19 Only I. (1/2)
Li Yang's words were quickly proven correct, the entire forest bursting alive with activity. The cultivators chased the fox carrying the box, rousing up the Demonic beasts lurking in the area and resulting in them chasing after the tasty meals that were the cultivators. As for the poor fox, the only thing it had going for it was its excellent speed, everyone else of its specs was average or below average. As a result, the poor beast didn't even get the chance to take a break to gather its thoughts, otherwise, it might have realized that it should drop the box it was carrying.
The more cultivators chased the beast, the more Demonic beasts were alerted, resulting in even more cultivators realizing the situation and joining in on the chase. The situation grew and grew without end, only stopping when the chaos had wrapped up all but the strongest Demonic beasts in the forest. They were more pre-occupied with defending and maintaining their territories, and they knew that the bigshots of the sect were paying attention to the area thanks to all this ruckus so charging forth would be unwise.
As the spark that lit this inferno, there was no way that Li Yang would miss it, dragging an icy Mei Kongxu with him as he followed the fox and quietly observed the people chasing it. Some of the cultivators settled on taking out some of the stronger Demonic beasts that joined the fray, realizing that their chances of getting the box were slim they instead chose to go for the tangible rewards.
But while there were some who made the reasonable choice, there were more than went after the box with ever-increasing fervour. At first, they went after it because of how Li Yang's father had reacted when Li Yang brought it out, but their thoughts slowly warped as the chase dragged on. There were so many people going after this box, surely it must contain something extremely valuable, right?
It was a simple train of thought that was easily spawned in a situation like this, it even affected some of the more intelligent Demonic beasts. But this train of thought only fueled the situation and made it harder for some people to extract themselves from the chase, especially when they started to think that they had already spent all this time chasing it, leaving empty-handed now would be a shame.
And so, the hours passed without end, cultivators stuffing pills or various herbs they had found into their mouths to keep their energy up as hours turned to days. But the chase couldn't continue without end, no matter how fun it was for Li Yang to see all these people rush after the small fox with almost no regard for anything else. The chase had easily taken up most of the time they had in this forest and the time for them to leave was drawing closer and closer, it was time to push the ongoing chaos into the final stages and reveal the fun for all to see.
”You just wait here for a second.”
Li Yang left behind Mei Kongxu for a second as he increased his speed to the peak, catching up to the fox after only a short moment. He put on the expression as if he was chasing it using all his power, stretching out his arm and using his law of gravity to dramatically slow the speed of the beast. But just as he was about to grab the box, he created a field of gravity where the centre was located a few tens of metres to his left, resulting in the box and beast getting yanked away as if someone had intervened at the last second.
The box flew out of the fox's mouth and was quickly snatched by a cultivator, who immediately turned tail and ran for the exit of the forest. The others could rob him as long as he was in the forest, but the moment he left then things would be different, they wouldn't be able to steal it as brazenly as he was doing right now. The target of the chase immediately changed to the male cultivator, Li Yang smirking to himself as his gaze followed the fleeing man.
The people chasing him cut a path clean through the forest, desperately hounding him for a reward that they hadn't even seen yet, much less knew anything about. They acted so idiotically that he could only find it funny, so few of them taking even a single moment to think things through. Mei Kongxu caught up with him as he was smirking to himself, still wearing her icy and distant expression. But Li Yang could see the truth in her eyes, nonchalantly stretching his body as he walked over.
”Don't look at me like that, it might be a tad childish, but it's all just fun.”
Mei Kongxu didn't voice any opinion in response to Li Yang realizing that she thought of his actions as somewhat childish, her eyes only flashing with a tinge of curiosity. He clearly disdained seriousness, at least sustained seriousness, but she had also seen him be serious on several occasions before, so she was ever so slightly curious exactly where he drew the line. But she wasn't so curious that she would ask, Li Yang walking past her while his expression once again gained a shade of seriousness.
”This world and its people are far too serious at all times, I mean, just look at the lot of them, running around with eyes that are basically exuding a desire to kill just because they saw something that may or may not be valuable. If you mean to tell me that the world is just naturally like that, then I will tell you that the world is wrong, such constant and rigid seriousness is the bane of life.”
Mei Kongxu turned her head slightly, tracing Li Yang's figure while her eyes narrowed faintly. His statement this time was different from how he spoke in the past, it felt less carefree and more personal. Could it be that he wasn't just rebelling against seriousness for fun but actually had a reason for it? But Li Yang didn't provide an answer to the thought that had just popped up in Mei Kongxu's mind, turning his head slightly and revealing that his standard cocky smile had appeared on his face once again.
”Shall we go? The grand finale is about to start.”