The Scent of the Orchid in the Forest of Secrets (密林兰香)

Chapter Eleven

Shu Haolin recognized the sound even before she awoke. As she drifted in between the realms of reality and sleep, the high pitched whistle ran through her body like an electric shock. Even as echoed about in her dreams, before she woke up, her lips parted and she murmured to herself, "the Baiyu Alliance..."

A few moments later, Shu Haolin's eyes blinked open, and she sat up, listening. Sure enough, the whistle sounded once more, and she slid out of bed, shaking her little brother awake. "Go and find reinforcements. Stay on that side. I allow you to help the wounded later. Quickly!"

Shu Haoyang blearily got dressed and ran across the forest, and Shu Haolin headed in the opposite direction. Once she judged that the demonic cultivators weren't that far away, she knelt down on the ground and began painting a protective array. As soon as it was completed, a faint white light shot up to the heavens, erecting a barrier that soundly blocked the Yu Sect from the demonic cultivator's advance. This was the array that the Yu Sect had prepared ever since the Baiyu Alliance's first attack, and it was created so that anyone with any level of spiritual energy could activate it, and it would hold until reinforcements arrived.

Shu Haolin stood behind the barrier with a saber from Yu Jielan's private armory in hand, standing and waiting for them to arrive, which they did within a few minutes. At first, they fearlessly charged into the barrier, but when the first people who stepped out where painfully burned, their screams rising to the skies, everyone else became more cautious. Shu Haolin stood at alert, her saber ready for fight.

"I suggest you retreat, little girl," the leader sneered. "Just you against all of us? I don't know what the Yu Sect was thinking to have you and you only stand out here to protect the Yu Sect's borders, but as soon as we break this stupid array of yours, we won't have mercy on you."

Shu Haolin stood her ground, staring them down coldly.

"Lao Chu, you really are shameless. It's only been a couple of months, and you've already forgotten that little girl that beat you up so badly that you ran home with your tail between your legs?"

The demonic cultivator that had been called Lao Chu by another demonic cultivator narrowed his eyes. "I remember her now. Perfect. I was just looking for a chance to set this record straight." Then, with an eerie grin, he unleashed a torrent of demonic energy towards the barrier. It shook, but stayed firm. Surprised, Lao Chu put more effort into it, until he was abruptly sent flying by a pulse of spiritual energy from the barrier. The group of demonic cultivators laughed ruthlessly at him. Disheveled and embarrassed, Lao Chu jumped to his feet and attacked wildly again, but the barrier still didn't budge. After a few more rounds of this embarrassing show, a cold voice spoke up and cut off Lao Chu's movements.

"Did you all forget with the Head Advisor said?"

Shu Haolin frowned. The Baiyu Alliance seemed to have some sort of well-organized hierarchy—they even had a head advisor?

As if all of them had been awakened, they murmured to each other for a while, then got into formation. At first, Shu Haolin couldn't understand their seemingly arbitrary movements, but soon, it became clear, and she felt as if her heart was doused in ice. They had all positioned themselves perfectly in the weak spots of the formation, as if they had been told in advance exactly where they were. No, they knew. They must've known all along.

There was a mole in the Yu Sect.

Shu Haolin didn't have enough time to think before they started to work together to tear down the barrier. With each torrent of demonic energy that struck the barrier at its weakest spots, she felt her heart tremble, and her feet seemed to grow roots in the ground. She raised her saber, ready for an act of desperate resistance, but what could she do against all these demonic cultivators? Just a single slice from each of them was enough to cut all of the flesh from her body. Where was her little brother? Had he made it safely across the forest and called reinforcements? Where were they? How was she supposed to hold the border alone?

As if he could read her thoughts, the demonic cultivator who had spoken to prompt everyone on a certain Head Advisor's words sneered. Shu Haolin seized and jumped up before she could fully react or analyze her instinct, but it was just in time. An arrow sliced past her and sunk itself deeply into the trunk of a tree behind her, and she watched as the tree withered and rotted to the ground with a speed visible to the naked eye.

With this, the battle began. With each swing of her saber, she took a step backwards, and soon, she was pressed almost to the edge of the forest. A bolt of lightning traveled through her heart, and she dodged out of the way of a sneak attack at her back, and she found herself surrounded on all four sides, the encirclement drawing smaller and smaller. All of a sudden, the situation she had been in so many months ago, with several assassins closing in on her, flashed by her mind, and in her inattention, a sword slashed through her clothes and dug into her shoulder. She jumped and struck it away, almost getting stabbed by a second sword. The momentum of the demonic cultivators got faster and faster, while Shu Haolin started to feel like she was moving through honey, slow and ineffective.

Poison! The swords of all the assassins around her had poison on them. Shu Haolin felt cold sink in at the pit of her heart. More and more swords slashed by her, leaving shallow cuts on her body, until she fell to her knees. Many swords pointed straight at her, forming a cage with no escape. As the saber in her hand tried desperately to resist, the words of her shifu drifted into her mind, almost as an afterthought.

"Concentrate your qi in your core, not your fingertips."

A flash of inspiration lit up Shu Haolin's mind. Coalescing all the remaining spiritual energy into her core, it squeezed inward with great force, and when it felt like she was about to collapse, it exploded outwards, knocking down all of the demonic cultivators around her. At the same time, she spat out a mouthful of blood, staggering and struggling to stand up, leaning on her saber for support. She felt a crack forming on her golden core, her entire body drained of spiritual energy. The demonic cultivators around her all lay on the ground, groaning in pain, but her focus wasn't on them, but rather on the dark clouds that formed in the night sky. Low rumbles of thunder echoed in the mountains of Hangzhou—a heavenly trial was rolling in.

The first bolt of lightning sent Shu Haolin to her knees. The heavenly trial for a golden core cultivators was much worse than her first heavenly trial. She staggered back up and raised her saber to fend off the first demonic cultivators that had started to stand up, but before she had moved much, the second bolt of lightning forced her to the ground again. A blade slashed her back, and she coughed out a mouthful of black blood. She stood back up, desperately knocking away the blades that were coming for her. Her moves were without rhyme or rhythm, having lost all the elegance of the martial arts of the Yu Sect, becoming a pure instinct for survival. Even so, Shu Haolin was only human. The last strike of the heavenly lightning sent her sprawling to the ground, and her limbs felt heavy, unable to move. She saw the glint of the moonlight of an incoming blade flash before her eyes, and a breath left her lungs. Was this how she was going to die?

But a sword intercepted it before it could strike down. Someone helped Shu Haolin up, and as if on instinct, she tiredly leaned on her shoulder. The scent of an orchid wafted in the air.

"When did you get here?"

"Your little brother came to ask me for help. Can you still fight?" Yu Jielan asked.

Shu Haolin shook her head weakly.

"Then I will protect you."