The Strange Valley

They arrived at the Forbidden Land at noon.

The sun was high in the sky, the sunlight was intense, and even though it was March, there was a hint of warmth in the air.

But the moment the convoy entered the Forbidden Land, it was as if they had entered another world; that warmth vanished without a trace.

Looking out, the jungle seemed to stretch on forever, and a light mist drifted among the rolling hills.

The sunlight was still bright, but it seemed to have lost its warmth, serving only as illumination.

The convoy was now at a high altitude, and through the unusually dense jungle, a small town could be vaguely seen in the drifting mist.

The town's architecture is quaint and charming. A small river flows through the town; in the Heavenly River freezes over, but it has now thawed, and the water can be seen flowing in the sunlight.

Three or five small boats floated on the riverbank, secured tightly to the dock to prevent them from being swept away by the current.

In the town's long streets and alleys, one could vaguely see figures moving about, suggesting that the town was still inhabited.

Before the ' Giant Beast Calamity,' such a scene would be considered normal, but after the catastrophe, such a scene appears bizarre.

"Do you see that town? There are people in that town."

Inside the school bus, Zhao Ping put down the binoculars and handed them to Luo Yan.

Luo Yan took the binoculars and looked around. He saw that many of the ancient-style buildings in the town, with their white walls and black tiles, were dilapidated.

Shrubs and weeds have invaded the town, and many houses have roofs covered with a succulent plant called 'Orostachys'.

In the window of a three-story building, Luo Yan saw a woman walk to the window and make a closing motion towards the completely shattered window.

The woman's hair was disheveled, reaching her feet. Her face was withered and dry, her skin wrinkled and pale, lacking any luster a living person should have, and covered with brown patches.

Her empty, lifeless eyes swept around a few times before she went back inside, sat down at a dressing table, picked up a comb with missing teeth, and began combing her hair in front of the dusty mirror.

"Those must be the Living Corpse controlled by Ao Ye. How terrifying. They're still carrying out some of the activities they did in life, pretending to be alive to lure outsiders in."

Liu Ruohan also peered into the mirror through her binoculars. "I bet that town is a trap."

Just as he finished speaking, a sobbing sound drifted in from somewhere.

Sobbing and whimpering... barely audible, but eerie to listen to.

Luo Yan put down his binoculars and looked at the vast valley, finally experiencing the eeriness of the ' Valley of Grief '.

After entering the Forbidden Land, the convoys from the Hundred Battles Academy and Canghe Academy separated and headed to the initial campsites designated by the tournament.

There they can make adjustments, plan exploration routes, set up supply points at predetermined locations, prepare logistical support, and reconfigure Command Center, among other things.

Upon arrival at the designated campsite, event coordinators assisted the convoy members in handing over the various supplies provided by the event and informed the students that the competition would begin the moment they entered the Forbidden Land.

Therefore, no one dared to slack off, Li Bohang busily coordinated personnel from all sides to make various arrangements and preparations.

Following the plan, Luo Yan changed into his pilot suit and headed straight for his mecha transport vehicle.

After a flurry of activity, the ' Bi'an ' started up and got off the transport vehicle.

Boom!

As the mech slammed its foot into the ground, the camp not far away trembled slightly, and the surrounding trees shook, but not a single bird was startled.

The students in the camp all looked towards the ' Bi'an '. They saw a white mech with black stripes, its lines sharp and strong. A machine gun was mounted on its shoulder, and a shield hung on its left hand. It strode through the camp and headed into the depths of the Forbidden Land.

"That's Classmate Luo's ' Divine Guard-class ' mecha. I'm so envious of him. He's already piloting a God Guardian before even graduating."

"People are different. I haven't even touched a basic mech, and they're already piloting the Divine Guard."

"Then you should take a look at how they obtained the Divine Guardian title. If you were in those battles that Classmate Luo participated in, it's questionable whether you would even be alive today."

"Enough talk, let's get to work. We have a lot to get done today."

Piloting the ' Bi'an ', Luo Yan quickly drove away. To avoid any accidents, as soon as he left the camp, he activated the Super Core Matrix and the ' Taotie's' stealth ability, causing the mecha to disappear into thin air.

Still not satisfied, Luo Yan used the secret technique ' Nether Gate Opening ' to put the mecha into a fully stealthy state.

The Valley of Grief is vast, with mountain ranges stretching for thousands of kilometers. Influenced by the Overlord Giant Beast, the plants and animals here have also undergone mutations.

On his journey deeper into the Forbidden Land, Luo Yan encountered a strange tree with a mouth that could make crying sounds. When the wind blew, it emitted mournful cries, attracting some animals.

Once animals approach this mournful tree, vines will shoot out from its mouth to entangle and strangle its prey, or penetrate its body through its mouth and nose to extract its essence and blood.

Regarding the animals, for the time being, Luo Yan has only seen one type of leopard with a human face.

Although it couldn't cry, its face was unusually sorrowful, and it looked very sad.

As Luo Yan ventured deeper into the Forbidden Land, the cries that seemed to come from nowhere became increasingly clear, and the voices could be discerned to be of different genders and ages.

Just now, from behind the mecha, a sound like a little girl crying could be heard coming from a jungle.

Furthermore, words could be faintly heard.

"Waaaaah, Dad, where are you? Don't leave me..."

Hearing the cries, Luo Yan remained expressionless; these sounds had no effect on his emotions.

During his years living on the surface, he had heard far more tragic cries than this, so he wouldn't be so easily influenced.

In the blink of an eye.

It got dark.

At this point, Luo Yan had just reached the edge of the Safe Zone, which showed how vast this Forbidden Land was.

Luo Yan hid the mecha, reported his location to Li Bohang, and then took out some battlefield rations near the mecha and started eating.

He didn't light a fire to heat the food, so it tasted terrible, but Luo Yan wasn't a picky eater and didn't mind.

I had just finished eating and was about to go back to my mech to rest when I heard someone behind me ask, "Hey bro, all alone?"

In the desolate wilderness, in complete darkness.

When someone suddenly spoke from behind, even Luo Yan was startled and almost grabbed the Longxiang next to him and turned to sweep it away.

But he simply stood up, grabbed the Longxiang, and slowly turned around.

Then I saw a man's face appear on the trunk of a large tree not far behind me.

He looked like a middle-aged man, wearing glasses, with a vacant look in his eyes.

Then a phantom figure emerged from the tree and mechanically asked, "Brother, all alone?"

As he spoke, the man's head made a clicking sound, and like a wound-up toy, it started to spin haltingly.