The young scholar walked down following the path he came from, but it seemed the route had disappeared. It was really strange. He could not find his way down and now he was stuck between the pool and the foot of the hill. He searched all around, but he can't seem to find his way or direction.

And he kept having the same feeling, that he was being watch. He could not tell what it was, but he did not want to think about it because, he knew himself best, if he started thinking about, he will go crazy thinking about the endless negative situation he and the girl will be stuck in.

They might be killed and ripped apart by wolves, chopped from hand to hand by a maniac woodcutter stalking them in this crazy forest or even poisoned by some unknown plant or trees in this cursed forest.

"Oh no, I am thinking about it," thought the scholar and he shook his head to drive the thoughts away.

The young scholar continued with his effort in finding a way in the darkness. The girl on his back was getting lighter as if a strong wind would carry her off any moment.

He could hardly feel her warmth, her breathing, even though it was getting colder as the night started covering and extending its claws around every nook and corner of the forest, there were no signs of wisp of vapour coming from the girl.

"You cannot die," said the scholar.

He went up and down, walked right and left again until he saw some light from the edge of the forest and thought that it was a blessing from the heavens for his effort and they decided to finally, bestow him with a way to escape.

The young man ran in that direction but what came out at the end of it was not want he expected. He stood there, dumbfounded. It was the same place.

He had returned, it was the pool. The young scholar was devastated.

However, the heavens above didn't abandon him because what waiting him there was the one who could solve all his problems. He sat on top of a flat stone, with a sword on his side, and a bamboo hat covering his head, only the bun he tied on top of his head was visible. There was an attached black translucent cloth attached to the edge of the hat which was streaming down till his shoulder and hiding person's face.

The young scholar was relieved, seeing that there was another person. However, he doubted that their situation would have improved with the man here.

First, he wouldn't be able to help him. He doesn't have any medicine or was the person a physician since he was obviously a swordsman.

Secondly, the person might just be as lost as he was.

Lastly, the young scholar was suspicious about the strange person. In his many travels, he learned a lot and one of them is that if a person had to hide his face, he was either very ugly or had something to hide.

However, he concluded that the person must have been ugly because they are in the middle forest, if he was a normal person, he would have taken it off already.

An owl hooted nearby and sent a chill down his spine. They are in a cursed forest where everyone who had heard about the forest would turn tail from it; he must have been in really in great trouble to come into the forest or he might also be a demon preying on passing travellers. He did not know what to think of the person anymore.

Suddenly, while trying to analyse him, the person suddenly stood up and headed towards him. His outer robe was made from black silk, and it shone under the moon, giving off a mythical aura.

"The moon," thought the young scholar and he looked back up at the sky and realized that the moon had appeared again and there wasn't a single cloud floating around the moon, just like before. But he doesn't have time to worry about the moon.

He instinctively wanted to run from the approaching person but there was something which was telling him that the individual was the person that could help the girl.

The young scholar was too focused with the guy that, unknown to him, JinGe's flower petals on her forehead was glowing in the darkness under the makeshift hood.

"Hand her over," said the ebony clothed person. His hand reached out for the girl.

"Who are you? I won't hand my fiancée to someone I do not know," said the scholar as loudly as he could.

The young scholar tried his best to sound confident while uttering a lie but if you hear clearly, you will notice the tiny cracks in his voice.

"I am..." The person thought for a while before continuing again. "I am her relative, meaning that if you marry her. I will be your relative as well."

"I do not believe you," said the scholar. "Show me some proof."

The person was getting impatient at the fussy, weak looking scholar and with swift movement got behind him and knocked him down with his sword while rescuing the girl.

Before completely losing consciousness, the young scholar saw the guy holding the girl in his arms and leaving, "Sorry. I could not protect you," thought the scholar as his hand reached out to her. It changed into a knuckle due to his frustration and he finally fainted.

Healing

The man walked towards the pool and clasped his hands together and began mumbling in his breath. The water in the pool was beginning to become clearer, as if it was purified, returning it to the point where it was the purest and untainted, when it was first made, its ancient form.

When he was finally done, he took JinGe and jumped into the pool and swimming straight towards the bottom, however the further he went, it somehow changed, instead of reaching the bottom, he had gone up.

When he surfaced, he was at the side of the pool. He dragged JinGe out of the water.

She was his most important priority right now. Without waiting for a moment longer, he scooped up a handful of moon essence, however the essence he had gotten seems more fluid, but he poured it into JinGe's mouth, nonetheless.

Seeing that her condition had stabilized, he went back into the pool and later come back up with the young scholar. He set him up at the side and built a fire next to them.

He had taken off the outer layer of his clothes and the scholar's and the girl's outer clothes and hung them on a tree branch not far away from the fire, to dry them.

"What did you do? To get into this mess," said the black robe man as he covered JinGe with a dry robe out he had retrieved from a tree hole from a tree growing at the side of the pool.

"It's seemed we are really bound by fate. Even though, I have been avoiding you for so long, yet you have come to find me."

Before he was able to withdraw himself, suddenly a hand grabbed hold onto his arm, "Who are you?" said the young scholar.

"It is none of your business," said the man, shrugging off his question and sat down. The scholar then stood up and sat in between them, keeping them apart, trying his best to protect the girl.

The young scholar doesn't want the man to be near her at all, the thought that he might suddenly kidnapped the girl away again, make him anxious.

Suddenly he thought about JinGe went to check on her. He touched her forehead and hand, "They all seem to fine. Her body seems to have stabilized. They are not as cold as ice anymore," thought the scholar.

And begrudgingly, he looked towards the swordsman and said, "Thank you, for saving my fiancée." The swordsman doesn't like talking much and just nodded.

The young scholar rubbed his hands together and warmed it in front of the fire. "Where are we?" he asked the swordsman because he felt that this place was strangely familiar with the place he was before he fainted.

"In a forest."

"Yes, I could see that. But where are we exactly at in the forest?"

"We are next to a pool in a forest."

Although, the scholar was normally very patient but being in a cursed forest and going through a lifetime of tribulations for the whole night, and the hunger that was dissolving the lining in his stomach, you could tell that he was not in the best of moods.

He stood up in his fit of anger and asked the swordsman, "What is the name of the forest?" which he regretted quickly afterward.

His uncivilized behaviour caused one of the ten major embarrassments in his life because the moment he stood up, his pants fell off, revealing his prize possession for the black robe man to see.

The man turned away, poking at the fire, and said, "I see this is the way people say thanks to their saviour."

The embarrassed scholar quickly seized his pants and tied it tightly around his waist again. "Calm down. He's a man anyway, do not be embarrassed," thought the scholar.

And then he casually sat closer to the man, and placed his arm over the man's shoulders, acting like the best of friends and changing the topic trying to forget the incident just now.

"Sorry, for the rude behaviour just now. I did not know that you have saved us. But please do not mind me saying, what actually have you save us from?"

The swordsman sighed, he was lazy to explain it but if he doesn't, the young scholar might not leave him alone. The swordsman could see the persistence in his eyes.

"We are now in the real forest of the WanYue Forest," he started.

"What do you mean by real?" asked the scholar curiously.

"Real as in real, quit bugging me. You are safe now, that's what important," replied the man, coldly.

The swordsman was not in the mood to talk.

However, the scholar continued, and they started to bicker about the topic, although mostly it was from the scholar as the swordsman only answer with only one or two words or sometimes with a grunt.

Due to their constant bickering, JinGe woke up. She opened her eyes and saw the figure of the scholar. In a daze, she uttered, "ZhenYu."

The scholar was confused, when he heard the name, but he did not care much about it, "No, I am not ZhenYu." At that point he realized that they haven't even known, each other name and he tried to introduce himself to her, "I am called Zhuang LiRen."

While being still muddle, JinGe also replied with her own name, "You can call me Yang JinGe," which she doesn't usually give away.

"A wonderful name, a quiet song, very poetic," praised the scholar and he began uttering a poem using her name.

"Hey, LiRen," said the swordsman, "Stop with your poetic mumbling, you are distracting and annoying."

After expressing his annoyance, the swordsman looked over to JinGe's side and stare at her, mostly her eyes. Even though there were separated by the shawl from the swordsman's hat, in a very brief moment, JinGe could feel like they were connected, and she can't suppress the magic in her eyes as it flashes a moment of fleeting blue, but she quickly gotten control over it as she always done, and her pupils turned back to their original colour.

The swordsman handed her some water from his leather pouch which she drank from it. She was grateful for the water because she felt dehydrated and also for the swordsman.

JinGe gave him a grateful nod which the swordsman acknowledged by slightly bowing his head. The both of them do not seem to need words to express themselves as if they already knew what the other was going to say.

The scholar sat down again blocking the both of them.

"Thank you, LiRen," expressed JinGe to the scholar when he looked over to her.

"It was nothing," said the scholar, trying to sound as humble as he could. After she drank the water, she passed it to the scholar. After the man having several mouthfuls, then handed it back to the swordsman.

There was an uncomfortable silence surrounding them and, in order to break away from the awkwardness, LiRen thought of a question.

He looked over at JinGe, "By the way, who is ZhenYu?" asked the scholar.

JinGe looked away, her eyes moved towards the fire.

"Someone from a dream," she finally said with great effort.

There was an indescribable pain in her heart, and it was expressed through her voice which LiRen felt and the man let the question passed and did not press her about it.

Unknown to everyone, the scholar or to JinGe, the swordsman acted a little odd, as he slightly stirred in his seat upon hearing ZhenYu's name when it was first uttered and when the second time came about, he was acting weirdly as well. The swordsman suddenly became talkative.

"You are safe now," said the swordsman who was directing his words to JinGe. "This is the real WanYue forest. The place you were before was a fake."

"I know. I almost died," as she remembered the frightening event of almost dying again. Her body tremble at the thought, as she became blinded in her left eye.

"What do you mean by fake and real?" asked the scholar again, cutting in.

Reluctantly, he uttered the words while picking up two identical leaves, "The forest you are in fake, but it is not an illusion," as he held up the leaves in each of his hand.

"The place actually existed, however the things in it are a reflection of the real one. See, there are two leaves but one of the leaves is imitating the colour of the real leaf because the second leaf doesn't have colour of its own." After explaining, the swordsman threw the leaves into the fire and they burned into crisped.

"Which was why, I almost died," thought JinGe. "I needed the moon's essence and because it was fabrication. What I had absorbed was actually non-existent and it could not sustain my body," which causes her to have an even weaker constitute now than before due to her late dose of moon essence.

"But how did you know about it," asked the scholar.

"I discovered it when I was here," said the swordsman. "I was once trapped in it but luckily I found a way which could lead us back to the real world."

"The pool?" asked the scholar.

"Yes," replied the swordsman.

LiRen finally understood why he was wet and the fact that, although the place seems to be the same, yet it wasn't, kind of feeling.

"Lady, I advise you to take better care of your body. You wouldn't be this lucky next time," said the swordsman. Suddenly, the mention of her body reminded of her own constitution, how did she acquire her moon essence? The only ones who knew about this secret was herself and her Master, the person her grandmother had entrusted to protect her.

She sprung up from the seat and grabbed the man's sword and placed it on his throat and whispered into his ears, "Who are you? Tell me truthfully or I will kill you."

"I am just someone who coincidentally passed by."

"Who are you?" insisted JinGe.

The man raised his hands up and said in a low voice, "I am on your side. I was sent here by JianYu."

Hearing the person's name being mentioned, made her believe the man's words because the only ones who knew about the person's real name was her and only her, which he mentioned once and the last time when they first met.

After they arrived at their home on the arch of Moon Hill, Old Tu, or the white-haired man who saved her from the bandit's hideout, told her, "My name is JianYu but never call me using that name, whether it is in front of others or when we are alone call me your Master because starting from today, I will be teaching you to control and utilize your powers."

"Then where he is now?" asked JinGe, she needed more confirmation, before trusting the person.

"I do not know," said the swordsman.

JinGe released her grip and retracted the sword from his throat because the man gave the correct answer.

Her Master never give out any details where he went, he would go missing for several days and sometimes months. Therefore, the best answer was 'I do not know', if he even mentions a name of a place, then she would have knocked out the swordsman.

The scholar was confused by their sudden confrontation and did not know how to respond but he approached JinGe and persuaded her to let go the sword which JinGe did only after confirming the man's words.

She gave back the sword to the swordsman and asked for his name, "What is your name?"

The swordsman contemplated a few seconds and uttered, "Feng JiuTian."

Silence ensued except for the hooting of a nearby owl and the swordsman suggested, "When dawn arises, I will accompany you, to the edge of the forest."

JinGe nodded and said, "Then JiuTian and," she looked over to the scholar, "LiRen, you guys get some sleep. I will wake you up when dawn arrived."

"You should rest," said scholar.

"Yes, I think so too," supported the swordsman. They finally agreed on something.

"But I just woke up, I can't sleep," said JinGe as she stood up from the fireplace and said, "I will get some more firewood."

"You should rest," said the swordsman as he stopped her from moving away. And when she still insisted to enter the forest, he convinced her, "I am more knowledgeable about the forest." Without waiting for her reply, he walked into the forest, leaving JinGe standing.

The scholar came over and ushered JinGe back to the warm fireplace. Soon after when the swordsman came back, the both of them had fallen asleep.

"What a useless, guard," thought the swordsman when he saw the scholar's sleeping face. There was even saliva dripping from his opened mouth.

Mischievously, the swordsman picked up a nearby insect and dropped it into his mouth which he thought would be funny, but the young scholar did not feel a thing and even ate the insect in his sleep which amazed the swordsman, "He must be really hungry," thought JiuTian because after eating the insect, the scholar was sleep talking saying how it delicious it was.

From behind there was a quiet sound of sobbing. He looked over and found that it originated from JinGe. He went over to her side and crouched down, gently wiping away the tears JinGe shed in her sleep.

"I understand why you did not want to sleep," and JiuTian looked up at the dark sky as the clouds passed across the gently moon. He found it hard to sleep as well, thinking of the past.

Aide

JiuTian caught some fishes in the pool and grilled them in the fire he stayed up all night tending as he could not sleep last night. The smell of fish woke up the hungry LiRen and he began eating even though they were half cooked. He was too hungry to care about it.

The second one to wake is JinGe. She washed her face in the water and feeling better; she sat down as well and began eating her share of fish.

After they were done, the travellers, led by JiuTian, began heading towards down the hill. It was getting colder as autumn have arrived and they saw red and yellow foliage while walking across the forest until they were finally out from the forest.

At the edge of the forest, standing against each other, JinGe expressed her thanks to the swordsman and the young scholar.

Next, LiRen pulled the swordsman away and at the side of the tree he said softly, "Please keep a secret about last night."

"About what?"

"You know about the incident with the pants."

The swordsman nodded and sighed, "I promise, so please let go of my hand. There seems to be some uninvited guest." The scholar was still in daze. Without waiting further, the swordsman pushed the scholar away and took his sword out from its sheath.

He turned around and found the white group men jumped out from the treetops, causing a whirlwind of red leaves flowing around them. JinGe, without a weapon was defenceless.

The next best course of action was to run, but the men had come prepared, ready to catch her alive. One of them took out a rope and lassoed it at her.

They caught on her legs, and she fell down onto the ground. She crawled to the side of the tree. She can't use any magic or transform; she had no way to escape as the men approached closer and closer to her side.

Again, the girl felt helpless and weak, "Why hasn't things change much since then," she thought to herself.

They were close enough to catch her but suddenly JiuTian stood in front of her with a sword in his hand, followed by LiRen, who was standing by his side, however instead of a sword there was a branch in his hand.

"Scholar, get her to safety," commanded JiuTian, he can't take a gamble with JinGe's life, but he could not reach her either, the barrier set on the forest was still active and it wouldn't let him escape from it. It was the thing that had prevented him from ever leaving the forest.

"Right," and he threw away his branch and began untying the knots on her legs while JiuTian fend off the white group men, luring them away from JinGe and the scholar.

"One mess after another," as he pierced through their formation. He was fighting four at a time yet was still gaining an upper hand on all of them but the longer as time passed by, the more disadvantages he was as his stamina depletes.

"Hurry," he urged LiRen.

But the knots were hard to untie, and with such a dangerous situation, the scholar's hands were shaking which made it harder to disentangle them.

Although, JiuTian was very good with the sword, he was not used to group fights, and no matter how good he is, he still had a blind spot and taking advantage of a group fight, the white cloth man, aimed at his blind spot.

It was seen by LiRen, and he yelled out to him, "Lookout," but the warning still came too late as the attack was already launched and was piercing through the air in the direction of the JiuTian's back.

What wasn't late was the fact that, JinGe had notice it earlier than LiRen, and seeing the man was in danger, her first reaction was to stop it but with nothing she could use; she decided the best way was to use her own body.

JinGe leaped into the battle just behind JiuTian and use her arm as a shield. JiuTian witnessed the scene. Even under his disguise, JinGe could feel his anger as the feeling seeped out from underneath his shawl.

"Don't act reckless," JinGe tried to say but she fainted unable to bear the pain.

As she fainted, her bloodied arm touched the invisible barrier, and it dispelled the enchantment, releasing JiuTian from his imprisonment. However, the person in involved hasn't notice it yet because he was furious, as the act reminded him of a past which he wished to forget.

JiuTian seeing JinGe gotten hurt by the man's sword was enraged and attacked the one who pierced the girl's arm. With a slash of his sword, it resulted in a deep cut across the attacker's chest. The man backed away but as if he doesn't feel pain, he rushed forward again trying to land an attack on JiuTian.

JiuTian blocked it but the man seems stronger, and the blade was coming down on him and taking the opportunity, the others came rushing in to attack as well.

The situation seems dire but in the moment of hopelessness, the scholar helped JiuTian. He kneeled into the ground like a ball, tripping one of the attackers.

It was like a domino effect and the one from behind, pushed those in front. They got unbalanced and lost focus.

In the confusion, they were all heavily injured by JiuTian's sword. Seeing that they were losing, the two who was better off carried those who was on the ground and left, running with their tails behind their backs.

JiuTian and LiRen quickly, got over to where JinGe was.

Quickly, JiuTian told LiRen to get some water from a bamboo water container that he had given him while he himself tend to JinGe's wound.

"She doesn't have much moon essence in her. This is bad, very bad," thought JiuTian as he poured water over the wound. "There is no poison in it, but it is healing too slow," examined the man who knew how JinGe's body operates.

"Usually, this type of wound would have healed in an instant," thought JiuTian, who knew that JinGe was not a human, and about her special circumstances.

LiRen seeing that JinGe was hurt again was scolding himself in his heart. This was the third time he could not protect her, even if he did not count the first time, when he had first found her, this was the second time he had failed.

He had no medicinal herb on him, and he looked around and there weren't any yarrow plants growing around there either. Seeing that JiuTian had finished bandaging the wound, he offered to carry her. JiuTian helped mount JinGe on his back and they hurried across the roads, day and night until they reached a nearby city, XinYe.

What do you think about JiuTian?

Who do you like better? LiRen or JiuTian?