Someone Calls for Help

The young man and woman had both done their utmost to choose a direction.

Using the stars to determine direction was not something they were good at.

Zi Di's true strengths lay in business; potions and magic came second.

Zhen Jin possessed common knowledge, but his memories were incomplete. So far, he had discovered that he was good at fighting.

The two of them had been aiming for the position of White Sand City Lord. Who could have imagined that they would suffer a shipwreck? Who could have imagined that they would end up on such a perilous monster-infested island?

They traveled in a straight line, only occasionally searching the surrounding area to confirm their current direction.

Unlike yesterday, their exploration strategy was different, and they quickly passed beyond yesterday's explored territory into completely new ground.

"Careful," Zhen Jin warned.

A sheer cliff stood beside them. A large tree grew right at the cliff's edge, still shooting straight into the sky. Many of its roots had been exposed along the cliff face.

Many trees also grew at the bottom of the cliff, their canopies still several meters higher than the cliff's edge.

Zi Di nodded and followed Zhen Jin, carefully keeping away from the cliff.

The cliff was very high. Falling from it would have serious consequences.

A cracked skull, bloodied head, or broken bones would all be normal outcomes.

In this forest, human frailty far exceeded what people imagined.

Even a sprained ankle could very likely cost someone their life. A sprained ankle would make movement difficult, leading to a whole series of disastrous consequences, such as being unable to escape when attacked by wild beasts.

If they slipped and fell, even someone as capable as Zhen Jin would suffer greatly.

After all, he could not activate Battle Qi.

After they had moved away from the cliff, Zi Di glanced back at it, lingering fear still in her heart.

This sort of cliff terrain was easy to avoid during the day. At night, though, it was another matter.

It was far too difficult.

Human vision was severely limited at night.

Without the aid of Battle Qi or magic, relying on their eyes alone made them little better than blind.

Just when you believed you were walking across safe, level ground, you pushed aside a branch in your way, stepped into empty air, and plunged off a cliff!

"Good thing we didn't run into terrain like this when we were fleeing earlier," Zi Di said thankfully.

"Yeah." Zhen Jin felt lingering fear as well and deeply agreed with Zi Di.

If they had fallen from a cliff that night while the Fire Poison Bees were chasing them, the two of them would probably be corpses at the bottom by now.

As they gradually moved farther from the Mountain Cave, such sheer cliffs became more and more common.

The terrain became increasingly uneven.

This change was not entirely bad.

At times, the young man and woman would stand at a cliff edge—where the view was relatively open—and look into the distance.

Of course, that only happened occasionally. Most of the time, even at a cliff edge, towering trees stood everywhere, their crowns and branches tightly blocking the view.

There were trees everywhere.

It was far too easy to lose one's sense of direction in an environment like this.

Zhen Jin kept marking their route on the map—he had drawn a straight line.

But had the path they truly walked really been a straight line?

Neither the young man nor the young woman could be certain. In truth, they felt more apprehensive. They understood that without reference points, it was difficult to ensure that they were moving in a straight line.

Therefore, whenever they came across a cliff with a relatively open view that allowed them to gaze into the distance, they treasured the opportunity.

Ordinary people would find this hard to imagine.

While exploring a forest, even an ordinary glance into the distance could fill those deep within the woods with joy and confidence.

This was also because Zhen Jin was not good at climbing trees.

Knight training had never included lessons on how to climb trees.

That was hardly strange.

Knights wielded Battle Qi and could leap directly onto branches stretching out at an angle. They had no need for specialized tree-climbing training.

Knights never fought alone.

They had mounts and attendants. When an army went to war, auxiliary troops had long since scouted ahead and cleared the way.

Zhen Jin had tried climbing a tree.

After reaching three meters above the ground, he gave up.

First, he needed to reach near the canopy to gain a high vantage point. To do that, he would need to climb at least ten meters above the ground.

That height was very risky.

If he lost his footing and fell, he would be injured.

He was a knight, one of the most elite Temple Knights under Saint Brilliance Great Emperor, but he could not activate Battle Qi. Without Battle Qi protecting him, his flesh alone could hardly withstand such a fall.

At any point while he was climbing, if an attack came, both he and Zi Di would be at their most vulnerable.

Second, climbing these straight, towering trees was far more difficult than climbing Rainforest trees with slanting branches and tangled vines.

Lastly, he had to consider his stamina.

Climbing trees consumed too much energy.

Exerting himself too much would make him sweat and grow hungry, forcing him to replenish large amounts of food and water. Especially water—the young man and woman truly did not have much left in reserve.

Zhen Jin climbed high and looked into the distance.

"Look over there. There's a low-lying area," Zhen Jin said.

They needed to head toward low-lying ground as much as possible.

Such terrain was likely to have water.

On the one hand, it could help the young man and woman replenish their water supply. On the other, they might find a river and follow it out of the forest.

The island was surrounded by the sea on all sides. Water flowed downhill and eventually emptied into the ocean.

At the end of an ideal river would be a beach or a reef.

After scattering a packet of luminous powder potion at the cliff edge, the young man and woman slightly changed direction.

Not long afterward, they reached the depression.

To their disappointment, they found neither a river nor any water at all.

This stretch of terrain was like a gigantic bowl, and the bowl was still filled with trees.

However, just as the two were about to change direction, they suddenly stopped.

A black panther unexpectedly appeared before their eyes.

It had black scales all over its body and a horn growing from the center of its forehead.

It was a Scaled Horn Black Panther!

At the same moment they spotted the black panther, it spotted them.

For an instant, both sides froze in place. This encounter appeared to have caught each side completely off guard.

Zhen Jin quietly tightened his grip on his spear, unable to stop himself from growing tense.

He was not afraid of a single Scaled Horn Black Panther. He could easily inflict heavy injuries on one. But what about a group?

More frighteningly, what if this was not the Leopard Group that had attacked the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear, but a relatively intact Leopard Group?

Although these Scaled Horn Black Panthers were mostly only Bronze-level, once their numbers grew, they could hunt together. They even dared to surround and attack a Silver-level magical beast like the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear.

If Zhen Jin encountered a siege by a Leopard Group, he would struggle to protect himself, let alone Zi Di.

That would be very difficult.

However, there was no good solution at the moment. They could only adapt to the situation!

Neither side moved. The air itself seemed to freeze.

Zi Di held her breath. The pressure in her heart grew heavier and heavier, and her face began to turn pale.

After a brief standoff, the Scaled Horn Black Panther suddenly turned around and fled.

An unexpected development!

"Quick, chase it! It might be going to bring the entire Leopard Group here," Zi Di warned in a low voice the next moment.

Zhen Jin nodded. He vividly remembered how the Fire Poison Bee swarm had driven away a black panther, only for the entire Leopard Group to come seeking revenge and eventually fight the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear.

"Follow me. If you can't..." Before Zhen Jin could finish, Zi Di interrupted him.

"Don't worry. We both have potions. We can leave markers anywhere and meet up again!" Zi Di answered quickly.

This had been the method they agreed upon to keep from getting separated.

Zhen Jin broke into a sprint.

Tree after tree seemed to rush straight at him, but Zhen Jin swiftly dodged them all.

The sound of rushing wind howled past his ears. Zhen Jin focused completely, not only keeping the black panther firmly in sight but also watching his surroundings to prevent some treacherous attack.

It was daytime now, not night, and Zhen Jin's vision was good.

He took deep breaths as his heart pumped blood furiously. His blood seemed to surge through him, and muscles all over his body stretched and contracted, generating powerful momentum.

Zhen Jin was incredibly fast and quickly closed the distance between himself and the black panther.

This Scaled Horn Black Panther was not very fast.

As the distance between them shrank, Zhen Jin was surprised to discover that the Scaled Horn Black Panther was injured.

"It's injured. Could it have taken part in the siege against the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear?"

Zhen Jin felt somewhat relieved.

The Leopard Group that had been badly wounded by the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear had even lost its leader. The survivors could only have been scattered in small groups.

"I still need to stay vigilant!"

"What if this is merely a tactic to lure in an enemy?"

Zhen Jin had heard Zi Di's account and knew how that sinister, vicious Blue Wolf had repeatedly ambushed and killed members of the Exploration Team. The beasts on this island could not be judged by common sense. He would not be surprised if the Scaled Horn Black Panther group used a tactic to lure in prey.

Once again, something happened that Zhen Jin did not expect. The Scaled Horn Black Panther running ahead suddenly stopped.

It let out a whimper, pacing in circles and hesitating to move forward, appearing extremely anxious and uneasy.

As Zhen Jin gradually approached, the black panther remained the same. It was as though something hidden in the forest ahead filled it with immense fear, far greater than the fear Zhen Jin inspired.

For a moment, the young man could not help revealing a grave expression.

He did not rush to attack the black panther. Instead, he looked around.

He quickly discovered that the surrounding forest was darker than before. Though these trees still stood tall, their leaves were a sickly green, and their trunks seemed to show signs of decay. The ground was covered in deep layers of dead branches and fallen leaves. A chilly presence also lingered in the air.

After failing to spot any beasts, Zhen Jin turned his attention back to the Scaled Horn Black Panther before him.

He slowly advanced. When the distance between them narrowed to a certain point, the black panther finally could not endure it any longer and began fleeing forward again.

Zhen Jin followed close behind.

Awooo—!

Before it had run very far, the black panther suddenly let out a miserable cry.

A mass of white Spider Web suddenly shot up from the ground, scooping upward and wrapping around the black panther's entire body.

The Spider Web rapidly hoisted it into the air. The threads possessed extraordinary stickiness; the more the black panther struggled, the more firmly it was stuck.

Before long, nearly the entire surface of the black panther's body was covered in webbing.

A pale blue spider slowly descended from the canopy onto the Spider Web.

The spider's main body was as large as a millstone, yet its eight legs were slender and long, each at least two meters in length.

When the spider landed on the web, it moved as smoothly as if it were gliding across ice.

It began to work. Its eight legs were like those of a master plucking strings, busy without disorder, even carrying a trace of elegance.

The Spider Web trapping the black panther had been somewhat damaged. Yet under the spider's repairs, it quickly became whole again, without the slightest gap.

The black panther's struggles gradually weakened. White silk, like Bandages, tightly bound it between the trees, roughly six or seven meters above the ground.

Watching the spider successfully hunt, Zhen Jin could not help feeling a chill in his heart.

He slowly backed away, every nerve taut.

The young man kept his eyes not only on the spider still repairing its web, but also paid close attention to the ground beneath his feet.

There might be a Spider Web hidden near him.

Fortunately, after the Eight-Legged Spider completed its hunt, it did not attack him. Instead, it followed the silk back into the canopy and disappeared from sight.

Yet Zhen Jin did not dare relax in the slightest. Instead, the tension in his heart tightened even further.

Because within the nearby canopies, he found other prey that had been hunted.

White silk wrapped around them, revealing Outer Forms of all kinds.

Most of them were panther-shaped.

Zhen Jin immediately guessed: could the Scaled Horn Black Panthers driven away by the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear earlier have all fallen here?

He now understood that the Scaled Horn Black Panther from before had feared these Eight-Legged Spiders. The Leopard Group had encountered an ambush here and was nearly wiped out. One black panther had fortunately escaped, only to run into Zhen Jin along the way.

The black panther was not intelligent enough. In its panic, it had fled back to the previous area and ended up being hunted.

Besides the panther-shaped prey, there were Spider Web bundles shaped like deer, foxes, rabbits, and more.

There were even tigers and rhinoceroses.

Who knew why rhinoceroses could survive in terrain like this?

Upon seeing all this, Zhen Jin's heartbeat quickened again.

Although he had only seen one Eight-Legged Spider, there had to be many more hidden in the canopies here. Otherwise, one spider could not have annihilated the Leopard Group. Moreover, large prey such as rhinoceroses and tigers could not be captured by a single spider.

Ordinary spiders hunted alone, but these Eight-Legged Spiders appeared to be social creatures.

Zhen Jin was no longer surprised by such changes in habits.

Just as he was about to leave this place, a faint voice suddenly drifted over. "Wait."

"Don't go."

"Please, please... save me. Save me."

Someone was calling to Zhen Jin for help!