Sunlight fell through the gaps in the canopy into the green forest, and you could clearly see the sunlight falling through the gaps. It was like light pillars slanting into the forest.
This wasn't the kind of dense forest that was completely windproof, where entering would be like switching to nighttime.
By the stream, Ling Qing sat resting against a tree. His shirt was hung on tree branches, gently swaying in the wind. Also blown by the wind passing through the forest was Ling Qing's silver-white hair.
Wearing only pants, Ling Qing exposed his upper body, revealing his solid and strong physique.
Although Ling Qing would have liked to wash his pants too and hang them to air dry, while he had no problem bathing naked in the stream in this deserted green forest, he really couldn't stand sitting completely naked by the stream. In the end, he just casually washed his upper body clothes and hung them to air dry.
He held a fruit similar to an apple in his hand, slowly nibbling on it.
As he continued deeper inland, the environment became better and better. Sometimes, rather than processed food, finding some fruit or other edible natural things was actually simpler.
Two months had already passed. Ling Qing's dietary habits told him that eating only fruit wasn't very good for his body, but his current physical condition—his soul state—showed that as long as he replenished spiritual particles in time, there would be no problem even if he only ate fruit.
As long as he didn't feel hungry, everything would be fine.
While nibbling on the apple, Ling Qing pondered whether what he had seen earlier was just an illusion.
Thinking carefully, he had occasionally dreamed of that figure—Sephiroth—before, but at the time, Ling Qing had just considered it a simple dream. The type that belonged to "thinking by day, dreaming by night."
After all, although Ling Qing hadn't realized he had become Sephiroth's appearance at the time, he was aware that he could use Sephiroth's swordsmanship. Thinking about how to swing a sword all day, wasn't dreaming of Sephiroth a normal thing?
It was just that the illusion-like scene that had appeared earlier—which might have been simply an illusion caused by water surface ripples—somehow cast a shadow over Ling Qing's heart.
Lost in thought, without noticing, the fruit in his hand had been almost completely eaten, leaving only the core.
Ling Qing raised his hand and threw it directly into the stream not far ahead. The fruit core splashed small ripples on the water surface, then was carried away by the stream.
A slight smile couldn't help but appear on Ling Qing's face.
Doing this wasn't particularly virtuous, but it really made people happy. And more importantly, there were no environmentalists or sanitation workers in Soul Society who would jump out to condemn Ling Qing for destroying the environment and littering.
The sage-like self-reflection of "do not fail to do good even if it's small, do not do evil even if it's small" was something Ling Qing couldn't achieve.
If anything, he was probably someone who wouldn't do great evil, but would casually do small evils. Of course, the reverse was also true—he felt he couldn't do great good deeds, but he wouldn't refuse small good deeds that he could help with just by extending his hand.
Then he died under a robber's knife.
Picking up the katana that was set aside, Ling Qing gripped the hilt and drew the sharp katana out a small bit. His eyes were reflected on the mirror-like katana.
Ling Qing had already come from the most difficult areas of Rukongai to relatively prosperous areas, but Ling Qing didn't intend to stop here.
If Rukongai were compared to a city, he hadn't even entered the city center yet. Since he didn't need to buy a house to settle down, getting as close to the core as possible was undoubtedly a wise move.
Moreover, the closer he got to the inside, the more complete various resources would be, and the more resources he could obtain. Not to mention he could further contact and understand some intelligence and situations regarding "Soul Reapers."
According to the legends circulating in Rukongai, Ling Qing undoubtedly had the qualifications to become a Soul Reaper. On the other hand, from the perspective of Rukongai residents' understanding of Soul Reapers, Soul Reapers were undoubtedly the elite of Soul Society.
They were civil servants, and also a violent organization because they carried swords.
If there was an opportunity, he always had to try it. After all, the end of all things is taking the civil service exam.
Just as Ling Qing was thinking about his next actions, wondering if he would have to spend another two months or so to get close to the top ten districts of Rukongai, he suddenly put away the sword in his hand and then looked in a certain direction.
That was a corner of the green forest. Although the trees here weren't particularly dense, because the trees were layered and had no pattern, visibility was poor, and he couldn't see any movement just by looking with his eyes.
Ling Qing's alertness was less about discovering something and more about how these two months of life—which could even be described as wilderness survival, and the dangerous type where all the creatures were cunning humans—had transformed him from a survival novice into a survival expert.
After all, reality was much harsher than imagination. Either you survive and become cunning and experienced, or the naive and ignorant die early.
After all, in this world, the dangers that existed weren't just naked hostility and frontal breakthroughs that could be overwhelmed by force alone.
Malice coming from behind was far more common than visible malice.
A feeling that something dangerous was approaching had already surfaced in his heart before Ling Qing realized what was happening.
Then, as if to verify Ling Qing's feeling, he heard urgent footsteps.
Besides the obviously panicked, chaotic footsteps that had lost composure, he could also hear some kind of heavy rumbling sound, like heavy objects falling to the ground, or large creatures moving.
As well as the sound of tree trunks breaking, presumably from trees being knocked down.
Simple urgent footsteps weren't particularly concerning. When Ling Qing heard such footsteps now, if not immediately moving away, he would at least become alert.
After all, there was a saying: skilled hunters often appear in the guise of prey. If Ling Qing hadn't been wary of this kind of trap, he didn't know how many times he would have fallen for it in these two months.
What really concerned Ling Qing was the heavy rumbling sound and the sound of trees breaking. Just from the sound alone, it was hard for him to understand what was happening.
Thinking about it, Ling Qing took down the shirt hanging on the tree branch that was only half dry, though not to put it on. Simply because he didn't want to expose his existence through artificial objects like clothing.
Looking left and right, he found a tree thick enough to hide him. With force from his feet, his whole body leaped high as if pulled by steel wires. Stepping on the trunk midway, Ling Qing steadily landed in the canopy.
He used the dense leaves to hide himself.
At this time, the urgent footsteps and heavy rumbling sounds were gradually approaching Ling Qing's side.
Perhaps they weren't coming for Ling Qing, or it might just be a coincidence or accident, but they were indeed approaching this direction.
However, this was exactly what Ling Qing wanted.
He slightly parted a gap and observed through it in the direction where the sounds were coming from.
Before long, the source of the sounds appeared in his field of vision.
The one running urgently was a child, but what was chasing behind the child...
Made Ling Qing's eyes widen slightly.