Chương 24: Dark Moon Forest

Very early in the morning the next day, the trio gathered at the sect gate as planned. Long Feng was dressed in a black robe, Yan Jian dressed in a red robe and the lady wore a black cloak which covered every part of her body, including her face.

"This girl is weird. She loves concealing herself, and she loves killing assassin. Quite sneaky" Yan Jian muttered to Long Feng in a low tone. She instantly glared at him with those blue pupils.

"What now! Don't tell me she heard that." Yan Jian asked softly with a shiver.

"Miss, if you don't mind, what do we call you?" Long Feng asked.

"Yes. We can't go on calling you Miss! Miss! We aren't your servants!" Yan Jian added.

"Call me anything you want." she replied indifferently. Yan Jian's face darkened before he suddenly smiled.

'I think I will call her witch. It suits her'. He thought to himself, then openly, he said"You said it yourself. Don't regret it later!" She ignored him.

"Let's go." She said.

"Now she has made herself leader. Great" Yan Jian chuckled, then leaned in close to Long Feng.

"I am telling you, this lady is severely heartbroken. I must say though, I understand the guy's reasoning. Living with such a witch must be exhausting." Long Feng laughed without saying anything. The three of them mounted on top of the three horses and spurred them into a gallop.

"Where are we even headed?" Yan Jian asked on the way.

"I think it's the dark moon forest first." Long Feng replied. The journey to the dark moon forest would take at least two or three days. The forest was located Southwest of Gan Yu region. It was dark all year round with a dense and never fading smell of blood. The forest was a death zone for most Connate level cultivators. For the whole first day, they kept moving, until the next day. Throughout the journey, Long Feng and Yan Jian chatted away while the lady remained silent.

Whether she was listening to them or not was unknown. They stopped in a small tavern to eat some food later that day. As they ate, the lady glanced at Long Feng.

"You possess a special soul power. You can use it to scan the surroundings for us once we arrive at the forest. At least, you won't be completely useless." She said. Long Feng remained silent, not caring about her criticism. Yan Jian was also in no mood to argue while he starved, so he focused on his meal.

"We didn't even decide on how to share the reward. Thirty Yin crystals. We'll share it equally in three ways." He spoke in between mouthfuls of food.

"Twenty - five - five." The lady suddenly said. Long Feng looked up at her. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked in confusion.

"I mean, I get twenty crystals and you two get five each. And I also keep the reward for my assassin mission." She responded. Yan Jian's chopsticks instantly dropped down.

"What! You are just a greedy lion opening your mouth wide!" He half stood up from his seat. Even Long Feng felt a headache coming up. Her demands were just too much.

"You are lucky I didn't ask for payment for moving with two burdens like you." she replied expressionlessly. Long Feng and Yan Jian almost puked out of frustration.

"You said going with us made no difference!" Long Feng reminded.

"And that is why I left you five beads each. I am being generous enough already." She replied.

"Then why would you take so much? You might as well ask us to return to the sect and sleep!" Yan Jian stated.

"I thought it was obvious. I am the strongest person in this team, and I will have to do most of the battles. Twenty crystals isn't asking for too much, is it?" She asked.

"Strongest? Who died and crowned you that? Brother Long Feng can absolutely kick your ass!" Yan Jian's face reddened as he rose to his feet and retorted. He had endured just about enough of this lady. Before the lady could respond, Long Feng kicked Yan Jian beneath the table and muttered barely audibly.

"She's a rank two Yin realm warrior…" Yan Jian instantly sat back down and his face returned to it's normal shade.

"Actually, on second thought, I did. You're the strongest. No need to worry. I was just making a joke." He changed in the blink of an eye, leaving Long Feng gobsmacked. The lady glanced at Yan Jian coldly before lowering her head to continue with her meal. Long Feng and Yan Jian exchanged glances helplessly.

"You should have began with her cultivation!" Yan Jian sniffed bitterly. He had just saved himself from a solid beating.

"Let's drop this topic. When the time comes, we will discuss it properly. Let's focus on completing the mission for now" Long Feng proposed. The food had already left their minds, or at least, it was that way for Yan Jian as he kept glancing at her bitterly.

'I wish the beast would eat her up! Witch!' he thought. Knowing her cultivation and the fact that she might be stronger than both he and Long Feng together, he didn't dare face her on his own. He really felt afraid of her.

"Let's keep moving." She said. They paid for the meal, left the tavern and mounted their horses. The journey was silent this time. They passed different towns and villages. In the morning of the third day, they finally arrived at the dark moon forest. From outside, it didn't look like much, but no one dared to let down their guards. They stopped at the border of the forest.

"We'll leave the horses here. The mutant blood ape should be in the depth of the forest. Some powerful Yin level beasts also live there. We must be careful. It could take us days to find the ape. Make sure to stick with me. Stay behind me." The lady said. At least, it was soothing that he was trying to keep them safe. Yan Jian laughed uproariously.

"You want me to hide behind a small girl like a coward? Sorry, but I am not interested." He replied.

"I wasn't referring to you. You can go to hell for all I care. Even he is more useful than you." she replied coldly, causing his grin to turn upside down. Yan Jian felt his cheeks reddening.

"Alright, we will stay behind you. Both of us." Long Feng interrupted with a smile before Yan Jian retorted. He personally didn't mind letting her do most of the work. Not everyone would comprehend a rank seven Connate realm warrior having the strength of Yin realm warriors.

"Once we enter, release your soul power and scan for dangers or other wild beasts." she said referring to Long Feng.

"I believe I don't have to teach you how to do that, right?" she added before walking into the forest.

"Believe me, if I had a choice, I would want the blood ape to eat her up" Yan Jian snapped after she was far enough. Long Feng laughed and both of them hurried after her. Everywhere smelled like fresh blood. The trees, the floor, everything was red in color. The place was almost pitch dark. No light anywhere around. Luckily, martial cultivators could see and hear far better than ordinary people. Still, they could only see a few meters distance. Long Feng released his soul power.

The invisible soul aura spread out to a distance of over ten meters. He could feel everything happening within this distance.

"This path has no wild beasts." He pointed at a direction.

"Let's hope your soul power is accurate." she said before walking in the direction he pointed. Long Feng and Yan Jian followed. On the way, Long Feng kept choosing which direction to go, pointing out the safest paths. Of course, they weren't always lucky and sometimes, they had to go past the lairs of other beasts, so they had to fight.

"The strongest beasts here are mainly rank six connate level. That means we are still far from the depth of the forest." Yan Jian said. Long Feng nodded.

"We should hurry up." He replied.

"By the way, which assassin mission did you pick?" Yan Jian asked her.

"Three lives Assassin. Rank four Yin level. He should be at the wind Canyon." she replied.

"Rank four? Are you trying to get us killed?" He exclaimed.

"Probably just you. I'll keep him safe." Yan Jian blinked a few times and didn't speak again. Hours later, as Long Feng was sensing the surroundings with his soul power, he felt an aura.

"A rank two Yin level beast is headed our way! We have reached the center of the forest. The other powerful beasts should be close by." he said.

"Stay alert!" The lady cautioned. Then a furious hiss sounded. A considerably large snake appeared. It was as large as a human child and it's length was shocking. It hissed again and charged at the group. Long Feng was shocked at its speed.

"Rock Python. It is very fast and it's poison is deadly. Be careful!" The lady warned as she moved lithely, seeming to transform into a leaf. The snake reached them almost immediately. It's speed was startling. Unfazed, the lady drew out a thin longsword. The edges of the sword sparkled coldly. The Python swiped it's tail at her with great force, stirring up a cloud of dust. She steadily dodged it and slashed out with the sword. Whoosh!

The Python hissed in pain as it's tail was left with a deep cut that nearly sliced It off. It glared at her with killing intent and spat huge amounts of liquid at her from its mouth. Poison! She dodged the poison, but Long feng noticed that the place the poison landed instantly burned away. The poison was very corrosive! She also noticed that. Her eyes turned colder. She took a step forward and disappeared, reappearing right behind the python.

Her speed was almost twice as terrifying than the python's, catching it off guard. Her longsword stabbed through the snake like tofu. The Python shrieked in pain and trashed around, forcefully throwing itself towards Long Feng and Yan Jian.