Heaven’s Shadow

The familiar darkness descended upon the mountain as night fell, permeating through the lands as though a rising tide. The moon, which laid above the horizon, became the only source of illumination, casting just weak glimmers of moonlight upon the land. Unknowingly, the Black Jackals below had disappeared. Perhaps, in the end, due to their efforts proving to be futile, they chose to retreat helplessly.

The forest at the moment was completely silent, with just the call of insects that echoed faintly from time to time.

Lu Chen glanced at the stream once again. By now, the ruckus had already died down and there were no movements whatsoever.

Lu Chen had an unreadable expression. The face of the man hidden amidst the branches and leaves looked exceptionally cold and impassive, completely different from the warm and welcoming appearance usually shown before others. Under the faint moonlight, his pair of eyes looked exceptionally bright, just as though a beast lurking silently in the darkness.

The mountainous jungle after sunset was unmoving and cold. After some time, a figure suddenly dashed out from within the darkness. Despite staggering obviously, she ran with all her might, not caring the slightest about thorns that had hooked onto her clothes.

Following suit, very abruptly, howls could be heard once again from a distance behind the figure, seemingly alarmed by its sudden appearance. Then, a burst of terrifying roars resounded, drawing closer to the area.

Having heard the desolating calls behind her back, the black figure quivered. She picked up her speed immediately, and in one breath, reached in the vicinity of the tree where Lu Chen rested.

As the figure approached, Lu Chen peered down from the tree and knitted his eyebrows instantly. The figure who had a slim build, a beautiful appearance, but a terrified look was actually Yi Xin.

The young lady, at the moment, appeared to be filled with panic and despair. Seemingly entirely due to her will to survive, she had charged forward to escape with all of her might. It was a wonder how she had managed to survive all alone by the stream during the day.

Lu Chen furrowed his eyebrows. He peered at the darkness in the horizon and judged meticulously the distance from which the howls originated. Then, after pondering for a few moments, he stretched out his palms to press against the tree bark and slid down silently.

The moment his feet touched the ground, immediately, he felt completely different to when he was perched on top of the tree. There was a certain darkness behind him, but it seemed as though a pack of fearsome demonic beasts would leap out from within at any moment, and tear him into countless shreds. Without any hesitation, Lu Chen turned around and sprinted forward. In the terrains of the mountainous forest, his movements were nimble and agile, and it was as though he were a demonic beast. As such, his speed far exceeded that of Yi Xin, who was still fleeing with all her might before him.

In just a few moments, he had already caught up with the fleeing lady.

Lu Chen grabbed Yi Xin's arm from the back. Alarmed and quivering heavily, Yi Xin released a piercing scream. The scream sounded like the desolate call of an animal as it was ripped apart, and it carried the emotions of despair and frenzy as the animal exerted its final throes before death. Turning around, she sent a sword straight toward Lu Chen.

The sword created a piercing shrill as it traversed through the air. It could be seen that Yi Xin had used all of her strength.

Lu Chen stepped to the side, dodging her sword while calling out in a hushed voice, "It's me, Lu Chen."

As the sword stabbed into empty air, Yi Xin's body staggered forward with the accompanying momentum. Just when she was about to send forth another attack toward the figure who had grabbed her, she abruptly heard Lu Chen's words. At that moment, her body froze and disbelief flashed her face. Seeing Lu Chen, she pouted her lips and it seemed as though tears were about to fall. "Brother Lu, my Senior Uncle and Senior Brother..."

Lu Chen interrupted her snivel immediately, grabbed her hand, and dashed forward. At the same moment, he uttered anxiously, "Put that aside for now! We'll talk later after we escape."

Dragged by him, Yi Xin had no choice but to follow Lu Chen.

After running for a distance, Yi Xin found something amiss with the situation. Lu Chen had not brought her through the route which they took on the way up. Instead, he had dashed in another direction into another zone of densely populated woods. It was filled with thorns and bushes, and there were no visible paths whatsoever, making it incredibly tiring to run in.

After a short distance, not only were Yi Xin's clothes torn, four to five direct cuts had also appeared on her body.

"Are we on the wrong way?" Yi Xin shouted amidst the panic.

Without even turning around, Lu Chen continued to pull her forward. At the same time, he said, "Right, but with the Black Jackals around the corner, returning on the path we came from would be suicidal."

Yi Xin's mind was in a mess, but Lu Chen's forceful and secure grip on her hand caused her to subconsciously obey his directions.

In mere moments, the howling of the wild dogs in the darkness behind them had become so much clearer. It seemed that they were rushing in their direction at top speed.

The duo was traveling through an increasingly dense shrubbery filled with countless razor-sharp thorns. In no time, Yi Xin began hallucinating; she felt as if she were being dismembered into innumerable pieces, her entire body from top to bottom having suffered uncountable nicks from the serrated thorns and was even bleeding in several places from serious cuts.

Just as she was lost in fear, her foot slipped out of a sudden.

A downward-tilting slope, one that was exceedingly steep, appeared before them.

Yi Xin let out a scream of fear, but before she could react, Lu Chen had already dragged her along by her hand and the two of them tumbled down the hill. In an instant, they became two gourds rolling down the slope.

Within the darkness, the roaring of the wild hounds cut through the air, and in the blink of an eye, the hounds had appeared by the edge of the slope.

An odor hung in the air, but at this moment, Yi Xin couldn't be bothered about anything else. She had lost control over her entire body and was rolling unstoppably. Throughout, she had bumped into countless stones and wooden branches, causing her to be wounded all over.

The world appeared to be spinning, and stars appeared before her eyes. It seemed as though that body no longer belonged to her and it was on the verge of falling apart. Her mind had gone completely blank except for the single thought that lingered in her head. It probably went something like, "Am I really going to die in the wilderness?"

※※※

Without her knowing, the speed of her tumble slowed greatly all of a sudden, and after a distance, she finally came to a stop. For a moment, Yi Xin lied dazed. She stood up, but her body swung to the sides and she was on the ground once again. Just like that, it took multiple attempts before she managed to successfully keep her balance, although she remained trembling on the spot.

She panted loudly as she glanced at her surroundings. Having arrived at the foot of the hill, she observed flora and fauna around her, but there weren't any particularly tall trees. Moreover, she could faintly hear the burblings of a stream.

"Wang Wang... Grrr..."

Ferocious howls resonated in the air once again. Yi Xin shuddered as she turned back to take a look. In the midst of the darkness, under the glimmer of illumination the moon provided, she could see shadows dancing at the top of the hill. They were the savage Black Jackals who had been pursuing her persistently.

A hand suddenly stretched over from the shadows beside her. Lu Chen appeared from the darkness and grabbed her hand, then the two ran swiftly away from the foot of the hill.

"Hold your breath!" He shouted loudly.

Yi Xin was taken aback. "What..."

Before she could even finish her words, she felt her body go weightless. Lu Chen had pulled her into a leap!

As they flew over the patch of grass before them, the closed terrain before them suddenly widened. However, beneath their feet, there wasn't any land, but a rapid stream flowing through the mountain.

Pu!

With a loud splash, water spattered in all directions. The duo had plunged into the rapid stream and in an instant, they had disappeared from sight.

...