Way back at the start of human history, the bow and arrow greatly improved humans’ ability to survive. From warfare and assassinations to hunting and herding, the bow and arrow brought about tremendous convenience to humans.
However, humans are never content with the status quo.
Their greed, desire and obsession pushed to improve constantly. The ancient humans saw that enemies hit by their arrows would be fine if they were not hit in their vitals.
As such, they used poison to improve their arrows.
There are detailed records of how humans from hundreds of years ago extracted neuroparalytic poison from all sorts of wild beasts and animals. Arrows dipped such poison were guaranteed to kill their victims, even with only glancing hits. Unfortunately, the ancient humans did not have sophisticated technology like we do today and had great trouble storing and preserving the poison for long periods of time.
As such, they chose to use more basic and accessible ‘poisons’: rust and feces.
Arrows that were rusty or coated with feces could cause deadly infections from a simple scratch, increasing their lethality even if the archer did not score a vital hit. These conditions were especially deadly in ancient times, when medical knowledge was not as advanced.
Tetanus caused by rust didn’t cause the most severe of symptoms, but infections caused by feces could be quite dangerous. Moreover, feces were very easily acquired. Most humans, even pretty ladies, had biological needs.
Back to the main point, Wun Fan was suggesting that Fung Ching coat his arrows with poison. This way, even if his arrows did not kill his prey immediately, they would not be able to escape easily. Even if they barely escaped with their life, they would most certainly not be able to retaliate.
However, Fung Ching was a person of strong moral values and was strongly opposed to using poison. He shouted angrily at Wun Fan, “No! Way! Poison is the way of villains. I would never stoop so low!”
Wun Fan slapped his forehead. He thought Fung Ching was someone who could adapt to circumstances, but it seemed like he had overestimated him. He rebutted in his childish voice, “Idiot! When you murder a bad person, you are murdering a person, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Whether you murder them earlier or later, you’re still murdering them, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Whether you murder them with poison or with an arrow, there’s no difference, yes?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what’s the problem?” said Wun Fan as he clapped his hands together loudly. A few martial artists who were passing by glanced over curiously, but quickly walked away.
“Hmm…” said Fung Ching with a thoughtful expression. He seemed to get what Wun Fan was trying to get at, but he still needed time to think about it.
“The key is not how you kill, but who you kill!” said Wun Fan before flashing a mischievous smile. His eyes gleamed with a sinister light as he continued tempting Fung Ching like a devil, “Think about it. If a bad person kills someone with an arrow, would you choose to never use a bow and arrow again?”
“No, I would still use them,” said Fung Ching, unaware that he was falling into Wun Fan’s logical trap.
“Right? The sin lies with the sinner, not with the tool,” said Wun Fan as he stood on his tiptoes and patted FUng Ching on the shoulder. His childish voice was oddly convincing and his every word had twisted but logical reasoning behind them as he said, “Poison can you help complete your mission more easily.”
This appealed to Fung Ching greatly. Completing his mission was his greatest priority at the moment. However, Fung Ching clung to the last of his moral ground. He hesitated and said, “But where am I supposed to find poison in a remote forest like this?”
“Huh, I wonder. Well, lookie here! Why do I have a bottle of snake venom with me?” said Wun Fan as he took out a small vial. Chan Chi Yuet gave him the snake venom. It could be applied to a dagger to make it more effective.
“That’s right, that’s right. Little Fung, don’t be too stubborn,” said Hung Yu Fei, clearly interested in seeing where this would go. She sided with Wun Fan and patted Fung Ching on his right shoulder. It looked like the two of them were enticing a good, young man into doing something illegal. Hung Yu Fei even changed the way she addressed Fung Ching, basically treating him like a kid, the same way she treated Wun Fan.
“Shut up, you,” said Wun Fan disdainfully. He couldn’t help but get angry when he looked at Hung Yu Fei. He recalled the fight from earlier and said, “You are such an idiot. Your Swift Leaves’ Slashing Sword is both fast and sharp. It can be used to blind the opponent, slice their ears, cut open their arteries and target their vitals. Instead, you just keep shooting them blindly in their general direction. What’s the point?”
“Ah…” stuttered Hung Yu Fei. She deflated when Wun Fan started barraging her with criticisms. She lowered here head and said nothing else. She reflected on her actions for a bit and suddenly said, “That’s true! Why didn’t I think of that before this?”
“Because you’re an idiot!” said Wun Fan with a sneer, before looking away.
“Boohoo…” cried Hung Yu Fei in response. She was pretending to cry, because she knew that Wun Fan never knew what to do whenever she started crying.
“Alright, let’s go. Rest’s over!” said Wun Fan. He completely ignored her and walked away. He tossed the vial of snake venom to Fung Ching, who caught it and put it into his storage ring without saying anything else.
Finally, the three of them arrived at the entrance of Green Sea Forest. A wooden sign had been planted to the ground. It read, Green Sea Forest Entrance. -21314, 0.
This was the first time Wun Fan came here. The giant green silhouettes of the ancient trees loomed over him, their large canopies overlapping, joining together like massive bridges. Wun Fan was stunned to see this. His pupils dilated as he marvelled over nature’s grandness.
The sight of tens of thousands of towering trees reaching for the sky and blotting out the sun was simply breathtaking. The forest seemed nearly endless and the recent light snowfall made it seem like there were floating patches of snow everywhere. Martial artists came in and out of the forest in groups, all of them trying to make a living in a place filled with both risk and reward.
All anyone wanted was to become stronger.
How many people have grown stronger here and return victorious? How many more have been forever buried beneath the earth, suffering a terrible death?
Wun Fan looked on as martial artists stepped out of the Green Sea Forest with loot on their shoulders and injuries all over their bodies. He suddenly felt his blood boiling with excitement and passion as he said to himself, “So this is my training?”
Hung Yu Fei was also in awe at the Green Sea Forest. Her eyes were wide open. She shook her head slightly, but still couldn’t help but marvel at everything she saw. She stared for a while, before clasping her cheeks and muttering, “It was the right decision to have snuck away.”
Especially so since she ran into this boy.
Fung Ching had experienced the same thing when he first came here, but it wasn’t his first time here. He walked forward and tapped his two friends on the shoulder as he said gently, “Come on, let’s go. There’s more to see up ahead.”
Wun Fan snapped back to his senses and took a deep breath. He felt poetry rising through him and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Clear waters, bright stones, fish swimming in the river; vast forest, quiet air, birds calling in the branches.”
Wun Fan stared straight ahead as he recited his poem. He imagined himself deep in the forest, alone and scared. No one to call to him, no one to call to. Lost in the forest, accompanied only by the calling birds.
Hung Yu Fei felt her heart skip a beat when she heard Wun Fan’s poem. She looked at Wun Fan from the side. He was giving off an unusual air of serenity and sublimeness. Hung Yu Fei immediately cleared her throat and looked away as she stuttered, “Tsk. Little boy, drop the…the cool act and everything.”
Wun Fan rolled his eyes at her and mouthed something before turning and walking away. Hung Yu Fei thought for a moment and tried to parse out what Wun Fan mouthed. She muttered to herself, “Camp bee brother two dill whiff yew?”
Yew? What’s a yew?194Please respect copyright.PENANAvHXoTJlbqD
There are no roads on earth, until men walked upon them. The Green Sea Forest was once a world removed. However, with the passage of time, as martial artists continued to walk through it, a road was carved through its belly.
A constant stream of people walked in and out of the Green Sea Forest. After a full hour of travelling, Wun Fan and his companions reached the depths of the forest. There were no more martial artists around them.
They looked at the tall trees around them, so tall they pierced the clouds. Trees on their left, more trees on their right. It was green everywhere they looked. It was very easy to get lost if they didn’t pay attention as they walked.
Fung Ching immediately took out a special compass the size of his palm. It allowed them to gain their bearings in the forest. It was not a cheap device, but it helped them identify their location with ease.
It’s said that this device was something created by artificers. Fung Ching got it after killing a wicked heir of a rich family. If he sold it, he would have been able to buy a dozen storage rings with the money he got with it.
The average martial artist would never spend money on this device. After all, it was simply too expensive. How many missions would they have to go on to make that much money to afford it? Meanwhile, your wealthier martial artists didn’t have a need for it. After all, they were already so rich. Why would they need a device like that for when they never needed to go on adventures like these?
The compass was made entirely of a silver metal. There were numbers on it that kept ticking up and down. Currently, it read, (-21269, 16). It accurately identified its current location. Wun Fan couldn’t help but be interested in the technology made to use it. Wun Fan even had a feeling that he would be able to implement technology from his previous world in Heaven’s Martial World if he met the right artificer.
Given their current location, they should be able to arrive at their destination if they kept going right and up. Wun Fan looked up at the thought of this.
The sun was setting over the west. It was getting dark.
It was already dark in the forest, where the canopy blocked out most of the sun. Now that the sun was setting, it turned very dark very quickly.
A chilly breeze swept past them. Hung Yu Fei felt cold all of a sudden. The cawing of crows echoed in the forest, making the place seem all the more sinister. She couldn’t help but ask weakly, “So…how far are we until the next inn?”194Please respect copyright.PENANAc6nlufXFTc