The following night arrived, and it was time to head out in search of essence once more.
They usually worked one day and rested the next.
The team members, organized in ten pairs, armed themselves with crossbows and torches, then mounted their goats and ventured into the dark forest.
Mei Li rode her goat closer to Mei Lan.
"Is everything alright?" she whispered.
Mei Lan smiled at her, revealing her white teeth.
"It couldn't be better,"
Mei Li smiled back, feeling a hint of relief.
She and Mei Lan had been friends for a long time and had worked together on many occasions.
The last time their team was ambushed in that deadly trap, Mei Li hadn't been with them.
She was assigned to a different squad—part of their effort to deepen cooperation across the units.
They weren't supposed to get too comfortable working under a single captain or within a single team.
After all, what would happen if someone lost their unit in a critical moment?
How would they adapt quickly to a new team they barely knew?
As long as there was peace, they had to train themselves to adapt to everyone.
Still, that thought made Mei Li feel a sting of guilt and sadness.
She hadn't been there to help, even though she had known Shan Yu and worked with him before. They had a good relationship.
But at the same time, she felt relieved she wasn't there. What if she had died?
Or worse—what if her partner, Wei Li, had been killed and she had survived?
She would've ended up as a servant, just like the three people in front of them.
But if she had known she would end up in the same situation as Mei Lan if Wei Li had died… would she have volunteered to work in the fixed camp with their group?
Volunteering for a new mission with another team meant giving up an entire month's salary.
She glanced at her partner, Wei Li, whose expression remained stoic.
Then she turned her gaze to Kogan, who was just as calm and silent as Wei Li.
Was it worth giving up your loud, drunken partner for a quiet, withdrawn one—just for a chance to rise and live in the first rank?
As if Kogan sensed her gaze, he turned to look at her.
But she turned her head away just in time, dodging his eyes.
Though all these thoughts had come from her own mind, they cut deep.
Perhaps it was her selfish self who had created them.
But that didn't mean they reflected what Mei Li truly wanted.
Who truly listens to their selfish self?
Who really acts on what that self desires?
Almost no one.
We're taught to consider others, to care about their needs—sometimes even to place their interests above our own—just to earn a few words of praise.
Pleasing the hypocritical self comes before the selfish one!
*****
Following the same strategy as before.
The same three slaves gathered quietly around the campfire they had lit, sitting in silence with distracted expressions on their faces.
The twenty team members took their positions.
Some climbed up the trees to secure better firing angles.
Others crouched low beside the trunks, spreading out to leave enough space for the essence animals to move freely.
Using the campfire as a beacon, they scanned the surroundings with focused eyes.
Darkness devoured everything around them, and the scent of fresh fruit wafted through the air.
Strangely, no one seemed bothered by it.
It was as if they'd grown used to it.
Squatting down, Kogan leaned his body against the tree trunk.
He had completely given up on hitting a small, moving target from such a distance.
Still, there was no harm in trying.
After nearly half an hour of waiting, six gentle white sheep gathered around the three slaves sitting by the fire.
But the slaves ignored them entirely—as if they weren't even there.
They never truly understood why these creatures were drawn to those who lacked essence—but they had a theory.
It was said that essence animals were attracted to essence-less individuals because they sensed purity and innocence in them.
This gave the animals a feeling of safety, prompting them to approach and play nearby.
However, this theory was met with widespread rejection.
"So that damned sinner is pure and innocent now?
Then what does that make me—the one who works day and night to gather essence for my people and family?"
And so, the theory remained nothing more than a theory.
****
After waiting a while longer, no other creatures appeared.
"I knew they were the reason for this," Wei Li muttered through clenched teeth.
The same thought struck every member who shared his opinion.
"As long as they keep coming with us, the amount of recovered essence will keep dropping."
'Could they actually be right?' Mei Li raised her eyebrows, lost in thought.
The idea that a curse or sin had fallen upon Mei Lan hadn't truly concerned her—after all, if the ruler himself had approved it, there shouldn't be any reason to worry.
And she didn't feel jealous of Mei Lan at all; their relationship had always been very good.
But… What if there really was a cursed influence radiating from Mei Lan?
Like a single drop, the curse could spread—until it tainted the entire pool.
Ray Kang had once said that the solution wasn't perfect.
But it could at least lessen the effects, enough for the whole team to endure it together.
'But how long will this last?'
A flicker of unease crept into Mei Li's thoughts.
If the problem was limited to the reduced essence intake, she could live with it.
It would affect her contribution points a little, sure—but she could make up for it as long as she kept working.
What truly worried her was the possibility that the curse's effect might begin to touch the team members themselves.
That was one of the reasons workers rotated between squads from time to time—to dilute the influence of sin and curse.
Because no one is infallible, and the accumulation of small sins will surely lead to the greatest sin.
'What if I stay on the same team with her for too long?'
Mei Li began overthinking.
Team reshuffles were unpredictable.
They happened randomly in most cases.
This made Mei Li consider the possibility that she might be tainted by the curse seeping from Mei Lan—and that something dangerous could happen to her because of it.
She shook her head, pushing the thoughts away and focusing on the targets ahead.
Even if she were to be affected by the curse, it would take a long time.
Surely by then, the teams would have been reshuffled several times.
Around the fire, the three slaves sat in silence, while the six animals continued to leap and play here and there.
'Looks like that's all we're getting tonight,' The Captain Ray Kang sighed.
He didn't particularly care about the curse.
He knew he was indirectly responsible for it,
and besides, he was confident in his ability to endure its effects—with the strength of someone at the first rank.
"Loose."
He sent the command mentally to the team members.
Swoosh!
Twenty sharp arrows shot out swiftly toward the animals, hitting every one of them.
The three slaves sighed in sorrow—they hadn't been hit by the arrows this time either.
But there was no need to worry. Surely, their turn would come eventually. All they had to do was wait and endure.
The six adorable white sheep turned into pale white smoke and vanished into the air.
"Looks like I got one essence tonight," Mei Li sensed herself and realized she had hit one of the sheep.
Wei Li looked at her, his expression complicated.
He hadn't obtained any essence on either night.
That was perfectly normal—some didn't gather a single essence all month.
But this time it was different.
Their work partner, someone of the same level as them, had been cursed. Yet instead of being punished, she had been promoted.
Whatever misfortune they suffered now would be linked to her—she would be the root of it.
Of course, if anything positive were to happen, they'd credit themselves and take pride in being the reason.
But that made sense.
Because the effects of the curse and sin will give you water when you're dying of thirst in the desert—
But that water is poisonous.
It saves you from thirst by hydrating your body just enough to keep you alive…
Long enough for you to writhe in pain as the poison shreds your insides for as long as possible.
An unopenable parachute.
A landmine under a trampoline.
A punctured condom.
Poison in honey.
That's the nature of the curse.
"I hit one," Mei Lan sensed herself and found she'd obtained one essence.
To her, that was a good thing—
It meant a chance to move forward in life.
Why not?
Mei Li got one essence, and Mei Lan got one too.
The other four were split among four other people.
Those who had gotten nothing—like Wei Li—wore bitter expressions.
Especially when they saw that Mei Lan had obtained essence.
"Why is it us who suffer from your curse, while you're unaffected?"
That was the question on everyone's mind.
And the more Mei Lan did, the more their anger grew.
As expected, Kogan hadn't gotten anything.
"Well done," Ray Kang praised.
He hadn't landed a killing blow either,
But he'd still earn contribution points—because he was the captain.
And in the end, they hadn't returned empty-handed.
Even if it was just six essences… it was still essence.