The Maiden and the Silk Thread

Chapter 182: The Maiden and the Silk Thread

Now that he understood the cause of death for both men, Han Li silently wished the departed senior brother a swift journey on the Yellow Springs road and a quick rebirth. Then, without ceremony, he began to search their bodies.

Since they were already dead, he naturally intended to accept their storage pouches as his due.

He searched once.

Nothing.

His expression grew heavy. He searched again, more carefully this time.

Still nothing.

The hairs on the back of Han Li’s neck stood on end. His heartbeat quickened, pounding against his ribs.

There was a fourth person here. That person had taken the storage pouches. While it was highly probable that this individual had long since left the area, Han Li could not guarantee that they were not still nearby, observing him, using the two corpses as bait to probe his defenses.

Across from the cliff face stretched a large expanse of reeds, tall enough to conceal a man’s tracks. Han Li had been squatting with his back to that very grassland, facing the bodies. This realization made him even more uneasy. Perhaps that person was hiding right behind him.

His posture did not change. To any observer, he seemed still absorbed in examining the corpses.

In reality, he had summoned every ounce of his focus. He had quietly retrieved his magical tools and talismans, and his spiritual sense spread out silently, attempting to locate any potential ambusher.

The result of his spiritual sense sweep was unsurprising. Everything nearby was normal. There was no unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy.

That was only to be expected. Even if someone was truly hiding nearby, they would certainly be using a Qi Concealment technique to suppress their own magical power, making them undetectable. Han Li’s intent in using his spiritual sense was merely to rattle the bushes—to unsettle any potential observer into revealing themselves.

And the effect was exactly as he had hoped. Either he was being paranoid, frightening himself over nothing, and no one was there; or, the hidden watcher saw no favorable opportunity and remained concealed, choosing not to strike.

After a long moment, Han Li rose to his feet. He turned and cast a cold, sweeping gaze over the expanse of reeds. Then, without a word, he suddenly leaped into the air. After a few bounds, he had shrunk to a black dot on the horizon, gradually fading from view.

When Han Li’s figure had vanished completely, a rustling sound suddenly arose from the previously still reeds. A slender human figure emerged. It was a young girl, dressed in pure white robes.

She appeared young, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with a pure, innocent face and an expression of natural loveliness. That such a spirit-like creature would appear in this place of life and death was nearly unbelievable.

Judging by her attire, she was a disciple of the Moon-Masking Sect.

The girl glanced in the direction Han Li had disappeared, bit her lips in a faint smile, and then, with an oddly mature air, murmured to herself:

“Not bad. Decent courage. Decent wit. But his magical power is a bit weak. His talent seems an even bigger problem—not much potential to develop. If he could survive this place, he’d be a promising recruit.”

“Still, judging by the movement technique he used to flee at the end, it seems to be a mortal-world lightness skill, and a fairly strong one at that. Interesting.” She propped her pointed chin on her hand, her large eyes gleaming with keen interest.

If Han Li had heard these words, he would have been stunned speechless. The assessment was too accurate. With just a few casual remarks, she had ruthlessly identified all of his strengths and weaknesses, as if she understood him better than he understood himself.

“I’ll let you off for now. I still have important matters to attend to. But the next time we meet, little one, it won’t be so easy for you.” She wrinkled her nose, creating a shallow, playful crease, and spoke with a hint of reluctance.

It seemed Han Li had become a new toy she had acquired, one that held considerable appeal, making her unwilling to simply leave.

In the end, with a pout, she raised her hand and produced a talisman. With a flick of her wrist, her entire body was enveloped in a dazzling green light, and she vanished without a trace.

If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would have immediately cursed the girl for her extravagance, wasting a rare “Wood Escape Technique” talisman—a mid-level, elementary-grade talisman—so casually.

This was no common treasure. An ordinary cultivator would treat such a Wood Escape Talisman as a family heirloom, using it only at the critical juncture between life and death. It was the ultimate tool for escaping certain doom.

Han Li knew nothing of this, and so felt no sting of loss. He was even more unaware that a woman of such significant background had taken an interest in him. He counted himself fortunate to have easily extricated himself from his predicament.

Whether or not someone had truly been lurking there, Han Li did not intend to investigate further. The closer one got to the center of the forbidden land, the more enemies one encountered. Traps and ambushes like this would soon become commonplace. Preserving his own life and avoiding all unnecessary conflict was his current guiding principle.

Besides, his search of the two corpses had not been entirely fruitless.

Thinking this, Han Li reached into his sleeve and produced a ball of nearly transparent thread. This was the object he had grabbed on his way out—the thread-like magical tool that had killed the Giant Sword Sect disciple.

He injected a small amount of magical power into it. The thread gradually straightened, finally becoming a straight strand over ten zhang long. Han Li manipulated the thread for a moment, swinging it experimentally, and immediately understood its marvelous utility.

When used well, this tool was the perfect weapon for a covert kill.

With its nearly invisible nature, its springy resilience, and its razor-sharp cutting edge, Han Li was confident he could sever an enemy’s head without them ever understanding what had happened.

What material was this thread forged from? If it were even longer, its utility would be limitless!

Seized by a moment of inspiration, Han Li drove the thread through over a dozen nearby trees, cleaving each one cleanly in two with effortless ease. This delighted him. It was even more useful than he had imagined.

What Han Li did not know was that, at this very moment, in a grassy field not far from the forbidden land’s central zone, two groups of disciples from the Butchering Knife Sect and the Clear Void Sect had met in a narrow passage and were locked in a fierce battle.

With five or six on each side, their strength was evenly matched.

This was the first large-scale deathmatch of this Blood Forbidden Trial. Their goal was to be the first to enter the central zone and harvest the spiritual herbs. If they could eliminate their opponents on the spot, so much the better.

In the end, the Daoists of the Clear Void Sect proved superior, killing most of their opponents. The remaining two Butchering Knife Sect disciples fled, wounded, as the Clear Void Sect warriors were the first to break into the central zone.

Within the central zone, there were not only all manner of strange fruits and heavenly treasures, but also first-rank demon beasts of considerable strength guarding them—beasts capable of contending with a peak Foundation Establishment disciple.

Each time a demon beast was killed and its herb collected, a new spiritual herb would eventually grow in the same spot, and a new demon beast would appear just as mysteriously, though not necessarily of the same breed. This had long baffled the sects’ grandmasters. Could it be that these demon beasts were also born from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth? That would contradict everything they knew.

Their understanding held that demon beasts were evolved from ordinary wild beasts, who, after years of unconsciously absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, would occasionally evolve into creatures with demonic power. The probability of such evolution was no higher than the rate of cultivators being born among mortals.

Furthermore, over the years, the disciples of each sect could only gather herbs on the periphery of the central zone. Any attempt to approach the core would trap or kill them with still-active restrictions and traps. The deeper one went, the more troublesome the demon beasts became, and these junior disciples were incapable of defeating them. So they had no choice but to honestly circle the periphery.

Setting aside whether the Clear Void Sect disciples would be the first to strike and secure the herbs, Han Li was currently facing the greatest crisis of his journey into the forbidden land. At a narrow intersection, he found his path blocked from both sides by a disciple of the Spirit Beast Mountain and a disciple of the Heavenly Fortress Sect.

The large man from the Spirit Beast Mountain was someone he recognized. It was the same thick-bearded man who had glared at him earlier. He was now grinning menacingly at Han Li, his expression clearly saying, “You’re dead.”