Wu Renfan frowned. "Why open the pack?"
He had barely finished speaking.
A rustling sound came from outside.
Light shone through the dense fog, and they could faintly hear someone shouting.
"Students, students, where are you?"
Wu Renfan had just opened his mouth.
Luo Yan had already pressed the muzzle of his gun against his temple.
Then he slowly shook his head.
After that.
The three of them did not dare breathe too loudly.
All they could hear were occasional rustling sounds around the tree hollow.
It seemed as though a genuine rescue team had circled them several times.
After a while.
The lights and voices finally disappeared into the dense fog.
Only then did Wu Renfan say, "What if they really were a rescue team outside?"
Luo Yan said expressionlessly, "When the fog clears, we'll return and be rescued all the same."
The implication was clear.
He did not want to take the risk.
Luo Yan pointed the gun at Wu Renfan. "Open the pack."
He no longer wanted to waste words.
Wu Renfan shrugged.
He took off the pack and opened it.
Luo Yan then said to Zeng Shan, "Dump everything inside out."
Zeng Shan did not dare disobey.
With a clatter.
Everything in the pack spilled out.
There were magazines, medicines, and herbs they had just gathered.
There was nothing suspicious.
Luo Yan looked at Zeng Shan.
The latter understood and emptied the contents of his own pack as well.
The items were similar to Wu Renfan's.
"See, Captain? Aren't you being a little too nervous?"
Wu Renfan said, "You don't really suspect that we lured that giant beast here, do you?"
"Why would we make trouble for ourselves?"
Luo Yan glanced at him.
Suddenly, he remembered that Wu Renfan had entered his tent last night.
But afterward, he had inspected the tent.
Including the pack.
There had been nothing unusual.
Wait.
Luo Yan suddenly realized.
He had overlooked some places.
He immediately threw his own pack onto the ground.
Then he squatted down.
Without saying a word.
He drew his military knife and ripped open the pack.
Wu Renfan jumped.
His eyes shifted.
He quietly edged toward the exit.
At that moment, Luo Yan saw it.
When the knife split open the pack, a hidden compartment appeared.
Something fell out of it.
It was a plant.
A green shrub shaped like a phoenix tail.
Wu Renfan and Zeng Shan both let out a soft cry. "Phoenix Tail Sunflower?"
Luo Yan looked at Wu Renfan.
Wu Renfan's expression changed.
He was about to rush out of the tree hollow.
Whoosh!
A flash of blade.
Luo Yan's military knife sank into his thigh.
Wu Renfan immediately fell and was about to scream.
But Luo Yan clamped a hand over his mouth.
Zeng Shan looked utterly bewildered.
He had no idea what had happened between them.
Then he heard Luo Yan say coldly, "You entered my tent last night to put the Phoenix Tail Sunflower into my pack?"
"No, no, no."
Wu Renfan hurriedly said, "Captain, listen to me."
"I didn't know there was a Phoenix Tail Sunflower inside."
"Ren Zhong gave me this pack and told me to switch it with your original one."
"But I really didn't know he had put a Phoenix Tail Sunflower inside!"
"He gave me some benefits, but I wouldn't throw away my own life for a few benefits."
"If I'd known there was a Phoenix Tail Sunflower in the pack, I wouldn't have agreed even if you beat me to death."
Ren Zhong was the pink-faced young man beside Luo Beichen.
There was no need to say more.
Luo Beichen had definitely ordered this.
That man was truly sinister.
He had actually planned to set a trap and kill Luo Yan before the Death Match!
After hearing him out, Luo Yan still had not responded.
Zeng Shan had already charged over angrily. "Wu Renfan, you're both stupid and despicable!"
Luo Yan did not waste words. He said to Zeng Shan, "Come with me."
He pulled out the military knife, and a jet of blood immediately spurted from Wu Renfan's thigh.
The pain sent Wu Renfan rolling across the ground.
Luo Yan carried the military knife and crawled out of the tree hollow.
Zeng Shan glanced at Wu Renfan and followed him out.
The fog and hallucinations had no effect on Luo Yan's Obstacle Breaking Dharma Eye.
He could safely bring Zeng Shan back to camp.
But Wu Renfan could not.
In the fog, he was as helpless as a blind man.
And his leg was injured on top of that.
When he saw Luo Yan and Zeng Shan leave, he was instantly panic-stricken.
He was afraid that the giant beast resembling a huge cat would come looking for him.
Wu Renfan hurriedly called out in a low voice toward the mouth of the tree hollow, "Captain, this really has nothing to do with me! I'm a victim too."
"Captain, as long as you don't abandon me."
"From now on, I'll follow your lead."
"Luo Beichen clearly intends to kill me too."
"He showed me no mercy, so I have no reason to show him any."
"There's nothing more to say."
"If you want to deal with Luo Beichen, I'll help you."
However.
Not only did Luo Yan and Zeng Shan's footsteps fail to stop, they rapidly grew more distant.
"Don't abandon me."
"Don't abandon me!"
Wu Renfan was frantic, one hand clutching his thigh.
Staggering, he left the tree hollow.
He entered the dense fog.
In the fog.
Zeng Shan could barely make out Luo Yan's figure.
He could only follow the sound of Luo Yan's footsteps.
But suddenly.
The sound of Luo Yan's footsteps vanished.
Zeng Shan was about to ask what was happening.
Then he heard Luo Yan's voice coming from ahead. "We're in trouble."
As soon as he finished speaking.
In the silent forest, amid the dense fog.
A strange sound rang out.
Hiss, hiss, buzz...
Similar sounds rose and fell.
They rang out continuously all around them.
Zeng Shan asked softly, "What is that?"
"Golden Winged Lice..."
"Parasites that live on Huan."
"It was moving around here just now. Although it has left, it brushed off quite a few parasites."
Luo Yan described it calmly.
At that moment, within his field of vision.
Gray lights shaped like insects were scattered throughout the woods in groups of two and three.
Luo Yan recalled the description of the Golden Winged Louse.
Golden Winged Lice were creatures of the winged-louse order and unique parasites found on Huan.
Their wings were as hard as gold and iron, and extremely sharp.
They were skilled at rubbing their hind-leg joints against their golden wings in a rhythmic manner to transmit information.
Although they had wings, they could only fly at low altitudes.
Their speed was average.
Besides sucking blood, they could spread various diseases, including Red Poison.
Luo Yan reviewed the knowledge he had learned.
At the same time, he searched for a way through.
Unfortunately, as far as he could see.
Golden Winged Lice covered the area all around them, leaving no gap to exploit.
Just then.
A cluster of gray light suddenly flew out of the grass to Luo Yan's left.
A Golden Winged Louse!
Luo Yan immediately rolled, raised his rifle, and fired at it.
Rat-a-tat-tat.
The rifle spat flames, and a burst of bullets tore the puppy-sized parasite into pieces.
But the gunfire also drew the attention of the other Golden Winged Lice.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
They used their sounds to transmit information.
Then they all moved toward Luo Yan and Zeng Shan.
Luo Yan looked around.
Suddenly, he spotted a location.
It was a pile of scattered rocks.
The largest section was seven or eight meters high.
There was a crack in the middle.
It was 214 centimeters high, 107 centimeters wide, and more than five meters deep.
It looked...
Like it was just wide enough for one person to walk through.
"Follow me."
Luo Yan immediately moved in that direction.
He intended to use the limited space between the tall rocks to restrict the number of Golden Winged Lice that could reach them.
Zeng Shan immediately followed.
In the distance.
Wu Renfan was still groping his way through the fog.
The fog was so dense that he could not see any figures at all.
Unable to contain his panic, he shouted, "Luo Yan, Zeng Shan, where are you?"
Just then.
He heard a buzzing sound above his head.
Then something landed on his head. A sharp pain struck his scalp, and Wu Renfan heard a loud gurgling sound.
It sounded exactly like someone drinking a beverage through a straw.
But this time, it was the Golden Winged Louse sucking out his blood—and his brain matter!
Thus.
In the fog.
Zeng Shan heard Wu Renfan's agonized, despairing howls from behind.
Before you continue