Chapter 3: The Eastern Forest
Dawn came cold and clear.
Wei Xiaofeng arrived at the east gate first, as planned. He'd spent the night reviewing his memories of the eastern forest—both from the first loop and from two weeks ago when he'd stolen the Heavenly Frost Lotus.
In the original timeline, this forest had remained unremarkable for another year. Then an Outer Disciple expedition would discover a natural spirit gathering formation, leading to a minor cultivation resource boom for the sect.
But Wei had already taken the lotus that was central to that formation.
Butterfly effect, he reminded himself. The forest's spiritual energy will be disrupted. Could manifest in unpredictable ways.
Chen Feng arrived next, carrying a pack that clanked with provisions.
"Brought extra rations," Chen announced cheerfully. "And some of that terrible medicinal wine Elder Han makes. For emergencies."
"Emergencies?" Wei asked.
"You know—snake bites, spiritual exhaustion, boredom." Chen grinned. "It's so awful it'll wake you from a coma or knock you into one, depending on what you need."
Wei performed amusement—slight smile, brief exhale through nose. "Versatile."
Lian Yuehua arrived moments later, slightly out of breath. She'd clearly been rushing.
"I'm not late, am I?" she asked anxiously.
"Right on time," Wei assured her. He noted her preparation: sensible traveling robes, hair bound practically, a small satchel that likely contained her purification materials. "Ready?"
"Ready," she confirmed, though Wei detected nervousness in her voice.
First real mission. Of course she'd be anxious.
In the first loop, I would have offered reassurance, he observed. Told her she'd do fine. Maybe squeezed her hand.
Now he simply said: "Stay alert. Follow instructions. You'll be fine."
Functional. Adequate. Missing some element he could no longer name.
They left through the east gate as the sun cleared the horizon.
***
The eastern forest lay three hours from the sect, dense with ancient trees and rich with spiritual energy. It was technically sect territory, but largely unexplored—too low in resources to merit serious attention, too close to truly dangerous for training exercises.
Perfect for Wei's purposes.
As they walked, Chen kept up a steady stream of conversation—observations about the weather, speculation about what they'd find, a humorous story about his last mission.
Wei responded appropriately, following his protocol checklist. Laugh at jokes. Acknowledge observations. Show interest in stories.
Lian Yuehua was quieter, but Wei noticed her studying the environment with careful attention. Good. She was taking this seriously.
"Senior Brother Wei," she said after an hour. "May I ask what we're looking for specifically?"
"Spiritual energy fluctuations," Wei replied. "Elder Shen mentioned beasts behaving oddly. Could indicate a natural formation forming, or possibly cultivation resource development."
"Or?" Chen prompted, hearing what Wei hadn't said.
"Or interference. Someone else's cultivation affecting the environment." Wei kept his voice neutral. "Best to investigate thoroughly."
Or I've already disrupted this area by taking the lotus, and now we're dealing with the consequences, he added silently.
They reached the forest's edge by mid-morning.
Immediately, Wei felt it—the spiritual energy was wrong.
Not corrupted, not demonic. Just... chaotic. Like a whirlpool where there should have been a steady stream.
Chen noticed too. "That's unusual. Energy feels turbulent."
"Can you sense it?" Wei asked Lian Yuehua.
She closed her eyes, concentrating. "Yes. Like... like something's missing? The energy is flowing too fast, trying to fill an absence."
Perceptive, Wei noted. She's feeling the gap where the lotus used to stabilize the formation.
"Good instinct," he said aloud. "Let's move carefully. Chen, take point. Yuehua, stay center. I'll watch our rear."
They entered the forest.
***
The wrongness intensified as they progressed.
Trees grew at odd angles. Spiritual beasts that should have fled at the approach of cultivators instead watched from the shadows, eyes reflecting intelligence that seemed... confused.
"This is unnatural," Chen muttered, hand on his sword. "Even for spirit beasts."
Wei agreed. In the first loop, this forest had been normal. Boring, even.
Now?
A fox with three tails—normally a Foundation Establishment level threat—sat in their path, staring at them. Not aggressive. Just... staring.
Wei extended his spiritual sense carefully.
The fox's energy was erratic, fluctuating between strength and weakness. Like it couldn't stabilize its cultivation.
Because the formation that regulated this area's spiritual energy is broken, Wei realized. The beasts are suffering cultivation deviation from the chaotic flow.
"Don't attack unless it strikes first," Wei instructed. "It's not hostile, just confused."
Chen looked dubious but nodded.
They circled around the fox. It watched them pass, then returned to staring at nothing.
"Senior Brother," Lian Yuehua whispered, "that beast... its energy felt sick. Contaminated somehow."
"Not contamination," Wei corrected. "Instability. The spiritual energy in this forest is disrupted. The beasts can't cultivate properly."
"What could cause that?"
Me, Wei thought. I caused it.
"Unknown," he said aloud. "Let's find the source."
They pressed deeper.
***
Wei knew where they'd find it—the clearing where the Heavenly Frost Lotus had grown.
Sure enough, after another hour of careful navigation, they emerged into a small glade.
Or what had been a glade.
Now it looked like a wound in the forest.
The trees surrounding it were withered, dying. The grass had turned gray. And in the center, where the lotus had once grown, there was a crater—as if the earth itself had tried to collapse inward.
"Merciful heavens," Chen breathed. "What happened here?"
Wei examined the crater with feigned curiosity.
He knew exactly what had happened. The Heavenly Frost Lotus had been the anchor point for a natural spirit gathering formation. When he'd taken it, the formation had destabilized. Violently.
The chaotic spiritual energy had literally torn the earth apart trying to find its missing anchor.
"Someone harvested something," Wei said, which was true. "Something critical to the local spiritual ecosystem."
Lian Yuehua knelt at the crater's edge, studying it. "Recently, too. Within the last few weeks." She looked up at Wei. "Senior Brother, this is... this is really bad. Without the anchor—whatever it was—this whole forest will continue degrading. The beasts will either die or become corrupted. The spiritual energy could turn toxic."
Wei had calculated this possibility. The forest would recover eventually—fifty years, maybe a century. Nature was resilient.
But in the short term, yes. Devastation.
Acceptable collateral damage, he judged. I needed the lotus for my cultivation. The forest's degradation doesn't compromise the mission.
"Can we fix it?" Chen asked Lian Yuehua.
She bit her lip, thinking. "Maybe? If we had a replacement anchor. Something with similar spiritual properties. But finding one..." She shook her head. "It would take years. And we'd need to know what was taken in the first place."
Wei performed concern—furrowed brow, troubled expression. "We should report this to the elders. This is beyond a simple investigation."
"Agreed," Chen said, looking unsettled. "Whoever did this knew what they were doing. This wasn't accident. This was—"
A sound interrupted him.
Growling.
Wei's hand went to his sword as spiritual beasts emerged from the surrounding trees.
Five of them. Wolves, normally. But their eyes glowed with corrupted energy, and their forms were twisted—too many legs, too many teeth, flesh that rippled with unstable qi.
Deviation beasts. Creatures driven mad by chaotic spiritual energy.
"Formation!" Wei commanded.
Chen drew his sword, taking the front. Lian Yuehua moved behind him. Wei covered the rear, already calculating.
Five beasts. All Foundation Establishment level, but unstable. Dangerous but manageable.
Good training opportunity, he assessed. Let's see how Yuehua handles combat stress.
The lead wolf lunged.
Chen met it with the Spring River Sword Art's Third Form—Cascading Water. His blade flowed like a river current, deflecting the wolf's claws and opening its flank.
The beast yelped, stumbled.
But didn't fall.
Its flesh writhed, the wound closing with unnatural speed.
"They're regenerating!" Chen shouted.
Deviation effect, Wei analyzed. Their bodies are using the chaotic qi to fuel accelerated healing. Inefficient and will kill them eventually, but in the short term...
Two more wolves charged from the sides.
Wei moved, his sword singing. The Spring River Sword Art's Seventh Form—Autumn Flood. Overwhelming offense, sacrificing defense for sheer destructive power.
His blade took the first wolf's head clean off.
The second wolf he bisected vertically.
Both collapsed, bodies dissolving into corrupt spiritual energy.
Severing the head prevents regeneration, Wei noted. Target vital centers.
"Chen! Decapitation strikes!" Wei called out.
Chen adjusted immediately, his next attack taking a wolf's head.
The remaining two wolves circled, more cautious now.
Then Lian Yuehua spoke, her voice steady: "Their energy is corrupted. Maybe I can purify it?"
She began chanting, hands moving in complex patterns. The Purification Mantra, though Wei noticed she was adapting it—adding elements he didn't recognize.
Improvising, he observed. Good instinct.
White light emanated from her palms, washing over the nearest wolf.
The beast screamed—an almost human sound—as the purification energy clashed with its corrupted qi.
Then it collapsed, reverting to a normal wolf in death. No more twisted limbs. No more glowing eyes.
Just a dead animal, released from torment.
"It worked!" Lian Yuehua gasped, surprised by her own success.
The last wolf, seeing its pack destroyed, fled into the forest.
Wei let it go. No point wasting energy.
"Everyone alright?" he asked, performing concern while checking them for injuries.
"Fine," Chen panted, sheathing his sword. "Yuehua, that was incredible! I've never seen purification used offensively like that."
She looked shaken but pleased. "I just... I felt their pain. The corruption eating them from inside. I thought if I could cleanse it..."
Empathy driving innovation, Wei catalogued. Interesting. She has more potential than I initially calculated.
"You did well," Wei said, offering the praise his checklist indicated would reinforce positive behavior. "Both of you. First real combat for you, Yuehua, and you adapted excellently."
She blushed at the recognition.
They examined the wolf corpses. Lian Yuehua looked sad—not at the necessity of killing them, but at what they'd become.
"They were suffering," she said quietly. "The corruption was eating them alive. We probably did them a mercy."
Compassion,*Wei observed distantly. I remember that feeling. Vaguely.
"The forest is dying," Chen said grimly, looking around. "And it's making the beasts go insane. We need to report this immediately."
Wei agreed. "Let's document what we can, then return to the sect."
They spent the next hour examining the crater, the dead trees, the corrupted spiritual energy flows. Lian Yuehua took samples of the soil. Chen sketched a map of the damage.
Wei mostly watched, his mind working through implications.
First major butterfly effect confirmed. My actions created a crisis. The sect will respond. This will consume resources, attention, personnel.
Will this help or hinder stopping Shen Qiu?
He couldn't predict. The timeline had diverged too much.
Adapt, he told himself. *Use what comes.*
As they prepared to leave, Lian Yuehua paused at the crater's edge.
"Senior Brother Wei," she said thoughtfully, "whoever took whatever was here... do you think they knew? That it would cause all this?"
Wei considered his answer carefully.
"Perhaps," he said. "Or perhaps they thought their need was greater than the consequences."
"That's..." She struggled for words. "That's monstrous. To destroy an entire forest for personal gain."
Yes, Wei thought. It is.
But he felt no guilt. Couldn't feel guilt.
The First Star had taken something. The Second Star would take more.
By the Seventh Star, he'd probably burn the world without hesitation if it served his goal.
"Come on," he said instead. "We should leave before more beasts arrive."
They began the journey back to the sect.
Behind them, the dying forest continued its slow collapse—a wound Wei Xiaofeng had inflicted without remorse, without even the capacity for remorse.
Just the first of many wounds to come.
***
They made camp at the forest's edge as night fell.
Chen insisted on taking first watch. Lian Yuehua was exhausted from the combat and purification work. Wei claimed he needed to meditate to process the spiritual energy from the battle.
In truth, he was reviewing his notes.
The mission had revealed several things:
1. Butterfly effects were severe. His actions created cascading consequences he hadn't fully predicted.
2. Lian Yuehua showed unexpected talent. Her combat purification could be developed into a tool for detecting Silkworm Soul threads.
3. The sect would respond to the forest crisis. This would shift timelines, resources, attention.
4. Elder Shen had sent them here. Was it because he somehow knew about the disruption? Or coincidence?
Wei added notes to his protocol document:
When actions cause unintended harm: Express appropriate regret. Acknowledge consequences. Do not reveal foreknowledge.
When team members show initiative: Praise immediately. Reinforce positive behavior. Build loyalty through recognition.
When uncertain if someone is compromised: Observe small behavioral details. Gu Weiming's method. Look for habit changes.
A sound drew his attention.
Lian Yuehua approached his meditation spot, moving quietly to avoid waking Chen.
"Can't sleep?" Wei asked.
She sat nearby, hugging her knees. "Too much to process. First real fight. First time I've..." She trailed off.
"Killed?" Wei supplied.
"Yes." She looked at her hands. "I know they were just beasts. Corrupted ones. But still."
Guilt, Wei recognized. Normal response for first kill.
His checklist had a section for this.
It gets easier, he said, which was true. "The first time is always hardest."
"Does it bother you? Killing?"
No, he thought. Not anymore. I've lost the capacity for it to bother me.
"I try to make each death meaningful," he said instead, the rehearsed response. "If killing serves a greater purpose—protecting others, preventing worse harm—then it's justified."
"And if it doesn't serve a purpose?" she asked quietly. "What if someone killed just for... for convenience? For personal gain?"
Wei thought of the forest. The dying beasts. The destruction he'd caused.
"Then they're lost," he said. "They've abandoned their humanity for power."
The irony wasn't lost on him. He was describing himself.
But Lian Yuehua nodded, seeming comforted. "Thank you, Senior Brother. That helps."
She started to leave, then turned back.
"Can I ask you something personal?"
Wei's caution activated. "You can ask."
"You've seemed... different lately. Since a few weeks ago. More serious. More focused." She met his eyes. "Did something happen? Something you're not telling anyone?"
Yes, Wei thought. I died. Cut a piece from my soul. Became something less than human.
"I had a revelation during meditation," he said, which was technically true. "About the fragility of life. How quickly everything can be lost."
"That sounds... heavy."
"It was." Wei performed sincerity. "It made me realize I need to be stronger. Better prepared. To protect what matters."
Lian Yuehua smiled softly. "That's very like you. Always thinking of others."
No, Wei thought. I'm thinking of objectives. Variables. Win conditions.
You're not a person to me anymore. You're a goal to achieve.
But he smiled back and said nothing.
She returned to her bedroll, apparently satisfied.
Wei sat in the darkness, watching her sleep.
In the first loop, he would have treasured this moment. The girl he loved, trusting him, sleeping peacefully under his watch.
Now he simply calculated: Subject shows strong moral compass. Use this. Guide her toward seeing Silkworm corruption as moral imperative. Convert ethics into tool for detection.
Cold. Efficient. Monstrous.
Necessary, he told himself.
And felt nothing about the necessity.
Above, stars wheeled in their eternal patterns. Seven of them glowed slightly brighter in the constellation that bore his technique's name.
Six more times, he would cut pieces of himself away.
Six more times, he would lose something he couldn't afford to lose.
Until nothing remained but the ghost of a person who once wanted to save everyone.
Wei Xiaofeng closed his eyes and meditated on emptiness.
It was becoming disturbingly familiar.