Chapter 849: The Choice of Tianxuecao, The Ambush

As the day arrived and the sunlight rose, the dense fog from last night began to dissipate.

Although the tall mountains on the edge of Huitou Forest kept "supplying" a steady stream of mist, from what Jier could see while perched on the treetop, the dissipation of the mist throughout the forest was far greater than the input.

The mist drifting in from the edge of the forest and the mist being evaporated and dissipated by the sunlight within the forest—one input, one output—reminded Jier of that classic swimming pool math problem from his previous life.

He scratched his head, not knowing exactly when the mist in the forest would completely dissipate, but he couldn't possibly waste the hours of daylight waiting obediently in place for the mist to clear.

Sighing, Jier identified the direction leading into the interior of the forest, then, while climbing down along the route he had come up, he used his Dagger to carve marking arrows on the tree bark pointing correctly toward the forest interior.

The next arrow had to be oriented exactly the same as the previous one; even a slight deviation would lead him to walk in the wrong direction through a series of tiny offsets.

This task sounded difficult, but after Jier started doing it, he felt it wasn't much; as long as he focused, there would be no problem.

The key point was that this task could only be done by himself; if there were others present and he handed this task to someone else, Jier estimated he would be nervous and unable to trust them.

Fortunately, he was alone now, so regardless of whether he did a good job in the end, he had to accept everything he did.

After slowly climbing down the tree trunk, Jier was once again deep in the thick fog of the forest.

The thick fog overhead was white and bright in some places, and dark and dim in others; clearly, blocked by the tall, dense trees, not all the sunlight could reach here.

Jier reached out to pull the Hunting Sword he had stuck into the trunk for illumination, patted the horse head of Tianxuecao reassuringly, and then carefully identified the arrow mark he had just left on the trunk two meters high.

"Alright, whether it's off or not, I'll accept the result."

Jier rubbed his nose, picked up the Jiansheng, and holding the sword with one hand, rested the Long Sword on his right shoulder.

After walking just two steps, Jier retreated, looked at his attire, and the clothes on his right shoulder that had been sliced open by the sword blade due to his negligence, and revealed a bitter smile: "I'm nervous, haha, how could I forget such an important thing?"

Shaking his head, Jier vanished from the spot instantly, and then, amidst the unfazed expression of Tianxuecao, he suddenly reappeared in place.

But this time, he had changed into his Full-body Metal Armor.

Clang—

When the Long Sword was rested on his right shoulder for illumination this time, besides emitting a crisp metallic clashing sound, not a single scratch was left on the shoulder armor.

He aimed for the direction again, then lightened his steps and slowly walked into the deeper forest Mist.

After walking for a good while, Jier tried his best to keep walking in a straight line.

When a large tree blocked his path, Jier swung his sword to Vertical Chop a slash mark into the bark of the large tree in front of him, then he bypassed the tree, carefully calculated the angle, and swung another slash mark on the other side of the tree.

Afterward, he relied on this mark to continue moving forward along what he believed to be a straight line.

The further he walked, the more Jier questioned whether he was walking in a straight line.

Because he vaguely remembered that in his previous life, people discovered that when unconscious or unable to correctly identify reference points, normal people do not walk in a straight line, but in a huge circle with a left-right offset!

This was related to the slight natural difference in length between human left and right legs, as well as walking habits, shoe wear, and even the slight shift in the human center of gravity.

The more Jier thought about these things, the more he felt that he had long since deviated from the direction he had identified earlier. Perhaps, was he still walking in circles in place right now?

Should he find another large tree to climb up and take a look?

Just as Jier planned to do so, his combat boots stepped onto a piece of hard ground.

"Hmm?"

Jier stomped his feet, feeling that the sensation under his feet was somewhat familiar; the white light on the Hunting Sword became brighter, and he brought the Long Sword close to the ground to observe carefully.

The ground was covered with layer upon layer of damp leaves, looking quite normal at a glance, but the feeling under his feet told Jier truly that there was something different underneath.

He moved his right foot back and forth on the ground a few times, sweeping away the damp and rotten branches and leaves, and then discovered something "familiar."

It was the same anti-slip road as the peculiar road he had discovered on the way here last night.

He didn't know who had built it, or for what purpose it had been built.

Jier took a deep breath, gathered his spirits, maintained a high level of caution, and then he probed the ground around him with his feet, discovering that the orientation of this unknown road did not align with the direction he was heading.

This put Jier in a bit of a dilemma.

He didn't know whether he should continue along the route that might be off-course, or risk walking along this strange road.

Jier thought about it left and right, truly unable to make a decision; he felt that both routes had their merits, but also their own drawbacks.

So he looked at Tianxuecao following behind him and asked, "Tianxuecao, tell me, should I continue walking in a straight line in front, or walk along this road that leads to who knows where?"

Tianxuecao was somewhat puzzled, not knowing why its master would ask it.

Jier saw the confusion in the eyes of his loyal warhorse and explained: "If I continue along the straight line I identified earlier, I'm telling you the truth, I can't even pat my chest and confidently say: 'We are still heading in the same direction we were before.' Perhaps with one mistake, we have long since deviated from the course; after all, the surroundings are full of fog, and identical large trees cannot serve as reliable reference points at all."

"But the problem is."

Jier sighed and pointed his sword straight ahead: "Maybe we really are walking in a straight line! And Huitou Forest, humph, the Priest and others said that for many years, the commoners who walked in here never came out. I certainly know they settled down in the Valley of the Mountains at the end of the forest, but that is no reason for them not to return home after entering; there must be some reasons not yet understood that force these people to live in the valley."

"If I'm not mistaken, those commoners, when entering the forest, most likely followed this strange road that appeared in the forest for some reason. Ah, in a foggy forest where one cannot determine the direction, following a road naturally means one doesn't need to worry about taking the wrong path. But what was the result?"

Jier lifted his right foot and then stomped heavily on the hard road with anti-slip patterns, emitting a dull thud.

"They never came back."

Jier looked at his warhorse: "You tell me, should I stick to my previous judgment, or do as others did and walk along this road? I cannot make the decision myself, so, it's up to you, Shop Assistant, good Shop Assistant, make the decision for me!"

Patting the horse head, Jier reached out and pointed forward, signaling Tianxuecao to move forward.

The warhorse seemed to have understood what its master was troubled by, or perhaps it hadn't; after all, it was only a loyal animal companion, and such complex matters and decisions were truly too difficult for this horse of a few years from the grasslands.

However, seeing its master move out of the way and signal for it to walk in front, Tianxuecao proudly moved its hooves and walked forward without hesitation.

Jier saw that it seemed to have the intention of going straight and was about to nod, but discovered that after walking a few steps, the warhorse arrived on the hard and anti-slip strange road; it seemed to have some doubts about the ground under its feet, so it specifically stopped and lifted its hooves to stomp a few times.

The horseshoes on its hooves made a loud clashing sound against the ground, but it was not unpleasant to hear.

This seemed to pique Tianxuecao's interest, so it stomped back and forth and left and right for a while, and finally, as if it quite liked this kind of ground, it began to move in the direction leading into the interior of the forest.

After walking two steps, it remembered its master, so it turned its head and neighed at its master who was still in place, urging its master to follow.

"Alright, coming."

Jier breathed a sigh of relief; regardless, he had handed the power of choice to his warhorse, and since the warhorse had made a choice, he would respect this choice and this result.

Thus, Jier led Tianxuecao and walked with large strides on the solid forest road, although he did not know where this peculiar road would lead him and what he would encounter in Huitou Forest—perhaps some hermit living in seclusion from a story, or perhaps a terrifying Monster that scares children into sleeping.

Jier walked for quite a while on the strange road with hardened friction patterns under his feet, and he discovered that this road did not lead straight into the depths of Huitou Forest, but was twisted and laid out in the forest, turning left and right.

It was like a giant snake winding and crawling, and among the large trees in the forest, not a single one had fallen to block the way or grown onto the road surface.

Jier felt that this thing was clearly laid out and constructed in the Forest with a purpose. It was very strange; who would specifically build such a twisting and turning road in the Forest? For what?

Generally speaking, if one were to build a road through a Forest, shouldn't it go straight through? Even if one had to consider the undulations of the terrain, it shouldn't be necessary to create so many turns.

However, Jier did not hold this doubt for long; he soon learned the purpose of the road beneath his feet being built this way.

After walking for a while, Jier vaguely heard the sound of flowing water amidst the White Mist. One must know that he had not seen or heard a single animal in this Forest; at this moment, besides the sounds of him and Tianxuecao moving, there was only the sound of the two of them breathing.

Therefore, the vaguely appearing sound of flowing water, even if not loud, seemed very obvious.

"Shh!"

Jier made a gesture to his warhorse to not make any sound, then lightened his steps and led the horse forward.

Tianxuecao also learned from Jier's manner, carefully lightening its own legs and feet, trying its best not to make any loud clashing sounds.

Passing through the still-thick White Mist in the woods, Jier drew closer and closer to the sound coming from the water. After walking a few more steps, he suddenly discovered that the road ahead bulged abruptly, and the sound of flowing water was coming from beneath the raised road ahead.

Jier carefully probed forward, only then discovering that a small river had appeared in the Forest, and the hard, rippled road crossed over this small river.

"It's nothing, gave me a fright."

Jier curled his lip, about to see if this small river was the same one he had seen on the road earlier, and whether this small river now appearing in the Forest had a strange smell, and did not grow plants or support small animals or anything of the sort.

Just at this moment, behind a tree on his right side, a low, dark shadow suddenly emerged.

In just an instant, the dark shadow rushed out from the White Mist close to the ground, and a dangerous object swung toward Jier's right leg.

Jier did not react at all; his attention had been entirely drawn away by the small river and the small bridge over the river ahead. Fortunately, the warhorse with its long ears noticed the danger; it let out a short whinny, and seeing there was no time, it suddenly lowered its head and met the attack head-on.

Boom—

A loud sound of metal colliding erupted from the point of impact. Tianxuecao shook its head vigorously, but the huge impact sound and the blow to its head left it dizzy, its four hooves weak, and it was unable to stand firmly.

It let out a mournful cry from its mouth, alerting its master to the danger.

"What!"

Jier was also startled by the sudden loud noise. He immediately swung his sword to slash fiercely at the incoming dark shadow, but with one strike, a loud sound of metal friction rang out and sparks flew, while the opponent was only knocked back half a step.

This was completely beyond Jier's expectations.

One must know that the sudden attack made Jier subconsciously use his strength. Although it was only thirty percent of his power, added to the edge and weight of the Hunting Sword, it still had the power to cleave a person in two with one strike.

Yet the opponent only retreated half a step, and did not look like it was injured.

The next moment, Jier gripped the sword with both hands and unleashed a charged Horizontal Slash; he used his full strength for this move. The dark shadow grunted, then raised a mass of shadow, seemingly wanting to use this thing to block Jier's move.

But the opponent misjudged the force of this strike; sparks splashed at the point of impact, and Jier judged from the reaction force of the swing alone that he had struck a piece of metal. The dark shadow was knocked backward amidst the huge sound of the slashing impact, rolling along the ground back to where it had come from.

Jier was about to pursue, but heard the low, mournful cry of the warhorse behind him. He immediately took a deep breath, cautiously refrained from pursuing, and carefully lowered his posture to retreat to the side of the warhorse.

"Tianxuecao! How are you?"

Jier swung his Hunting Sword in front of him while using his left hand to soothe the warhorse.

But the loyal warhorse was swaying, looking unable to stand, which seemed very dangerous. Not only that, but a significant amount of saliva was uncontrollably flowing from its mouth, making the entire warhorse look in a bad way.

"Lu..."

Tianxuecao cried out mournfully, bringing its tall, heavy body close to its master, but in its stumbling, its entire body pushed Jier to move to one side. Jier's boots left two dragging marks on the hardened road covered in leaves; even so, Jier tried his best to keep himself standing firmly.

Not only was standing firm in battle important, but maintaining his center of gravity was a very important matter, and he could see that the warhorse, which had protected him during the sudden attack, was in a bad state; Jier had to support Tianxuecao's body so it wouldn't collapse.

Jier was vigilant against the danger that might strike again from the surroundings. He turned his head to look at the warhorse and realized that Tianxuecao seemed to lack strength at this moment, and the whole horse was swaying as if it were drunk; its legs could not support the weight on its body.

Therefore, Jier increased the release of Sun God Divine Power on the Hunting Sword, illuminating the White Mist for seven or eight meters around, and only then, while remaining vigilant, did he unload the large baggage from the warhorse's back, and then removed the heavy Metal Double-Edged Long Spear from the horse's weapon rack, along with the entire rack.

After these things were unloaded, although the full set of Horse Armor worn by Tianxuecao was still very heavy, it seemed barely able to stand firmly despite the swaying.

"How is it? Can you hold on now?"

Jier held the long spear in one hand, assuming a throwing posture. Although this long spear was not suited for throwing attacks, he could not care about that now; if anything else attacked, he would let the opponent taste the feeling of being pierced by a thirty-kilogram long spear and pinned to a tree trunk.

"Lu... Lu..."

Tianxuecao seemed a bit better. Amidst its stumbling, it brought its horse head toward Jier. Jier thought it was asking for comfort, but when he turned his head to look quickly, he discovered that on the metal Faceplate on the front of the horse's head, there was a clear, quadrilateral impact dent.

It was clearly produced by being hit hard by the opponent during the previous attack.

This made Jier feel both angry and fearful.

On one hand, he felt angry that his loyal warhorse had suffered such an injury, and he would not spare the opponent. On the other hand, the thickness and sturdiness of the metal-crafted Horse Armor were not low; at the very least, it was much sturdier than the Armor on Jier's own body.

If Tianxuecao hadn't discovered the attack in advance and blocked it with the front of its head, the result of the attacker's strike hitting Jier would have been hard to say.

Looking at Tianxuecao's appearance now, one knew that if Jier had been hit, at the very least one of his legs would have been crippled here.

Jier gritted his teeth, looking at the vast white fog in the forest and the thick tree trunks around him, his inner anger rising. But his experience from his journey allowed him to suppress his anger and face the situation before him with a clearer, calmer attitude.

"Come out!"

Jier suppressed the anger in his mind, but his words were not polite.

"Despicable ambusher!"

Jier saw the impact mark on Tianxuecao's head and immediately ruled out that the attacker was a ferocious wild beast hidden in this Forest or some kind of naturally occurring Monster.

After all, the mark was square, and the several clashes and collisions were all sounds of metal striking metal.

Wild beasts would not use metal blunt weapons to hunt; er, at least the Jier of today had not discovered any such wild beasts, and whether he would encounter them in the future, he could not say.

Naturally born wild Monsters also did not use blunt weapons without strong lethality to attack; which of them did not possess metal-like sharp claws and horns? Were those naturally threatening sharp teeth and claws not better than square blunt weapons?

Therefore, the attacker must be an intelligent being using metal weapons; it was an enemy.

"Don't think that hiding is enough; I have a lot of patience, do you?"

Jier steadied his mind, carefully paying attention to the movements around him, but because he was close to the small river in the forest, the sound of the flowing river water kept interfering with him.

His combat instinct made him suddenly realize that the opponent might have been watching him for a long time, but launching an attack here was clearly to utilize the noise generated by the flowing river water to hide the attacker's own movements.

Thinking on a deeper level, in this quiet and eerie forest fog environment, the sudden appearance of a river and bridge in an otherwise unchanging environment would clearly attract most of the attention of anyone coming here.

This made the attacker's assault even more powerful; as long as they launched a surprise attack from the fog using the noise of the river, surely few people would not fall here, right?

Thinking this through, Jier, while soothing the injured warhorse, glanced at the place where they had just fought.

Although it was just a glance, Jier still made a discovery.