The Samsara Jade

Chapter 10

The forest was completely dark. The tall, thick trees looked like giant, angry monsters reaching into the stormy sky. Heavy rain poured down from the black clouds in freezing sheets. The wind howled through the branches, making terrible, loud noises. 

Li Chen ran as fast as he could. His feet hit the wet, slippery mud. Splash. Splash. Splash. He did not care about the cold water soaking his torn clothes. He did not care about the sharp branches cutting his face and arms. He only cared about moving forward. He had to get away.

Just an hour ago, he was a weak, dying boy lying in the mud. Now, things were different. As he sprinted through the dark forest, he felt an amazing power flowing inside him. It was the dark Qi. Because he had reached the First Level of Qi Condensation, his body was completely changed. 

Before, running for even one minute would make his lungs burn and his legs shake. But now, his legs felt like strong springs. 

Every time his foot hit the ground, he pushed off with incredible speed. His breathing was deep and steady. 

The dark energy inside his stomach, sitting in his Primordial Chaos Root, acted like a warm fire. It sent heat to his cold muscles. It gave him endless stamina. 

He jumped over a large, fallen tree trunk with ease. He landed softly in the mud on the other side and kept running. 

"I am not weak anymore," Li Chen thought to himself. "I can run forever."

But then, he heard it again. 

DONG! 

The massive, heavy sound of the Death Bell echoed down from the top of the Azure Sword Sect mountain. The sound was so loud it shook the rain in the air. It was a terrifying reminder that the hunt had begun. 

Li Chen quickly looked over his shoulder. High up on the mountain, he saw bright, glowing lights. They were moving very fast. They were flying down the mountain paths, heading straight toward the Outer Sect living area where his broken hut was. Those were the Enforcers. 

The Enforcers were the police of the sect. They wore thick, dark iron armor. They were strong, cruel, and totally without mercy. They were sent to punish traitors and killers. And tonight, Li Chen was the killer.

"They will find Deacon Lin's body soon," Li Chen whispered between heavy breaths. "When they see his crushed chest, they will know a cultivator killed him. They will track my scent."

Suddenly, a loud, deep howl cut through the sound of the storm. 

Awooooo! 

It was not a normal wolf. The sound was too deep. It sounded like a demon crying in the night. It was a tracking hound. 

The Enforcers used giant, magical dogs to hunt down escaping criminals. These dogs had an amazing sense of smell. They could track a single drop of blood across an entire mountain. 

Panic started to grow inside Li Chen’s heart. He pushed his body even harder. He sent more dark Qi into his legs. He ran so fast he looked like a shadow moving through the trees. 

"Keep going, boy," the weak, ancient voice of Old Kui suddenly spoke in Li Chen's mind. The giant dragon-turtle sounded very tired. "Do not stop. The men chasing you are too strong. They are at the Seventh Level of Qi Condensation. If they catch you, they will peel your skin off while you are still alive. You cannot fight them. Run."

"Where do I go?" Li Chen asked in his mind. "The forest is ending."

"Go to the place of death," Old Kui answered. "The place where normal men are too afraid to step. It is your only chance."

Li Chen knew exactly what Old Kui meant. He was heading toward the back of the Outer Sect mountain. He was heading toward the Beast Chasm. 

The Beast Chasm was a terrifying place. It was a massive, deep crack in the earth. It was so deep that no one could see the bottom. It was filled with a thick, poisonous fog. 

Terrible, ancient monsters lived at the bottom of the chasm. Sometimes, the outer sect disciples would throw dead bodies or trash into the chasm. No one ever went down there. Anyone who fell in never came back. It was absolute death.

Behind him, the howling grew louder. Awoooo! They were getting closer. The Enforcers were fast. 

About a mile behind Li Chen, an Enforcer named Mo was leading the hunt. Mo was a tall, cruel man. He wore heavy, black iron armor that clanked loudly when he moved. His armor glowed with a faint, angry red light to push the rain away from his body. 

Mo was riding a giant Spirit Blood-Hound. The hound was the size of a horse. Its fur was completely black, and its eyes glowed like burning red coals. 

Thick, nasty saliva dripped from its massive teeth. Every time the hound breathed, small sparks of fire came out of its nose. 

"Faster, Blood-Fang!" Mo shouted, kicking the giant dog in its sides. "The killer went this way!"

Mo held a long, glowing blue sword in his right hand. He looked at the muddy ground. His sharp eyes saw the deep footprints left by Li Chen. 

"He is running fast," Mo said to himself, a cruel smile appearing on his ugly face. "But he is stupid. He is running straight toward the Beast Chasm. There is no way out. It is a dead end."

Mo pressed a small communication stone on his collar. "This is Scout Mo," he said loudly into the stone. "Tell the other Enforcers to spread out around the edges of the forest. I have found the killer's trail. He is heading for the Chasm. I will corner him. I want to take his head myself."

Mo put the stone away and laughed. The sect promised a huge reward of one hundred spirit stones to whoever caught the killer of Deacon Lin. Mo wanted that money for himself. He did not want to share it with the other guards. 

"Let us go get my money, Blood-Fang," Mo sneered. The giant dog howled loudly and ran even faster. Its huge paws tore up the wet earth. It jumped over bushes and rocks like they were nothing. The distance between the hunter and the prey was closing very fast.

Li Chen heard the heavy thumping of the giant dog's paws behind him. It sounded like small earthquakes. Boom. Boom. Boom. 

He could see a faint red light shining through the trees behind him. The hound's glowing eyes were lighting up the dark woods. 

"He is right behind me," Li Chen thought. His heart was beating like a wild drum inside his chest. 

Suddenly, the trees in front of him cleared. The dark forest ended. 

Li Chen burst out of the trees and stopped immediately. He almost fell forward. He waved his arms wildly to keep his balance. His boots slid in the mud, stopping only two inches away from absolute nothingness. 

He had reached the edge. 

Before him was the Beast Chasm. 

It was the most terrifying thing Li Chen had ever seen. The ground simply stopped. There was a massive, sharp cliff. 

Beyond the cliff was a giant, empty space. The hole was miles wide. He looked down, but there was no bottom. It was just a deep, dark abyss. 

Slowly rising from the deep hole was a thick, glowing purple fog. The fog moved slowly, like a sea of poison clouds. It smelled terrible, like rotting meat and sour chemicals. Just smelling a tiny bit of the purple fog made Li Chen’s head hurt and his stomach feel sick. 

Down in the deep darkness, beneath the purple fog, Li Chen could hear terrifying sounds. There were wet, heavy clicking noises. There were deep, angry roars that shook the air. There were the sounds of giant teeth crushing bones.