The feeling of being watched from all directions by a vast consciousness came and went in the blink of an eye. By the time Hao Ren reacted, it had already vanished without a trace, leaving only the hairs standing on his body to remind him that it had not been an illusion. Lily had keen senses, and she immediately sidled over and stared at Hao Ren's face. "Oh, Landlord, you can puff up too? Do it again, do it again..."
Hao Ren felt there was simply no way to communicate with this strangely minded, mentally defective husky...
He casually shoved Lily aside and recalled both the sensation from moments ago and the one he had experienced when first entering the Twisted Woods. At last, he confirmed that they were the same thing. Looking at the enormous, tangled, convoluted roots filling the cave, he became increasingly convinced that they were radiating endless waves of thought. He remembered the legends about dwarf miners going mad after digging up tentacles, then thought of Vivian's speculation... An ancient creature that had transcended the distinction between plant and animal might truly have noticed their arrival.
And it was thinking. It was observing. It simply had not taken action yet.
"What's wrong?" Vivian noticed Hao Ren's movement and looked over with a hint of concern.
Hao Ren repeated what he had felt and looked strangely at the others. "None of you sensed it?"
"No," Becky said, scratching her skin as goosebumps rose. "Don't scare us. This place is already creepy enough..."
Exploring such a gloomy cave deep underground had already left everyone highly tense. Now that Hao Ren had mentioned a massive consciousness covering the entire cavern and watching them from the side, everyone immediately felt their skin crawl. Lily felt especially furry—because she was about