The Guide Always Wants to Run (GL) - Chapter 42

The group of eight moved in silence, each step taken with extreme caution. Qin Xiao and Yan Ningjin were kept in the center, while Ironhead and Brother Mi led the way. Liu Jiang and Su Shu covered the rear. Mu Yan, who had been slightly injured during night watch while protecting Amy, now walked just behind Qin Xiao and Yan Ningjin.

No one spoke. The air was tense. Qin Xiao’s keen almond-shaped eyes scanned the surroundings. The path they had chosen was flanked by identical trees on both sides. Each one had a strange appearance. From afar, the trunks resembled graceful women with willow-thin waists, flaunting their curves like dancers. The branches that drooped on either side resembled strands of silky black hair. When stirred by the wind, the trees exuded an eerie beauty, as though putting on a show for passersby. Every step felt like walking through a haunted stage.

“Be careful. Don’t let the vines wrap around your feet,” Ironhead warned again.

“These trees… they look like women.” More accurately, the upper half looked human, while the lower half remained rooted.

At the rear, Liu Jiang and Su Shu stayed vigilant, yet the bizarre appearance of the trees sent shivers down their spines.

Su Shu asked nervously, “What happens if we get tangled in the vines?”

A cold laugh broke the silence. Mu Yan answered, “The consequences are not something you want to experience. Don’t get curious. But if you do get caught, cut the vines off without hesitation.”

Their chatter faded as the group moved deeper into the forest. The fork in the path soon shrank behind them, becoming a mere speck in the distance.

Liu Jiang hesitated. “It looks like a team is following us.”

The group paused and turned. Indeed, five brawny men were charging toward them, silent as shadows. If Liu Jiang hadn’t been checking behind them often, they might never have noticed.

“They’re heading into the forest too.”

“That’s trouble.”

Brother Mi and Ironhead exchanged a serious glance. Brother Mi warned, “From here on, stay alert and guard against sneak attacks.”

Qin Xiao observed carefully. “Those five look like they’re from the Beast System. The two in front are black tigers. The ones at the rear are silver wolves. The one in the middle seems… like a bei.”

“What’s a bei?”

“Aya, how do you know they’re black tigers, silver wolves, and… whatever a bei is?”

Everyone turned to Qin Xiao, their eyes filled with curiosity and surprise.

Qin Xiao blinked, pointed to Yan Ningjin, and said, “Of course, Yan Yan told me… right, Yan Yan?”

Yan Ningjin smiled indulgently and caught her finger in her palm. “Let’s keep moving, but watch out for the one in the middle.”

“Why? Boss, have you fought them before?”

Among the five, the one in the center was shorter and seemed to have a disability in one hand.

Though others were puzzled, Qin Xiao gave Yan Ningjin a meaningful glance and whispered, “Have they never heard the story of the wolf and the bei?“

They hadn’t. One by one, they looked to Qin Xiao expectantly.

Qin Xiao opened her mouth but chose not to explain. Instead, she nudged the story toward Yan Ningjin.

Yan Ningjin sighed. “I haven’t heard that tale either. I only guessed from the way they move.”

Just like their own formation. The person most in need of protection walked in the center. The front took the lead while the rear kept guard.

They pushed forward. Before long, a piercing roar echoed through the woods. It sounded like a wounded beast, and it confirmed Qin Xiao’s earlier observation.

The wind carried other sounds as well. A dragging noise swept across the ground.

“They stepped on the vines!” Su Shu gasped. She turned her head and inhaled sharply. “Oh no.”

In the forest’s outer edges, the vines only hung to about two-thirds of the way down the tree trunks, rarely reaching the ground. The chance of stepping on one was less than five percent. Deeper in, however, the older trees drooped more. Their vines dangled like willow branches, stretching lower. If stepped on, they could awaken the entire forest. Once activated, the vines could rip intruders to shreds.

Faces went pale. Ironhead and Brother Mi looked especially grim.

“Don’t move,” Ironhead barked.

Everyone froze, as though spellbound. No one even dared to tilt their head.

They watched as one of the men from the pursuing group got too close to a tree. A vine slithered down like hair and coiled silently around his ankle. Another man tried to help by attacking the vine. That triggered the worst-case scenario. The nearby trees came alive. Vines flailed like angry arms, wrapping around the men’s limbs and yanking them apart.

Even as they shifted into their beast forms, they could not escape.

Amy’s eyes widened in horror. She covered her mouth and nearly vomited.

Yan Ningjin reached out, intending to shield Qin Xiao’s eyes. But she froze when she saw her little guide watching quietly, expressionless.

“Will staying still help?” Su Shu whispered. Her fists were clenched tight, jaw trembling.

“I don’t know,” Mu Yan replied. She supported Amy and handed her something to smell. Amy calmed slightly.

“As long as we don’t provoke them, they won’t attack,” she added.

Su Shu turned pale. Liu Jiang looked no better. The pair of sentinels seemed new to such gore.

“So we just stay here forever?”

Brother Mi explained patiently, “If you move, the vines will chase. No matter how fast you are, you can’t outrun them. Just wait. Once the forest calms down, we’ll be safe.”

Yan Ningjin turned sharply. “Xiao Xiao?”

Qin Xiao looked strange. Tilting her head, she listened intently. Then she shut her eyes and tapped a rhythm on her pants. “Do you hear it?”

Everyone exchanged glances. They heard only the vines slithering and the whisper of wind.

“What do you hear?”

Qin Xiao stepped forward, adjusting her direction to follow the sound.

“Aya.”

“Xiao Xiao.”

“Aya, don’t move.”

“Aya, come back!”

“Do something! Save her!”

The others stared in horror as Qin Xiao walked deeper into the forest, eyes closed. With every step, the vines stirred more violently. They slithered toward her like serpents.

“Xiao Xiao!”

Yan Ningjin rushed forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, but it was too late. Vines coiled around both their ankles. One wrapped over another, layer after layer.

“Xiao Xiao, what’s happening?”

Qin Xiao still had her eyes closed. She whispered, “Listen. Isn’t that the most beautiful melody?”

“Melody?”

Only the rustling vines and the howling wind could be heard.

Qin Xiao instinctively raised her right hand to play, but her Dreambringer Gentleman’s Flute and spatial pouch were gone. She didn’t even know when she had lost them.

Pain flared in her ankle. She looked down. The vines had bound her and Yan Ningjin together like conjoined twins. She glanced back at the others, then murmured, “Do you have the flute?”

Yan Ningjin, struggling against the vines, her face tense and eyes red, replied, “What?”

She pulled out her light sword. “I’ll cut the vines. Aiwei’er will take you away. Don’t look back.”

Qin Xiao frowned. “Aiwei’er will take me. What about you?”

Yan Ningjin had no answer.

Qin Xiao brought her hands together. Her fingers formed a familiar position. Four fingers pressed together and wrapped in her left palm. She brought them to her lips…

Yan Ningjin raised her sword, but paused.

A low, deep tone rang out from Qin Xiao’s lips. Everyone froze. Yan Ningjin stared, sword still raised, eyes fixed on her little guide.

The expected bloodshed never came. The vines around them loosened, then danced lightly like water flowing. The nearby trees swayed more vigorously, though no wind blew. They looked like dancers in a forest waltz.

Brother Mi, Ironhead, and the others broke into cold sweats. Their backs were drenched.

Qin Xiao played a song she once loved, the March Tune. Its melody was joyful and free. When played with her Dreambringer Gentleman’s Flute, even idle birds would pause to listen. The tune’s energy matched the forest’s rhythm.

She glanced at Yan Ningjin. The sentinel understood.

Yan Ningjin swept her into her arms. Ignoring the bl00d dripping from their ankles, she shouted, “Go! Now is our chance to find the Tarpo Gu Vines!