It was hard to put into words what Xia Nan felt at that moment.
The light breeze brushing through the treetops, the rustling of branches, his teammates' shouts and warnings, the unknown chirping of insects deep in the grass...
Along with the violent pounding of his heart, almost leaping out of his chest, everything was reduced to a deathly silence.
The world before his eyes seemed to come to a standstill in that instant.
On a certain branch, a squirrel that had always been cautious enough to dart into its tree hollow at the slightest stir of wind in the grass was now trembling as it lay frozen in place. It pressed itself down so hard that the flesh of its chest was faintly deformed against the bark, as if it meant to fuse its tiny body with the tree itself.
Its backside was raised high, yet its fluffy tail was pulled forward to cover its head, like someone plugging their ears while stealing a bell—ridiculous and pitiful.
At present, Xia Nan stood with his back to the direction the rumbling had come from, facing the squad.
Because of that, he could clearly see the reaction of every member of the team in this moment.
The Half-Elf Hai An still maintained the instinctive guarded stance he had assumed after his teammate's warning shout.
The wooden Longbow that had originally been slung across his back was already gripped tightly in his hand, and an arrow tipped with white feathers was even nocked to the bowstring beneath the fingers of his right hand.
With just one forceful draw, this dangerous sharp object, enough to pierce thick, tough leather, would shoot out with a howl that tore through the air.
Yet the strange thing was, Hai An had clearly completed his pre-battle preparations