Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?!
Chapter 72: Dark Forest [3]

Chapter 72: Dark Forest [3]

Just then, Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed as he sensed movement ahead.

It felt human, light-footed and unfamiliar.

With practiced ease, he stepped back into the shadows of a massive root, his qi pulled tight around him like a second skin.

Now, he appeared to have dissapeared completely from the spot.

Through the thin veil of hanging moss, he watched.

A girl emerged, dressed in flowing pale robes, a cultivator, judging by the way her spiritual pressure flickered weakly around her.

She wasn’t strong. Early Qi Transformation at best which should be dangerous for her to walk around here like this.

She huffed as she gathered her skirt delicately and stepped into the swamp’s edge, lifting the hem with annoyance more than caution.

"Stupid dad. Stupid brother," she muttered, kicking at a patch of moss. "I already told them I have someone I love! Can’t they understand that? No! I don’t wanna marry the person you pick! Go to hell!"

Her grumbling continued as she trudged forward, the water sloshing softly around her calves.

She wasn’t afraid of her surroundings, just frustrated.

Definitely a noble girl. One who’d run away from her engagement.

Fang Yuan kept still, watching as she came to a sudden halt.

Her eyes widened.

There, just ahead, was a flower.

It swayed gently on a thin stem above the murky water, petals glowing faintly with an otherworldly purple hue, as though lit from within. Its beauty was unearthly, mesmerizing.

The girl’s gaze locked onto it, her breath catching in awe.

She took a slow step forward.

Fang Yuan’s eyes didn’t follow the flower.

Instead, they drifted, to the left.

There, half-buried in the swamp’s edge, a faint bulge in the muck.

A scale. A twitch.

A viper’s eye, slitted and waiting.

His fingers curled at his side.

"Typical..." he murmured silently. "Viper’s Seduction Flower."

It was a pretty lure and a deadly trap. Once you bent down to admire or grab the flower, the real viper would attack from behind as you let your guard down.

The girl swooped in like a dancer mid-spin, robes fluttering as her hand snapped forward and plucked the glowing flower from the swamp’s edge.

In that exact moment, the viper struck.

A blur of scaled muscle, fangs flashing with venom, jaws wide.

But her legs didn’t freeze.

BAM!

Her heel shot out with practiced precision, smashing into the viper’s jaw mid-lunge.

The creature’s fangs snapped shut with a crack, blood and venom spraying into the swampwater as it was thrown aside with a guttural screech of pain.

The beast writhed, stunned.

She didn’t even flinch.

Standing there, one leg slightly raised, the flower in her grasp, she simply tilted her head and smiled faintly.

"Wow..." she whispered, admiring the glow. "It really is beautiful."

As if she hadn’t just crushed a venomous predator with her bare foot.

From the shadows, Fang Yuan stared, the scene replaying three times in his head before his mind caught up.

"That kick... that timing... that qi control..."

His eyes narrowed, his pulse skipping a beat.

"A mid-stage Nascent Soul realm?! What kind of spoiled runaway is this?!"

He hadn’t sensed it before, she was hiding her cultivation base. Well. Exceptionally well.

Fang Yuan exhaled slowly, expression unreadable.

"Looks like I’m not the only one out here trying to keep a low profile..."

Fang Yuan remained hidden, body still, breath shallow.

His eyes tracked the girl’s every movement as she stepped forward and casually grabbed the viper by the tail, dragging its twitching body behind her like a laundry sack.

"Hah... even the heavens pity me by sending food," she muttered, almost mournful in tone, then sighed, as if her life were one long soap opera.

With an almost theatrical flourish, she plucked the glowing flower from her fingers and tucked it into her hair, pinning it above her ear.

The subtle shimmer of the petals caught the faint light and only amplified her beauty, turning her from a swamp-stained rogue into something almost ethereal.

And she was still completely unaware of the man in the shadows, watching like a hawk.

Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She walked out of the waterlogged basin with light, annoyed steps, skirts dragging mud and filth.

She looked down, visibly disgusted.

"Ugh. What a mess."

Without hesitation, she tore a strip off the hem of her skirt, wrapping it tightly around her hand like a glove.

Then she sank her hand deep into the viper’s gut, the wet sound of flesh parting making even Fang Yuan flinch internally.

She worked quickly, cleanly, there was no hesitations, nor an act of nausea.

A runaway young mistress and a field butcher?

He raised an eyebrow.

Seconds later, she pulled her hand free with a wet pop, holding high a glistening, purple-tinged orb that pulsed faintly with spiritual energy.

A beast core.

Peak Golden Core Realm. And in perfect condition.

Fang Yuan blinked, silently impressed.

Not only strong... but precise. She knew exactly where to dig. No damage to the core at all.

Still crouched in the shadow of a twisted tree root, he rubbed his chin.

Who is she?

And more importantly... why does she look so familiar?

He kept watching. This woman, clearly from a noble or powerful clan, wasn’t just wandering blindly.

Just then, the girl’s nose twitched.

She sniffed the air once, twice, then stopped.

Her posture shifted ever so slightly. Eyes narrowed, expression sharp.

Fang Yuan felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Ah... crap.

"Who goes there?" she called out, her voice like silk laced with steel.

In a fluid motion, a delicate hairpin appeared in her hand, summoned from her interspatial ring.

Fang Yuan blinked from behind the tree root.

A hairpin? Seriously? That’s her weapon?

He almost laughed, almost.

Then...

BOOM.

A thunderous blast tore through the swamp a few meters to his right. Trees snapped, vines disintegrated, and light poured through the canopy in glowing shafts, sunlight.

She just cleared a path so hard the heavens let light through!?

His lips parted. He didn’t even have time to comment.

Her voice rang out again, calm, focused:

"Heavenly Timber: First Form—Wood Explosions!"

And then—

CRACK! BOOM!

The tree he was hiding behind detonated, bark and splinters flying like shrapnel.

Not just the tree.

Three others behind him erupted in a chain reaction, roots exploding from beneath, vines screaming as they were torn apart mid-air.

The entire grove howled like a wounded beast.

Fang Yuan was flung forward by the shockwave, boots skidding across the moist ground as he barely caught himself in a crouch.

Leaves fluttered down around him like snow.

He looked up slowly, dust in his hair, expression deadpan.

The girl was standing there, hair slightly tousled, dress still stained, hairpin glowing faintly in her fingers.

She stared right at him.

Fang Yuan dusted himself off and muttered under his breath:

"Yep... definitely trouble."

She didn’t attack again.

Instead, she narrowed her eyes, brow furrowing as she stared hard at him through the settling dust and floating leaves.

Her gaze swept over his figure, the casually tied hair, the loose black robes, the faint sword scar on his cheek.

Her head tilted slightly, lips parting in uncertainty.

"...Wait..."

A beat of silence.

Then her eyes widened.

"Fang Yuan?!"