Fire Forest Mountain! Unheeding Hikers!

Monsters are gathering!

What does this mean? It means there might be more than one strange beast on Fire Forest Mountain, which means a large amount of origin energy!

If it were just a single strange beast, Lin Chen might not have bothered, but if there were enough strange beasts, it would be a considerable harvest. With that thought, Lin Chen directly accepted the mission.

"Two people have already accepted the mission?"

After accepting the mission, Lin Chen realized that two people had already accepted it before him. After all, Tier 4 missions no longer restrict cultivators from accepting them individually; others can accept them simultaneously.

After eating breakfast at the restaurant, Lin Chen immediately set off for Fire Maple Mountain. The reason Fire Maple Mountain got its name is quite simple: the mountain has many maple trees. Every autumn, they turn fiery red, thus giving it the name Fire Maple Mountain.

It's currently only June, and the maple forest on the mountain is lush green, not yet turning red. It's not the best time to climb the mountain for sightseeing.

Driving all the way, Lin Chen soon entered Fire Forest Mountain. After parking his car, he walked towards the depths of Fire Forest Mountain. After all, those exotic beasts wouldn't foolishly stay by the roadside unless they were ambushing passing travelers.

In this season, there aren't many tourists on 火林山 (Huǒ Lín Shān). All the way down, let alone people, 林尘 (Lín Chén) barely saw any small animals, and there was no trace of any 异兽 (Yì shòu) at all.

Lin Chen wasn't slow as he moved through the forest. As it neared noon, he took out the packed lunch he had prepared, ate a simple meal, and continued on his way.

"Is that..."

Seeing smoke rising from the depths of the forest, Lin Chen couldn't help but pause. "There are people in these mountains?"

Although people still lived in the mountains in this era, most mountain villages had roads. Detached houses deep in the forest were almost nonexistent.

After all, living in such an environment would bring many inconveniences. The direction of the smoke was clearly in the forest, with no roads at all.

Whoosh~

Lin Chen tapped his foot and headed towards the location of the smoke. Regardless of whether people lived there, the smoke indicated someone's presence.

When searching for Monsters in the deep mountains, perhaps he could ask the locals. After all, Fire Forest Mountain is not small, and it might take three to five days for Lin Chen to search it alone.

Lin Chen didn't want to waste three to five days on Fire Forest Mountain, so he decided to check the location of the smoke first. If he found nothing, he would continue his search.

The location of the smoke didn't seem far, but the mountain path was difficult. Even for Lin Chen, it took nearly half an hour to reach the source of the smoke.

It was a mountain stream. Beside the stream, several young men and women were chatting and laughing. Not far from them was a bonfire. It wasn't a mountain dwelling at all, but clearly backpackers who had come to climb the mountain!

Seeing this scene, Lin Chen was somewhat disappointed. However, seeing the young men and women, he still walked over.

"Someone's coming!"

At the same time, a man with glasses by the stream saw Lin Chen approaching from the maple forest and immediately alerted his companions.

Instantly, all eyes turned to the approaching Lin Chen.

Lin Chen looked at the young men and women and said indifferently, "Who told you to start a fire in the mountains?"

"Sorry, we'll put it out right away!" a quiet girl quickly replied.

A handsome man wearing sunglasses frowned as he looked at Lin Chen. "Wait a minute, who are you? It's just a small fire, what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? Didn't you see the notice before entering the mountain saying no fires?" Lin Chen's voice was cold.

The man in sunglasses was about to say something else, but the man with glasses beside him quickly pulled him back. "Sorry, it was our fault, it was our fault!"

Lin Chen glanced at the group and warned, "Also, don't linger in the mountains. Leave as soon as possible. It's not safe in the mountains recently."

The investigation mission was issued by the 镇魔司 (Zhèn Mó Sī). The 镇魔司 (Zhèn Mó Sī) wouldn't issue missions for no reason, especially a Tier 4 mission. This indicated that there might be a powerful Tier 4 existence among the 异兽 (Yì shòu).

If a few ordinary people wandered around in the mountains, they would inevitably have only one outcome if they encountered strange beasts: becoming food for the strange beasts.

"Stop trying to scare us. We investigated before we came. There are no large animals on Fire Forest Mountain, so where is the danger?" the man in sunglasses said dismissively.

"Believe it or not, it's up to you!"

Lin Chen swept his gaze over the group without saying anything more and turned to leave. He could only warn them because they were young. If they died like this, their families would lose their children, and their elders would be heartbroken.

However, if these people didn't listen to his advice and insisted on staying on the Fiery Mountain, they had no one to blame if something happened. After all, they were adults and had to be responsible for their actions.

The quiet girl looked at the departing Lin Chen and said with some worry, "Should we just leave? I feel like something is strange about this mountain; there isn't even the sound of insects or birds."

"Don't worry, Fire Forest Mountain is so safe. We've already investigated. There won't be any danger," the man in sunglasses said. As he spoke, he looked at the departing Lin Chen, a hint of hatred flashing in his eyes. "Xixi, don't listen to nonsense. I say, in these mountains, meeting people is more dangerous than meeting animals."

As he spoke, the man in sunglasses winked at the man with glasses beside him. The man with glasses quickly said, "That's right. This is the mountains. If we didn't have so many people, you girls might be in more danger encountering other people than wild beasts!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"Can Brother Hui really harm us?"

"His family owns a factory. If there were real danger, Brother Hui definitely wouldn't come!"

Seeing that everyone was speaking in support of the man in sunglasses, the quiet girl felt a little displeased, but she didn't show it. Since no one was willing to leave now, it would be even more dangerous for her to leave alone.

Helplessly, the quiet girl could only continue the trip with everyone else.

Seeing this, a smile flickered in the man in sunglasses' eyes. He intended to take the opportunity of this mountain climbing trip to win over the quiet girl. The men and women in the group had long been swayed by his small favors, so they naturally spoke in his favor.

Whoosh~

Lin Chen moved through the forest and quickly arrived at a small hill, intending to get a higher vantage point to better locate the strange beasts. After all, according to the bounty mission, there was more than one strange beast gathered here.

"Ah~"

Just then, a terrified scream from the direction of the stream broke the silence. Lin Chen's expression immediately turned grim. "These guys are really unlucky to have encountered a monstrous beast!"

"I hope your lives are resilient enough!"

Lin Chen tapped his foot and rushed back towards the stream. In just a moment, he arrived at the stream again. On the stone beach not far away, fresh blood still remained. As for the young men and women from before, they had already disappeared without a trace.

"That way!"

Soon, Lin Chen determined the direction they had fled from the bloodstains on the ground. He moved swiftly and chased after them.