Chương 37: The Enchanted Trial + UPDATED 7/8

Paike looked left and right to see how the other teams were handling it. But beyond the first obstacle, he could only see blurry shapes. Was it always going to be the case, or did the elders just not want them to copy the strategies of the others for their first try? Whatever it was, he turned his focus to the narrow, glowing beam of light suspended over the bottomless chasms. Ghostly faces rippled through it, and it pulsed.

At the bottom of the chasm, he could see the dark waters and long shapes moving sideways through them. He swallowed, not liking the appearance of that. He didn't think the elders would actually let them die during a trial like this. Still, there was definitely some real danger of being hurt. Hopefully, only hurt. Paike crouched down and touched the beam of light. His hand passed through it, and he felt the warmth, seeing the shadow of his finger cast across the chasm.

"How are we supposed to—" Guan Li started in complete bewilderment and consternation, trailing off and gesturing to the light.

"It's light. We can't walk on light. Do they expect us to fly or jump over?" The far side was much too far to make it in a single leap. The others remained quiet. Paike was trying to figure out if he could use his shield to step on. Could he jump far enough? Create a shield? Jump off of it again? Probably not. He'd have to create it with his hand, which would make it hard for him to get his feet under, and it wouldn't hold up his weight. Well, it should hold up his weight, but he never tested it.

It might fall with him. Would it be suspended in the air? And could he have multiple ones going at the same time? Would that work? Maybe. But then, why was the beam of light here? Sitting down from his crouched position, he closed his eyes, sending out his spiritual senses, trying to feel the beam of light. And just as he thought, it wasn't a simple light. The beam was woven through with qi—light, qi force, and something else he couldn't understand. No major elements or anything. Was there some sort of illusion?

Possibly, but not one he could pierce. He touched it again and watched as the eddies of qi swirled around his finger.

"Liming," he said.

"Sister, would you mind touching the qi in the beam as well?" He felt her crouch down next to him and gently trail her fingers through the qi, but it reacted differently to her. The qi refracted slightly as it passed through her fingers but didn't cast a shadow. When he opened his eyes, everyone was staring at the light going through her hand. Paike reached down and touched the light again. His finger cast a shadow though her hand. It was almost as if her hand wasn't there.

But when he closed his eyes again, he could tell there was some sort of interaction going on with her qi. Was it because of his qi that the light was parting around him, that the qi couldn't make it through? If he held his hand there long enough, would the light come through eventually, or was it simply being diverted? Cautiously, he reached out and touched Liming's hand. They both withdrew their fingers as if a burning sensation, as if they had put their hands too close to a fire, flared through them.

Liming gasped, sticking her finger in her mouth.

"Ah!" Paike exclaimed. He offered his un touched hand to his sister, which she grabbed hard before he reached down and touched the light again with his other hand. This time, the light was more solid, though his hand still sunk into it slightly. The burning sensation returned, and he withdrew.

"Try touching it," he instructed. Liming reluctantly took her scorched finger out of her mouth and touched the beam with the back of her hand. The light completely held her weight.

"It seems that we just have to be in contact with each other for the light to be solid," Paike surmised. A few more rounds of testing later, they found that it was correct. Paike would slowly sink through, but it was slow enough that, if he ran, he might be able to make it across regardless.

"So, how do we do this?" Zhang Shuying asked. Paike frowned. He didn't want to go first because his presence interrupted the beam.

"But you and Guan Li are the most mobile. Why don't you two try crossing together?" The two of them looked at each other. Guan Li shrugged, offering his hand. Zhang Shuying colored slightly but took his hand, and together, they dashed across the beam, Guan Li pulling her along as she tried to keep up. Halfway through, the beam pulsed, and faces appeared in it.

The two were flung forward, and Guan Li just managed to keep a hold of her hand as he wrapped an arm and leg around the beam while she flung past him, sending him sliding several body lengths further along the beam before he managed to arrest their fall. Zhang Shuying let out a shrill shriek as she dangled a mere meter above the water, which splashed up at her, soaking her feet. Guan Li grunted and heaved with one arm, pulling her up where she could grab onto the beam as well.

With some wriggling, they managed to get her on without losing contact with each other. But just before they were about to get to their feet, the beam pulsed again, and they were rocketed forward another body length. After a pause, they got up and dashed. This time, Paike was counting, and right before the beam should pulse again, he yelled down. The two of them flung themselves onto the beam, holding on tight as the pulse sent them sliding a bit more.

It took two more cycles before they got to the other side, relatively unharmed.

"Okay," Paike said, looking at the remaining two members of his team.

"Well, this is going to be trickier." He realized he probably should have gone first, because now, well, there's no other way to get someone back to him. His plan had originally been to carry someone on his back as he ran. That might not be possible now. He also wasn't sure how the pulse would work with his qi. Would it support him? Would it move him? Would it unbalance him more? Would it allow him to sink in further? Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Eventually, they had Mi Lixian in front, Paike behind her, and Liming taking up the rear. Paike was stretched out between the two of them, and as they went, he simply held on tight. The pulse sent Liming stumbling into his back and Mi Lixian tugging at his hand, but he was unaffected. They still couldn't slow down or he would start to fall through the light. He kept his balance and forged on, despite the hard impact they stayed upright.

They continued moving at a steady pace, not trying to sprint, nor diving for the floor to avoid being knocked off. It just wasn't plausible for them to do that. Guan Li counted off seconds and shouted warnings when the pulse came. Still, the crossing was rather uneventful, and they made it to the other side in a fraction of the time it had taken them to get up the crystal wall. Once they were on the other side, Paike could finally see the other teams.

Several of them were still working on the balance beam, but not everyone was there. Han Saiyan and Ren Shu's team had no one there either. The two of them had moved on, or… well, something was wrong with their team dynamic. Li Feng's team was already heading into the next obstacle, while Zhai Lianitian's group was wrapping up the beam as well. Looking forward, Paike considered the third obstacle.

In front of them stretched a dense, mystical forest with several small gaps in the trees that seemingly led toward well-trodden paths. But the light reflecting off the leaves of the undergrowth and the flashes of white fur and mottled gray feathers he saw between the branches and the trunks of the trees told him that this was not at all what it appeared to be. There was a fog hanging up in the canopy. Occasionally, wisps of mist reached down and ran their tendrils along the ground.

It was the classic Enchanted Forest. Stories featuring some of his favorite heroes often involved encounters in forests like this, usually in the wild, near the edges of the empire, where some ancient spirit had long ago begun to slumber. The heroes would need to go in to rescue a maiden or find the thing they needed to fix their cultivation. These forests were often places of healing but also of confusion, pain, and sorrow.

Many people who went into the Enchanted Forest never returned, most of the time being held captive by some spirit for the rest of their natural lives. Getting lost was the expectation. Everyone who went in got lost. No one really thought they wouldn't be lost. The key was to be able to keep your focus and become not lost. Would they be able to do that? He was not sure. But more importantly, they needed to go together.

"All right," he said after everyone had a moment to digest the sight in front of them.

"Keep in contact with at least two others. And keep to this path. Don't let anything distract you. Don't let them touch you." He held out his hands, and everyone linked up, forming a column, mostly two by two, holding each other tight enough that they wouldn't be easily pulled away. Taking a deep breath, Paike stepped forward with everyone as they went forward on the narrow path under the tree branches.

At first, it worked. The forest twisted around them, but they kept hold of each other and stayed on the path. Then Guan Li stumbled.

"Stop pulling me." There was accusation in his voice. Zhang Shuying snapped, "I'm not pulling you."

"You are!"

"You're pulling me!"

"Quiet," Paike said as calmly as he could manage.

"Just keep moving."

"I am trying to keep moving," Guan Li said, voice rising. Liming's grip tightened painfully around Paike's hand.

"Brother?"

"I'm here."

"You let go." Paike looked down. Their hands were still linked. Before he could say anything, Mi Lixian whispered, "The forest is copying us." A branch cracked somewhere to their left. Zhang Shuying jerked toward it. Guan Li grabbed for her sleeve at the same time Liming pulled back, and suddenly everyone was yanking in different directions. Paike planted his feet, trying to hold them together, but there were too many hands, too many grips. Some were real. Some weren't.

"Hold!" Paike shouted.

"I am holding!" Guan Li shouted back.

"Then stop pulling!"

"I'm not!" The mist surged between them. For half a heartbeat, Paike felt everyone's hands in his. Then he felt none of them. He spun, reaching for Liming, but there was only fog.

"Liming!"

"Brother!" Her voice came from three directions at once. The others were shouting too, their voices overlapping until he couldn't tell which direction any of them came from.

"Guan Li!"

"Over here!" Guan Li shouted.

"No, here!" Zhang Shuying cried. Mi Lixian hummed a sharp, panicked note from every direction. Then even that vanished. Paike stood alone on the path, his heart hammering. He wanted to run toward where he had last heard Liming's voice, but knew that wouldn't work. Instead, he tried to follow the path as best he could. When the path split, he chose one at random. When voices called, he ignored them. When something brushed his sleeve, he nearly turned.

When he finally stumbled out of the forest, Guan Li was already there, pacing. Mi Lixian sat on a stone with her arms wrapped around herself, facing away from everyone. Zhang Shuying came out next, eyes rimmed with tears. Liming emerged last. Paike went to her immediately.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," she said.

"I'm fine."

"Good," he breathed. Then Guan Li rounded on him.

"What happened to staying together?" Paike paused, confused.

"The forest obviously split us up."

"Then someone slipped! It couldn't have split all of us if everyone held on!"

"I didn't let go!" Liming argued.

"I said it was copying us," Mi Lixian said, not looking up.

"I didn't hear you say that!" Liming spoke up.

"Neither did I!" Guan Li snapped.

"I felt three people pulling me apart!" Zhang Shuying shouted.

"So, unless one of you grew extra arms!" Guan Li threw up his hands.

"I'm not saying it was on purpose!"

"You're shouting like you are!"

"You shouted first!"

"Enough!" Paike snapped. Everyone stopped. The word had come out too harsh. Paike could hear it echoing in the trees behind them. Everyone fell silent at once. That practically made it worse. He knew he should say something else. That tempers were running hot, and they hadn't meant what they said. That they had all been tricked. However, if he opened his mouth again, he wasn't sure what would come out. Paike turned toward the next obstacle with his shoulders set, before he could say anything worse. They followed.

They finished the remaining obstacles in silence. Paike gave directions when he had to, and the others followed them, but there was no rhythm to it. Guan Li stopped joking. Zhang Shuying stopped speaking unless spoken to. Mi Lixian kept her eyes down. Liming stayed close, but even she only answered in short words. They crossed the final line together, long after they should have.