As the night progressed, the campground in the mountains and forests gradually became quiet.
Most of the coolies were already exhausted after a simple dinner and some vulgar jokes about the forest, wealth, and women. They crowded into simple tents wrapped in blankets and fell asleep, snoring one after another. Only the campfire in the center of the camp was still crackling, and the dancing firelight cast uneasy shadows on the surrounding tree trunks and tents.
At the edge of the camp, not far from the forgotten trolley and the pile of rubble next to it, next to a slightly smaller campfire, the two Soul Elder, Zhang Yuan and Li Kui, were not resting. With their backs to their backs, one sat cross-legged, eyes closed, but his ears twitched slightly from time to time, obviously not really asleep; the other leaned on his Big Stone head, fiddled with the campfire with a branch, looking at the dancing flames, looking a little bored.
"Hey, Lao Zhang," Li Kui suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. His voice seemed a bit abrupt in the silent night, "Tell me, when will our Soul Master subsidies and the two empires be restored? This has been interrupted for many years, and life is getting tighter and tighter." He sighed, throwing the burning branch in his hand into the fire, causing a cloud of sparks to fly.
Zhang Yuan didn't open his eyes, but said calmly, "What's the hurry? The evil done by the Spirit Hall Empire has destroyed so many towns and killed so many people. The two empires have had enough headaches just to rebuild, settle the refugees, and restore order in these years. Soul Master Subsidy? It's better to be more peaceful. Let's wait until the treasury has surplus food."
"Does this have to wait until the Year of the Monkey?" Li Kui muttered, his tone full of complaints, "When Spirit Hall was still here, although there were many rules, at least there was a monthly subsidy. It's pretty decent now. We, the casual cultivators Soul Master and dignified Soul Elder, who have no background and no backing, have to come here to work as guards for these Kuhaha to earn this little money."
"You think the money is too little?" Zhang Yuan finally opened his eyes and glanced at him, his eyes looking sharp under the light of the campfire, "The price for this job is not low. The old man is hoping to find 'Moonlight Grass' Turn around and be willing to spend money. It's better than taking on those dangerous tasks of hunting down fugitives and eradicating bandits. Star Dou As long as you don't go deep and be careful, with your and my ability, it shouldn't be a big problem to protect these people."
"That's true." Li Kui nodded, still convinced of Zhang Yuan's judgment, but then he thought of something and lowered his voice, "But Lao Zhang, I always feel... I feel a little uneasy this time. You said that we have not walked this road before, but today... why do I always feel a little bit hairy? It seems like something is watching us secretly."
Zhang Yuan paused slightly as he moved the bonfire, but his tone remained calm. "There are many wild beasts here, so it feels a bit normal. You have a thick skin like a wild boar, are you still afraid of being stared at?"
"It's not that feeling." Li Kui shook his head, frowning, as if trying to find the right word to describe it, "It's just... a bit cold, a bit... lifeless? I can't explain it. Especially during the day, when I approach those carts, I always feel that the shadows under the cars... are a little too dark? Like ink."
Zhang Yuan was silent for a moment. In fact, he had a similar feeling. When the convoy was traveling during the day, when he ran the first Soul Skill[Wolf Eye Keen Sight] routine alert, Mental Power swept across the convoy and was indeed at the bottom of several trucks, especially the piles. I felt an extremely weak, indescribable "sense of disharmony" at the bottom of the vehicle where the sundries were placed. It was not just a matter of the shade of the shadow, but a kind of... as if the light and vitality were slightly swallowed up there, very faint, so faint that I almost thought it was an illusion after a long journey, or just the stale smell emitted by the damp and rotten wooden boards.
But he didn't say it out loud. Firstly, the feeling was too vague, and it would be confusing to talk about it. Secondly, he also secretly used Soul Power to investigate carefully, and even pretended to organize the equipment and took a closer look. Except for some wet mud stains and black mud splashed on the ruts, there was nothing abnormal.
"You're overthinking." Zhang Yuan finally said with a firm tone, "The humidity in the forest is heavy, some places are shady, the moss is rotting, and the smell is a bit unpleasant. As for the shadows... the fire is shining. We are in this business, so it is good to be cautious, but don't scare yourself. If something is really wrong, my [Wolf Eyes] will not be unaware of it."
He said this not only to Li Kui, but also to himself. As Soul Master, who has the strongest perception in the team, he must remain calm.
"Yes, your wolf eyes are very sharp." Li Kui seemed to be convinced, he chuckled, but his eyes still involuntarily glanced at the edge of the camp, at the dark place shrouded in the shadow of rocks and carts, and then quickly moved away, "Maybe you are really tired. Get some rest early, we have to go into the mountains tomorrow."
Zhang Yuan said "Yeah" and closed his eyes again, but Mental Power was like the invisible Spider Web, slowly spreading to the surroundings in a more hidden and soothing way. This time, he focused on the edge area of the camp mentioned by Li Kui, which made him feel a little uneasy.
Almost as soon as Zhang Yuan Mental Power extended over, the protagonist lurking deep in the cracks of the rocks, almost integrated with the damp moss, rotten leaves and cold earth atmosphere, immediately raised the operation of Soul Power to the extreme.
There is no energy leakage, no life fluctuations, and it even reduces its own weak breath of "vitality" around it as much as possible. It "imagines" itself as a real, cold, moist, harmless stone, a stubborn stone that has been silent for thousands of years, absorbing too much dampness and turning black in color.
Zhang Yuan's Mental Power was like an invisible breeze, slowly blowing through the rubble. He "saw" the damp soil, slippery moss, a few rotten leaves, a few ordinary stones... and the raindrops dropped by an old trolley. The shadows on the edges that were illuminated by the fire were particularly deep. The shadows seemed darker than elsewhere, but if you looked carefully, it seemed to be just an illusion caused by the angle of the light and the unevenness of the ground. In addition to being slightly moist, there was no Soul Power residue or abnormal life breath on the ground under the shadows.
He "heard" the subtle whine of the wind passing through the cracks in the stones, the cry of night owls in the distance, and... an extremely weak, almost imperceptible "sound" that seemed like water vapor slowly condensing at low temperatures, or some kind of viscous liquid seeping extremely slowly into the soil. This sound was so slight that it could be interpreted as the natural flow of earth air in the middle of the night, or the crawling of some nocturnal insects under the soil.
No exception.
Zhang Yuan's Mental Power slowly withdrew, and the last trace of doubt in his heart seemed to have dissipated a lot. Perhaps, both himself and Li Kui were a little nervous. After all, entering the periphery of Star Dou Forest, even at the very edge, the invisible pressure and hidden danger will make people extra sensitive.
He took a long breath and said to Li Kui, "No problem, go to sleep. I'll watch you for the rest of the night."
Li Kui Hearing this, he no longer hesitated, responded, wrapped his coat tightly, leaned against the stone and closed his eyes, and soon a slight snoring sounded.
Zhang Yuan maintained a cross-sitting posture, and his breathing became long and light, but behind the closed eyes, there was still a small part of the keen perception of "Iron-Back Gray Wolf" like invisible tentacles, vaguely covering the camp, especially the silent and dark edge.
However, just when Zhang Yuan Mental Power completely subsided and Li Kui snored gradually -
Inside the "stone" that was completely integrated with the darkness and moisture, the cold and chaotic consciousness loosened the tight "string" extremely slowly, like the movement of a glacier.
At that moment, when Zhang Yuan's Mental Power focused on it, it compressed and converged almost all of its "sense of existence" to the limit. The feeling of being probed at close range and purposefully was even clearer and more dangerous than when traveling during the day. If the "Silence" mark was not indeed magical, and if it was not in a state like a dead thing at the moment, it would be really difficult to hide it.
Soul Elder... Sensitively sensitive Soul Elder...
There is a trace of fear in the cold thoughts, but it is more of a colder and deeper hidden desire. It must be more careful and hide itself more perfectly. Before reaching "Star Dou" and completing the obsession deep in the soul, any exposure may be destruction.
It "looked" at the two figures sitting cross-legged and sleeping soundly next to the campfire in the distance, especially Zhang Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and breathing long but still maintaining some vigilance.
Then, it slowly and deeply "sinked" itself into the depths of the gap between the soil and Rock, completely blending into the cold darkness of the ground.
The distance to the edge of the forest is getting closer and closer.