All this time Lou Ben was in shock at the sight that was displayed in front of him, not recognizing this from his memory of life.
It was much different from when he was simply watching his life on repeat for him to learn of his mistakes, to learn of the downfalls and rises of life.
This time he was in the driver seat of life once again.
While he was observing the battlefield and watching the scene transpire, the action of throwing the jade slip seemed to jolt him back awake and into action.
As he was sitting down thinking of being alive, his breath started to slow.
"This body is in such poor condition. I don't want to be one to complain but I thought that at the very least reincarnation would involve some sort of fresh awakening, a newborn coming into life perhaps."
The forest of trees was concealing Lou Ben as he sat and thought about his current predicament.
"I'm losing blood fast; I need to keep running. That old man that knew me seems to have said that there was a base through the forest and heading north I should find it."
"The problem is I don't know if this is earth or even a distant time in the future. The poles could have been reversed through catastrophe and if that's not the case, what truly is north?"
"Wait… I made this mistake during my life before. I was in front of blank pages hesitating at writing."
Lou Ben had always hesitated and never acted when, regardless of the situation it would have been much better to do anything at all, even if it was the wrong decision.
He learned this as he was watching his life playback countless times.
It was at this time that Lou Ben was thinking about past mistakes when there was a surprising development.
"Keke, to think I would be schemed against a snot nosed brat."
"Come out! It won't take us long before you're caught. Even if you have no breath in your lungs, we will find your corpse. All it would take is for the investigation masters to blink in your direction."
The black robed man that threw the red crystal was still alive and now it seems like the hunt for Lou Ben has begun.
"What in the world is he talking about? Do they have a special K9 unit, smell hunting dogs?"
"This is all too weird. I have to run, but my legs they're weak and damaged. I'm sitting in my own puddle of blood, still barely holding on.'
Lou Ben looked down at the sorry sight and in his palm the jade slip emerged shining brightly in the dark forest.
"All this commotion for a piece of Jade?"
This situation didn't make sense to Lou Ben, why are people fighting over a piece of jade?
"I have to hurry..."
Lou Ben was resisting the tiredness and heaviness in his body. The collection of injuries was holding him down and because of the countless surprises he was starting to piece together his situation.
"Need to get up..."
Lou Ben was yelling inwardly
"Found you."
The figures that were at the perimeter of the forest stood in place and gleamed a smile.
"Impossible." Lou Ben thought.
"Cai Niu, go and capture him. After we get this jade slip, we will torture him and sell him to slavery."
"ha-ha, were going to make a pretty profit on this mission. Shi Cheng, I must say we make the best of partners."
The two black robed people were talking to themselves.
"How could they have found me in this dark forest. I ran so far. They must be trying to deceive me into making a mistake."
"It would be best if I stay put and tried to stop the bleeding and take care of myself instead. I can't let them get into my head."
Lou Ben started to tear the tattered clothing he was wearing. It was full of blood from heaven knows where, but now he had to decide, and this was the best he could do.
"Kid, no matter where you go, no matter what you do to heal yourself there is no getting out of here."
Lou Ben's heart palpated
"How did they know I was taking care of my injuries?"
"No they must be trying to cause me to falter. There is no reason they should have found me only after getting to this forest."
Cai Niu the short of the two mysterious figures ran towards where Lou Ben was gathering his thoughts.
"Kid, what did we say?"
Cai Niu shrouded in darkness launched a heavy fist towards Lou Ben knocking him unconscious.
Lou Ben didn't have a second to react. The fist came down without a sound and travelled faster than the eye can see.
"Shi Cheng, this boy is all to soft. How could you let him get the better of you?"
The unconscious body of Lou Ben laid there in a daze, holding the jade slip.
"Let's not talk about it. It was my fault for using bouncing crystals. If I would have known I could have changed the Dao marks into that of Impact or even delayed just to thwart his little scheme."
"He is a little rascal. He seems too young to be in a caravan, why is he with these lowlifes?" asked the short mysterious figure.
"All will be resolved when we begin to tear his flesh and cook it in front of him."
The two mysterious figures grabbed Lou Ben and ran through the forest. They did not head north but instead, seemingly further into the dark forest.
"Cai Niu, tie up the kid. I'll start the fire."
The figures emerged from darkness as their shape started to emerge from the light of the fire.
Cai Niu was short, his hair was like a bowl that covered his eyes.
Shi Cheng was much larger and muscular. The robes were loose, but his figure was protruding. He had short hair that seemed to also blend into his dark robe.
Both figures had a peculiar abyss like darkness coming from their eyes, as if light was engulfed in shadows.
"Boy we know you woke up long ago." Shi Cheng spoke.
Lou Ben gave an expressionless face, but his eyes could not hide the fear that was inside him.
Cai Niu sneered "hah, keep acting tough mortal. You won't die but you will surely not enjoy this night. We will make sure to engrave this into your soul for as long as you live."
The two figures approached Lou Ben and without asking about the Jade slip or asking why such a young figure was taking part of a caravan mission, they held his arms and legs down.
"You're making a mistake!" Lou Ben mustered under his breath.
The two dark figures didn't retort but instead grabbed a dagger and green stone from their pockets and inched closer to Lou Ben's hands.
"The jade slip was all we truly needed. After some discussion, we decided to share a camp fire meal with you and hand you off to better people. You really should be thanking us for taking care of you."
Cai Niu and Shi Cheng were not worried about Lou Ben but only focused on the jade slip that was being transported.
"Stop!" Lou Ben yelled.
Shi Cheng slowly cut Lou Ben's right hand and stared at Lou Ben.
"This is only the beginning. We only need a few bones and meat for tonight's stew."
"Come look, the stary night as our witness that is all we will take from you."
The two dark figures were laughing as they tortured Lou Ben, holding his face to ensure he caught a glimpse of everything.
"I can live without a hand and leg. I can live. I can live if I still have my heart beating."
"But what kind of luck is it to be tortured to this degree right after being reincarnated?"
Shi Cheng was not only holding a green rock, but it also seemed to radiate brightly as he was cutting the flesh of Lou Ben.
Right when Lou Ben was going to faint from fear and blood loss, Cai Niu brought out a blue rock and it shined.
The brightness engulfed the mind of Lou Ben, jolting him awake.
"They can't be serious." Lou Ben was saying inside.
He yelled to the two people torturing him "what are you doing! What is this magic!"
Cai Niu sneered "foolish mortal. Of course you don't know. How can a mortal sense dao marks?"
Shi Cheng laughed as he threw the hand and leg of Lou Ben into the cauldron lying on top of the fire.
"We must thank you for filling out stomach tonight. Without it, we might have lost our sanity."
Cai Niu drooled and muttered "so hungry…"
The two focused on the mixing of ingredients they whipped out of their knapsack that tied around their waist.
They paid no attention to Lou Ben who was now free to lose consciousness.
The green and blue rocks dimmed and scattered into dust.
In this darkness what remained was two ghastly figures seemingly enjoying themselves in front of a campfire cooking while a third person lay bound to a tree.