Chapter 50 Fumu Forest II

　　—All things have their cause and effect; yet do good and do not ask about the future.

　　Inside Fumu Forest the soil was bare and dry; strange trees grew. The trunks of the trees rose straight and tall; the entire trees were green, without leaves, covered with thorns.

　　Some trees reached more than ten meters in height; some even several dozen meters. At the tops only two or three forks rose straight into the clouds.

　　No such trees existed in the Nanyu Forest; therefore every member of the Gongyou embassy party opened his eyes wide and stared at them.

　　Seeing the astonished appearance of Gongdian and the others, Lian Shan could not help laughing inwardly and wondering why these southern barbarians born in the Nanyu Forest, who lived upon trees every day and had seen every kind of tree, should be so astonished upon seeing these.

　　For reasons unknown, after entering Fumu Forest everyone felt a dry heat throughout the body; the temperature here seemed far higher than outside.

　　The members of the Gongyou Clan, unable to bear the heat, successively discarded dignity, removed their outer garments and went barechested.

　　Some even wished to remove the yellow headcloths wrapped about their heads, yet seeing Gongdian nearby and recalling the Great Chieftain’s order he had issued, they reluctantly refrained.

　　Lian Shan had long since removed his outer garment. Seeing that the surrounding Gongyou people had also removed their outer garments yet alone refused to remove the yellow headcloths upon their heads, he could not help wanting to laugh and thought to himself: do these “YellowCloth Army” not even remove the yellow headcloths when they sleep?

　　The Gongyou Clan publicly called themselves hunters, yet the FireWorship Clan in private preferred to call them the “YellowCloth Army.”

　　Along the way one occasionally encountered springs gushing from the ground; the water steamed and formed hot springs upon the surface.

　　The water of the hot springs reflected the sunlight, making everyone feel as though they had entered a great steam oven; the heat grew still more intense, so hot that even the stones upon the ground seemed about to melt into water.

　　On the left the summits of the mountain range were piled with snow; yet within this broad Fumu Forest at the foot of the mountains the heat was unbearable—like two different worlds.

　　Especially strange was the fact that Fumu Forest was particularly quiet. Apart from the clear sound of hoofbeats almost no sound could be heard, as though all birds and beasts had become extinct.

　　Upon the road one from time to time saw skeletons of every description, revealing a trace of gloomy and eerie atmosphere.

　　“This Fumu Forest is indeed rather sinister.” Gongdian muttered to himself.

　　He lashed the camelhorse beneath him with his whip, wishing he could grow wings and leave this grove of strange trees as quickly as possible; yet the road before his eyes stretched endlessly, as though they had entered a labyrinth composed of the strange trees.

　　The oppressive heat inside Fumu Forest made one’s mood irritable; one could not help gazing into the distance at the snowcovered peaks on the left. Looking at that snow and imagining the piercing cold upon the peaks, one immediately ceased to feel hot and the restless mood cooled considerably.

　　While urging their camelhorses to press forward the company also admired the snow scenery of the mountain range on the left. As they walked a peak appeared on the left that particularly attracted attention.

　　This peak stood in a reclining Ushaped mountain recess; its summit was covered with snow and its two sides were as straight as if cut by a knife. Under the sunlight it resembled a glittering white pyramid.

　　The position of this peak was extremely peculiar; only upon entering Fumu Forest at a certain angle could it be seen.

　　When Lian Shan saw the appearance of this peak he too could not help showing astonishment.

　　Although Fumu Forest lay within the territory of the FireWorship Clan, Lian Shan was also entering it for the first time, seeing the SnowWolf Mountains from so close a distance for the first time, and seeing so strange a peak for the first time. He had never expected that within the SnowWolf Mountains there should be hidden a pyramidshaped peak of such regular form.

　　The area of this Fumu Forest was far larger than people had imagined. The entire afternoon they traveled through the scorching Fumu Forest.

　　When the sun sank in the west its afterglow shone into the lonely Fumu Forest, making the interior appear still more quiet and even a little gloomy.

　　With the arrival of dusk the temperature inside Fumu Forest dropped abruptly. It was early summer yet one felt cold; the difference in temperature between day and night was so great that it was hard to adapt.

　　Gongdian ordered the party to make camp near a hotspring vent. A Gongyou guard, axe in hand, was chopping one of the strange trees inside Fumu Forest in order to light a bonfire for warmth, yet from the wound of the great tree red liquid suddenly gushed forth.

　　While everyone was still astonished, from the top of the tree a sudden piercing cry was heard; a black object suddenly flew down, knocked the woodchopper to the ground, and with a single scream the soldier, under the eyes of the entire company, vanished in the blink of an eye.

　　Immediately afterward, from the tops of these strange trees, accompanied by successive strange laughs, flocks of black objects continually flew down upon the company beneath the trees.

　　“Alert! Alert!” Gongdian cried.

　　Everyone drew their precious swords; in the confusion someone lit torches. When the black objects flew near they finally saw clearly that they were a flock of strange birds.

　　These great birds were the size of a fullgrown man; they nested in the treehollows at the tops of the strange trees, sleeping by day and coming out at night to hunt.

　　These strange birds frequently hunted solitary snowwolves upon the SnowWolf Mountains; the nearby Dwarf Clan called these strange birds “WolfEating Eagles.”

　　When the soldier had chopped the tree he had disturbed the WolfEating Eagles that were sleeping; they successively awoke and attacked the humans beneath the trees.

　　“Protect the Great Chieftain!” Gong Yi cried. After he and several guards had shielded Gongdian he took down the dragonbone bow from his back, rapidly drew arrows and shot “whizwhizwhiz”; several great birds fell from the air.

　　Humans and great birds joined battle; both sides suffered casualties, yet the number of WolfEating Eagles was too great and humans continually were seized by the great birds.

　　Just when the company was about to be overwhelmed, for reasons unknown a sudden succession of cries arose and the WolfEating Eagles fled the scene one after another.

　　The company, still shaken, stood rooted to the spot, not knowing why the strange birds, though holding the advantage, had suddenly fled.

　　Gongdian pondered a moment and felt that making camp at night inside Fumu Forest was too perilous; therefore he decided to break camp at once and leave under cover of night.

　　The company lit torches, mounted camelhorses, and under the night traveled through the pitchblack Fumu Forest.

　　Darkness was like a basin of ink poured entirely over Fumu Forest.

　　From some unknown time a dense mist suddenly rose inside Fumu Forest; one could not see one’s own hand before one’s face. Immediately afterward successive great winds sprang up.

　　The wind seemed to contend with the dense mist, wishing to blow it away; yet no sooner was it blown away than still more mist appeared. The whistling great wind instead made the temperature inside Fumu Forest ever lower.

　　Everyone wrapped themselves tightly in their clothes, cursing the weather inwardly while carefully pressing forward.

　　After an unknown length of time the sun had just risen and torn open the black curtain.

　　Yet although the sky had brightened the dense mist still had not dispersed.

　　Gongdian and the others walking at the head of the column suddenly discovered upon the ground some corpses of great birds and humans—this was precisely the place where they had fought the great birds the previous night!

　　Lian Shan’s face was full of bewilderment: “Great Chieftain, we are lost. How is it that after walking an entire night we have returned to the place of last night?”

　　“This Fumu Forest is indeed full of the uncanny.” Gongdian’s face was likewise full of doubt. “We have walked continuously through the night and everyone is tired; better rest here a while before going on.”

　　In the darkness fear is often magnified. When the sky brightened the fear vanished without a trace like the night itself and was replaced by puzzlement.

　　While eating, everyone pondered why, after walking an entire night, they had returned to the original place.

　　After resting, just as everyone was preparing to set out again, strangely the dense mist was suddenly blown away by a strong wind.

　　Gongdian and the others roughly buried the human remains upon the ground on the spot, cut off the head of one WolfEating Eagle upon the ground, and prepared, after leaving Fumu Forest, to use the bird’s head as a sacrificial offering to the hunters who had died in the great decisive battle of the RoeDeer Grassland.

　　After the dense mist dispersed everyone’s mood greatly improved; they spurred their mounts and hurried forward.

　　Mounted upon his camelhorse Gongdian’s thoughts floated freely. Earlier they had encountered an assassination attempt; now they had again met with peril inside Fumu Forest; yet in the end all dangers had been averted. It seemed the embassy party’s luck was not bad. This must be the spirit of the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods in heaven protecting him, Gongdian, and his clansmen from harm.

　　“When we return safely from this embassy I must properly offer sacrifice to the Yellow Clan Celestial Gods and pray for the prosperity and everlasting peace of our clan.” Gongdian thought to himself.