Against the Gods (Web Novel)

Chapter 1075 - Wood Spirits’ Secret Grounds

The wood spirit boy stood there shocked, he couldn’t believe it at all. Instead of running away immediately, his voice quivered “Really… You’re… You’re really letting me go?”

“...” Yun Che took a deep breath. A wood spirit of royal blood. His Wood Spirit Orb would be an incomparably coveted treasure throughout the God Realm. Yun Che had paid a large price and finally got him, and as a result, he was one large step closer to meeting Jasmine once more. However... he couldn’t bring himself to take the final measure.

He couldn’t even understand what he was thinking, why he was letting him go...

I was once a monster that ruthlessly killed an entire city with poison!

“Go… Before I change my mind, leave!” Yun Che gnashed his teeth, his emotions a mess.

“I… I knew it. You’re definitely a good person.” The boy wiped away the tears on his face, he slowly and carefully stepped away, his gaze never leaving Yun Che. He had just escaped a calamity as if given a chance of rebirth and felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Yun Che.

Good person...

When Mu Xuanyin previously spoke of the wood spirit race, she also mentioned that the pure and innocent souls of the wood spirits could sense the maliciousness or hostility of other living beings.

His hands were stained with the blood of a countless many, when that wood spirit sensed his soul, was it really that of a “good person”?

He laughed bitterly at himself.

Behind him, the footsteps of the wood spirit boy gradually grew softer and softer as he got further and further away. Instead of picking up his pace, he suddenly stopped in place after dozens of steps.

“Senior!” he shouted.

“...” Yun Che turned around with a fierce glare in his eyes, “If you still won’t leave, I might change my mind and you can forget about ever leaving!”

“I… I wouldn’t dare.” The wood spirit boy shook his head, he suddenly and bravely lifted his head, “Senior, I… can I make a request? Could you please accompany me home? If I’m alone… I’ll just get immediately recaptured by them.”

“...” Yun Che stood there in silence for a while.

The defining features of a wood spirit were very prominent and he was right. Even if he was released, a wood spirit wandering around Darkya City all by himself was just asking to be captured once more, perhaps even being killed on the spot.

“Your home?”

“Yes!” The wood spirit boy immediately nodded his head and pointed towards the south. “My home is not far from the city. Senior is so strong, as long as we continue in this direction and out of Darkya City, we’ll be there very quickly. Please, senior…”

Yun Che’s eyes were twitching and his heart was pounding. He then took a step forward, holding onto the wood spirit boy. “Let’s go!”

He had just decided to let him off… And now, he had so easily decided to escort him back home?

Just what the heck am I doing?

Sigh… Forget it! Since I’ve decided to release him, I might as well be a “good person” all the way. If he lands in the hands of the Darkya men, I’d also have released him in vain.

Yun Che spoke to himself in his heart as he picked up speed, racing towards the south, under the cover of night.

“Senior, thank you. I knew that I could trust my senses. You’re really really a very very good person,” the wood spirit boy gratefully said.

“What’s your name?” Yun Che asked

“My name is He Lin,” replied the boy. Yun Che had released him and was now even protecting him on his journey home, he was no longer afraid and was now filled with endless gratitude. The green eyes he looked at Yun Che with grew brighter. “May I know how I should address senior?”

“You don’t have to know my name, and stop calling me senior. I’m probably only just older than you by around ten years.” Yun Che replied without a hint of emotion while trying to calm and suppress the torrid waves in his heart.

“Eh?” He Lin’s jaw dropped, a wave of shock spread across his face. After quite some time he exclaimed, “So it’s actually big brother! Ah… Big brother, you’re really strong, really really strong. Even those terrifying people were defeated by you in just a few moves. I thought that big brother was much much older.”

From his voice and the glimmer in his eyes, Yun Che could see a sense of deep and passionate worship.

“I’ve heard that Darkya City has long had a history of hunting and killing the wood spirit race. Your home… how can it be so near such a dangerous place?” Yun Che asked.

Hearing Yun Che’s words, He Lin stayed solemnly silent for a while. Just when Yun Che thought that he wasn’t willing to reply, He Lin gently said, “Compared to the middle and upper star realms, this lower star realm is actually the safest. If we’re discovered, we might be able to escape here. Moreover, our current home has a great natura power protecting us. Me and my clansmen have already lived there for two years and without being discovered.

“Your clan… How many of you are left?”

He Lin hesitated for a while and then replied “Those of my fellow clansmen that are with me… We’ve only got about a hundred of us left. While I’ve been captured, they’ll definitely have been very anxious and if they left that place to search for me, the consequences could be dire.”

“He Lin, how old are you this year?”

“I… I’m eleven.”

“And you have an older sister?” Yun Che casually asked.

“Mn,” he softly answered and his voice slowly trailed off. “Three years ago, during that terrible disaster, mother and father, in order to protect my sister and I… they… they… after that, me and my sister were separated. I haven’t seen her since but I believe that sister is definitely alive! I can sense it!”

Yun Che didn’t probe further.

Orphaned, his last living relative missing… He was but an eleven year old boy, yet he had experienced countless unimaginable cruel and difficult situations. It wasn’t his fault or was it the consequence of his actions; it was all because he was a wood spirit—a royal wood spirit.

They were a race that inherited the purest powers of nature but instead of it being a blessing, it was the cruelest of curses.

Once out of Darkya City, Yun Che didn’t stop. He carried on in the direction He Lin pointed. About half an hour later, he had flown into a stretch of jungle that seemingly had no end.

“This home you speak of, is it within this forest?” Yun Che asked.

“Yes!” He Lin now pointed to the south east. Being really close to home, he started getting a little more excited. “In that direction, I can already sense its aura… This is great!”

They quickly shot through the jungle and finally came to a stop not long after.

Up ahead, towering ancient trees stood tall, draped in countless big and dark greenish black vines. The vines barred their path, stretching innumerably beyond what the eye could see.

As Yun Che looked on with hesitation, He Lin bounded forward with excitement. He made a gentle gesture with his hands and immediately the dense greenish black vines came to life, they quickly started bending and moving, opening up just enough to form a narrow passageway.

“Big brother, quickly come here!”

He Lin pulled at Yun Che’s arm, bouncing boisterously into the vine-covered passageway. Yun Che hesitated for a bit but eventually decided to follow behind him.

The passageway continued for quite a long way. They walked for a period of time before finally reaching the exit. When they finally stepped out through the exit, just at that moment, a sense of danger suddenly reached them from the front. Dozens of greenish black vines suddenly struck down, like fangs of a really large demon.

Yun Che cycled his profound energy but He Lin didn’t seem fazed at all and instead continued forward. He made a light pushing movement with his arms, a flash of green light appeared and the vines were suddenly frozen in place where upon they immediately started retracting.

“Granny Qing Ye! Aunty Kui! Uncle Mu Han… I’m back! I’m back!!”

The world before their eyes was a field with tens of thousands of plants. Green grass abounded while the leaves and vegetation contained an unbelievable amount of jade green nature energy. The air was so fresh it gave one a sense of peace and clarity. Just further up, strange flowers and plants abounded. Butterflies flew all around. This place was beautiful beyond compare. If anyone stepped into this place, they would probably think that they had stepped into an unreal immortal wonderland.

The bright crisp voice of He Lin travelled throughout this little immortal-like world.

“Lin… Lin’er! Lin’er!!”

“Young patriarch… It’s young patriarch!”

“Lin’er!!”

The serene world suddenly transformed into a scene of excited shouts of happiness. One by one, jade green figures emerged from the ancient trees and millions of flowers. They crazedly rushed towards He Lin. One of them seemed older than the rest. He walked with a slight awkwardness and hugged He Lin with a tight embrace. Before he even spoke, his old tears started streaming down.

“Lin’er… It’s really you? You really came back… We had imagined the worst, that you had been captured by the humans… This is great, you’re safe and sound, thank goodness...”

The others huddled together and surrounded him, each of them had tears of excitement in their eyes.

Everyone of them had hair the color of emerald, fluorite-like eyes, and pointed long ears. Their skin was flawless like jade. Without a doubt, they were the hidden wood spirit race, the fellow clan members of whom He Lin was talking about.

Their numbers were as what He Lin had described, around a hundred of them.

From their excited reactions, one could see that He Lin was an extremely important existence… He was the only male possessing the royal wood spirit bloodline. Although still young, he bore the burden of being the last hope of the wood spirit race.

“I’m sorry Granny Qin Ye… I’m sorry everyone… I’ve made everyone worried this time.” Tears swirled in He Lin’s eye “I… I actually was captured by humans…”

“Ah!?” He Lin’s words shocked all the wood spirits present.

“But, I met a really good person, a super duper good and really really powerful big brother. It was him that saved me and even escorted me back here.”

He Lin wiped away his tears and quickly ran to Yun Che’s side “He’s that big brother, if not for him… by now… I would have… would really have…”

Countless gazes landed on Yun Che. The oldest wood spirit, the one He Lin called “Granny Qing Ye” slowly walked forward and suddenly bent down, kneeling before Yun Che.

Yun Che’s eyelids jumped, he was about to speak when he suddenly saw the rest of the wood spirits kneeling as well.

Yun Che, “....”

“Young human… thank you. Thank you for saving our young patriarch,” Granny Qing Ye said in an old voice which carried a deep sense of sincere gratitude straight from her soul, though it carried a slight fear at the end. “Although we hate those of the evil human race, you saved our young patriarch. From now on, you’re the great benefactor of our wood spirit clan. Please except this bow from us.

“Young patriarch met with danger but then met such an honorable person, it’s definitely the blessing and protection from the patriarch in the heavens,” a middle aged wood spirit shouted, who then proceeded to kowtow to Yun Che.

“...” Yun Che’s mouth was slightly agape. After a few moments, he awkwardly replied, “It was nothing much… All of this is not necessary.”