, though not incurring any obvious damages, was sent flying anyway. It crashed a long distance away, but was soon back on its feet. Meilian landed, also apparently from nowhere, and the sword flew back into her hand.

"I said to release a signal, did I not?"she asked coldly, not even looking at any of them.

"Shijie"Chao called with relief.

Ignoring him, Meilian stepped calmly towards the beast, which began to move backwards, step by step.

Then, unexpectedly, it actually turned tail and ran like a frightened rabbit. Meilian gave chase, and soon both of them were out of sight.

There was silence for a while, until Yingyue broke it.

"Wow,"she muttered"that was...wow".

"Not really,"Ling replied"if there really were no monsters here yesterday night,then what was that one doing here?".

"Could it have arrived here today?"Yingyue asked.

"That's not possible,"Haoran said"the seniors set up an array. If anyone or anything had trespassed by entering the forest, they would have felt it immediately".

It did not take long for the implication of those words to dawn on Yingyue. This simply meant... either this beast had somehow managed to decieve the array,or something even more alarming was going on.