Chapter 37: Chapter 32 The King of Banyan Trees in the Deep Mountains_3
Translator: 549690339
But as soon as he looked up, he was scared out of his wits.
It was all over; he feared he had encountered the legendary “ghost hitting the wall.”
Despite having walked so far, he was still under the banyan tree.
In the forest, this was the most feared occurrence. Many people said it was due to inhaling poisonous miasma, which caused hallucinations, making them walk in circles.
He pinched himself, and it hurt.
He counted on his fingers, one plus one equals two, two plus one equals three.
His mind was clear, with absolutely no issues.
He then plucked a leaf and observed it closely; the leaf’s veins were clearly visible, and so were the thorns on the back. His vision also had no issues.
So what in the world was going on?
He was already regretting venturing deep into the mountains.
Previously, his life’s principle had been to disregard the elder’s nonsense and live happily for years.
But now, because he had not heeded the old man’s words, the consequences were right before his eyes.
After much struggle in agriculture, insect control, and cultivation, his strength had progressively increased. Now trapped deep in the mountains, a slight mishap could lead to death.
Old Man Liu had taken Qin Niu into the mountains before, telling him that if he ever got lost, he could determine his location by looking at the sun or the moon in the sky. Then, just pick a direction and keep walking straight to find a way out.
It was supposed to be morning now, and many areas still had dew that hadn’t dried.
When he had entered the mountains, he remembered the sun had already started to rise.
But looking up at the sky now, he could see nothing but the lush leaves of the banyan tree.
It was like an umbrella, covering the entire patch of sky above.
It very much resembled the legendary “one hand covering the sky.”
Qin Niu’s heart was uneasy, but he did not panic.
The more one encountered such evil phenomena, the more one needed to stay calm.
Although he was only sixteen, he possessed a composure and calmness that other children did not.
As for bravery, he considered himself quite timid.
But to say he was timid, when facing Wang Haikun he might appear fearful on the surface, yet inside he was calculating the odds of successfully killing Wang Haikun with one slash and considering the consequences thereafter.
Besides that, he had dared to slaughter wolves and Black Bear alone at such a young age.
Not just in his village, but even within a hundred miles, it would be hard to find another youth so brave.
If one really had to describe him, the words “cautious valor” would be more fitting.
Cautious and brave, not someone senseless and impulsive.
“Old Man Liu told me that if I can’t see the moon or the sun, don’t be afraid.
Tear strips from my clothes and tie a piece to a tree branch every so often,” Qin Niu said.
Without hesitation, Qin Niu decisively took up the Treasured Sword to cut off the hem of his garment to tear into strips.
“Eh? I remember getting a lot of banyan tree blood on this blade, how come it’s completely clean now?”
Today was indeed a day of weird happening.
One bizarre event followed another.
Qin Niu thought the green banyan tree blood on the blade had been cleaned off by his clothes.
But after inspecting his clothes, there was not a single trace to be found.
“Forget about this for now, finding a way out of here is the priority,” he thought.
After this strange occurrence, his reverence for the mountain had increased a hundredfold.
Determined, he used the Treasured Sword to cut off his hem.
Hisss!
Still as sharp as ever, the blade easily sliced through the garment.
But as he was cutting, he noticed something unusual about the Treasured Sword in his hand.
It felt… tremendously excited.
He waved the blade, trying to cut through some of the grass and shrubs in front of him.
Pfft!
With almost no effort at all, a swath of low-lying vegetation was cut down.
The severed parts of these plants actually began to ooze a very light green sap. Moreover, their wounds seemed to be healing at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Today, he feared he had trespassed into a “Great Immortal’s” cultivation ground, and survival was unlikely.
Qin Niu’s heart had sunk to the bottom.
Some light green sap had gotten onto the Treasured Sword again, but the sap from these plants was noticeably lighter than that of the banyan tree.
The sap from the Ancient Banyan Tree was dark green, whereas the sap from the plants beneath was almost transparent.
One could barely see a hint of light green.
Once again, Qin Niu could feel the Treasured Sword getting excited, though nowhere near as intense as before.
Just a slight thrill.
He closely watched the light green sap on the Treasured Sword.
It gradually began to diminish, and in less than a moment, had completely disappeared.
Was it absorbed by the blade?
Qin Niu could only think of this possibility.
Of course, it could also have dried up due to the wind, but it didn’t look like it because if it were the wind, there would certainly be some residue on the blade.
Yet there was no trace of anything on the blade.
How strange.
He didn’t dwell on this matter any further but continued to cut the torn hem into strips of cloth. He then tied a piece to a branch of an unknown tree next to him.
Walking forward, after about ten meters or so, he found a conspicuous tree and tied another strip to it.
By tying a strip every ten meters, he moved cautiously, working his way outward.
The canopy of the Ancient Banyan Tree covered a radius of about 300 meters at most. Following the method taught by Old Man Liu, tying thirty pieces of cloth should be enough to escape this maze..