"Brother Fan, this whole forest is Taotie territory. Isn't the difference between the northern and southern forests a little too huge?"
Tang San looked around at the eerie, apocalyptic forest, finding the surroundings utterly inconceivable.
Ouyang Tianxin nodded as well.
"From what the Spirit Devourer King said earlier, we can tell he isn't the highest authority in Taotie Forest. He and that Taotie at the Supreme God realm seem to have clearly divided territories."
Qian Fan raised the map and spoke slowly.
"That's also why the Spirit Devourer King didn't dare lead us any deeper. Besides, we've already crossed more than half the forest. If nothing unexpected happens, we should leave Taotie Forest tomorrow and reach the edge of the White Tiger Plains. We still have to cross the White Tiger Plains, sail across the Parallel Ocean, and reach Shipwreck Island before we can get to the teleportation array's entrance. I wonder how Yuan'er is doing."
Night fell.
There was no sound around them except the soft breeze.
"Brother Fan, why is it so quiet here?"
Chen Sixue sat uneasily beside the campfire, her little ears carefully picking up any fluctuations in the sounds around them.
The silence here seemed far from simple, almost as though it had been deliberately arranged.
Qian Fan scanned their surroundings, a trace of wariness rising in his heart. He signaled for everyone to stay alert, then released his soul power, trying to detect any nearby danger.
Yet his soul power sank like a stone into the sea, returning no response whatsoever.
"Everyone should get some sleep early, then. We'll take turns keeping watch. I'll go first."
Ouyang Tianxin stood, cracked his fingers, and released the Mental Power of the divine realm to investigate. The result was exactly the same, however: he detected nothing.
Tang San walked over and patted Qian Fan's shoulder.
"Brother Fan, take this chance to get some proper rest. If you wear yourself out, how will you rescue Sister Yuan'er?"
A faint rustling suddenly broke the silence, as though something was approaching. Everyone immediately snapped to attention, their gazes turning toward the source of the sound. But they could see nothing in the darkness.
"Who's there?" Qian Fan demanded in a low voice.
There was no reply. Only that mysterious rustling drew closer and closer. Tension spread through the air, everyone's nerves pulled taut.
Suddenly, a dark figure burst from the trees and lunged straight toward the flames. Ouyang Tianxin acted instantly, forcing the figure back with a powerful aura.
The dark figure dropped to his knees in terror.
"Please, save me! I've been trapped here for two weeks! Please! I'm willing to tell you everything I know."
Ouyang Tianxin was about to kick away this useless wretch who didn't even possess soul power.
Qian Fan stopped Ouyang Tianxin, feeling that there was more to this than met the eye. "Hold on. Let's hear what he has to say."
Qian Fan walked up to the dark figure and crouched down. "Who are you? Why were you trapped here?" The figure raised his head, revealing a terrified face. "My name is Li Yang. I'm an Explorer.
"Two weeks ago, I came to explore this forest, but I ran into a group of mysterious people..." Li Yang's voice trembled, as though he was still steeped in fear. "They had powerful soul power. I couldn't resist them at all.
"They brought me here, then disappeared... I've been trapped here ever since, without food or water..."
Qian Fan suddenly smiled.
"Tang San, come kill this man."
Tang San started and looked at Qian Fan in confusion, but still acted swiftly, gathering soul power in his palm and attacking Li Yang.
The next second, Li Yang turned into smoke and dispersed.
Everyone except Qian Fan was completely dumbfounded.
???????
"What... kind of reality-defying bullshit is this? A person can turn into smoke?????"
Even Ouyang Tianxin had to admit that, despite having lived for over a hundred years, he had never encountered anything this absurd.
Holy fuck, even this world's art style is starting to go abstract.
"What should we do now?" Ouyang Tianxin asked.
"We can only keep moving forward," Qian Fan said. "We have to leave this place."
Qian Fan led everyone onward with extreme caution.
"Be careful, everyone!" Qian Fan warned.
The five of them carefully made their way forward.
Tang San quietly activated his mustard seed realm Purple Demon Eye.
However, he saw nothing.
Suddenly, a melodious flute sounded ahead.
Qian Fan immediately grew wary and signaled for everyone to stop.
Yet the flute seemed to possess a magical power, drawing them onward.
Tang San and the other four walked uncontrollably toward the flute, while the scenery before their eyes kept changing.
When they came to their senses, they found themselves before a mysterious stone wall.
Six statements were carved into the wall.
Ouyang Tianxin stared at the six lines and read them aloud.
"Welcome to the Misty Forest. As guests, you must obey the following rules. Of course, you may choose not to obey them. The consequence will be a teeny-tiny, hundred-million-fold slap from tribulation lightning.
"1. Here, you can find countless exits, but only one is correct.
"2. Do not trust people in black who ask you for help.
"3. Do not rescue any strangers.
"4. Time here flows at a ratio of 1,000,000:1 compared to the outside world. Do not attempt to escape time's control.
"5. Some of the rules above are false rules. You may choose not to obey them."
No sooner had Ouyang Tianxin finished speaking than
the writing on the stone wall faded away, leaving an utterly ordinary wall.
"What does that mean?" Tang San asked in confusion.
"They seem to be rules." Qian Fan frowned, pondering them carefully. "But some of them contradict each other. It's hard to figure them out."
"Whatever the case, we still need to find an exit," Ouyang Tianxin said. "Maybe we'll understand what these rules really mean as we explore."
"I never expected the Misty Forest to be a rule secret realm. I once heard Xu Fangyuan say that the most terrifying thing about secret realms like this isn't the rules or the monsters, but their control over time. They constantly drain your soul power, making you gradually lose your perception of time. In the later stages, they even begin to drain your life force."
Qian Fan carefully recalled what Xu Fangyuan had told him.
Qian Fan's expression grew grave. "Everyone must be careful. Conserve as much soul power as possible."
Tang San and the others nodded and began advancing cautiously.
They moved through the mist, doing their best to find an exit.
Before long, they encountered an injured man in black. He begged them for help, but remembering the second rule on the stone wall, they very kindly sent him off to reunite with his great-grandmother.
Next, they saw a stranger caught in a trap. Although they felt a little bad, they still decided to obey the rules and send him off to meet his great-grandfather.
"Seriously? Does this have to be so fucking ridiculous? We've been searching for so long, and we haven't found so much as a thread of an exit."
Chen Sixue's soul power had never been particularly high, and she simply couldn't withstand such prolonged depletion.
"Enough! I'm losing my shit! Search and search, search and search-fuck! At this rate, we won't find that bullshit exit in eight lifetimes!"
As someone in the god realm, when had Ouyang Tianxin ever suffered such indignity? He, too, had completely lost his composure.
Qian Fan said, "Taotie Forest, I @#￥%...&*(@#￥#@￥@@##%￥)..."
Tang San approached Qian Fan and asked quietly,
"Brother Fan, why don't we call the Spirit Devourer King over?"
Only then did Qian Fan remember.
"Right! How did I forget we've got a free half-step Supreme God beast of burden?"
The Spirit Devourer King: "Achoo! Achoo! Who's talking about me behind my back?"
Qian Fan took out the Spirit Devourer King's Token.
"Wait, why can't I contact the Spirit Devourer King here? It's as though something is deliberately blocking me. Why is this happening?"
Could it be? Is the signal bad here??? Qian Fan thought instinctively.
The Token: "...So apparently I need a signal, too."
Qian Fan knitted his brows tightly. Why does all of this feel a little unreal? Where exactly are we now? Are we still in the Seven Star Domain? If so, why can't we contact the Spirit Devourer King???
After thinking for a moment, Qian Fan decided not to dwell on it for now. He put away the Token and told everyone, "Since we can't contact the Spirit Devourer King, we'll have to rely on ourselves. Maybe the exit is just a short distance ahead. Let's keep going and see."
"That's all we can do."
Tang San carefully hoisted Chen Sixue onto his back and followed Qian Fan and Ouyang Tianxin.
Seeing this, Qian Fan felt a slightly different pang in his heart. Yuan'er, wait for me. I'll definitely rescue you. I'll make every last person who dared kidnap you pay!
"Brother Xu Weiran, how long do you think they can survive?"
High in the sky, the Taotie Clan's foremost king, the transcendent god realm Soul Devouring King, asked Xu Weiran with a smile.
Xu Weiran smiled faintly.
"Since they submitted to Big Brother, they should have expected this day long ago. We've even secretly handed that little brat Xu Yuan'er over to Phoenix Domain Chief Feng Xian. Even Big Brother might not be able to defeat Feng Xian. Hahahahaha! Before long, we'll join forces to kill Big Brother and seize the Throne, then kill Feng Xian as well. When that happens, the entire Seven Star Domain and Phoenix Domain will be ours! Hahahahaha!"
The Soul Devouring King also burst into laughter.
Before you continue