Nan Yue watched Li Jiao pulling at Song Sisi and spoke in a low voice. "She has a very reticent personality. She isn't the type to persistently try to persuade people like this."
Shang Xi had noticed it too, which was why she had declined early on and stayed by Nan Yue's side.
"But I just touched her. She's a living person."
This mission was far too strange, and Nan Yue didn't have the energy to worry about everyone else.
"Forget it. Just keep your distance."
Nan Yue and the others dispersed, beginning their preparations according to their previous assignments.
Zhu Xi Ning was in much better spirits today and actively tried to communicate with the villagers.
However, they found that the villagers' attitudes toward them had changed. Forget about getting straw raincoats, several villagers slammed their doors shut the moment they saw them.
"We can't really blame them. We certainly look like harbingers of misfortune..."
"A-Nan, do you think they know something is wrong with the village? Is it possible that they are the bosses?"
Nan Yue thought for a moment. "It's hard to say... Back in the last mission with Li Xue'er, I only caught on because I noticed a few inconsistencies. Otherwise, I wouldn't have realized there was a problem with her."
"But these villagers..."
Zhu Xi Ning understood her point. "I also get the feeling that they truly don't know what's happening. Their fear is very primal."
"Like in Multi-fortune Town, because they had committed sins themselves, they had things to hide. But these villagers only seem to have fear and resignation."
Nan Yue patted her hand. "It's useless to think about it now, but there will definitely be great danger tomorrow."
Nan Yue looked deeply at Zhu Xi Ning. "Stay close to me."
Zhu Xi Ning's smile stiffened for a second, but she quickly recovered. "Okay."
On the other side, Su Sheng was acting alone. He had been on decent terms with Liu Kai Xu, but ever since the latter sided with He Jiang, Su Sheng had chosen to move solo.
He didn't particularly like that old man.
Su Sheng wanted to find an opportunity to look inside the villagers' houses to see if there were any obvious clues they had overlooked.
However, the villagers weren't exactly friendly toward him. Considering what they had encountered over the past few days, Su Sheng could understand why.
He walked toward the edge of the forest. He was only a few steps away from crossing the insect-repellent circle, and he hesitated.
Was this insect-repellent circle actually useful?
If it was, then what had eaten Zhou Jie Feng at the very beginning?
Still, Su Sheng didn't dare take a reckless risk. After some thought, he went back to the house to get an oil lamp.
Since they were told this thing was for their use at night, it might have some specific purpose.
Su Sheng lit the oil lamp and carried it toward the forest.
He still remembered the stone temples made of small pebbles along the forest path. What exactly was inside them?
Moreover, one's heart always felt that everything originated from behind the village: the harvested cogon grass, the Ant-red Flower, the river...
Subconsciously, he didn't want to go there.
Su Sheng entered the forest.
The forest was very quiet. There were no bird calls or insect chirps. Because of the stifling humidity, there wasn't even a hint of a breeze, so not even the sound of leaves rustling could be heard.
Su Sheng followed the direction in his memory. After walking for about ten minutes, he reached the spot where the jeep had originally broken down.
In the forest, the car was actually slower than a person walking.
Su Sheng peered into the car. To his surprise, a powerful stench emanated from inside, and strange mucus could be seen in many places.
It was as if... something covered in slime had climbed into the car and rubbed against it.
Su Sheng's intuition began to scream. His concentration was at its peak as he used a twig to pick up a bit of the mucus to observe it.
The mucus wasn't corrosive. The texture reminded Su Sheng of saliva.
A tiger?
It didn't seem like one.
While Su Sheng was thinking, a movement suddenly came from behind him.
He whipped his head around, but saw only swaying tree shadows.
Something had been right behind him just now and then quickly darted away.
What was it!
Su Sheng lit the oil lamp, held it out in front of him, and pulled a dagger from his vest.
This was a tool he had purchased at a high price. As long as it hit the target, it was guaranteed to cause heavy damage.
Generally, the ghosts and monsters in missions couldn't be completely killed with tools, but wounding them enough so they couldn't give chase and buying time to escape was no problem.
This was also why he dared to come to the forest alone.
The surrounding bushes began to shake, as if something was circling Su Sheng at high speed.
Sounds came from the front, back, left, and right. Su Sheng felt like the thing was running circles around him.
Su Sheng took two deep breaths. He heard a faint rustling sound of something rubbing against the ground, accompanied by a wet, squelching sound that made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Clack, clack."
Listening to the sound, Su Sheng imagined in his mind what kind of thing could make such a noise.
A black shadow suddenly pounced from the side, bringing a foul, fishy wind. Su Sheng thrust the oil lamp forward. The thing instinctively paused for a moment, then lunged at him again.
It all happened too fast for Su Sheng to see what it was, but he was certain the oil lamp was indeed effective.
However, because it was nearing the end of the mission, its effectiveness was reduced.
He didn't hesitate any longer and stabbed the blade into the thing in front of him.
"Clack, clack."
Su Sheng didn't feel the sensation of the blade sinking into flesh. He looked down and found the dagger was stuck between two pieces of black chitinous shell.
Is it a bug?
Although the dagger didn't penetrate, it still emitted a flash of golden light, and the giant black insect in front of him was sent flying by the impact.
Su Sheng let out a long breath. He had no intention of going over to look. The important thing now was to run.
Su Sheng turned to leave, but as soon as he turned around, he saw a massive insect two people tall standing behind him.
He didn't know how long that insect had been stuck to his back. Its upper body leaned down slightly, bringing a bug-like face close to Su Sheng's.
Su Sheng froze completely. Looking at the thing before him, his heart felt like it was about to explode.
This wasn't a bug!
It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't...
What... what was this?
Why was there such a terrifying and disgusting thing in this world!
Countless limbs tangled together trembled slightly in the air, encased in semi-transparent slime, making a squelching sound.
Those limbs were covered in black chitinous shells that made a clacking sound as they collided during their writhing.
That giant bug face drew close to Su Sheng. Two long mouthparts were positioned on either side of his cheeks, and foul-smelling saliva dripped onto him.
Su Sheng stared fixedly at the thing in front of him, completely forgetting to breathe.
There were two hemispherical black orbs on the bug's face.
The orbs were densely packed with protruding, rotating...
Eyeballs.
...
At noon, everyone gathered to collect their food from a villager's house. Nan Yue still didn't eat much, but her complexion wasn't good either.
"What's wrong?"
Gu Xiang Kai was sitting right next to Nan Yue and noticed something was wrong immediately.
Nan Yue rubbed her stomach. "I'm so hungry..."
Gu Xiang Kai looked at the food in the bowl. "Even though this stuff is tempting and there are no side effects so far, you should still eat a bit less."
Nan Yue nodded. She understood, it was just... she was so hungry.
She ate the food in her bowl without tasting it, yet it felt as if she hadn't eaten anything at all. Her stomach felt completely empty.
Rate on N.U.
