Feeling the earth tremble, Alger's heart tightened Gehrman Sparrow and spoke through his actions.
The wind suddenly howled around him, making it easier and faster for him to run to the side.
Alger did this directly because he was worried that Gehrman Sparrow might suddenly go mad and decide to hunt the terrifying creatures lurking in the dark cave. In that case, even if he won in the end, it would definitely be extremely detrimental to the subsequent exploration.
As an experienced " Sailor," he knew that decisive action was persuasive and contagious, capable of unconsciously leading or imitating those who had not yet made a decision.
Seeing this, Klein secretly breathed a sigh of relief, abandoned the discussion about politeness, and started running towards the side and back of the " The Hanged Man ".
Then, he felt a gust of wind blowing from behind and under his feet, pushing and lifting him forward to catch up. This significantly reduced the gravity he had to overcome and gave him extra momentum, instantly doubling his speed!
With a whooshing sound, Klein and Alger ran out of the sparsely wooded area and circled around to the dark, deep side.
Just then, their heartbeats suddenly slowed down, and they didn't seem to be doing strenuous exercise at all. Instead, they seemed to be in a state of resting in the afternoon the Sun and about to fall asleep.
Klein immediately felt a chill creeping into his body, an inexplicable sense of unease creeping in and seeping into him.
At the same time, he saw the light of Alger's lantern being gradually obscured by the huge black shadow rising behind him, and the corresponding scene naturally appeared in his mind:
Emerging from the dark cave was Serpent too large for a single person to encircle. This Serpent possessed enormous, dark green scales and exaggerated eyes that seemed to burn with flames.
Between its scales grew white feathers stained with pale yellow oil, and it even had a pair of thick wings that could be spread out on its back.
The Serpent half-crawled, half-flew, raising its body to coil around a tall, thick tree, its black forked tongue flicking out as it watched the two figures who had earlier intruded into the area.
Around it, trees were rapidly withering, weeds were all dead, countless corpses emerged from the soil, and unseen Specter clustered around it.
Feathered Serpent!
This is a Feathered Serpent!
In the Southern Continent, it is a sacred symbol, the emblem of the Einhorn Family, descendants of the Death Reaper!
Without pausing, Klein and Alger, enduring the chill in their bodies and the slowing of their heartbeats, rushed into the depths of the Black Forest with the help of the even fiercer winds, far away from the sparsely wooded area.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Their heartbeats gradually returned to normal, and the chill on their skin was slowly dispelled by the heat generated from the vigorous exercise.
Klein's Spirituality intuition told him that the danger had passed, so he slowed his pace, turned his head, glanced back, and calmly said to the towering, dark, and deep trees in the distance:
"A Feathered Serpent of Demigod- level power."
" Demigod level..." Alger also slowed down, and the veins on his forehead throbbed slightly.
He paused for two seconds, then let out a soft breath and said:
"Don't worry too much. The extraordinary creatures here are very territorial. Unless they want to hunt, they won't enter other areas, especially near the mountains. That Feathered Serpent shouldn't chase after us."
Klein nodded slightly, then said:
"The extraordinary creatures here are very powerful."
Alger withdrew his gaze and shook his head in response:
No, there are also many weak ones.
"I've been here at night before, but I've only found traces left by Demigod- level superhuman beings. I've never actually encountered one before. Today is the first time I've run into one head-on."
"These things mostly depend on luck; the probability of them happening again is not very high."
As a " Navigator ", calculation is an essential skill.
"Are you looking down on me, the King of Yellow and Black who holds the key to good fortune?" Klein thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, and said expressionlessly:
"Absolute judgments often lead to the opposite result."
This sentence, translated into Earth terms, means:
Don't make promises you can't keep!
Actually, if it hadn't been the Demigod- level Feathered Serpent, but rather one of its own kind at Sequence 5, Klein would have been happy to bully it. After all, with the Azik Copper Whistle in hand, any supernatural creature in the Death's Domain would have lost at least half of its combat power.
As for encountering Demigod- level extraordinary being, he wasn't too alarmed, because the Hanged Man had mentioned this issue before, and he had made the necessary preparations. The combination of the " Fate Siphon " charm, the three pages of Demigod- level extraordinary abilities in " Lemano's Travel Notes," " Groselle's Travels," and the " Travel " ability, while not necessarily enough for him to fight Demigod, was sufficient to help him create an opportunity to escape.
As long as he doesn't encounter Angel who also belongs to the Demigod realm... Klein silently added to his mind.
Hearing Gehrman Sparrow's words, Alger was quite surprised, because the mad adventurer clearly meant for him to be cautious and careful.
A guy who's both calm and crazy? Well, if he were just crazy, he certainly wouldn't be alive now... Alger looked up at the sky, trying to make out the blurry stars through the accumulated fog.
Two minutes later, he looked away and pointed in a direction, saying:
"Go this way."
Klein had already drawn his iron-black " Death Knell " revolver. Now, he let the muzzle hang naturally and silently followed Alger, his expression cold, calm, and composed, showing no sign of panic.
After walking for a while through the dark forest where the light was extremely dim, Alger suddenly stopped, glanced to his left, and said in a deep voice:
"If you walk a little further ahead, there will be a Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree. I want to try to deal with it myself first."
"You'll handle the second extraordinary creature we encounter; I won't get involved."
Unless you can't handle it alone... Alger swallowed the rest of his words.
He wasn't one of those " Hunter " you often encounter at sea; he wouldn't always lose control of his mouth and habitually say things that anger or upset others.
The matrix of the extraordinary material that "Miss Justice " needs... " The Hanged Man " has plenty of adventure experience too, knowing that sometimes honesty is more useful than concealment, and communication and discussion are more effective than scheming and plotting... Klein maintained Gehrman Sparrow's persona, nodding with a touch of refinement amidst his coldness:
"Good.
"If you can't handle it, it's best to ask for help; otherwise, I'll assume you're still holding on."
The style of the mad adventurer seemed different from that of the " Hunter," but in some ways they were surprisingly similar... Alger quietly took a breath, picked up the lantern, and continued on his way.
As they walked, they heard the faint tinkling of wind chimes, and immediately felt as if they were back home, relaxing both physically and mentally.
Klein keenly sensed that his vigilance and guard were irreversibly melting away; no matter how much he emphasized or repeated it in his mind, he could no longer tense up.
In that instant, he even wanted to move closer to the source of the wind chime's sound, believing that something he cherished and was very close to was there.
Because the distance was still quite far, the sound of the wind chimes came and went. Klein barely managed to control himself and turned his head to look at Mr. " The Hanged Man ".
Alger had lost his composure; his rugged face was now slightly red-rimmed, and it was unclear what he was thinking or what emotional state he was in.
I wonder what it would be like if Mr. " The Hanged Man " actually cried... It would be terrifying... Klein couldn't help but think.
At this moment, Alger spoke in a low, hoarse voice:
"Leave the rest to me."
As soon as he finished speaking, he put down the lantern and slightly turned the eerie ring on his left thumb, making the sharp, blood-stained protrusion even more prominent.
This is his magical item, the " Spirit Whip," whose side effect is that he suffers from a constant headache while wearing it, making him want to bang his head against the wall.
However, at this moment, the intense headache allowed Alger to maintain basic consciousness amidst the sound of the wind chimes, preventing him from being truly Hypnosis.
Sometimes, side effects can actually help the user... Alger sighed as he took a wooden box from a hidden pocket in his clothes and opened it with a snap.
There's a gray mouse in there!
Mr. The Hanged Man wanted to use rats as bait to distract the Hallucinatory Wind Chime Tree and then attack it? Not bad, he's well-prepared, with a detailed plan beforehand... As an experienced adventurer, Klein immediately grasped Mr. The Hanged Man's thought process.
Alger picked up the rat, gave it a shake, and his expression suddenly became a little strange.
The gray rat was no longer moving. It had lost its breath and body temperature and could no longer serve as bait!
During his encounter with the Demigod- level Feathered Serpent, Alger was on the edge of its gaze but quickly escaped, so the impact wasn't too great, and he recovered relatively easily. However, the gray rat he carried was just an ordinary species, lacking the strength and vitality of a serpent. It was barely affected and couldn't survive, dying instantly.
Dead... Dead... Mr. The Hanged Man should now understand a lesson: plans often can't keep up with changes... His luck was really bad... Seeing this, Klein's lips twitched almost imperceptibly; he wanted to laugh but dared not laugh out loud, afraid of ruining his persona.
Similar situations are rare even among experienced and meticulous " The Hanged Man " individuals.
Alger quickly composed himself, picked up the dead gray rat, and walked forward, while Klein bent down, reached for the lantern, and followed behind him at a leisurely pace.
The sound of the wind chimes grew clearer and clearer, possessing a power that calmed people down and made them want to run straight to the sound.
After walking a few more steps, Klein finally saw the strange tree.
Its brownish-green body is covered with numerous slender cracks, each containing a deep, dark interior that seems to harbor different eyes.
Hanging from the outstretched branches are iron-gray objects that resemble wind chimes, swaying on their own and making pleasant sounds. In the center of the branch closest to the trunk and at the top, a fist-sized, colorless, translucent fruit grows.
Alger stared at the spot, pressed his Adam's apple, and said in a deep voice to Gehrman Sparrow:
You'd better plug your ears and suppress your Spirituality.
P. S.: I'm currently participating in the Qidian anniversary celebration and have things to do all day, so I'm taking leave for tonight's chapter. Regular updates will resume tomorrow.