“Senior sister, why don’t we send a message to our sect? Let’s go back and have the sect’s experts come looking for her,” a woman suggested.

"Alright!" After pondering for a long time and considering the feasibility of this plan, he agreed to her suggestion. He took out a communication jade tablet from his body, cast a spell, and wrote words on it one by one: "Master, Junior Sister Jiang has gone missing in the Enchanted Forest. She went to gather herbs and has not yet rejoined us. Please send someone from the sect to look for her." After that, the jade tablet turned into a wisp of green smoke and flew away.

"Alright! Let's go!" After saying that, he stood up from the ground, picked up his sword, and led the way.

At this moment, Jiang Heng was shivering from the cold, her arms wrapped around herself and sliding up and down to rub against her skin for warmth. She hadn't brought any warm clothes, and now that it was night, it was getting cold. The forest was pitch black, and she didn't know how far she had walked. She decided to turn back and explore again another time.

Having made her decision, Jiang Heng took the luminous pearl and headed back the way she came.

"Hey, look, isn't that her? Isn't she the woman in the portrait the boss gave us?" From the darkness of the forest, a head peeked out furtively and asked in a low voice.

"It seems so! But I can't see it very clearly!"

"Go away, you're completely useless, not even as clever as Little Clever." She instantly felt disgusted with her companion; those big eyes were practically just decorations, utterly useless.

"Tch, if it weren't for your silver tongue that's good at flattering the boss, how could you possibly be more powerful than us now?" she retorted disdainfully.

"Hmph, you're not as strong as me, yet you say such things. Flattery is a kind of skill too. If you're so capable, why don't you go up there and say it yourself?"

"look down!"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. If you keep arguing, the woman will be gone. How are we going to complete the task the boss assigned?" another voice said, and no one said anything more.

"Has Little Smarty returned yet?"

"No!"

"Honestly, the portrait I asked for still hasn't come back. Could it have fallen into a trap someone dug?" the voice said uncertainly.

Uh... that's right, the clever little guy is currently in a trap set by someone else and is running around in circles in a panic.

"Forget it, let's follow them. Of the rest of us, only Lao Shi is handsome enough to seduce her."

"No, Lao Shi is too honest. What good is being handsome all the time?"

"Uh, who should we send? You guys are all ugly and deformed, you might scare that woman away."

“I think it’s better to scare her. The boss’s task for us is to chase after her and scare her.”

"But have you forgotten? The boss said this woman is very mysterious, and we must be careful."

"Okay! So what do you suggest we do?"

...

A large group of spirit beasts gathered together, chattering amongst themselves about how to deal with the woman, Jiang Heng. Their leader was none other than Ah Xing. Before leaving, Ah Xing had secretly gathered them together and given them a task and a painting: if they encountered the woman in the painting, they must torture her to death and scare her to death.

So they were really lucky today. They hadn't expected that this woman, who looked like the one in the portrait, would appear on their territory after only a few days of their boss's absence. Little Smarty spotted her and told everyone that they had been following her all afternoon! But they hadn't done anything. They had just been watching her.

Jiang Heng was completely unaware that she had been targeted by the spirit beasts, and continued to cautiously head towards the outer edge of the magical forest.

At night, the Enchanted Forest is pitch black, and teeming with wild beasts and spirits. A moment's carelessness can lead to an attack. Many of these spirits are highly intelligent, their cries sending chills down your spine. They even seem to step on your bones, making it feel like walking on thin ice. The wind rustles the leaves incessantly, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

"Hurry, hurry, little clever one, bring the portrait quickly! Why are you so slow? She's almost at the outer edge of the area."

"Are you really not to blame me? I don't know which damned person dug a huge pit in the forest and made me fall in. It took me a long time to climb out." Little Clever was practically a squirrel, practically a relative of Ah Xing! So when Ah Xing was around, it and Little Clever had the best relationship.

"That pit was actually dug by the boss. He wanted to see which unlucky guy would fall in."

Little Clever: ……

"Alright, alright, hurry up and bring the portrait over for us to see," another voice urged.

"Oh! Okay!" The little clever one suddenly grew bigger and vomited out a portrait from its mouth.

"My God, you're disgusting! How could you swallow that?"

"That's because I haven't transformed into human form yet. I can't take it, so I can only put it inside my stomach."

"Alright, alright, stop arguing and hurry up and open it to take a look. Little smarty, you need to have better eyesight. Quickly check if the person in this portrait looks exactly like that woman."

"Hmm!" The clever little girl jumped onto the painting, looked at the painting, then at Jiang Heng, and then raised her head and nodded firmly.

"That's good! Brothers, grab your weapons and get to work!"

"Wait a minute, let's come up with a plan first!"

"Just charge in like that, how about it?"

"I'll transform back into my beast form, unleash my power, and scare her to death."

"OK!"

"I've heard that humans are especially afraid of ghosts, so why don't I become a ghost and float over there?"

"Tch, don't be ridiculous. People may be afraid of ghosts, but this is a cultivator. Who would be afraid of ghosts? Catching ghosts is more like it. Rejected."

"I'm going out first." As soon as the words were spoken, a giant bear appeared. It stood up, patted its belly, and roared. It was as big as a small mountain.

"Roar! Roar!" The roar of a wild beast rang in her ears. Jiang Heng's body stiffened, and an ugly smile appeared on her face. After a slight pause, she released her speed and ran forward. But no matter how fast she ran, the big bear followed her at a leisurely pace, relentlessly pursuing her.

Sensing the massive creature behind her, Jiang Heng knew she couldn't afford to mess with it, so she could only run for her life. As she ran, her foot slipped, and she accidentally stepped into a pit, falling heavily into it. Because of the surrounding thorns and the animal traps buried below, Jiang Heng was unlucky enough to be caught in both. She looked utterly disheveled; her hair was a mess, and her clothes were torn by thorns and stained with blood. Her hand, which had been braced against an animal trap, was pierced through by its spikes.

"Ah! Hiss!" The moment she was hit, Jiang Heng let out a scream, startling the giant bear. With heavy steps, she reached the edge of the pit. Jiang Heng was utterly terrified, covering her mouth and afraid to breathe. Between injury and death, she chose injury. Tears streamed down her face from the pain, and a deep resentment rose in her heart. She vowed that when she had the strength, she would burn this entire forest to the ground to vent her hatred.