It stood between the trees like a shadow stitched from the very heart of the Wuhen Forest—tall, lean, and rippling with muscle under, its fur the color of moonless night. Its eyes glowed faintly amber, focused, intelligent. Its claws flexed once. Then it moved.
She ran.
The moment she laid eyes on that beast, she knew she was no match for it.
No plan, no direction—just instinct. Her feet tore through the brush, leaping roots and ducking low branches. She heard it behind her—branches snapping, leaves rustling, the heavy rhythm of pursuit. Chen Kangle felt her heart slammed in her chest, like a caged beast. Her lungs burned, but she didn't stop. She couldn't.
"Don't look back," She told mherself. "Don't—"
But she did. And that was a mistake.
The beast was gaining on her, more than she'd dared imagine. It wasn't charging blindly—it was hunting. Calculating.
"It's toying with me." Chen Kangle paled at the thought that that beast can overtake her whenever it wanted. Her breath caught, and in that split-second of distraction, her foot caught on a root.
She fell.
A sharp cry tore from her throat as she feel weightless and the ground vanished beneath her. She rolled, bounced off a rock, and slid down a shallow hill blanketed in moss and damp earth. Sticks and leaves tangled in her hair. Thorns scraped her arms. When Chen Kangle finally came to a stop, she lay still, face down in the mud, stunned and aching all over.
Chen Kangle groaned, pushing herself up on trembling arms. Blood trickled from her lip. Her right ankle throbbed, maybe twisted. She blinked away tears—not from pain, but from the sheer shock of it all.
Oh god no, I just had a second chance at life, am I going to lose it again? How bad is my luck? The heavens must be laughing at me.
But then she realized something else. It was… quiet.
Too quiet.
She didn't hear the beast crashing after her, no panting breath or snapping twigs. Just the whisper of the wind through the trees above and the distant murmur of the Luoshui River.
She was wondering if the beast had stopped chasing her.
Why?
Chen Kangle didn't dare call out. Instead, she held her breath and listened harder.
That's when she heard it—soft, like a bell tolling from beneath the earth. A single chime, faint and eerie, almost musical. It didn't belong here.
She turned slowly, scanning the trees around her. The hill she'd fallen down was shallow, but steep enough to hide her from view. Above, she could just make out where the beast had stood—but it wasn't there now. Nothing was.
She stood, shakily, testing her ankle. It held, barely.
This wasn't safety.
This was something else.
The trees here were older and gnarled with moss, their trunks twisted as if shaped by forgotten hands. Mist pooled at the base of the hill, thick and silver, curling around my legs like grasping fingers. She staggered back, her instincts screaming to leave.
She took a careful step forward. Then turned and ran again, ignoring the pain in her ankle, pushing through the fog that grew colder with each step. Che Kangle's breath steamed in the air.
The beast. That's why it stopped. It wasn't fear of her or was tired chasing after her. It was fear of this place.
She hadn't escaped the beast. She had stumbled into something worse.
In that moment she realized that in her panic, without thinking she had accidentally ventured inside the inner ring of Wuhen Forest. Without knowing where to go she just keep running. Remembering that Wuhen Forest is known for lost traces. Once you go in, you won't be able to trace your way back. Only those experienced cultivators and beast tamers can successfully escape Wuhen Forest.
In the history of Qinglin Village, there are numerous people who accidentally got lost inside or dumb enough to challenge Wuhen Forest, but none of them manage to come back.
And Chen Kangle might be added to that history.
…
Her lungs burned. Shse was tired. But stopping wasn't an option if she wanted to stay alive. She could feel eyes following her—watching her. The sensation crawled down her spine like ice, making the hairs on her neck stand on end.
After what felt like an eternity of running, Chen Kangle spotted light ahead. She staggered toward it and emerged into what looked like a hidden paradise.
"Wow," She gasped in amazement.
There was no more scary mist, no towering trees blotting out the moon. Only soft moonlight illuminating blooming flowers, butterflies dancing through the air, and gentle fireflies flickering like fallen stars. At the center lay a natural pool, its surface still and silver under the moonlight.
Limping forward, she approached the pool and crouched beside it. Her reflection stared back at her—dirt-smudged face, small nose, almond-shaped eyes, and tangled hair streaked with twigs and dust. It had once reached her waist, but now it looked like a bird's nest. IShe must've broken her hair tie earlier when she rolled down the hill trying to escape the beast.
Chen Kangle touched her face, feeling it. "Not bad" she murmur under her breath.
She dipped her hand into the water. The chill immediately latched onto her skin. She scooped a handful and drank greedily, quenching her dryer-than-desert throat. Then, with a sigh, she splashed water onto her face.
"Hah... thank God. So refreshing." she slumped to the ground, utterly exhausted.
Staring at the sky where the moon hung quietly in the corner, Chen Kangle mumbled, "How am I supposed to find my way back?"
It was already dark, and I—
She froze mid-sentence. In the center of the pool, among a cluster of Skydream Water Lilies, bloomed a single glowing flower—radiant and otherworldly. It looked like a queen crowned by her court.
From Duan Yanyan's memories, Chen Kangle recognized the Skydream Lilies as high-level herbs. But the glowing flower remains a mystery. She wanted to harvest it. She needed the money it could bring. The Soulshade Bloom she found earlier have been damaged after she left it hastily and she can't sell it anymore. But there was a problem—Chen Kangle doesn't have a technique to use to withstand the Skydream Lilies' effects. As their name suggested, they could induce anyone nearby into an endless sleep, trapped in dreams.
She sigh in regret and walk around the pool limping to look at the other blooming flower to see if there's a medicinal herb. Not all the blooming flower here are medicinal herb, some are just ordinary flower. There is also a flower that is known for its enchanting aroma that is popular among wealthy ladies.
She tore a large piece of her dress and wrap the herbs in it. Chen Kangle had left her basket when she ran for her life, so this will have to do.
She also saw a Qi-thread needle grass, it is used in acupuncture-style beast training. They help tamers stimulate or suppress a beast's inner energy during recovery or bonding phases. Sadly, this grass is highly lethal and sharper than a blade, Chen Kangle will lose her hand if she harvest that one. So she can only leave it alone.
She sat down near a flattened rock she found near the pool and decided to sleep here while she wait for sunrise. Since it's night already, it's specially dangerous to run around in Wuhen Forest, especially when she don't even know her way back, so it's better to just leave when sun is up.
Suddenly—pain.
A sharp, brutal pain tore through her stomach like a twisting knife. She collapsed, curling inward as a scream ripped from her throat.
Chen Kangle felt like her insides were being ground into pulp.
Sweat beaded on her forehead which dripped into her eyes, blurring her vision.
*Splash*
Chen Kangle didn't realize she had fallen into the pool until the cold swallowed her whole.
She thrashed instinctively, trying to swim toward the surface, but the pain made her limbs sluggish and her swollen ankle made it worse. Her body felt like it was made of lead.
The surface shimmered just above Chen Kangle, but her strength was fading. She kicked weakly, but the air in her lungs had nearly run out.
She was going to drown.
For a moment, Chen Kangle despised this weak body.
I had just survived a chase from a ferocious beast but it looks like I'm dying from being drowned to death. What a life I had!
And then—she felt it.
A warm pull.
A gentle tug not from outside, but inside her mind.
Soft. Enchanting.
Chen Kangle swang her arms desperate to reach the surface as she felt danger from the warm pull. Slowly, she can feel the Skydream Lilies affecting her.
Chen Kangle's body stilled. The Skydream Lilies were blooming around her, their fragrance seeping into her lungs. Her eyelids drooped.
The pain in her stomach dulled... replaced by a surreal calm.
Suddenly,
A haze settled over her thoughts.
And everything went black.
______________
Hello guys I already edited this part and made it a third person's point of view. I'm still editing the other chapters. :)