Life and Death

This was Gao Jing's third time entering the Great World.

To explore this wondrous world, he had invested nearly thirty thousand in total.

It was not much, but it exceeded all his savings.

Yet now he had not earned back a single cent and had lost nearly half his equipment assets in the blink of an eye.

But it had not truly struck Gao Jing down.

He had long prepared himself to be buried in this world.

Compared to that, what did losing a drone amount to?

Most importantly, the footage Mavic 2 had transmitted in its final minute had pointed Gao Jing in the right direction.

To the west and south lay boundless primeval forests.

If he headed in either of those directions, he might not make it out even in his lifetime.

To the north rose layer upon layer of towering mountains, an insurmountable chasm for Gao Jing.

Only to the east had Gao Jing seen vast plains, along with rivers winding through them like jade ribbons.

In fact, his current location was already at the edge of the forest.

Not deep within it.

So Mavic 2's sacrifice had been entirely worthwhile.

Otherwise, if Gao Jing had continued in his original direction, he would only have ventured deeper into the crisis-ridden forest.

After putting the controller back into his backpack, he did not immediately head east.

Because the sky was beginning to darken.

It was simply unrealistic to leave the forest before nightfall, and Gao Jing was not stubborn enough to travel at night.

Time in the two worlds was relatively still, so returning to the Main World would not let him avoid the dangerous night either.

Besides, each teleportation chance was one less.

So spending the night here had become inevitable.

Gao Jing chose to climb a tree.

The thick vines winding around the towering tree served as the best climbing tools. Relying on his agile physique, Gao Jing climbed all the way up to a height of fifty or sixty meters.

Everything in this world was ten times larger, and without such height, there was no sense of safety.

By the time he settled himself in a fork of the tree, night had fallen.

The great forest at night revealed a completely different face from the daytime.

It was not dark. Many plants and flowers emitted hazy glimmers of red, blue, purple, and yellow. The multicolored lights intertwined, as though draping the forest in a dreamy, misty veil.

Such beauty.

Fireflies appeared.

They flew out from the grass where they rested and danced lightly through the air.

Clusters of fireflies formed ribbons of light like wandering dragons, weaving among the trees alongside the chirping cries of insects.

Everything looked so beautiful.

Awooo~

Yet this beauty was quickly shattered by the roar of beasts coming from afar!

One howl stirred a hundred responses. More howls of the same kind rang out with increasing density, drawing closer to Gao Jing's location.

Ten or so minutes later, four beasts—one large and three small—were the first to enter his sight.

Looking down from above, they resembled wild boars, fat and sturdy, snorting and wheezing as they ran out of breath.

These boars had grayish-white tusks and black spines covering their backs, making them somewhat like porcupines.

The largest boar stood nearly ten meters at the shoulder, as high as a three-story building. It was visibly over twenty meters long, practically a small moving mountain.

This was the first time Gao Jing had seen animals of the Great World, and the sight was especially shocking!

But Gao Jing also had a vague feeling that they seemed to be fleeing for their lives.

The answer was soon revealed!

Only four or five minutes later, dark figures swept in one after another.

They were Wolf Beasts.

The Wolf Beasts were clearly smaller than the giant boars, but there were at least a hundred of them. Gathered together, they resembled a black flood, surging past beneath Gao Jing!

Gao Jing could not help holding his breath, his heart pounding fiercely.

The wolf pack came swiftly and left just as quickly, disappearing into the depths of the forest in the blink of an eye.

Only after a long while did Gao Jing's heartbeat return to normal.

He was quite brave, but an ordinary person in his place might have wet himself on the spot.

After the wolf pack left, the forest regained its tranquility.

But the fireflies had all hidden away and no longer appeared.

Silvery moonlight filtered through the gaps in the canopy, silently spilling over Gao Jing.

This world had both a sun and a moon, but the leaves blocked him from seeing their full forms.

Leaning against the hollow in the tree, he raised his head to gaze at the patch of sky he could see.

This alien starry sky.

That night, Gao Jing did not sleep. He kept his eyes open and endured the long, long night.

Many animals could climb trees or lived in them. And even if he did not encounter such animals, if some venomous insect or centipede bit him in his sleep, he might croak on the spot.

Gao Jing did not dare assume that the mosquito repellent he had sprayed on himself and the snake-repelling powder scattered around him could deal with every snake, insect, mosquito, and ant in this world.

After dawn, he finished breakfast in the tree to fill his stomach and drank a cup of self-heating coffee as well.

Once he had adjusted his condition, Gao Jing returned to the ground.

He set off eastward.

The forest floor was covered in chaotic footprints.

These were the tracks left by the wolf pack last night. They had come from the east and migrated to the western side of the forest.

Gao Jing instead felt very safe.

And indeed, that was the case. He trekked onward for five or six hours, resting several times along the way.

He did not encounter any beasts at all.

The only trouble came from Burrow Spiders, the same kind of giant black spiders Gao Jing had killed before.

Burrow Spider was a name Gao Jing had coined himself.

They always hid furtively in concealed burrows, spitting spider silk to ambush prey passing by.

Gao Jing had been treated as prey several times.

But now that he had experience, Gao Jing stood unafraid. The moment spider silk ensnared him, he charged over.

His hand rose, and his saber fell.

Crack!

One slash, one hissing monster!

By afternoon, the once-dense forest had become sparse, with far fewer tangled vines and exposed roots.

He was about to leave the forest!

A trace of joy welled up in Gao Jing's heart, and he could not help quickening his pace.

After continuing for another half hour, a mountain of jagged rocks blocked his path.

The mountain was two or three hundred meters high, a branch remnant of the northern mountain range. Its rocks were rugged, and vegetation was sparse.

Large and small caves lay hidden among the enormous boulders.

The largest cave was directly ahead of Gao Jing, its entrance thirty or forty meters across.

It was pitch-black and deep.

Wolf claw prints covered the ground before the cave, along with large heaps of droppings.

Some were fresh, while others had dried and hardened.

Gao Jing guessed that this cave was most likely the Wolf Cave, the home where last night's Wolf Beasts had lived.

But he did not know why they had migrated overnight.

Although the wolf pack had already left, Gao Jing had no intention of exploring the Wolf Cave.

He planned to go around this jagged mountain, which would be difficult to climb.

But after taking only a few steps, Gao Jing stopped.

A sudden shiver ran down his spine.

The feeling was incredibly intense, like a weak prey animal being stared down by a savage predator.

Fear born of instinct!

Danger!!

Gao Jing slowly backed away, one step at a time.

He could not see the source of the danger, but his fear only grew stronger.

Bead-sized drops of sweat emerged on Gao Jing's forehead and slid down his cheeks.

He struggled to remain calm and sheathed the Mountain-Cleaving Saber.

Then he reached back and took the hunting crossbow hanging from his backpack.

This crossbow had an effective range of up to one hundred and twenty meters and came equipped with a laser sight. Its killing power was quite formidable.

Previously, Gao Jing had only practiced using it.

With trembling hands, he loaded a bolt and cocked the hunting crossbow.

Hisss!

At that moment, a hiss that seemed to come from the netherworld hell entered Gao Jing's ears.

A Crimson Giant Serpent slithered out from the dark shadow of the Wolf Cave.

Its body was as thick as a large bowl and around seven or eight meters long, covered in fiery crimson scales.

Densely packed, layer upon layer.

Strangely, two curved golden horns stood atop its high-raised triangular head.

A pair of scarlet eyes as large as bells stared at Gao Jing. The giant serpent opened its bloody maw and flicked out its long forked tongue.

Hisss!

The demonic sound entered his ears, and Gao Jing stood frozen.

Danger! Danger! Run!! Run!!!

His brain desperately sent out warnings, yet his body was as stiff as if he had been struck by petrification magic.

He could not move at all.

The Crimson Giant Serpent calmly closed in on Gao Jing, its eyes revealing the teasing amusement of a cat playing with a mouse.

In its eyes, Gao Jing was undoubtedly a delicious dinner!

Though his scent was a little strange.

And Gao Jing, who was about to become a meal, was nearly despairing.

He did not understand why he could not move, but he knew perfectly well that death was right before him.

Between life and death lay great terror!

Gao Jing, who had dared to explore the Great World, was not afraid of death, but he absolutely refused to be swallowed by the giant serpent without even putting up a fight.

And become a pile of filthy snake droppings!

"No!"

He roared furiously in his heart.

At that very moment, the Copper Anchor pressed against his chest suddenly underwent a strange change!