Legacy World 1.14 Life Goes On

Days passed with ZhangYong looking for Xinyi whenever he could. He did so while he worked. He did so whenever he was free. Not a second went by without her on his mind.

Alas, results were not always equivalent to the effort put into something. Even with the improved missing poster he had someone do after he saw the poor work put up by her family, no one turned up with any news. No matter where he searched, he did not see a hair nor hide of Xinyi.

On the contrary, Xinyi's family, including HuiShan, moved on pretty easily and quickly. The effort they put into finding her dwindled, especially after the dissolution of her marriage plans. They grew to accept that she was likely dead or gone forever.

Although ZhangYong knew how estranged Xinyi was from her family despite growing up in the same house, he still found it hard to accept the reality of it. As much as he wanted to shout at them to not give up and to put in their all into finding her, he knew that he would only be venting his frustrations on them. His rational mind told him that there was a limit to how much he could meddle in another family's matters.

With the relationship between WangWei and HuiShan steadily improving, ZhangYong felt even more alone in his suffering. Whenever it got too much for him to bear, he would take out Xinyi's note that he kept with him at all times to gaze at it. /Even if everyone eventually forgets about you, I won't. I'll never stop searching for you./

Meanwhile, Xinyi was busy transforming her newfound home into a more livable and secure place.

She built a simple and small treehouse at the top of the tree with the thickest canopy then stuck even more leaves and twigs to the exterior of the house as camouflage.

She made weapons and traps from scratch.

She created gardens of herbs and mixed in dead weeds and other wild plants to make it look like they were random vegetation growing at random spots throughout the area. The moment the dead plants became too obvious, she would replace it with newer dead ones.

Once those necessities were done, she built platforms on other trees in the vicinity, making almost all the trees look the same from the bottom as the tree that held her treehouse.

Xinyi has indeed chosen to live in the wilderness.

Knowing that she was relatively weaker at scheming, Xinyi felt that cutting off contact with the human society may be the best option for her whose mission was simply to survive. This way, it would reduce the likelihood of being found or falling into someone else's scheme.

Xinyi ended up living almost primitively and she never needed to pay a visit to a village. Although it took some getting used to, Xinyi much preferred this than having to watch her back at all times.

The place she found was thanks to BaoBao's ability and was somewhere ZhangYong did seem to be aware of if Xinyi could judge based on the lack of mention about it.

After they had dropped off the farewell gift near ZhangYong's camp, BaoBao used himself as a form of transport to hasten their search for a safe place to settle down. They could only do this now because there was no risk of someone making a sudden appearance and spotting BaoBao.

At the cluster of mountains not too far away from ZhangYong's camp, BaoBao informed Xinyi of a little spot hidden among the cluster that was accessible through a small cave of the nearest mountain. Normally, no one would enter the cave, much less venture very deep into it, so the place looked almost magical in the way it remained untouched. It was like a little haven tucked away from the human world. She felt a little bad for disturbing the serenity of this place with her presence but it was something she had to do.

Nonetheless, Xinyi did not count on her luck and still took careful precautions.

As it turned out, her paranoia was not for nothing.

The rare few who did come across this place were bandits looking for a place to crash or hide. During such times, Xinyi would choose to ignore them as long as they stayed out of her way the way she stayed out of theirs. If her existence was discovered or if they began to talk about making this place their own, Xinyi would use her traps to kill them off one by one.

While their bodies were left for wild animals to consume, their loot would be inspected by Xinyi. Xinyi kept anything she found useful. It could be clothes, weapons, materials, books, and medicine. Everything else would be left on the patrol route of the soldiers for them to pick up.

As the days turned to weeks then months then years, Xinyi kept up to date with outside affairs by listening to the bandits talk. Sometimes BaoBao would eavesdrop on soldiers passing by and fill her in.

The first year passed by peacefully and uneventfully. The one she heard the most about was ZhangYong. People talked about how he worked harder than anyone else and how he kept growing stronger and stronger. He ended up being a source of inspiration for many soldiers and everyone was ready for him to take up his father's mantle.

In the second year, ZhangYong's skills and leadership were put to the test. Some scuffles started springing up in areas near the West border that ZhangYong's father protected.

While ZhangYong was kept busy at the border, there was an attack on the royal family during a royal banquet. HuiShan who bravely fought side by side with WangWei got recognised as someone who could stand with him, but the tide really only turned to their favour when ZhangYong turned up at the palace with some skilled soldiers in tow. While dealing with matters at the border, he had learnt that the scuffles were related to a planned attack at the royal banquet.

By the third year, HuiShan got officially engaged to WangWei, and ZhangYong was officially conferred the title of Commander of the West troops. HuiShan and WangWei's marriage was put on hold indefinitely because war was looming.

Later, there was talk about HuiShan turning traitor and being the spy for the enemy nation. Before anything could happen to HuiShan or anyone could touch HuiShan, the combined smarts of WangWei and ZhangYong identified the real spy as a trusted bodyguard cum aide of the crown prince.

This move not only cleared the court of corrupted individuals and spies, it also prevented a war with the wrong country. It was found that the spy came from a third country who was pulling strings from the dark and hoping to benefit from the chaos. As a result, WangWei was conferred the title of the crown prince.

The fourth year began with them hunting down the spy that managed to escape in time.

Days after Xinyi was updated of the latest news, BaoBao informed her of another group of people making their way into the cave. Xinyi immediately killed the small campfire, went through the standard procedure of erasing all traces of living, then hid in her treehouse. She stopped her cultivation entirely, slowed her breathing, and pictured herself disappearing from the surface of the earth.

Just as she hid her presence, a large group came out of the cave.

Everyone in the group looked wary and alert. Only one man, who stood out too much for Xinyi's liking, looked completely relaxed like he was taking a stroll in his garden. Besides his body language, his look alone was already more remarkable than the rest. Unlike ZhangYong and WangWei, this man reminded Xinyi more of a bodybuilder and his face has far more masculine features.

While everyone was taking in the sight with surprise evident on their faces, that man's steady gaze was languidly scanning the area. It hovered at certain spots that made her gulp.

Suddenly, his gaze went on to meet hers. Or at least it felt that way. Xinyi knew that it was impossible for him to have seen her through the thick vegetation covering her tree house. Even she was barely keeping track of them through the small gaps in the thick vegetation.

Xinyi continued to keep her breathing steady and slow although her heart felt like it was hammering against her chest. Her muscles were also tense, ready for her to make a move.

A few seconds later, his gaze shifted away and the corner of his lips quirked up. "This place seems special. Some spots are teeming with spiritual energy."

Everyone stopped in their tracks and almost uniformly looked back at the man when he spoke. He, however, continued to walk towards the tree that Xinyi was in.

An average looking man in the group spoke. "Since Leader Han's curiosity is piqued, this must be something good. But…"

Everyone then wryly looked at a man whose muscles were as well-defined as the buff one except that he was of a much leaner build. He had on a stormy expression from the start, indicating his bad mood.

"No more giving in to your curiosity. It was because of your curiosity about that darn woman and commander that our plans failed." His freezing cold tone further revealed his unhappiness with the buff man.

"All's not lost yet…" The buff man defended himself with the same languid attitude. "You got to admit that it was all worth it. If I won, I would have gotten her for myself. If I lost, I got to go against that dog commander."

"It's worth it only for you." The lean man glared at him with daggers in his eyes.

"And that's all that matters." The buff man grinned lazily.

"You took needless risks and jeopardised your mission for your personal whims. You revealed your identity to someone of the enemy nation just to collude with her to frame the woman. The commander is hot on our tails just because you want a taste of going against him. You will be punished for this."

"Hmm… Is that so…" The man responded lazily while the group settled down at a spot that he chose. "Aren't you worrying too much? I'm still here, aren't I? As long as you have me, we'll surely succeed."

The lean man was not intimidated by the dangerous look that entered the buff man's eyes. "Just like controlling some wild rabid dog. How annoying." He bit out before turning away from the buff man to go to sleep.

The dangerous look disappeared without a trace and the man actually looked disheartened. "Hey, hey, aren't you going to say how dangerous and risky it is? That if I'm really that much stronger that the commander, I wouldn't have to hide like this? Hey, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Erm… If you kno-"

"Shut up." The lean man, whose eyes remained closed, interrupted the person who spoke. "Don't say anything when you don't know what it'll do to this wild dog. Everyone, ignore him and go to sleep now."

The buff man then looked disgruntled and settled against the tree that held Xinyi's tree house. He snorted in displeasure at his failed taunt then stared at the spots on the ground that interested him, deep in thought.

No longer able to tolerate the itch to investigate, he got up and headed towards the spot on the ground closest to him.

Upon closer inspection and some rummaging, he found out that it was actually a garden of herbs that was well-concealed. He immediately flew towards all the different spots on the ground and found the same thing.

Amusement and interest lit up his eyes which were now focused on the tree that held Xinyi's house.

/It's no longer there./ Paying close attention to his surroundings again, he easily identified Xinyi's location.

Although he could not see a thing through the canopy of the trees that were so lush that it entwined with each other, he could track her movements.

A wide toothy grin slowly spread across his lips. /I understand now./

He had investigated the gardens first because it had a stronger presence than the one in the tree. However, he now knew that the one he should have investigated first should have been the weaker presence. The ground was a mere accumulation of the spiritual energy of the person who was trying to run away now.

Knowing that he has time to chase after the slow moving target, he first flew up to inspect the canopies of the trees and ended up uncovering more of Xinyi's secrets.

The lushness of the canopy was actually deceptive. It was all man-made for camouflage.

He spotted man's clothes in Xinyi's house so assumed that she was a man. /This guy just keeps getting more and more interesting! I simply have to meet him!/

He looked towards Xinyi's location once more and managed to catch sight of a black figure slipping into the cave.

Just as he flew towards the cave to catch up to Xinyi, sounds of explosions and traps being sprung rang throughout the entire area and caught his attention.

His group that was aware of his actions for the entire time had automatically followed him, only to end up activating one trap after another.

Branches broke. Nets sprung up from the bottom and caught unsuspecting and slow-reacting individuals. Heavy logs swung down from the trees like a pendulum, crushing those caught in the nets and knocking away anyone else in its path. Those that escaped or got knocked away landed into pits where there weren't any before then were impaled to death by spikes stuck to the base. Spears and arrows flew. Some of those who dodged landed into bear traps.

It was as if Xinyi predicted all their escape routes and behaviors. The better ones survived it by the skin of their teeth with the use of their insane reflexes, good observation, or pure raw power. The man that Xinyi was most wary of had gotten away unscathed with the help of all three.

"How marvelous!" The buff man's eyes lit up with excitement and he laughed aloud while all the other survivors winced. They have just gotten ambushed and their group of 20 got reduced to 8. His nonchalance was appalling even to them right now.

/It's time to catch my pet./