Chapter 56: The Beast Beneath the Forest
The confession should have ended everything.
It should have answered every question.
Instead...
It only made the silence heavier.
Chief Zhao Guoren remained kneeling in the middle of the square, his hands trembling so violently that he could barely keep himself upright. Beside him, the shepherd Liu Shan and the farmer Chen Bo wore expressions that shifted constantly between fear, shame, and desperate hope. Around them, the villagers stood frozen beneath the pressure of Elder Ruan's killing intent, while frightened children clung to their mothers.
Then Zhao Guoren suddenly raised his head.
"It hasn't come yet."
Everyone frowned.
"It always comes."
"It should have come by now."
His eyes darted nervously toward the surrounding forest.
"It should have dragged you away already."
"The roots..."
"The roots always come."
His breathing became increasingly uneven.
"It knows."
"It always knows."
"It should already be here."
Liu Shan immediately seized upon those words.
"We had no choice!"
His voice cracked.
"You don't understand!"
"We couldn't run!"
"It always found us!"
"It would kill us if we refused!"
Chen Bo nodded frantically.
"It made us do it!"
"It was either strangers..."
"...or our own families!"
For a brief moment...
Even Yun Che felt a flicker of sympathy.
Their fear was genuine.
Whatever lived beneath that forest had clearly broken these people long ago.
But before anyone could respond...
Another voice rang out.
"Liar!"
A young woman stepped forward from the gathered villagers.
Her face was streaked with tears, but her eyes burned with anger.
"You stopped being victims years ago!"
Several others found their courage.
"You used it!"
"You threatened us!"
"You chose whose family would be offered!"
"You stole grain!"
"You took livestock!"
"You said anyone who questioned you would be next!"
An elderly man leaned heavily on his walking stick.
"At first, you chose travellers because you said the village had to survive," the elderly man said.
His grip tightened around his walking stick.
"Then my son questioned you."
"You sent him instead."
"The creature never demanded his name."
"You did."
Another woman collapsed to her knees.
"My husband wanted everyone to flee together."
"You called him a coward..."
"...then he disappeared."
The square erupted.
People shouted over one another.
"You became monsters yourselves!"
"You enjoyed having power!"
"You terrified us more than that thing in the forest!"
The accusations struck Zhao Guoren like stones.
For several long moments he simply stared.
Then...
Something inside him snapped.
"You think it was easy?"
He surged to his feet despite the crushing pressure of Elder Ruan's aura.
"You think I wanted this?"
His voice echoed across the square.
"I was the one forced to choose!"
"I was the one who had to decide who lived!"
"You all cried!"
"You all begged!"
"But none of you volunteered!"
"None of you wanted to fight!"
"None of you wanted to die!"
He pointed wildly at the villagers.
"So I made the decision!"
"I carried the burden!"
"If that makes me a monster..."
"...then fine!"
"I became one for all of you!"
His chest rose and fell violently.
"What was I supposed to do?"
"Watch the village disappear?"
No one answered.
Because there had never been a good answer.
Only terrible choices.
Then Zhao Guoren looked once more toward the forest.
Confusion slowly spread across his face.
"...Why isn't it coming?"
He whispered.
"It should save us."
"It always comes."
"It always..."
His voice faded.
For the first time...
He sounded less like a village chief...
...and more like a frightened old man who had spent years praying to the very thing that had enslaved him.
Elder Ruan stepped forward.
The old captain's expression remained unreadable.
"I believe your waiting is over."
His sword left its sheath with a quiet metallic whisper.
Elder Ruan removed a small metal insignia from beneath his armor.
The crest engraved upon it had faded with age, but every citizen of the kingdom recognised the knightly seal.
"My active service ended years ago," he said.
"My authority to pass emergency judgment upon murder committed along the kingdom's roads did not."
"Zhao Guoren, Liu Shan and Chen Bo."
"You established and maintained the sacrifice of travellers. You murdered villagers who opposed you, concealed the deaths, profited from stolen property and attempted to poison a registered caravan."
"The lawful punishment is death."
"Does anyone dispute that these three began the offerings?"
Silence.
"Does anyone dispute that they selected villagers who opposed them?"
"Does anyone possess evidence that another person commanded these decisions?"
No one spoke.
Zhao Guoren looked up hopefully.
"The guardian—"
"It isn't your guardian."
The blade flashed.
One clean strike.
The village chief's body collapsed before the hope had fully disappeared from his face.
Silence.
Liu Shan cried out.
Chen Bo tried to scramble backward.
Neither made it more than a few steps.
Two more flashes.
Two more bodies fell.
Yun Che stared in stunned silence.
Elder Ruan slowly cleaned the blade before returning it to its sheath.
His voice carried throughout the square.
"I served this kingdom as a knight long before I became an escort captain."
"My duty has not changed."
He looked at every villager in turn.
"You organized repeated murders."
"You preyed upon travelers under the protection of the law."
"You attempted to murder this caravan."
"Fear explains your actions."
"It does not erase them."
His gaze hardened.
"The three men who established and maintained this practice have paid the highest price."
He looked toward the remaining villagers.
"Consider yourselves fortunate."
"Every adult who knowingly prepared poisoned food for this caravan could be placed under arrest and tried as an accomplice to attempted murder."
He looked at the three bodies.
"I will not pass further death sentences today."
"Do not mistake that restraint for innocence."
Several villagers broke down completely.
Some collapsed in relief.
Others wept openly.
Elder Ruan continued.
"A report will be sent to the nearest royal magistrate. Copies will go to Lord Shen, the Northern Wolf Escort Company and the Azure Wolf Consortium."
"As for the creature..."
His eyes turned toward the forest.
"...that matter belongs to us."
--------------------------
The caravan immediately shifted into defensive formation.
Merchants remained within the square.
Villagers were ordered indoors.
Meanwhile...
Eight Frost Wolves entered the forest with their riders. Four remained around the caravan, guarding the merchants and monitoring the ground for returning fungal roots.
They spread apart with astonishing speed.
Gray shadows weaving silently between ancient trees.
Yun Che watched them disappear.
"This forest shouldn't contain anything stronger than Mortal Realm beasts..."
Elder Liang nodded.
"Exactly."
"A Foundation Establishment creature living here violates the natural balance."
"Such beasts normally claim larger territories."
"It has remained hidden for years."
Lin Xia frowned.
"How?"
One elderly villager answered quietly.
"It wasn't always like this."
Everyone turned toward him.
"It truly protected us once."
"We offered livestock every year."
"It drove away wolves."
"Wild beasts."
"Bandits."
The old man's shoulders slumped.
"Then..."
"...bandits attacked."
"They slaughtered many villagers."
"They even wounded the guardian."
"After that..."
"...it changed."
"It began demanding people."
Elder Ruan shook his head.
"No."
The correction came immediately.
"It didn't develop a taste for humans."
He looked toward the dark forest.
"It developed a preference for cultivators."
Everyone looked at him.
"Ki."
He tapped his own chest.
"Foundation beasts require increasingly rich sources of energy."
"Ordinary animals contain little Ki."
"Cultivators..."
"...are far better nourishment."
"The sacrifices became insufficient."
"So it sought stronger prey."
Yun Che slowly nodded.
"Then..."
"...why stay here?"
"If it can hunt cultivators..."
"...why not leave?"
Elder Ruan thought for a moment.
"Because it's timid."
"If it were aggressive..."
"...it would already control a much larger territory."
"It found a dependable food source."
"So it never needed to risk challenging stronger beasts."
Far away...
Deep within the forest...
The creature ran.
It moved with startling speed despite its strange body.
Standing nearly three meters tall, it resembled an enormous predatory reptile whose flesh had merged with towering fungi.
A broad mushroom cap arched over its head like a living shield.
Its powerful hind legs propelled it effortlessly over fallen logs.
Its thick tail ended in a cluster of thorn-covered growths.
Small forearms rested close against its chest...
Deceptively harmless.
Yet each arm could suddenly extend several meters, revealing razor-sharp claws hidden beneath layers of flexible fungal tissue.
It could feel them.
Many powerful creatures.
Too many.
Danger.
It fled.
Only when it reached the oldest part of the forest did it finally stop.
The invisible boundary of its territory.
Beyond this point...
Everything felt unfamiliar.
It hesitated.
Instinct urged caution.
No.
Hide.
Survive.
As it had countless times before, the creature slowly lowered itself among a cluster of enormous wild mushrooms.
Roots spread beneath the soil.
Its body stiffened.
The mushroom cap blended perfectly with the surrounding growth.
Its Ki dispersed through an intricate underground fungal network that stretched across the forest floor.
Within moments...
Nothing remained.
Only another patch of mushrooms.
The Frost Wolves arrived soon afterward.
They searched tirelessly.
Several found old feeding sites.
Bones.
Disturbed earth.
Roots stained with dried blood.
But the creature itself...
Had vanished.
Shen Rui crouched beside one set of tracks.
"It erased everything."
Bao frowned.
"So now what?"
One wolf suddenly lifted its head.
A low growl spread from animal to animal.
Moments later...
Every Frost Wolf gathered together.
Then...
The forest shook.
A chorus of thunderous howls erupted toward the heavens.
The Heavenly Wolf Howl.
The sound rolled through every tree, every hill, every hidden burrow.
Birds exploded into the sky.
Animals fled in panic.
For one tiny instant...
Fear answered.
A wave of invisible pheromones escaped from somewhere beneath the mushrooms.
The wolves reacted immediately.
Every head snapped toward the same location.
Found you.
Back in the village square...
Elder Ruan suddenly stopped speaking.
Shen Rui's voice entered the captain's mind.
Found it. Fungal predator. Mobile. Concealed among the western mushroom beds.
A slow smile appeared.
"So that's what you are."
Elder Liang closed his book.
"Identified?"
Ruan nodded.
"A Foundation Establishment fungal predator."
He looked toward the assembled villagers.
"Its proper name is..."
Thorncap Raptor.
"It disguises itself as part of the forest's mushroom colonies."
"It spreads its Ki through underground fungal roots, making ordinary spiritual detection nearly impossible."
"It hunts through ambush."
"And..."
His expression hardened.
"...it has survived far longer than it should have."
The village square slowly returned to motion.
Not to normality.
That would not happen for a very long time.
The villagers spoke only in whispers. Mothers held their children tightly, as though afraid that looking away for even a heartbeat might cause them to disappear. Several guards stood watch over the remaining villagers while the merchants quietly prepared camp.
Yun Che sat beneath one of the wagons beside Lin Xia and Jin Wei.
None of them spoke.
He deliberately kept his eyes fixed on the ground.
He had no desire to look toward the three bodies lying beneath white cloth near the edge of the square.
The image refused to leave his mind.
He had witnessed executions before.
Stoneford had executed bandits shortly after his arrival there.
Those deaths had seemed... understandable.
Those men had robbed.
Killed.
Destroyed lives for profit.
This...
This felt different.
The crimes were worse.
Much worse.
Yet somehow they had been born from fear rather than greed.
That didn't excuse them.
But it made the whole situation far more complicated than simple justice.
Lin Xia quietly hugged her knees.
"I thought villages were supposed to be peaceful."
"So did I," Yun Che answered softly.
Jin Wei sighed.
"They usually are."
"The world simply remembers the unusual ones."
No one said anything after that.
The silence lasted until Elder Ruan's voice echoed across the square.
"...Thorncap Raptor."
Yun Che's head snapped upward.
His heart skipped.
Thorncap Raptor.
Rare.
Foundation Establishment.
A mobile fungal predator whose abilities could fill several weaknesses in his tool set.
Excitement rose before he could stop it.
Yun Che hated the timing of it.
Three bodies still lay beneath white cloth, and already part of his mind was evaluating what he might gain from the creature responsible for creating this tragedy.
But allowing that opportunity to disappear would not bring any of its victims back.
He was on his feet before he even realized he had moved.
"Elder!"
Every conversation in the square paused.
Elder Ruan had already begun issuing orders to the wolf escorts.
"The wolves have confirmed its position."
"We move immediately."
The guards nodded.
One command.
That was all it would take.
Nearly a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators and their Frost Wolves would descend upon a single beast.
The battle would barely last a minute.
Yun Che hurried toward the old captain.
"Elder, wait!"
Ruan stopped.
His expression clearly suggested he did not appreciate interruptions during military planning.
"What?"
His voice remained calm.
But firm.
Yun Che took a steadying breath.
"...I have a request."
"Make it quickly."
Yun Che glanced at the gathered guards.
Then spoke.
"Elder..."
"...please allow me to fight the Thorncap Raptor."
Several guards blinked.
Bao Kun looked mildly surprised.
Shen Rui simply watched quietly.
Ruan folded his arms.
"Explain."
"My Transformation Bloodline."
Yun Che answered honestly.
"I only gain a transformation if I truly participate in defeating the creature."
"If everyone kills it..."
"...I'll lose the opportunity."
Silence followed.
The old captain studied him for several long moments.
When he finally spoke...
His disappointment was unmistakable.
"You expect me to allow you to face it alone?"
"No," Yun Che answered immediately.
He looked toward Amon, Mirage and Whisper.
"The four of us will fight it together."
Ruan's expression did not soften.
"Four inexperienced teammates do not automatically become one experienced hunting party."
His eyes narrowed.
"...That disappoints me, Yun Che."
The words struck harder than Yun Che expected.
"I didn't expect such arrogance..."
"...or such carelessness from you."
Yun Che instinctively lowered his head.
He understood exactly how his request sounded.
Ruan continued.
"I'll help you."
The young man looked up hopefully.
"We'll capture it alive."
"We'll drag it back here."
"You can deliver the final strike."
Yun Che's hopeful expression immediately fell.
"...It won't work."
Ruan frowned.
"What?"
"My bloodline doesn't simply require the killing blow."
"I have to fight."
"I have to genuinely participate."
"If I don't..."
"...I gain nothing."
The old captain became very quiet.
Yun Che almost wished the man would simply refuse.
Instead...
Ruan stood there thinking.
The surrounding guards wisely kept silent.
Everyone knew the old captain was weighing responsibility against opportunity.
Finally...
Yun Che spoke again.
"Elder."
"Please."
"This creature is extremely rare."
"I may never encounter another one."
"If I miss this chance..."
"...I'll have to spend years searching for another."
"I don't want to waste that opportunity."
Ruan slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again...
His decision had been made.
"...Fine."
Yun Che's face lit up.
Before he could celebrate...
Ruan raised one finger.
"You will fight it."
"But under my conditions."
The smile immediately disappeared.
"If I judge you've suffered injuries beyond what I consider acceptable..."
"...I will kill the beast."
Yun Che nodded immediately.
"I understand."
Ruan continued.
"No arguments."
"No complaints."
"My decision."
"My responsibility."
Yun Che hesitated.
"...What exactly counts as beyond acceptable?"
The old captain answered without the slightest hesitation.
"A deep cut."
"Or a fractured bone."
Yun Che stared.
"...That's it?"
"Yes."
"...You'll interfere for that?"
"Immediately."
Yun Che nearly laughed.
Bloody hell...
He searched his memory.
Against Shen Tianyu...
Broken ribs.
Against the Shadow Python...
Poison and several deep wounds.
Against countless training sessions...
Bruises everywhere.
He honestly couldn't remember the last serious battle that hadn't ended with him requiring treatment afterward.
These conditions...
Were absurdly strict.
"...This is going to be difficult."
Bao Kun couldn't help smiling.
"The captain worries."
Shen Rui corrected him.
"No."
"The captain dislikes unnecessary funerals."
Even Elder Liang lowered his book long enough to comment.
"I approve of those conditions."
"Rare bloodlines become remarkably useless after their owner dies."
Several guards chuckled.
Yun Che rubbed his forehead.
"...None of you are helping."
Ruan's stern expression finally softened into the faintest hint of a smile.
"Good."
"If you're still complaining..."
"...you're probably thinking clearly."
"You and your companions fight the creature."
"The escort teams will form a perimeter."
"We will prevent it from escaping, suppress spores moving toward the village and destroy any fungal extensions attacking civilians."
"We will not strike its main body unless I end the trial."
He stepped closer.
"If it turns toward the village, your opportunity ends. I kill it."
Yun Che walked back toward Amon.
The dragon immediately sensed his excitement.
A deep rumbling growl escaped his throat.
Not anger.
Anticipation.
Mirage descended gracefully onto Yun Che's shoulder.
Her brilliant blue wings shimmered in the afternoon sunlight.
She could already feel his emotions through their bond.
Big hunt?
Yun Che smiled.
"Yes."
Strong enemy?
"The strongest we've faced together."
She fluttered excitedly into the air.
Finally.
Something worthy of proper illusions.
Whisper floated quietly beside him.
The little Frost Wisp looked up expectantly.
Yun Che gently reached out, letting the tiny spirit settle against his hand.
"You too."
"This time..."
"...we fight as a team."
The spirit spun happily before drifting to Amon's side.
The dragon lowered his massive head.
Yun Che rested one hand against the cold scales.
"No charging ahead."
Amon snorted.
"No rampaging."
Another snort.
"We work together."
The dragon looked away with all the dignity he could manage.
Mirage immediately projected a tiny illusion of Amon recklessly charging into a tree.
Whisper produced a soft puff of icy laughter.
Even Amon looked offended.
"...You two aren't helping either."
For the first time since arriving in the cursed village...
Yun Che found himself smiling.
Then he climbed into the saddle.
He looked toward the dark forest where the Thorncap Raptor waited unseen beneath the ancient mushroom groves.
Until now, Amon, Mirage and Whisper had fought beside him only in fragments.
One attacking while another watched.
One following orders while the others remained in reserve.
They had travelled together.
Trained together.
But they had never entered a true battle as one unit.
That was about to change.
And somewhere beneath that silent forest...
Another hunter was waiting.