Jinghua and Bingwen had left Yue city on the horses provided for them. The closest city was Chisheng city. But in between that was a forest. A big forest. It was a labyrinth of the undead.
They had made it to the entrance of the forest when their horses stopped, refusing to go forward and whining. "What is it? Why won't they go forth?" Bingwen asked, trying to calm his horse.
"It's the forest they're afraid of. We should cross it. Leave them here, they'll go back to Yue by themselves." Jinghua said, the two got off of the horses. Bingwen flinched and clenched his wound. It would've been better if Bingwen stayed on the horse.
The forest was big and dark, mist seeped through the leaf-covered ground. The smell of rotting corpses filled the air as the two made their way through the wood. Stepping over logs and roots, trying to avoid tripping over them.
Jinghua stayed close to Bingwen, checking up on him every now and then. "Ning cheng, what is beyond this forest?" Bingwen asked, cautious of his surroundings.
"I believe the Chisheng clan. But it would be good to avoid them. They're nothing but trouble." Jinghua said,
But that wasn't true. The Chisheng clan was a clan of fire hybrids. Chisheng Ping, the vicious clan leader who had burnt down many villages before. His ruthless wife and clan madam, Chisheng Yi, had a flaming temper, and their two daughters. Chisheng Lei, the oldest and future madam of the clan and her sister, Chisheng Wei. Chisheng Wei was much calmer and kind, not like her parents.
The two continued walking through the forest but stopped, for Bingwen was in much pain. But the two had ended up in a small abandoned village. Jinghua brought Bingwen into one of the houses to sit down. "I'm sorry, I…I just can't continue on right now." Bingwen said, his arm wrapped around his chest.
"You're fine. We can take a break. I wish they had let us stay longer." Just then a horn sounded through the forest. Jinghua recognized the sound and panicked. It was a Ning horn. The disciples had caught up to them and found their trail. But the horn came from the entrance of the forest. One thing Jinghua didn't know about his father was that Ning Lin was not only a ruthless fighter but would do anything to get his best players back. Ning Lin had somehow revived his best disciple, Yuxuan Shi. Yuxuan Shi, though, was now undead. Yuxuan Shi's corpse was cultivated to come back to life. Jinghua had no idea what was coming for him.
"What was that horn?" Bingwen asked in a panicked tone. Jinghua didn't want Bingwen to stress anymore so he lied and said, "It's nothing, don't worry about it." He knew that that horn was a warning that meant 'We're coming for you'. Jinghua was panicking. Bingwen was in the worst state for running away. He could walk but it would cause him pain. The only way to get away was to carry Bingwen through the forest and that would be his only option. "Listen, I know this is going to sound weird but I need to carry you." After Jinghua had said that he felt embarrassed when Bingwen gave him a confused look. Jinghua sighed, "There are Ning disciples in the forest with us. I realize that your wound is causing you pain so my thought was we run. I can carry you." Bingwen agreed and Jinghua picked him up carefully. He didn't weigh too much anyway so it would be easy to run whilst carrying him, Jinghua had thought. But once the two had walked outside of the hut, Yuxuan Shi's voice was heard from a distance. "Come out, come out, Ning Cheng! You can't protect Yusheng Jin forever. When I find him, I tear his wound even more!"
Jinghua began running away from the sound of Yuxuan Shi's voice. Bingwen held on to Jinghua, even though Jinghua wouldn't drop him. Both wondered how Yuxuan Shi was still alive but they didn't have time to worry about that.
Jinghua ran and ran but eventually made it to a dead end. A wall covered in vines. Yuxuan Shi spoke again, he was getting closer. "I get it now! We're playing a game! You two hide and I find you. And when I find you, I win!"
"We need to find a way out. Climb that tree to the top and look where we are." Bingwen whispered, pointing to a climbable tree. "What about you?" Jinghua asked, Bingwen smiled slightly.
"Leave me here, I'll hide." Jinghua stood still for a minute, doubting the idea but then agreed. Puting Bingwen down and starting to climb. It would only take him a few seconds to get to the top. Bingwen found a bush to hide behind. But he could hear the disciples getting closer. He covered his breath in the cold air.
"I can still smell your blood, Yusheng Jin!" Yuxuan Shi said, now even closer. In Bingwen's mind he repeated, 'Please hurry, Ning Cheng, please hurry! He is so close, please come back!' And suddenly a Ning disciple found Bingwen. He swiped the bush out of the way and pointed his sword at Bingwen.