Escaping Fate

by Tinalynge

  This valley was unlike any other he had seen before. The old forest was nothing like it and everything within this forest wasn’t remotely similar to this.

  The entire valley was covered in fog and the ground was littered with medicinal herbs. With all these herbs, even the fields on the Zhong family residence would be embarrassed if they were compared to this massive find.

  Stopping his movements, Xu Min stood on top of an ancient tree and his eyes were fixated on all the flowers. However, all his other senses were stretched to their limits. He was constantly listening and feeling for the sound of the leaves moving, branches cracking, or another person’s aura entering his field of vision.

  Xu Min stood still on top of the branches for a long time, but no signs of life showed regardless of the time he waited. Eventually, he climbed downwards. His heart was beating erratically and his senses sharpened to heights never seen before.

  Entering the valley, he felt how the dense energy of the essence of the heavens and the earth surrounded him. This was a quality that he had never before experienced. His heart squeezed in surprise and astonishment; even though he was not meditating, golden specks of light appeared in front of him and entered his body.

  Bending down, Xu Min quickly picked up one herb after another and placed them within his bag. Not sure what to do, he kept picking herbs. Quickly deciding not to be greedy, he disappeared in a flash only after half his bag was filled. He was once more found on top of one of the massive tree tops.

  The herbs he had taken were less than a hundredth of the herbs contained within the valley. Although he had vanished, no one had appeared to stop him. No one had appeared to get revenge for the stolen goods.

  Seeing this, wild joy filled the young boy as he thought about all the medicinal plants he had within his bag. Xu Min also thought about how those plants would be capable of assisting him in increasing his strength. By relying on these herbs, he hoped that he would be able to advance swiftly. Advancing swiftly was exactly what he wanted to do and without looking back, Xu Min rushed back to the lair he had created the day before.

  Sitting in the lair, he picked out of the flowers from the bag and placed them in front of him. One shone more splendidly than the others. No matter how much he looked at these flowers, Xu Min felt completely ecstatic. He only had one problem. He had no idea what types of flowers he had picked or their uses.

  Chapter 16 – The Mysterious Valley

  Looking at all the flowers in front of him, Xu Min felt his head slightly ache as he realized that he had no idea what these flowers would do to him if were he to eat them.

  He knew that some herbs, like the ones the Zhong Family were harvesting, were for healing injuries. The Zhong family also cultivated medicinal herbs that increased the Qi of a warrior. They even allowed the cultivator to become better at absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth.

  Unfortunately, Xu Min knew that most medicinal herbs needed to be refined and mixed with other herbs to produce pills. These medicinal pills were far more potent when it came to both healing and improving cultivation. Although these medicinal plants worked great when combined, they worked terribly when they were eaten alone. Some of them were even poisonous.

  This was common knowledge amongst the many servants of the Zhong Family. Xu Min, like most servants, had never even seen a medicinal pill before.

  However, what he had seen were the medicinal herbs that were grown by the Zhong Family. These herbs allowed for one to be healed. He remembered one herb perfectly well as Xu Wu had gifted him one on her final night.

  Looking at the herbs in front of him, he instantly recognized which one was meant for healing injuries. He sighed deeply as he regretted picking up random flowers instead of just taking one type, the one type he knew well.

  His regret did not last long. As he stayed within the treetops, the night was descending. Even though it was the middle of the night once again, no sound was heard. No humans were setting up bonfires and the woods were completely desolate.

  As Xu Min’s curiosity could not be held back, he decided to go sneaking around the mysterious valley at night. He was excited to find what the valley held for him. If there weren’t any beasts or humans were around, he could perhaps even manage to grab a few more herbs.

  Xu Min made it to the valley without any problems as he did not encounter any beasts or humans. As he closed in on the valley, his eyes threatened to pop out of his skull from the majestic scenery that laid before him.

  Strangely enough, all the medicinal herbs were gently swaying without a breeze. A humming sound was rising from the hordes of shining leaves and petals. In addition, a silvery light rose from the core of the flowers only to gradually fly towards the back of the field filled with flowers.

  The fog that enveloped the entire field during the day had now been replaced by the impenetrable endlessness of the silvery light.

  Hearing the flowers humming, Xu Min instantly discarded the idea of picking up more flowers. Since he was truly astonished, he stayed to watch the beautiful display of the flowers.

  Xu Min felt as though the density of essences of heaven and earth around him was increasing. Once again, the golden specks of light had appeared. They entered his body through various veins and pores and exited through exhalation.

  Seeing that he was once more refining Qi without having to enter a trance-like meditation, Xu Min could easily tell that there was something special about this valley. Just because it did not seem to pose any threat towards the young man, he refused to allow his guard to be lowered. One could never know for certain.

  Deciding to find out what was going on in this odd valley, Xu Min remained vigilant all night. He waited for the sun to rise so he could enter the valley again and see what was inside.

  Looking around, he did not waste his time. Since it was possible for him to cultivate while still being awake, Xu Min spent his time doing as much as possible while observing his surroundings.

  Eventually, he came to the conclusion that the unknown entity that sucked in high amounts of silvery light from the flowers was at the end of the valley. He decided against walking on the ground. Instead, he chose to travel through the treetops until he reached the area where the silvery mist moved to.

  As soon as the first rays of sunshine broke through the sky, Xu Min was astonished to see how the plants stopped swaying and humming. Instead, they stood up as the moving silvery mist fell down and shrouded all the plants in the fog-like mist that had previously confused the young man. It seemed that the mist and the fog were one in the same. They were actually the essences from the heavens and the earth!

  Discovering this, Xu Min was even more curious to see what creature was behind these flowers. He also wonder what ability it had to command so many flowers to give up the essence they had meticulously gathered throughout the day.

  Getting ready to explore, Xu Min moved to the outskirts of the valley through one treetop after another. The valley was much larger than what he had expected; however, he did not have to travel far before he saw what was sucking in the essence. He felt astonished just by looking at it.

  In front of him was a large tree, a tree that was even more ancient than the ones Xu Min had used previously to hide behind. However, this tree was so large that its aura was not in any way inferior to the aura he had felt from his teacher Wang Li.

  Looking at the tree, Xu Min was dumbstruck at first. After thinking the situation through, he slowly understood what was going on.

  Every living creature in the world, even the plants, absorbed essence from the heavens and the earth. The more essence one absorbed, the higher cultivation one had.

  This was common knowledge for anyone; however, it was very rare that plants managed to cultivate to the point where they had a consciousness. And even if they did, they would not be able to transform into humans just by having a consciousness.

  It was much akin to how demon beasts became much more intelligent the higher rank they achieve
d. What Xu Min could not understand was why this tree was so obsessed with cultivating.

  To release the same kind of aura as his teacher Wang Li, it was obvious that this tree had reached the Nine-Star Warrior rank, the final destination for cultivators.

  Although Xu Min did not understand why the tree was cultivating to such extents, he could not help but feel slight pity towards it. Even so, he had no intention of advancing. He had previously plucked some of the herbs that were in charge of giving the essence of the heavens and the earth to the tree. It was likely that this massive tree was not friendly towards him.

  Having come to this conclusion, Xu Min frowned again as he started wondering why there were neither beasts nor humans near this place. Although the tree had a high cultivation base, it was impossible for it to move from the soil which it had been planted many eons ago.

  Turning around, Xu Min was about to leave when he noticed that he was no longer alone. Behind him. there was a massive green snake and its eyes were shining as the purest gold. Its tongue slithered with a sly smile apparent on its face.

  “Where do you think you are going?” it asked with a slithering voice. Xu Min’s heart trembled as he heard the human words coming out of the mouth of the snake. Only Advanced Stage beasts were capable of speech. Only at the very peak of the Advanced Stage beasts could they speak as fluently as this snake. Xu Min felt the danger and uncertainty of his current situation.

  Although he truly wished to flee as quickly as possible, he knew that there was no way for him to outrun the snake. The only option he had was to allow the snake to twist its tail around his body and slowly make its way towards the giant tree.

  Being next to the giant tree, Xu Min felt fear. He felt more fear than when he was next to the large snake. The snake had no reason to have enmity towards the young man as they had never met before. There was a chance that he would not stoop so low as to kill a weak One-Star Warrior. On the other hand, the tree had a good reason to dislike him, half a bag full of reasons to be precise.

  Gritting his teeth, Xu Min cursed his own curiosity. Deep down, he was still fascinated by the large tree and its ability to accept the essence of the heavens and the earth from other flowers. Not to mention, he admired the iron will that was behind such a large tree that had allowed it to prevail this many years. In a way, Xu Min felt great respect but also great pity towards the tree.

  Saying nothing, the young boy saw that the tree and the snake seemed to be communicating somehow. And while they were communicating, Xu Min was placed right in front of the large tree trunk. He looked up and saw that it was well over one hundred meters tall, the tallest tree he had ever seen. The trunk was a good twenty meters in diameter and the leaves were almost as long as Xu Min’s arms.

  Although the young man knew he was in great danger, he was unable to hold back his urges. His hand caressed the large tree in front of him and his eyes filled with wonder. Being this close to the tree, it was easy to tell that he had not overestimated it earlier. The tree was without a doubt as strong as Wang Li when it came to raw power. Unfortunately, it was completely incapable of using all that strength which was just coiling up inside. Seeing this, sadness welled up within Xu Min. For the first time ever, he thanked the gods that he had been born a human. A human had a much easier path when it came to cultivation.

  “Don’t touch her!” The snake hissed at Xu Min. However, he did not show any signs of attacking and neither did the tree. Suddenly, the snake disappeared with swift movements and into the tree’s top. He made its way up with a speed far above that the young boy had ever seen before. His eyes glistened. Although he would regret never getting revenge, he still would feel no remorse if he were to die. He was able to meet a speaking demon beast and a tree that had cultivated at unprecedented heights.

  Looking up in the tree top, Xu Min saw that the snake was coming downwards at a speed as fast as before. The snake moved at a speed so swift that even he was unable to truly follow it. Looking at the snake, Xu Min closed his eyes. He expected that he was about to be eaten. Before he managed to do anything, he felt something landing on his shoulder. He first opened one eye and saw that nothing had happened yet. Then, he proceeded to open the other eye.

  The world around him seemed the same as he had not been eaten by the large snake. In the corner of his eye, he noticed something moving. Something that caused a shiver to run down his spine.

  On Xu Min’s shoulder, there was a one-meter-long snake curled up. Its eyes stared at Xu Min with curiosity and its tongue was constantly slithering in and out of its mouth.

  “Uhm, excuse me?” Xu Min asked with a meek voice as his eyes were glued onto the snake. “I think you might have dropped something,” he continued.

  Chapter 17 - Cao Cao

  “You, stay quiet!” the larger snake hissed at Xu Min. As the young man was feeling somewhat uncomfortable about having a one-meter-long snake curled atop of his shoulder, the snake looked at him with a very curious gleam in its eyes.

  The young man did not dare to disobey the big snake, so he stayed quiet. He constantly felt the snake on his shoulder move about. He investigated everything from his feet and shoes to the insides of his clothes. It even went as far as to personally investigate his skin beneath the clothes. This caused the intimidated and frightened young man to tremble even further as he was scared as to what the snake might do.

  The larger snake was casually lying on top of a branch of the tree and it seemed as though the two snakes communicated much as they had before. This was something that took Xu Min by complete surprise. He had never imagined that a tree could communicate.

  Although he considered it as communication, he could not help but wonder about how it was done. No words were said, but from time to time the snake would nod or shake its head. Its tongue was constantly slithering and its eyes focused solely on the tree in front of it.

  After what seemed like an eternity, anger could be seen in the eyes of the snake. However, it did not take long before the anger was replaced by tenderness and apology. Once more, the conversation seemed to continue.

  Xu Min had been standing close to the tree for hours on end. And while he was standing there, the small snake had investigated the young man’s entire body. After a while, it had finally found the small bag on his waist where he entered and curled up into it. It only allowing for his face to be visible.

  After yet another hour, the snake suddenly made its way down to the young boy. Looking at him, the snake sighed deeply.

  “You, human!” he called out. Without wasting time, Xu Min stepped forward. “My son, Cao Cao, has been itching for an adventure for a long, long time,” he started while looking at the sleeping snakehead that was visible on the satchel.

  “You are to take him with you on your journey,and you are to have personal responsibility over him,” the snake continued, “You are to make a blood bond with my adorable son just to give some authority over him. If you ever mistreat him or sell him off, you will soon find yourself dead. I won’t need to act as my dear son is strong enough to get rid of someone with the useless rank of a One-Star Warrior.”

  Hearing this, Xu Min felt a shiver run down his spine. He quickly nodded in reply as he bit his finger and allowed for some blood to drip out.

  The large snake suddenly slashed the forehead of the tiny snake. Within moments, the snake woke up and let out an alarmed scream. Seeing the actions of the larger snake, Xu Min’s heart grew cold. He previously called the baby snake his dear son. But now he had sliced him, something which could have been done in a much simpler way.

  Daring not to say anything, Xu Min stayed quiet as he allowed their blood to mingle. A weird feeling filled the young boy as he felt as though some of his soul was sucked into the beast in his bag. In return, he gained a little bit of the snake’s soul.

  ‘It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’ A juvenile voice echoed throughout Xu Min’s consciousness. It was a voice filled with indignation. It sounded as though the voice came fr
om a ten year old child.

  Hearing the voice, Xu Min’s eyes widened in surprise and he was stared at the snake lying in his bag. Its eyes were closed.

  “Don’t cry,” the young man said. He had forgotten completely about the large snake and the tree that was right next to him. His entire being was focused on the snake as he could feel the sadness and indignation in the heart of the snake.

  Picking up the small snake, Xu Min placed it around his neck and the small snake allowed him to move him exactly as he wished.

  As soon as the snake was moved from the purse, Xu Min rummaged through his satchel and quickly found a medicinal herb he recognized. With the herb, he allowed the small snake to sleep in the bag again before he shredded the herb and placed it in the mouth of the meter-long snake.

  “Eat this,” he said with a tender voice. The situation made him recall how Xu Wu stole herbs to heal him. Now, he had used stolen herbs to heal someone else. Somehow, he could understand how Xu Wu felt during the times that she looked after him. A sad smile was evident on his face as he gently patted Cao Cao’s little head after he gave him the herb to eat.