Bad Luck

"Were you looking for me?" Luo Yan stopped Wu Renfan.

Wu Renfan jumped.

But he quickly calmed down.

"Yes, Captain."

"I just wanted to ask if we have any specific plans for tomorrow."

"Personally, I think tomorrow's gathering mission might be another test from the Academy."

"So I wanted to discuss it with you."

"But you weren't here."

"I waited for you for a while. When you didn't come back, I was about to leave."

"I didn't expect it to work out so neatly. Just as I was about to go, you came back."

"Then, Captain, shall we discuss it?"

Seeing how long-winded he was, Luo Yan grew impatient.

He shook his head. "There's nothing to discuss. Just follow my orders tomorrow."

Wu Renfan was about to say something else.

But Luo Yan glared him into silence.

In the end, he could only laugh awkwardly. "All right, then. We'll listen to you tomorrow, Captain."

After he left.

Luo Yan entered the tent.

He checked everything but found nothing unusual.

Only then did he crawl into his sleeping bag.

The next day.

"These are the medicinal herbs you'll be gathering."

"Cloudfall Grass, Moonlight Flower, and Water Winding Leaf."

"They're the raw materials for Calming Agent and Cloud Water Agent."

"Their main distribution areas have been marked on your Group Computer."

"Now, the gathering mission begins!"

At the camp.

With Wei Fenghua's order.

The newcomers, including Luo Yan, surged toward their respective mission locations.

Luo Yan opened the Group Computer and headed deep into the jungle according to its instructions.

Wu Renfan and Zeng Shan followed closely behind.

At first, voices could still be heard around them from time to time.

But as time passed, all that remained around them were swaying tree shadows and small animals occasionally appearing in the bushes or trees.

Occasionally.

The roars of giant beasts echoed from the distance.

Fortunately, they were in the border region of the Forbidden Land.

The Surface Legion was also active all around them.

There was basically no great danger.

As they walked.

Luo Yan would stop from time to time.

He carefully observed the ground nearby.

He paid attention to whether the leaves on the ground showed signs of being crushed underfoot.

Occasionally, he would rake through suspicious mounds of dirt, where he could often find the feces of some creature.

When Wu Renfan saw that Luo Yan seemed to be identifying the smell of the feces, he wore a look of disgust.

Zeng Shan was relatively unfazed.

In Giant Beast General Knowledge Class, the teacher had taught them how to roughly distinguish the feces of giant beasts from that of other animals.

The blood of giant beasts carried Red Poison, so their excrement had a pungent, sulfur-like smell.

It was easy to distinguish.

By identifying giant beast feces, they could determine whether the area nearby was a giant beast's habitat.

And avoid danger accordingly.

That was what Luo Yan was doing now.

"He's being completely excessive."

Wu Renfan said quietly to Zeng Shan, "This is already a relatively safe area, and we cleared out two giant beasts yesterday."

"What danger could there be?"

Zeng Shan held the rifle issued by the Academy, looked around, and lowered his voice. "I still think we shouldn't let our guard down."

Ahead.

Luo Yan stopped.

He glanced back at them.

Wu Renfan hurriedly shut his mouth.

A day passed.

By evening.

The three of them had gathered enough medicinal herbs.

They prepared to return and report their completion.

As they walked.

Luo Yan made a hand gesture telling them to stop.

Wu Renfan complained, "Captain, we've been out all day."

"I saw the other teams return to camp a long time ago."

"We're the latest."

"We should hurry back. My feet are killing me."

Luo Yan turned around and pointed his gun at him, spitting out two words. "Shut up."

Then he looked around and said, "Look. Mist Generation."

Only after Luo Yan pointed it out did Wu Renfan and Zeng Shan notice.

Sure enough, a thin mist had spread over silently.

The nearby flowers, grass, and trees all looked hazy.

Even the scenery in the distance had become indistinct.

Wu Renfan said quietly, "This place is called Misty Canyon. So what if it gets misty? You're making a fuss over nothing."

Zeng Shan shook his head. "That's not right."

"We're in the border region. It shouldn't be misty here."

"Quiet."

"Move, quickly."

Luo Yan had a bad feeling.

He had lived on the surface for three years.

He had long since honed an animal-like intuition.

For dense fog to suddenly rise in the border region.

That was far too abnormal.

When something abnormal happened, there was always a reason.

Luo Yan only hoped that they wouldn't draw the worst possible "lot."

Which one?

Naturally, Huan—the Overlord Level giant beast whose traits included "raising winds" and "Mist Generation."

The mist gradually thickened.

Now even Wu Renfan, who had been unconcerned, was extremely nervous.

Their field of vision had already shrunk to around three to five meters.

Farther than that.

Everything was a blur.

Moreover.

Luo Yan began to feel that they were turning in circles through the forest.

So he made marks on the trees.

A few minutes later.

His suspicion was confirmed.

"This is bad, this is bad! We're trapped in the fog!" Wu Renfan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Luo Yan said calmly, "Contact the camp. Rest here and wait for rescue."

Zeng Shan immediately took out the walkie-talkie and called the camp.

"Camp, camp, please respond if you can hear me."

After three consecutive calls, no one answered.

Luo Yan's heart sank.

But at that moment.

They heard someone shouting ahead, "Students, which group are you from?"

"We're here to rescue you."

Hearing that voice, Luo Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xiao and the other person were even more delighted.

A moment later.

Sure enough, lights and several blurry shadows appeared in the dense fog ahead.

"Students, where are you?"

"Answer if you can hear us."

Wu Renfan was about to respond.

Luo Yan suddenly realized that if they were a search-and-rescue team, why didn't they know who they were?

They didn't even know which group they belonged to?

Thus, he covered Wu Renfan's mouth as fast as lightning.

Then he shook his head.

A faint silver radiance lit up around his crimson eyes.

Luo Yan activated the Obstacle Breaking Dharma Eye.

The mist instantly vanished from his vision.

The trees and flowers lost their texture.

Everything appeared only as lines.

And groups of numbers appeared one after another.

Luo Yan ignored those numbers.

He looked toward the direction where the light had appeared.

In the distance.

There really was a mass of gray biological light.

But that mass of light was enormous.

From its outline, it looked like a cat crouching on the ground.

Only, three tails swayed behind this "cat" from time to time.

Huan!

There was no doubt.

They had drawn the worst possible lot.

The gray light ahead was the Overlord Level giant beast that ruled this canyon.

It was the source of Giant Beast Ecology in the Forbidden Land!

Luo Yan quickly recalled this giant beast's traits.

Besides "raising winds" and "Mist Generation."

It also possessed the trait "illusion."

In other words.

The lights and figures the three of them had seen moments ago.

Were nothing but illusions.

They were the deception of that giant beast!

Luo Yan looked around.

He discovered that a giant tree had already died, its trunk hollow inside.

Luo Yan grabbed Zeng Shan and Wu Renfan by the shoulders.

"Quiet."

"Follow me."

A moment later, they squeezed into the hollow tree.

Wu Renfan only asked then, "What is this place?"

"Huan is here."

Luo Yan said succinctly:

"The light and shadows and the sounds just now were an illusion."

"We're too small compared to the giant beast."

"It's like how you would have a hard time noticing a few ants among the flowers."

"It didn't notice us, so it used the 'illusion' to lure us into taking the bait ourselves."

"But there must be something on us that attracted it."

"Otherwise, it wouldn't have come out from the depths of the Forbidden Land."

With that, Luo Yan looked toward Zeng Shan and Wu Renfan.

"Open your packs!"