Chapter 6: Caught (Sad).
“Pointless struggle…”
Li Tianxing slowly raised his hand, a drop of warm blood staining his fingertip.
At the same moment, a horse’s neigh and the sound of hooves rapidly fading echoed from the depths of the forest.
The direction led to the darkest, most miasma-choked part of the ancient woods.
Li Tianxing didn’t immediately give chase.
He stood still, his thumb slowly rubbing the sticky, cooling blood on his fingertip, feeling its unique aura.
In a blink, his figure vanished.
Towering trees blotted out the sky, decayed leaves piling underfoot, exuding a damp, moldy stench.
He moved like an intangible breeze, weaving effortlessly through tangled roots and hanging vines.
His toes occasionally tapped slick moss or exposed rock, propelling him forward several yards in a single bound.
He didn’t need to track the faint hoofprints in the mud or the girl’s scent, diluted by the reek of rotting leaves.
He glided past a cluster of eerie, blue-glowing mushrooms, his passing breeze disturbing fist-sized, venomous spiders perched on dead wood.
This ancient forest, teeming with danger, could make any intruder lose their way, succumb to fear, or meet their end.
But to Li Tianxing, it felt like home.
He could sense Jiang Ningshuangkeyboard: I can sense her location.
She was riding that summoned beast, frantically charging in one direction.
Almost there… I’m almost free…
This forest is so vast… he won’t find me…
Just need to get through that mist ahead…
A cold smirk curved Li Tianxing’s lips.
…
Half a day later, the chase was nearing its end.
He paused on a massive tree branch, his figure fully concealed in the dense, shadowed foliage.
His gaze pierced through layers of obstacles, locking precisely onto a figure resting briefly by a murky stream not far below.
That flowing white dress, so out of place in the dim, filthy forest, stood out starkly… and vulnerably.
Mud and green moss stains marred the hem, her ethereal grace now tinged with disheveled desperation, like a white butterfly trapped in a swamp.
Li Tianxing watched silently.
He raised his hand slowly, aiming at the panicked white figure from a distance, and lightly… tapped the air.
Then, with a flicker, he vanished again.
This time, he didn’t bother hiding his aura, plummeting to the ground, shattering the forest’s silence, heading straight for the girl by the stream.
Jiang Ningshuang jolted, whipping around in horror, her heart sinking to the depths.
Damn it, how could he catch up so fast?
After a moment’s thought, she collapsed to the ground, as if accepting her fate.
She thought back to days ago, the beast tide stretching ten miles.
She’d fought alone, her white robe soaked red with beast blood and her own wounds, her spiritual energy nearly drained.
Yet, with unyielding will, she’d carved a bloody path through the carnage.
Now, her arms were useless, the searing pain in her shoulder joints constant.
Old wounds from the battle hadn’t healed, her organs ached faintly, and her lunar energy was long exhausted.
Every slight movement tore at her meridians.
She was no more than fish on a chopping block.
What was left to fight for?
If not Li Tianxing, someone else would come.
They wanted her dead.
Her ice-blue eyes were calm.
Before she embarked on this path of defying fate, when she was still a naive child, her mother—a woman of dazzling talent who ultimately fell tragically—had taught her the brutal truth of this road.
Half a move too slow—that was the difference between life and death.
She’d witnessed clan elders, once radiant with unparalleled talent and fame, die inexplicably in secret realms, reduced to dust.
Worse, some had their consciousness sealed, their bodies forged into puppets, forced to fight for their enemies, becoming the butt of cruel jokes.
Life and death?
The moment she awakened her Lunar Saint Body and stepped onto this path, she’d cast such concerns beyond the heavens.
Li Tianxing loomed over her, his eyes gleaming with mockery.
“Run. Why aren’t you running anymore?”
“Hmph! Kill me or torture me as you please, but if you think I’ll beg, dream on!”
Jiang Ningshuang tilted her head high, like a proud swan.
They’d schemed so much—her odds were grim.
Better to die with dignity.