The noonday sun cast its golden blaze upon the winding country road, burning away even the illusion of shade beneath the swaying trees. Their leaves drooped with the weight of summer, shadows flickering like the breath of a sleeping forest. The road stretched far ahead, dust swirling in the wake of a lone carriage, its wheels rattling over stones like the ticking hands of a clock counting down to some unspoken moment.
Perched within the carriage, Qian Yu sat cross-legged, eyes closed in quiet meditation as the rhythm of the journey lulled him into a steady trance. Though still a boy by appearance, his composure was far from childlike. His soul power pulsed faintly, an unseen current flowing through the air.
He wasn't in a hurry. The trip from Nuoding City to the Star Dou Great Forest was long—ten days at best—but Qian Yu had come prepared. The carriage was stocked with dry provisions, and as for safety? He wasn't the least bit concerned. Not when he could escape even from a powerhouse like Tang Hao if he had to. Petty bandits and wild beasts didn't trouble him; they were background noise.
A hired coachman held the reins, cracking the whip as the carriage barreled forward. The road shimmered in the heat. Trees on either side stood like weary sentinels under the blaze of the unrelenting sun.
Then it happened.
Swish. Swish. Swish!
The sharp whistle of arrows split the air. In an instant, they came flying from both flanks—dozens of them, lost from the shadows of the trees.
Inside the carriage, a pulse of soul energy surged. A wind barrier erupted outward, invisible yet immovable. Every arrow shattered mid-air, caught in the gale like leaves in a storm.
Qian Yu's eyes opened slowly, calm and unbothered. "Bandits?" he muttered.
Figures emerged from the woods, stepping into the sunlight with weapons drawn and grins stretched too wide. One of them—a burly man carrying an axe the size of a door—strode forward and raised his voice.
"This road here's ours. This forest? Also ours. If you want to pass, hand over a toll!"
The coachman went pale, dropping from his seat and throwing himself to the ground. "Please, good sirs, I'm just a hired hand! Don't kill me!"
The curtain of the carriage pulled aside, and Qian Yu stepped out. He looked impossibly young—delicate even, with cool eyes and an air of indifference. The axe-wielding leader furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Just a kid? Where's the adult in charge?"
"There is no one else," Qian Yu replied evenly. "Just me. The coachman's working for me."
The coachman, still on his knees, nodded frantically. "Yes, yes! He's my young master. I'm only driving the cart."
The bandits exchanged glances, some chuckling. "A kid hired a whole carriage? Where are you headed, little prince?"
"Star Dou Great Forest."
The laughter stopped. The bandit leader blinked. "Did you just say... the Star Dou Great Forest?"
"I did."
"You—you're going to that monster-infested jungle? Alone?" He laughed so hard he bent double. "Kid, are you planning to feed yourself to the soul beasts?"
"I'm going to hunt them."
There was a beat of silence. Then the entire group burst into raucous laughter, slapping knees, wiping tears.
"You hear that? He's going hunting!"
"Hahaha! What are you gonna do, throw snacks at them until they die?"
"Boy, you're better off handing over your cart and supplies. Let the soul beasts feast on something else."
But Qian Yu didn't laugh. His gaze remained steady, voice quiet and cold. "So... you're really planning to rob me?"
The bandit leader grinned, raising his axe. "Your choice, kid. Hand it over nice and easy—or we'll help ourselves."
A flicker of something passed through Qian Yu's eyes. It was not fear. Not anger. Something quieter. Colder.
"Then I won't let any of you leave."
For a heartbeat, silence fell. Then the bandits roared with laughter again—until, without warning, the air shimmered.
Shhk. Shhk. Shhk.
Wind blades, too fast to see, too sharp to survive. They danced like ghosts between the trees.
The laughter died. Literally.
One by one, the bandits froze. Smiles still stretched across their faces—until thin red lines bloomed at their throats. They stood there, wide-eyed, mouths opening as if to scream.
Then the blood came. Arterial, violent, cascading like red fountains into the dust. Heads dropped like fruit from a shaken tree, eyes still staring.
The coachman started, paralyzed. A moment ago, these men had been laughing, breathing, and alive. Now... Now their corpses littered the road like fallen leaves.
He turned slowly to Qian Yu. The boy hadn't even raised a hand.
"Wh–what... what are you?" the coachman whispered, voice barely audible.
Qian Yu looked at him without emotion. "Why are you still standing there?"
The coachman jolted as if slapped. "Y–Yes! Right away!"
He scrambled to his seat and whipped the reins. The carriage moved again, the road ahead stained red and eerily silent.
They traveled four more days in silence, the forest growing denser, the sun less bold.
At last, they reached the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. A small town sat at the edge of the wilderness, a final outpost before the wilds swallowed civilization whole.
Qian Yu rested there for the night. At dawn, he handed the coachman a pouch of silver and a simple instruction.
"Wait for me here."
Then, alone, he stepped into the forest.
The trees towered above him—ancient things, their canopies blotting out the sun in a mosaic of golden flecks and shifting shadows. The air was cooler now, and heavy with damp earth and the unseen movements of predators.
Soul beasts watched him from the underbrush. Ten-year beasts. Hundred-year beasts. Their eyes gleamed with primal hunger. But Qian Yu didn't flinch. He walked as if the forest was part of him.
He was looking for something more dangerous.
To find a thousand-year soul beast, he would need to go deeper.
And so, beneath the emerald canopy, with dappled sunlight guiding his path, Qian Yu ventured inward—toward the place where legends were born.
But legends bite back.
In the distance, something stirred. The air shifted. A presence—massive, ancient—pressed against him like the weight of a mountain.
From between the trees, a giant tiger emerged, muscles rippling beneath its snowy white coat, its eyes fixed on him like a storm about to break.
Qian Yu didn't move.
The hunt had begun.
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