Chapter 74: The Origin of the Dayless Forest
She turned back and said, "Don't be afraid. I'm always watching you."
Han Yueshan and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Xi Jing, look up and open your eyes."
Xi Jing obediently raised her head and opened her eyes wide. She vaguely felt water dripping on her eyes. She tried hard to restrain the urge to close her eyes until her senior sister spoke again: "Close your eyes. I didn't say don't open your eyes."
"The better..."
“I understand!”
Han Yueshan raised his head and opened his eyes expectantly. Tao Zi looked at him helplessly and said, "Bend your knees."
He was puzzled for a moment, then understood and happily did as he was told.
Zhao Xue drew inferences from what she had learned and before her senior sister could speak, she knelt down, raised her head and opened her eyes wide.
The eldest sister casually threw the dried new sprout in her hand aside and said, "Cover each other's mouths, cover them tightly, and don't make any noise."
The hands of the three of them suddenly became a mess. Under her guidance, Han Yueshan covered the mouths of his junior brothers and sisters, and his junior brothers and sisters covered his mouth together.
Just in case, she tied it up with vines.
"Hold it tight."
The three of them nodded in unison.
"Okay, open your eyes."
The three of them opened their eyes with anticipation and fear, and saw many dark trees!
Wait...wait! Why are there so many eyes?
The three of them stared blankly at the animal eyes around them.
Tao Zi nodded in satisfaction, remaining calm.
Before she could open her mouth to praise him, Han Yueshan moaned and pulled his two junior brothers and sisters into his arms. Xi Jing was about to cry, and Zhao Xuehua used fear as strength to cover his senior brother's mouth frantically.
...Okay, you still remember to cover your mouth, that's good.
She just stood there and watched them go crazy without mercy until they recovered.
"Still screaming?"
The three of them shook their heads wildly with tears in their eyes, telling her with their expressions and body language that they had calmed down, even though they seemed unreliable.
Tao Zi untied the vines tied around their hands, and they leaned against her, shivering.
She understood their reaction. After all, they were still stronger than the cultivator who had escaped before.
"S-Sister?"
Tao Zi glanced at them for a few times and said, "It's okay, they won't attack people easily."
Xi Jing blurted out, "So friendly?"
Friendly as hell! Han Yueshan looked at the saliva dripping from the mouth of the beast closest to him, and silently moved closer to his senior sister.
"Talk as we walk."
She turned around and tried to move forward, but three people were holding onto her tightly. She said helplessly, "Can you please loosen your grip a little? Otherwise, if something happens, I won't be able to react."
The three of them relaxed a little, but only a little.
"These animals are very timid. Without the influence of light or noise, they generally won't attack humans. We are relatively safe on this journey."
Han Yueshan thought of what had just happened and said fearfully, "Senior Sister, next time something like this happens, can you use something else to cover our mouths?"
Tao Zi responded as a matter of course: "The rattan cannot be eaten, and the clothes are limited, so they cannot be wasted."
Is that so? But why does it always feel like something is wrong? Xi Jing glanced at her senior sister in confusion.
Of course, their senior sister would never admit that she was looking forward to them screaming and starting a fight. After all, the purpose of entering the forest was to train, right?
Han Yueshan asked cautiously, "Senior Sister, you seem to know a lot about the Dayless Forest. Can you tell us about it?"
"Even if you don't mention it, I'll tell you. You can't be out there and be ignorant." Tao Zi said, "The Dayless Forest was man-made."
"Who is so crazy?"
"The Xuan Yue Imperial Family." She organized her words and continued, "This happened a long time ago, so long ago that the exact year is unclear. All we know is that beasts were rampant on the continent at that time, and countless mortals died tragically at their hands. Only by becoming an immortal cultivator could there be a chance of survival."
"A young man from the Xuanyue Continent—the first emperor of the imperial family—created a weapon with his mortal body that even immortal cultivators trembled with fear. Using his charisma, he gathered a group of fearless mortals. They began snatching people and land from the clutches of beasts to protect the mortals. These people were the predecessors of the Xuanyue Imperial Army."
Tao Zi hesitated at this point. There was still much to come, but time was running out, so she simply said, "But the beasts continued to run rampant, and they couldn't be eradicated. Later, they discovered two species of trees that grew together, one that absorbed light, and one that continuously emitted it. They planted them separately in the south, right here, and then, at the cost of many lives, lured the then-king of the beasts and his followers here."
Xi Jing became more and more absorbed in what she heard, but she hesitated to speak. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "And then?"
"They stationed troops outside the forest, eliminating any beasts that emerged. After ten, twenty, or even hundreds of years, the beasts became accustomed to the perpetual light or darkness and could no longer leave the forest. Without a leader, the beasts outside gradually weakened."
Han Yueshan noticed something was wrong and asked, "Is it Guangming?"
"Inside, that is the most terrifying place in the Dayless Forest. You can't go there yet. I hope you will have the strength to break in in the future."
Zhao Xue thought about it for a moment and asked in confusion, "That's not right. Can't the Beast King get out?"
"Legends, just legends, say that the young man built an incredibly strong cage inside to trap the Beast King. He also had his subordinates and the most elite troops guard the border between light and darkness to prevent them from wandering around and becoming accustomed to the intersection of darkness and light, which would have been a waste of their sacrifice."
Xi Jing sighed from the bottom of her heart, "Amazing! So what happened to His Majesty?"
Tao Zi was silent for a moment before she said, "After that, he disappeared, leaving behind only a child. No one knows where he went."
Han Yueshan felt something was wrong and muttered, "Where are the immortal cultivators? Why aren't there any immortal cultivators?"
"It's already difficult for low-level cultivators to protect themselves, while high-level cultivators are facing off against the Beast Palace where the Beast King resides, restraining each other. No one dares to act rashly."
"With so many high-level cultivators, there's no one left to take charge?"
Tao Zi spoke calmly, "That era was the age of beasts. Every hundred years, on average, five demon beasts ascended to heaven and three spirit beasts became immortals. Humans were lucky to have one every hundred years. Furthermore, almost every beast was capable of fighting, while the majority of humans were mortal. Even though the beasts split internally and didn't all join the war, humanity still struggled. It wasn't until Your Majesty appeared that humanity finally saw the dawn of hope."
Han Yueshan's eyes gleamed as he said, "What's the origin of that mortal? He's amazing!"
"No one knows His Majesty's origins. He appeared out of nowhere on this continent and saved the human race as a savior."
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