Chapter 9: Scarlet Moon Forest

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Scarlet Moon Forest

***

Five days later.

The carriage carrying Ye Xuan finally stopped in Guyang City, a city located near the Scarlet Moon Forest.

Getting here had taken five days of travel with rests. At every transit city, Ye Xuan had switched from one carriage to another.

This was his fourth and final carriage. To reach the Scarlet Moon Forest, he only had to go on foot.

He walked into the city and passed several townspeople, mostly mortals. He saw only a few cultivators.

There aren’t many cultivators here. The ones who are here seem to belong to just one sect.

Ye Xuan turned and saw cultivators in green sect robes. There were quite a few of them in Guyang City, though far fewer than in Yanlong City.

According to his map, he had to head east to reach the forest.

He stopped by a small eatery. He hadn’t had a chance to eat that day after arriving in Guyang City, so he decided to have lunch before continuing his journey to the Scarlet Moon Forest.

"Old man," Ye Xuan called, "one bowl of noodles, please."

"Coming right up, Fellow Daoist."

Ye Xuan took a table outside because it was so crowded inside. The townspeople seemed to be pouring in to enjoy lunch and chat before heading back to work.

He sat alone and opened a pouch of food, handing a piece of meat to Qingyu. The white snake gobbled it up.

"Excuse me, Fellow Daoist."

Ye Xuan looked up and saw a waitress at his table. She hadn’t come alone. Two female cultivators were with her.

"We’re very busy right now. If you’re eating alone, Fellow Daoist, would you mind if these two ladies shared your table?"

Ye Xuan said nothing for a moment, then looked around and realized every table was full. His was the last one.

Not wanting to seem selfish, he held out a hand and invited the two women to sit. They thanked him and, without any fuss, introduced themselves.

"I’m Hao Yue, and this is my junior sister, Bai Ling’er."

"I’m Ye Xuan," Ye Xuan said.

"Thank you for letting us sit here. I thought we’d have to wait until another customer left," Hao Yue said.

"It’s busy. I didn’t want to be selfish," Ye Xuan said.

"Senior Ye is truly considerate."

The waitress returned with bowls of noodles for the three of them. Ye Xuan took his and started eating right away, as did Hao Yue and Bai Ling’er.

While they ate, Hao Yue and Bai Ling’er kept chatting, though not much. Ye Xuan didn’t. He preferred to finish his lunch quickly.

Ye Xuan finished first, followed by Hao Yue and Bai Ling’er. When they went to pay, they were surprised to find they were out of taels and had only spirit stones left.

Paying for two bowls of noodles worth 30 taels with a single spirit stone made no sense. Ye Xuan noticed their trouble.

He called the waitress over and handed her 45 taels for three bowls of noodles. The two women across from him were startled.

"Y-You don’t need to pay for our meal, Senior Ye," Hao Yue said. "We were planning to exchange our spirit stones."

"Keep your spirit stones. They’ll help you cultivate."

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Ye."

Ye Xuan stood and left the eatery. Now that he had eaten, he felt completely ready.

After passing through the east city gate, he would only need to follow the road to reach the Scarlet Moon Forest.

At the east gate, his steps stopped when a gate guard halted him.

"Where are you headed?"

"I want to go to the Scarlet Moon Forest."

"Which sect are you from?" the man asked.

He tapped his bag of holding and showed his Sky Cloud Sect disciple plate. The sight of the token startled both guards, and they cleared the way for him.

Right after leaving Guyang City, Ye Xuan noticed something. No one else was walking with him.

The only traffic was horse-drawn carriages rushing along the dirt road.

Five days had passed, and he still remembered the shop owner’s warning about the forest, said to be inhabited by monsters of an unusual snake race.

On the way to Guyang City, he had asked several people about the truth of the Scarlet Moon Forest. They all gave the same answer.

The forest was dangerous and always claimed victims, and a mysterious snake entity ruled it, one that could drag people into an eternal illusory mist.

Ye Xuan looked to the side. "I know this place is dangerous, but I’m sure you aren’t planning to lead us to our deaths, right?"

Qingyu shook its head. That was enough to ease Ye Xuan’s unease, and his steps stopped at a crossroads.

The straight road led to the forest, while the roads to the right and left led to other cities and villages.

Ye Xuan took a deep breath and began walking down the straight road.

"Where are you going, Senior Ye?"

Ye Xuan was startled when a familiar voice came from behind him. He turned and saw Hao Yue and Bai Ling’er arriving on their flying swords.

So they’re Foundation Establishment cultivators?

"The Scarlet Moon Forest is one of many forests ruled by spiritual beast races," Hao Yue said. "With your Qi Gathering cultivation base, you’ll have a hard time surviving."

Now it was Ye Xuan who showed them respect. He pressed his hands together and bowed his head.

"Thank you for the warning, Senior Hao, Senior Bai."

"But there’s something I have to do in that forest, so I can’t turn back," Ye Xuan said.

Hao Yue and Bai Ling’er were silent for a moment, then sighed in response. Hao Yue stepped forward gracefully, with Bai Ling’er following at her side.

"We don’t know what you plan to do, but we’ll tell you a little about the Scarlet Moon Forest."

"I’d appreciate your guidance," Ye Xuan said, still bowing.

"There are nine spiritual beast races in this forest. The weakest are Mortal-Beasts, and the strongest are Earth-Beasts."

"Nighttime is when they hunt most actively. I suggest you take shelter in a cave inside the forest."

"Understood," Ye Xuan said. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Hao."

Hao Yue raised one finger toward Ye Xuan. "One more thing. If you hear a voice, ignore it. If you smell something delicious, ignore it."

"And if you find a red waterfall, run from it as fast as you can."

"They say that the waterfall is home to the Blazing Flame Serpent spiritual beast race, a race on par with Earth Beasts."

"If you’re foolish enough to fight them, you’ll only die!"