Chapter Thirty-Four: The Animal Kingdom

She had thought the entire sect would be mobilized, but to her surprise, the outer gates remained under strict guard. At the road leading to Wild Chicken Slope, a small squad of disciples in white robes with green trim stood watch, all at the Qi Refining stage.

From a distance, Feng Ke’er glanced at the checkpoint, shrank back, and slipped into a nearby grove. What’s real can’t be faked, and what’s fake can’t be real; lies are eventually exposed. Safety first—she needed to assess the situation.

She had barely settled behind a large boulder when the checkpoint ahead became lively. Peeking out, she saw two new disciples in green robes arriving with water and provisions.

After eating and drinking their fill, someone left the checkpoint, heading into the woods to relieve himself.

Feng Jiu whispered into Feng Ke’er’s ear, “Take him out, disguise yourself as him, and sneak in.”

What did he think this was—a video game? Kill someone and the enemy respawns! That was a living, breathing person. She had no quarrel with him, and couldn’t bring herself to do it. Feng Ke’er scoffed.

As a modern person, the principle that killing is a crime was ingrained in her bones.

Feng Jiu, exasperated, cursed her for being a coward and reluctantly revealed himself to handle it—his current cultivation didn’t allow him to use spells while invisible.

Just then, another person came from the checkpoint—the green-robed disciple who had delivered food. He pretended to answer nature’s call, glancing furtively as he approached the thicket.

“There’s something going on! Quick, hide!” Feng Ke’er whispered.

Feng Jiu paused, confused—an affair? Stupid girl, what kind of eyes did she have? Both were men!

Sure enough, as soon as the green-robed disciple entered the grove, the earlier white-robed brother grabbed him.

In a low voice, he demanded, “Why are you so slow?”

“Brother, there were too many people. I couldn’t get away,” the green-robed disciple replied, aggrieved.

The ‘brother’ frowned and shifted topics, “I told you to watch the Bodhi Seed closely. How did he go missing? What were you doing yesterday morning? Slacking off again?”

Feng Ke’er stiffened at the mention of the ‘Bodhi Seed.’

Feng Jiu glanced at her, remained silent, and continued listening.

The green-robed disciple scratched his head, looking even more wronged. “Brother, I didn’t slack off! Yesterday morning, after leaving the lecture hall, I went with the Bodhi Seed to the dining hall. As we reached the gate, everyone was discussing the sect leader taking you as a personal disciple. I was about to congratulate the Bodhi Seed, but suddenly, he clutched his stomach and said his old ailment flared up, that he felt unwell and needed to lie down. So I accompanied him back to his courtyard. After leaving the dining hall and reaching an empty spot, that kid suddenly pointed behind me and shouted, ‘Brother Qin, look, who’s that?’ I turned to look.

But there was nothing—no shadow at all. Feeling uneasy, I hurriedly turned back. All I saw was him uttering ‘Escape,’ his right hand flashing yellow, and in a blink, he burrowed into the earth and vanished. I searched everywhere but couldn’t find him. After that, I ran back to the courtyard, but he wasn’t there. His room was untouched. You know the rest—Brother Jiang brought people to search the courtyard, questioning us one by one. None of us have seen the Bodhi Seed since.”

“Earth Escape Talisman!” The ‘brother’ slapped the back of the green-robed disciple’s head. “Brat, didn’t you say the Bodhi Seed had nothing on him? Where did he get an Earth Escape Talisman?”

The green-robed disciple pouted, “Brother, I really searched his room twice while he was gone, and found nothing.”

“Such a precious item must be carried on one’s person,” the ‘brother’ gritted his teeth. “Did you search him?”

“No,” the green-robed disciple mumbled, head drooping, “He guarded himself too closely…”

The ‘brother’ impatiently interrupted, “Did you tell Jiang Yuan about the Earth Escape Talisman?”

The green-robed disciple looked up, “No. Mother said matters concerning the Feng clan must not be shared with outsiders.”

“You couldn’t keep watch, couldn’t find the item. Qin Heng, you’re useless!” The ‘brother’ tapped his forehead, quickly berating him. “You dare bring up Mother’s words! What did she say? She repeatedly told you to keep a close eye on the Feng clan disciples, saying the Fengs of Great Green Mountain are a true cultivator family, a noble house exiled from the upper realms. They have plenty of treasures. Otherwise, why would the sect leader value their disciples so highly? And if not for those treasures, how could Feng Que’er, who suffered a damaged core from a secret attack, still cultivate to mid Qi Refining…”

He went on and on, chattering endlessly.

Apparently, they were brothers, their mother instructing them to steal from the Bodhi Seed! But the Bodhi Seed was prepared—at the slightest disturbance, he used the Earth Escape Talisman and fled! Feng Que’er wasn’t naturally talentless, but had been secretly harmed!

A major revelation! Feng Ke’er felt an urge to scream, quickly covering her mouth.

Recalling Master Chen’s cryptic remark that “having the surname Feng is not a good thing,” her heart tightened, and she shrank back behind the boulder, crouching low.

Her instincts told her the situation between Qingyun Sect and the Feng clan was nothing like what the High Priest and Feng Que’er had claimed. There was definitely more beneath the surface! At the very least, all signs pointed to the Feng clan not trusting Qingyun Sect at all. The Bodhi Seed hadn’t come simply for advancement or cultivation.

Outside, Brother Qin finally finished his rant, tossed his sleeves, and left first.

Following his instructions, once he returned to the checkpoint, the green-robed disciple Qin Heng cautiously prepared to leave.

Feng Jiu, impatient, flew onto the large stone and waved his wings.

A flash of fire streaked forth.

Feng Ke’er, lost in thought beneath the boulder, was startled back by the sudden blaze. Without thinking, she rose and tried to stop him, “Don’t…”

Too late. Qin Heng collapsed like paper, the fire consuming him in an instant until not even ashes remained.

A vibrant life ended just like that. Feng Ke’er stared, trembling with anger at Feng Jiu, “You—you—wanton slaughter!”

Well, she’d misspoken; the guy wasn’t exactly innocent. He was an attempted thief, but that wasn’t a capital offense. Burning him to nothing—no law in any country would be so cruel!

“Innocent?” Feng Jiu sneered. “I’ve never understood the meaning of innocence. I only know: the strong live, the weak die. Such is the way of heaven! Hmph, if you didn’t need his identity, I wouldn’t have bothered with such a small ant!”

The strong live, the weak die. Is it justified to kill for survival? What kind of cultivation world is this? What is this “true” way they cultivate?

This is more like the animal world!

Feng Ke’er opened her mouth, speechless—arguing humanity with a beast was madness. Just as she wouldn’t care about the life of a wild chicken, he had no concept of “human life” at all!

“Who’s there?” Brother Qin at the checkpoint noticed the commotion, stretched his neck and shouted, “Qin Heng, are you over there?”

“Quick, transform!” Feng Jiu glared at Feng Ke’er and went invisible again.

Stubborn as ever, Feng Ke’er refused to budge.

Brother Qin, seeing no response, called two companions. The three drew their swords and cautiously surrounded the area.

Feng Jiu growled, “Do you want me to kill them all?” He realized it wasn’t about innocence; the girl was blaming him for the earlier killing.

That worked. Reluctantly, Feng Ke’er cast the transformation spell, taking Qin Heng’s form, and walked out in silence.

Silent tears slid down her cheeks.

At the threshold of life and death, she surrendered.

The meat bird had burned Qin Heng to death.

Now she must impersonate Qin Heng and mingle here. On the surface, she was noble—bowing to someone’s tyranny for the sake of saving three supporting characters. But in truth, her real reason was not to fall into the hands of Qingyun Sect! She wanted freedom! She wanted to live!

The pot calling the kettle black. She had no right to criticize the meat bird anymore.

No—the meat bird was a beast, never meant for humanity. She was human, and yet had crossed her own line.

She was actually more laughable, more hypocritical than ‘the kettle.’

In that moment, Feng Ke’er was so ashamed she wished she could return home, return to the modern world—she knew deep down she was selfish. She wanted to live, didn’t want to die. If this continued, she would one day be assimilated, become a complete beast, a cold-blooded killing machine.

The three men approached, relieved to see her unharmed, sheathed their swords and asked:

“Huh, Qin Heng, what are you doing here?”

“Brother Qin, did you see a red flash here just now?”

“Brother Qin, are you feeling unwell? You look so pale.”

Feng Ke’er rubbed her face hard, looked up and forced a smile, “I’m fine. There was a red shadow just now—I wasn’t paying attention and got startled.”

“Red shadow? What did it look like?” Brother Qin exclaimed, grabbing her sleeve, examining her up and down with concern, “Did it hurt you?”

“It moved too fast, I didn’t see clearly,” Feng Ke’er replied, uneasy, avoiding his gaze and pointing into the woods, “It zipped into the forest, didn’t hurt me.”

“Maybe it’s a monster in the mountains, frightened by the senior brothers’ big expedition,” someone explained. “Brother Qin, this isn’t a place for you, you’d better head back.”

Ke’er listlessly agreed.

Brother Qin frowned and slapped her on the back of the head, scolding, “Just a red shadow, and you’re scared like this!”

The other two pulled him aside, advising, “He’s still only in postnatal cultivation.”

They all went back to the checkpoint.

Brother Qin, actually quite concerned for his younger brother, gave careful instructions to another green-robed new disciple who had come with them, “Brother Tian, Qin Heng was frightened by a monster in the woods and hasn’t recovered yet. Please look after him on the way.”

Brother Tian was flattered, nodding vigorously, “Brother Qin, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Brother Qin Heng.”

He meant it.

All the way, Feng Ke’er’s face was blank, her spirit lost.

They passed two fixed checkpoints and met three patrol teams, all handled by Brother Tian.

This chapter, Animal World, is now complete.