The morning light had just climbed onto the treetops on the west slope, and Xu Yunche had already walked three miles away.
He didn't look back or stop. The cloth strip on his left arm was replaced with a new one, and the blood no longer dripped, but every time he took a step, the wound felt like it was being strangled by a wire, making the whole arm numb. The skin bag was stuck to his waist, and the dry food pressed against the handle of the dagger, causing pain under his ribs. The pain was good, at least it kept him awake.
The dense forest is ahead, and the fog has not cleared yet. The shadows of the trees are intertwined, and the branches and leaves are drooping, like open mouths. He didn't take the main road or go around the often traveled dirt path behind the village, but went straight into the bushes at the edge of the forest. The thorns scratched the trousers, but he didn't care. He just changed the dagger to his right hand and used the back of the knife to push away the vines blocking the way.
It was very quiet in the woods. The birds don't sing and the wind doesn't move. There was only the sound of him stepping on rotten leaves, once and again.
He walked very slowly. It's not that I'm afraid of disturbing anything, but I need to save effort. My left arm couldn't exert any strength, so I had to rely on my right leg when climbing hills. My knees soon began to get sore. He remembered Lin Jiuniang's words: go around the west slope and go out through the forest. But she didn't say how deep the forest was, or whether the next mountain road was still walkable.
The system has been silent.
He didn't expect it to help anytime. That thing has always been elusive. He doesn't speak when he should speak. When he shouldn't speak, he says, "If you don't kill anyone today, you will be rewarded with a pot of spiritual spring." But he knew that as long as he was still alive and moving, the system would not be completely disconnected.
When we reached halfway up the mountain, the sky suddenly turned dark.
The clouds were pressing in from the north and were as heavy as cotton wool soaked in water. He looked up
