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64.22% The Eternal Sanctum / Chapter 149: Rain is to be accompanied with a cup of wine (2)

Chapter 149: Rain is to be accompanied with a cup of wine (2)

Rain in the Wu Ji Forest brought forth many differing sentiments towards its inhabitants.

Towards the plants and animals living in the undergrowth of the forest, rainfall symbolized their submerged hopes.

Their ability to absorb and assimilate the atmospheric spiritual qi into their bodies was sorely restricted by the inaccessibility of water or sunlight – the majority of their accumulated spiritual essence was expended on restoring their vitality to a sustainable amount.

As such, the spillage of blood or rainfall were greatly desired and supported by the inhabitants of the forest, for they would wither without additional supplements to be administered at the proper moment.

For the trees and creatures who towered over the forest, the rainfall was a slight nuisance due to the abnormally humid atmosphere and obscured vision.

However, they couldn't help but feel grateful, for rainfall represented the diminished cries for the spillage of lifeforce and blood from those below.

As for the young girl who had found herself in the Wu Ji Forest… rainfall symbolized an eternal nightmare.

She couldn't drink from the water, she couldn't consume anything obtained from the forest, even if it were obtained from sources untouched by the world's spiritual qi, and even breathing in the humid air was tantamount to disaster if she dared reside in a damp area for too long.

Not only that, An Fei could not forget the caution within the book regarding the lingering aftereffects of rainfall in a forest; until the surrounding lifeforms had consumed the spiritual qi inundating and assimilating into the water, she wasn't to touch a single drop of it.

Inadvertently or not.

"Hah…"

Plink!

Whilst the young girl ruminated to herself with a moody temperament, another raindrop cascaded from the sky to dive into the stream of water before her gaze.

The soft raindrop instantly reminded her of the incoming predicament, galvanizing the young girl into action.

An Fei quickly slung the leather bag over her right shoulder, forcing the little raven to fly onto his ever-shifting perch as she ran into the depths of the forest.

The young girl fled from the stream with great haste, numerous thoughts rushing through her mind as she pondered on what to do.

Her feet still struck soft, but significantly dry soil; her hands occasionally came into contact with dry bark. The atmosphere was not yet humid, but An Fei could visualize the grey clouds looming in the sky with each passing moment.

"I… haven't actually invested any effort in creating a shelter, even after all of that planning…"

The young girl whispered to herself in disappointment, before clenching her teeth in pain.

A soft region of her nape seared with a blistering pain, causing her eyes to squeeze shut and a harsh hiss to leave her throat with minimal resistance.

Caw!

An Fei knew without inspecting that the source of her pain was due to having been struck by an incoming raindrop; had she spared the time to check her body, the young girl was definite in discovering a violet discoloration where the drop of water supercharged with worldly spiritual qi had struck her nape.

The crow leaped from his comfortable perch of the leather strap to claw around the young girl's neck, a strangled shout escaping its beak upon noticing the darkened bruise.

The impacted area emitted a painful steam, the purple bruise hissing with sizzling rage and maddened sorrow.

"Xiao Hei, are you scared of the rain as well?" the young girl asked whilst continuing to weave through the dense net of trees.

"I can't stand certain things here due to some… special circumstances, but you should be fine, no? After all, you should be a –"

Caw! Caw! Caw!

The little raven abruptly released a series of shrieks suffused with rage and pain, its body trembling an innocent raindrop missed its original target of a bitterleaf grass and struck the tip of its beak.

The little creature swung its small wings towards the obscured sky, cursing the grey clouds with all of its might.

"Ah… I can't really take you with me, though…"

An Fei revealed a wry smile at the little raven's predicament. The young girl gripped a thin tree trunk with her left hand, altering her trajectory to narrowly avoid running into the outskirts of a large creature's abode.

As she continued to wade through the maze of trees and grass at a high speed, An Fei mused to herself, the little raven and her hisses of pain serving as an odd and discomfiting symphony amongst the praise and worship of the plants and animals nearby.

The young girl suddenly blinked, her right hand arcing over her head to grasp the young raven by its throat, stuffing it into the mouth of the leather back slung over her shoulder.

The drawstring was closed shut with a swift tug, trapping the little raven in darkness.

Caw! Caw!

"Xiao Hei, this should be better, right?"

The little creature thrashed in rage at the sudden and rough transversal of its location, but calmed down at the young girl's hasty explanation.

Having placated the small raven, An Fei frowned for a brief moment, before taking a deep breath.

She could faintly discern that the main bombardment of the clouds was beginning soon, causing waves of panic to faintly grip her heart.

When the random strikes of a drizzle hurt this much, leaving deep and swollen bruises on her delicate skin of a young maiden… just how painful would a downpour be?

A shiver, followed by a sneeze, then clenched teeth of fear and apprehension.

An Fei broke into a sprint towards the nearest tree that she could find that possessed a significantly thick girdle.

As she ran, the young girl whispered in her mind, the suppressed reserves of spiritual essence constrained within her body erupting into motion.

Roar!

The lotus petal formed before her chest fully erupted into the customary handle-less steel blade at her command, terrorizing the inhabitants of the forest with its domineering presence.

The inscriptions along the length of the blade remained inactive, etched onto the surface with a dark coloration.

"Carve! I want it hollowed, just enough to secure an object."

A certain tree suddenly shivered with abject horror at the young girl's cold command, its roots shriveling in fear and dread.

The numerous branches swayed and trembled in a weak demur as though to beg pity, but alas, An Fei could not spare enough consideration for others with stinging pain assaulting her body in all areas.

Whoosh!

The steel sword plunged into the trunk of the redwood tree, ignoring the sudden gasp and screams of pain emitted by the wood as the blade rotated towards the right with unstoppable momentum.

Wood shavings littered the floor as the steel handle-less sword drilled a hole into the tree's core, following An Fei's command to create a hollow within the redwood tree.

A hollow sufficiently expanded to accommodate the presence of the leather bag, and nothing more.

"Hah… Sorry about that, ah…"

An Fei whispered as she inserted the leather bag into the mouth of the hollow's opening, pushing with her fingers until only the entrance of the leather bag remained visible.

When the young girl loosened the drawstrings, she found herself staring into a pair of crimson eyes tinged with resentment, as if rebuking her for her uncounted actions.

"Eh…" An Fei rubbed the back of her neck, before wincing in pain towards her mistake.

"There's enough gingko nuts stored in the bag… and there shouldn't be any issues regarding the humidity or the incoming rain as long as you stay inside the bag… Xiao Hei, you should be fine now?"

Caw!

The little raven parted its beak to release a piercing cry, as if shooing the young girl away. As it watched An Fei turn around, the pair of crimson eyes never left her back, tracing her movements to every last detail.

Five steps away from the redwood tree that nursed its new cavity in its body, the young girl took a final glance towards the sky.

Beyond the obscuring veil of leaves and branches, the overhead clouds of grey loomed as the directed a condescending glare towards the puny transgressor of the world, a sneer on their formless contours.

Whoosh!

A swift breeze rushed through An Fei's clothes, rustling her hair in a playful and mean manner.

The young girl revealed a mirthless smile towards the intentional actions of the forest, sweeping a disinterested glance towards the animals and grass relishing in the incoming blessing of virtue and fortune with stars glittering in their countenances.

"I…" An Fei whispered, her soft voice piercing the tranquil environment of the Wu Ji Forest.

"[Reveal the eternal river]."

A soft twinkle as though the gently shattering of a glass heart, and the young girl vanished from the forest.

The clouds above finished their preparations, amassing together to unleash their mightiest blow towards the masochistic creatures living on the ground, and to thoroughly pummel the transgressor until she begged for mercy.

Thus, the first spring monsoon of the year began for the Wu Ji Forest.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Clouded_Jade Clouded_Jade

The tree would like to raise an objection for its cruel and unusual treatment!

Who would take its stand?

Chapter 150: Rain must be accompanied with a cup of wine (3)

Monsoons.

Long periods of consistent rainfall, followed by a drastic increase in humidity. From sunrise to sundown, the sky would pour down rain without pause onto the unsuspecting ground below.

Winds would gale around wreaking havoc and ruining any hastily constructed or improperly built structures, allowing the water to flood through the now defenseless abodes and wash everything away in a merciless torrent.

The temperature within the area would become susceptible to drastic change whilst the rain continued to dash through the area, introducing a general shift in climate once the monsoon culminates and ceases its action.

Monsoons for a forest were lethal enough for the average inhabitant, but for An Fei, it represented the peak of her nightmare.

The mirrors within the Sanctum displayed a slightly murky projection of the clearing of which she had bridged through to enter the realm of sky-blue crystal.

From the plainly decorated platinum mirror, the young girl could not see the soil regardless of how much she squinted her eyes.

Near the fringe of the mirror's perspective of the scene in the Wu Ji Forest, An Fei noticed the thoroughly cleaned roots of trees glare in the hazy atmosphere, their channels nearly choking to death from forced overconsumption of water.

The rain howled and slapped onto the backs of the trees, ripping apart a section of the newly grown bark with a mere gust of wind.

The redwood tree that acted as the unwilling host of the little raven suffered no different a fate from its peers.

The roots had been washed clean of their supporting soil, causing the tree to stand afoot deep within a large pond of water.

It had been stripped of all of the accumulated bark on the second day, and had it not been for the little creature yanking the drawstrings closed and rolled up within the hollow, it would have drowned from the incoming rain.

In a mere two days, the Wu Ji Forest had transformed into a sea of freshwater.

An Fei was not aware of any of the animals' circumstances within the forest, as the mirror only provided a visual projection.

However, the constant presence of a low, dense cloud of grey mist made the young girl sufficiently wary and stray away from the notion of checking on the condition of the little raven brusquely stuffed in her leather bag.

The moment she left the Sanctum, wouldn't the cloud of mist rush over and swallow her alive?

Crunch.

The young girl bit on the tip of a carrot smeared with a sauce of soy, ground peppers, and garlic, her small lips contently chowing down the well prepared snack.

An Fei then placed the mirror onto the low table to her right, looking up at the ceiling of sky-blue crystal with a wry smile.

"At the end, I ultimately fled here with my tail behind my legs, ah…"

The young girl had moved herself into one of the medicinal gardens housed within the first corridor.

An Fei had gathered a large stack of paper, brush and ink, and a towering mass of books from a large variety of the Archives the instant she had entered the Sanctum to escape from the rain.

With the assistance of a few hours of grunts, pants, and heavy work, the young girl had transported them into the medicinal garden, of which she had constructed a makeshift workstation.

A workstation consisting of a drawing table obtained from the third Archive, a reclining chair from the fifth, and a bookstand from the eleventh platform.

The entire structure remained protected from the soft and warm earth by the means of a large square of fabric that An Fei had spread underneath.

As for the large book splayed across the wooden surface and had been neglected for the past few hours… was the <Eternal Sanctum>.

The young girl had completely ignored the book on the drawing table, instead deigning to engage herself in tomes of different subjects.

Compared to attempting to decipher the book that either caused her to be overcome with exasperation and disbelief, An Fei would rather immerse herself in other subjects, even if it entailed having to undergo the same process of deciphering blurred characters on a page.

After all…

"The nature of a good heart… is not to repudiate evil nor the injustice of the world… but to maintain the appropriate boundaries of man and never… court calamities from those above."

What wasn't better than a theological discussion on the nature than evil when one needed to pass time?

"To seek self-advancement; to propagate one's wealth and lineage; to seek heavenly enlightenment and transcend the mental barriers; that is to cultivate a mind of good faith and compassion," a young girl read, leaning against a leg of the drawing table.

"The divergence into extending influence over another; to diminish another's resources or abilities; or sever the opportunity of heavenly enlightenment from others; that is to dilute good faith and compassion into evil and sinister intentions. However…"

The discordant lights blooming from the numerous herbs and plants growing within the medicine garden allowed for the entire location to be bright as though it were day, causing the young girl to blink her eyes and rub them after a long time had passed.

An Fei rolled her neck as she stretched whilst maintaining her sitting posture, her eyes quickly reverting to the white pages of the book.

"Good and evil… are mere sides of a coin… The definitions of society constrain actions into good or evil, and thus taints to character. Be it good intentions or evil intentions, neither determines the heavenly enlightenment of man…?"

The young girl tenderly placed the book onto the fabric cover, before standing to stare at the ceiling of sky-blue crystal.

As she stared at the crystalline surface that flickered with the reflections of a myriad colors blended into a mottled mixture, a whisper escaped An Fei's throat.

"Good and evil… it only matters on the recipient's perspective… but how does this relate to spiritual techniques again?"

The young girl flashed a perplexed glance towards the book stamped with the title of <Ghost's Cage>, before slumping onto the cover with a belated sigh.

An Fei allowed her vision to blur whilst absentmindedly staring at the garden of radiant light, her lips moving on their own to produce mindless words.

"How nice it would be to have wine… Grandfather always used to drink wine when it rained…"

Huh?

The young girl blinked as she abruptly froze in place, the pair of scarlet irises flashing with an indeterminate light as she glared at the sea of herbs.

An Fei pursed her lip, the occasional mumble escaping her notice as she began to formulate a simple plan.

"Wine… wine…"

Wine was made from fermented fruits and vegetables… she didn't know about fruits, but there were indeed numerous vegetables. At the foundations, wine was not much more than… a combination of ethanol, fermented sugar, and carbon dioxide…

"I probably won't know how to ferment fruit wine, but rice wine… rice wine!"

An Fei leapt to her feet, blindly rushing towards the sea of herbs and plants with an unforeseen vigor.

The young girl wove between the blistering lights and unique sensations radiating from the herbs, wading through the eternally complex maze until she stood before a clump of brown grains swaying absentmindedly to a nonexistent wind.

The appearance similar to that of brown wheat, with the numerous pellets clustered alongside the stalk, with the long fibrous shells protecting the exterior from damage.

The grains emitted a light orchid radiance, accompanied with a tingling warmth and a refreshing bittersweet fragrance.

Though its appearance was grossly different compared to the final product, the young girl was capable of identifying it with a single glance.

Rice.

The cluster of rice grains hosted a hundred stalks looped into a circular region of land, enclosed by a ring of black, enriched soil.

With a gulp, the young girl slowly unsheathed the left butterfly sword, sliding the infinitesimally sharp blade across a handful of grains.

Shi!

The steel edge cleanly severed the elected stalks at the base without resistance, and An Fei carefully disengaged the roots from the soil.

With the severed roots in one hand and severed rice stalks in the other, the young girl hesitated for a brief moment, before extracting a few pods from a stalk and embedding them into the soil.

She carefully rubbed the pods in her hands, sprinkling the seeds into the cavity, cleaning up her task with a satisfied smile. An Fei then rubbed her stomach with a wry smile, her grin revealing a tinge of delightful gluttony.

"I need to get the wok out again…"


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Clouded_Jade Clouded_Jade

Drunken An Fei?

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