historical

Li Yang and Ying Yue He were rattled to say the least—but less so than Bao. It had shown itself in full glory, expecting that the man was going to face some juicy drama and explain the entirety of the situation to his secretary, but Ying Yue He never batted an eye.

"I'm Bao.." The Panda muttered with its paws on its head. Why the heck was nobody paying attention to it? It wasn't invisible right now. While it enjoyed the panic that Li Yang did earlier, now it was long gone.

The former CEO already had the map of the island and it showed where the blast came from. It functioned close enough to a Live Feed of what was happening and it was a feature that he didn't think was possible.

Were these updates?

He needed to concentrate first.

"The forest in the northeast," Li Yang said. The map didn't extend far beyond the island itself, but he could already see a ship coming in real time that was shown on the map as a dot akin to him and Ying Yue He's position. The ship also happened to be labeled too, showing an ally color. "What exactly is there?"

"That's where the towers are located—" Ying Yue He's eyes widened. "Why would someone operate them? What's going on? Is there some kind of attack?"

Li Yang had only heard the first part before he quickly made a decision. "We need to get going then."

"Huh?" Ying Yue He blinked.

"A ship arrived and they got attacked by the towers." Li Yang explained briefly. In-depth explanations had to happen later.

Unfortunately, Ying Yue He herself was not easy to convince.

While Ying Yue He agreed that she was callous to the pain and mistreatment of other people now, she thought that Li Yang agreed with the notion of staying here. There were so many things that he hadn't explained yet, but the man simply placed a cloak over her shoulders and then wore the shawl he threw over the Panda from earlier.

Li Yang disappeared from her eyes, but his voice was clear. "We should take advantage of the chaos and leave now."

"But that's not really—"

Several shrieks and roars emerged from the forest, and contrary to Li Yang, Ying Yue He knew what those beings were. Different shapes and sizes, some took to the air like sonic bats while others stayed in the trees or even the earth for any unsuspecting prey.

Senior Longwei didn't even need to personally come up and visit them.

There were at least a hundred cultivated beasts scattered within the forest and island.

The door was thrown open and before she could say anything else—she felt Li Yang hold on to her and she was tugged away from the bungalow place.

Ying Yue He understood where Li Yang was coming from, but she didn't think it was still a good idea to leave without saying a word.

"The Shen Society came," Li Yang said in explanation. Almost as if he was able to read her mind or at least understand her hesitation. "I know you don't want to get into trouble or for anyone to get hurt—and I think that's why they're here to pick us up. But if the tower attacked first, that changes things, doesn't it?"

Ying Yue He bit her lip. "I guess you're right."

But there was supposed to be a peace treaty holding them all up together. This shouldn't have happened at all. Who exactly attacked?

.

.

.

"I'm accepting the Heaven Granted Quest: Odyssey." Li Yang acknowledged as the two of them went headfirst into the forest. The ground beneath them was flat except for the straggling roots and thorns that were in place.

In the muted chat room, the Heavens were now arguing about the man's stance.

[ OwlBrain: It seems like my understanding was correct, he was going to escape. Based on my judgement of his psyche, he's more non confrontational than you think. ]

[ Sea Foam: Don't talk about Psyche here ]

[ Trite: Wrong person. ]

[ OneWhoSlaughters: Coward. There are treasures here. He should have wiped them all. ]

[ Fire Dweller: It would have made more sense to take a more diplomatic route. ]

Unbeknownst to it all, Li Yang made his move. He did plan on going about the island in a more secluded way where he was sure there was no cultivator in place, but he changed his mind.

If there were towers at north that were being operated—then it meant that the path there wasn't as riddled with traps as anything. At least it was clearer than going through other parts of the island that were probably riddled with dangers.

Li Yang and Ying Yue He only needed to leave undetected.

How strong were the people's spiritual senses to notice cultivators invisible and enshrouded with materials far beyond their capacity? Li Yang looked back and couldn't see Ying Yue He, but he could feel her presence and knew she was around because he was holding her wrist.

"Retract back your qi and conceal it to avoid detection."

"What, we're going to operate with no layer of protection at all?" Ying Yue He asked.

"Yes."

He could almost imagine the frown on her face as she said it. But this was for the best, it was hard to tell how much nondetection these items would provide.

While it probably would have worked well in ordinary circumstances, they were facing cultivators with spiritual sensing and heightened regular senses, so they needed all of the camouflage they could provide.

Bao was still following them so it meant that a god's eyes could see it.

Li Yang reached out into his inventory, the man bought Boots of Speed and placed it on. The material was comfortable and actually luxurious on his feet. He then picked Ying Yue He up and ran through the forest.

Who actually cared if it was supposed to be some knockout copy of Hermes?

What mattered was getting away with as much distance as possible. A part of him thought it would be great for them to simply reach another part of the island that was close to the waters and presumably get a ship from there—but even if it was a bit less practical, he was going to meet up with Mou Gu and the others.

The idea of involving and endangering others because of him.

He hated to admit but that was not how he wanted to go with things. They didn't deserve to get into this mess just because he wanted them to help—it was something he unfortunately realized. Li Yang preferred keeping things as they always were if it did not need to change.

It also perfectly applied for the uneasy peace treaty they had made.

Ying Yue He's breath hitched as they passed by several large spiders scuttling in their webs. A carcass of a pig was stuck in its webs as their purple venom pooled on the forest's floor.

Li Yang stepped as far away from it as possible.

Despite each spider having several eyes, it didn't seem to take notice of Li Yang and Ying Yue He's presence at all. Regardless, both of them still sort of held their breath and began to leave.

Except that when they passed through the path, Ying Yue He's arm brushed against a thread.

"Ow—" Ying Yue He bit on her tongue and stifled her pain.. Li Yang looked back to see that the sides of the path were all decorated with nearly invisible thin lines of thread—her droplets of blood now coated and soaked the thread and alerted the spiders.