Something Is Here

“I don’t get why you still insist on hunting those bandits. Wasn’t that stuff you needed to have your way with me for, your awakening or something like that? I doubt fighting these guys is very useful to you right now”

“Listen, any combat experience is good experience. Also, they are bandits. Getting rid of them is a good thing… Like taking out the trash instead of letting it accumulate in a corner until it attracts rats and cockroaches”

“I am a bandit, though”

“You’re making up for your past sins by being my cocksleeve”

“You–What the fuck did you just call me?! Do you just enjoy making me mad or something?!”

“Well, yes. You’re quite cute when you get mad. You act like you think you're impressive, but seeing you like this just makes my wood rise”

“I… You’re impossible! All you think about is satisfying your lust! What about–Wait. Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Aren't you the super-strong cultivator? How didn’t you hear that shit? Something giggled. There’s a woman, or at least something that sounds like one around…”

Women weren’t common in bandit groups. Not as actual members of the band, anyway… And as far as Mala knew, none of the groups currently present within the forest had even a single woman amongst them. This meant that the owner of that giggle was someone… More probably something else.

“There! Did you hear it this time?”

“Nope”

“Are you messing with me? Everything was dead silent, and you didn’t hear?”

“Perhaps only you can hear it or something? Keep close to me”

“Why so serious all of a sudden, acting like you’re my protector–Hey!”

Linfeng grabbed Mala by the waist, pulling him close as he surveyed the surroundings.

“Wha- What are you doing? This is…”

“Just listen to me and stay close, alright?”

Mala swallowed his saliva.

“S-Sure…”

“Tell me, where did the giggle come from?”

“There isn’t a clear direction, Linfeng… It just… It almost feels like it is coming from the same place we are”

Linfeng narrowed his eyes, and several more times, Mala would hear the giggle without Linfeng hearing a single thing on his end.

‘System, is something off happening?’

No, I can’t hear it either

Mala was starting to get spooked, pressing up against Linfeng reflexively.

The giggle rang out again, but this time, Mala noticed something about it. Linfeng felt his fellow freeze up for a moment before the twink pulled against his shirt, beckoning him to lend his ear.

Mala whispered something with quivering lips.

“It… I think it is literally coming from where we are…  But like… Slightly to… To your left…”

The twink struggled a bit to gather his words into a sentence, but Linfeng understood what he was getting at, and without hesitation, swung his left arm into a wide arc, hitting something and sending it tumbling to the ground.

Linfeng stepped forward, keeping Mala behind him as something flickered into sight. A humanoid creature rose to its feet, snarling with teeth tainted red. Its lower jaw trembled from right to left and left to right. It appeared slightly effeminate in shape–Hence the female giggle. However, it was monstrous in pretty much all aspects.

He didn’t know what he was looking at, but it was some sort of tree creature. Its body was bark-like, and it had no eyes to speak of. The whole upper portion of its face was tangled in roots, and the extremities of its limbs were just rough claws of wood.

The odd thing was that despite it clearly snarling and growling at him, he couldn’t hear it at all. Mala clearly could, judging by how jumpy he was.

Seems like this monster has the ability to pick and choose the senses people are allowed to perceive it with. I don’t know why it allowed our resident twink to hear it, or why it didn’t immediately attack, but I would recommend that you put it in the ground before it can remove itself from your sight again

‘That’s what I was planning on doing’

“Stay still, Mala”

Linfeng surged forward at the creature, and it swiped its claws madly at him, attacking like a feral beast. It swung fast enough for Linfeng to slow down and not rush in. Its claws seemed sharp enough to cut into him, and he would rather not find out whether they were coated with something.

He feinted a punch, but instead lowered his body, swiping at the creature’s legs with such strength that the wood making them up snapped, allowing him to swiftly finish the job with a punch to the head while it was on the ground and dazed from the previous attack.

Its skull was crushed between the forest’s floor and his fist…

He pulled his hand back, revealing it to be covered in sticky sap instead of blood. This thing genuinely seemed to be a walking tree.

‘What a bizarre creature… I never heard of something like this…’

These woods seem to be mostly ignored, and they can be invisible and unheard if they so desire. They are well-equipped not to be discovered… I still don’t understand why it didn’t attack despite having more than a minute to do so by surprise

It could have slashed your jugular and killed you if it really wanted to…

‘It was allowing Mala to hear it and giggling like a maniac. I think this thing had priorities beyond our understanding… It’s a damned tree, it didn’t even have a brain in its head…’

“Are you alright, Mala?”

“Huh…? Oh, yes! I am fine”

“No need to get so scared, I’m here to protect you”

“Th- Wait, what is this way of speaking? I thought I said no to the lovey-dovey shit?!”

Mala launched himself into a rant that Linfeng frankly didn’t actually listen to. He just nodded his head along until his system said something outrageous inside his head.

You shouldn’t have killed the monster. It was a female, and its Yin was nature-aligned… I am sure it could have been beneficial to you

‘Alright, a twink is one thing… Mala is a human and looks feminine enough–But this? This thing is definitely awful and is probably full of disease! You can’t be serious about wanting me to… Bed such a thing’

I am just talking for the sake of it! It isn’t required like it was with Mala. I am just saying that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do it… Besides, your body cultivation and superior Yang would definitely overpower any disease it might have…

‘No thanks. Even if you are right, I’m profoundly disgusted just thinking about it. Besides, wouldn’t I just get splinters stabbed into my cock if I tried something like this?’

Sometimes, a man has to be brave when exploring uncharted territory

‘You won’t convince me. So don’t even bother trying…’

Perhaps we’ll run into another one that’s more good-looking

‘I strongly doubt it’

“Are you even listening to me, Linfeng?”

“Of course, Cutie Pie. Let’s get going, alright? You wouldn’t want us to still be in the forest at night, right? It’s dangerous, and you’ll have to let the entirety of the woods hear your delicious moans”

Mala clenched his fist, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t even feel like arguing at this point. He never wins when it comes to this subject…