The sky was slightly bright and the fog in the mountains and forests had not yet cleared, so the herb collection team set off again.
The last section of the road became increasingly rugged and difficult, with dense primeval forest gradually replacing the sparse woodland. Towering ancient trees blocked the sky, and the air was filled with a humid atmosphere. The wheels ran over the entangled tree roots and soft leaf litter, making the bumps even more severe. The coolies stopped talking and laughing. They all looked nervous, with sweaty palms holding the tools, and their eyes kept glancing into the dark depths of the jungle on both sides of the road, which seemed to hide countless dangers.
The two Soul Elders, Zhang Yuan and Li Kui, were completely on alert at this moment. Li Kui was walking at the front of the team, and the shadow of Rock-Armor Porcupine was looming behind them. The heavy momentum spread out, driving away some low-level beasts with keen senses. Zhang Yuan was at the end of the team, with his bow half-opened and an ordinary arrow attached. His sharp eyes were like a hawk, constantly scanning the surroundings, especially behind bushes and boulders with heavy shadows that were easy to hide. His Mental Power was like invisible ripples, with him as the center, spreading outwards, carefully sensing any abnormal Soul Power fluctuations or breath of life.
And the hidden body of the car trudged forward amidst violent bumps. Every bump made the "shadow" that was almost integrated with the car floor resemble Spider Web in the strong wind, and seemed to be torn apart and shaken off at any time. It It is necessary to increase the strength of its own "adsorption" to the limit, and at the same time maintain the stable operation of Soul Power to resist the mental exploration of Zhang Yuan that sweeps over from time to time and is more careful and vigilant than yesterday.
Energy is being consumed rapidly. The already chaotic core in the body, in this continuous, high-intensity concealment and confrontation, emits an overwhelmed whine, the feeling of swelling and tearing, weakness, pain, hunger... originating from Origin. All kinds of negative feelings came like a tide, almost drowning it. Only the cold, stubborn obsession in the depths of the soul, pointing to "Star Dou", was like a lighthouse in the darkness, supporting it from disintegrating and dissipating in the bumps and pain.
After an unknown amount of time, the convoy finally stopped in a relatively open forest clearing surrounded by huge rocks. The terrain here is relatively high, the view is relatively open, there are steep rock walls behind, and dense forests in front and on both sides. There is only a trail that has been stepped on by the predecessors and can barely accommodate vehicles and horses. It is a temporary camp that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
"We're here! It's here!" Old Wang wiped his sweat and said with relief in his voice, "Everyone, park your car under the rock wall over there, unload your things, and hurry up! The camp must be set up before dark!"
The crowd was busy for a while. The coolies pushed the carts and wheelbarrows into the shadow under the rock wall and began to unload the materials on them. The tents, tools, and dry food were quickly moved down, and people began to clear the open space, dig drainage ditches, and build simple shacks and defenses. The sound of human voices, the collision of tools, and the sound of felling small trees were mixed together, breaking the silence at the edge of the forest.
The body of the car where the protagonist was hiding was also pushed to a slightly sunken corner under the rock wall, where the ground was damp and several weathered boulders were piled up. The remaining ropes and sacks on the car were unloaded, and the carriage was left there temporarily without anyone paying attention.
Taking advantage of the brief chaos of unloading, moving, and people coming and going, when everyone's attention was attracted by setting up the camp and placing supplies, when Zhang Yuan and Li Kui were also patrolling the periphery of the camp, checking whether there were any traces of recent large-scale Soul Beast activities--
The dark "shadow" attached to the back of the car floor began to move.
It was like mercury with life, and like the most viscous and flowing darkness, "flowing" extremely slowly and silently from the edge of the car floor, dripping onto the damp ground covered with moss and tiny gravels. It did not make the slightest sound, nor did it cause any fluctuations in energy or breath. Soul Power operated to the extreme, allowing it to blend perfectly with the shadows on the ground, the moist moss, and the cold texture of Rock.
It did not choose to leave the camp immediately. After confirming that no one was paying attention to this corner, it "slid" along the gap between the rock wall and the ground towards an inconspicuous, narrow crack on the rock wall, half covered by vines. The crack was very narrow, bottomless, dark and damp inside, exuding a faint smell of earth and Rock, making it an excellent temporary hiding place.
Just when the last bit of its "body" was about to disappear into the shadow of the rock crevice--
At the edge of the camp, Zhang Yuan, who was facing away and sharpening a wooden stake with a short knife, suddenly felt something and suddenly turned around. His sharp eyes were like real arrows, shooting at the abandoned cart and the corner of the rock wall next to the cart.
There was nothing there. Only the cart was parked alone, old vines were clinging to the rock wall, the ground was damp, and a few stones were scattered randomly. The sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, casting mottled light and shadow on the rock wall and the ground, swaying gently in the breeze.
Zhang Yuan frowned. At that moment, he seemed to feel an extremely weak breath, fleeting in that direction. It was very faint, so faint that it was almost impossible to catch it. It was more like an illusion caused by excessive vigilance. But he had always had confidence in his intuition.
He gripped the short knife in his hand tightly, stepped lightly, and walked slowly towards the corner of the cart and the rock wall. Mental Power was like an invisible tentacle, meticulously sweeping over the bottom of the cart, the surface of the rock wall, and every inch of soil, every piece of moss, and every stone on the ground.
Nothing.
There was no Soul Power residue, no breath of life, not even a hint of unusual "smell" that did not belong to this forest. There was only the smell of damp earth, the slight smell of moss, the coldness of Rock, and the faint smell of humans and fireworks coming from the camp in the distance.
He stood in front of the truck, squatted down, and carefully inspected the floor of the truck. The wooden boards were old, covered with stains and scratches, and there were some splashes of mud that had dried up. He stretched out his fingers and lightly swiped a slightly darker stain. It felt like ordinary, slightly moist wood. He looked at the rock crevice again. It was dark inside, with only a few withered vines hanging down, and it was bottomless. He picked up a small stone and threw it in. The sound of the stone rolling echoed in the narrow gap for a few times, and then disappeared, without leading to any living things.
Is it an illusion? Or is there really something that is perfectly hidden in a way that he cannot understand?
Zhang Yuan stood up and glanced at the area again. The doubts in his eyes were not gone, but more of a deep vigilance. He vaguely felt that entering Star Dou Forest this time might not be as smooth as usual. This ancient forest hid too many unknowns and dangers, and some things might be beyond the cognitive scope of his little Soul Elder.
"Old Zhang, what are you looking at? What did you find?" Li Kui's voice came from the side. He came over carrying a bundle of sharpened wooden stakes, followed Zhang Yuan's gaze to look at the empty corner, and said carelessly, "It's nothing, just a few broken rocks. Come and help, Old Wang said it's best to finish the outer fence before dark, feel more at ease."
Zhang Yuan retracted his gaze, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, and nodded. "Here we come. Maybe I'm too worried." He glanced at the deep rock crevice for the last time, turned around and followed Li Kui towards the center of the camp.
Deep in the rock crevice, the mass of material that was completely integrated with the darkness felt that the sharp gaze and meticulous Mental Power exploration had finally moved away, and then slowly, as if it was "thawing" from the deepest freeze, it relaxed a little.
So risky.
Soul Elder's intuition is indeed terrifyingly sharp. If it hadn't acted carefully and slowly enough, suppressing all fluctuations and breaths to almost nothingness, I'm afraid it would have been noticed just now.
It "looked" at the faint light coming from outside the rock crevice and the faint noise coming from the camp in the distance.
It is safe here for the time being, but it is not a place to stay for a long time.
It needs to go deeper into the forest, away from these humans, to find the place where the obsession in the depths of its soul points, to find something that can solve the chaos in its body and make it truly stable.
But before that, it needs to "eat" first to replenish its nearly exhausted energy.
The cold consciousness was locked on the moist woodland outside the rock crevice that gradually became dark in the dusk and was full of decaying leaves and tiny lives.
The hunt is about to begin.