Chapter 24: A Night in the Forest

“You go first.” Xiao Yu handed the unconscious Jiang Xiaowen to Han Kexin, “Hurry up and take her to a safe place.”

Without hesitation, everyone fled along the same route. While Xiao Yu, Wang Chao, and Jin Shi were responsible for blocking the rest of the monsters who were less affected by Xiaowen’s skill.

Wang Chao span with the huge battle axe in his hands as it let out a series of violent wind sounds. As a result, the saber-armed beasts nearby did not dare to approach easily. Jin shi’s right hand quickly turned into rock, and he held a huge shield in his left hand, resisting the attacks of multiple beasts by himself. The saber-armed beast was a peak elementary-level monster. It was tough to deal with if you were on your own, and so as the two of them complemented each other with one attacking and the other defending, they could barely resist one or two monsters with their cooperation. Finally, Xiao Yu forced some of the injured monsters to flee, and the three of them retreated when the others had run far enough.

Saber-armed monsters were more threatening inside the forest, and they just wandered around, as they had no sense of territory, relying on their agility and ferocious nature to roam and hunt in the woods. In addition, they were creatures that lived in groups, ranging from as few as five or six to hundreds or perhaps a few hundreds. When this huge number of monsters approached, it would feel like locusts were crossing the border; even first and second-order monsters would have to avoid them temporarily.

This bunch of saber-armed beasts numbered around fifteen. If Xiao Yu was in his best condition and Han Kexin and the others wholeheartedly assisted him, they could barely deal with the monsters, though at least half of the others would die. And so, it was not a rational decision to fight it out, especially now that Xiao Yu’s body was covered in scars while his usage of the ‘eyes of insight’ was nearing its limit.

Fortunately for them, the monsters’ assault just now was mainly to obtain prey; they did not just kill for the sake of killing as some other creatures do. Therefore they will not pursue their prey as aggressively. Especially after killing four individuals, the monsters were too hungry to give up the prey they had just slain just to chase the others.

Everyone escaped as smoothly thanks to the monsters’ hunting practices, and the crisis was finally resolved, while the over twenty people had already run more than ten miles away. Wang Chao released his berserk state and sat down, panting. He had almost a dozen scratches on his body, many of which were potentially fatal. Jin Shi had several injuries as well, but his situation was much better.

“Blood Sacrifice!”

Han Kexin inserted her hand into the body of a sika deer the others had hunted, sucking out all of its blood in an instant. Countless blood particles surrounded her, forming a red mist. When she drew her white hand, the blood covered Wang Chao and penetrated into the wound on his body. The gaping wounds were gradually closing, and alhough they did not completely heal, they did stop bleeding, at least.

Xiao Yu supported Han Kexin, who was standing unsteadily, “This is enough, don’t force yourself; you are also at your limit.”

Han Kexin asked: “In the battle just now, we lost four more people. There are probably some saber-armed beasts on the path toward the cave. What should we do now?”

“It’s already getting late, and we don’t have any other choice.” Xiao Yu turned around and said, “Captain Huang, how far are we from the police station? To avoid those creatures, we can only go there first.”

When the policeman surnamed Chen heard this, he became overjoyed. After the battle just now, he and Huang Jianmin thoroughly understood the fighting power of this group of people. The weakest among them was probably several times stronger than ordinary people, and the strength of the four individuals, including Han Kexin, with their unusual special techniques, was even more powerful than that. As for Xiao Yu, his ability was certainly very strong, although he could not gauge what it was; even so, it can be inferred that this person’s strength was significantly greater than the other four. He was the strongest of them all, so it came as no surprise that he could become their leader.

This is simply a group of monster-like people!

Huang Jianmin thought before he started identifying their position. He then pointed in a certain direction and said, “If we take this route, it will take us about three to four hours.”

Han Kexin frowned and said: “There are lots of people waiting for us in the cave; if we don’t go back in time…”

Xiao Yu shook his head and replied, “We simply have no choice. The battle just now made too much noise, and some nearby monsters will definitely get attracted to this place. That area is no longer safe. Even if we take a detour and connect with the original road, we’ll still be in danger. We can only try to find a relatively safer place to hide for now, as to let everyone rest. Also, there must be some firearms and ammunition in the police station, which can help us repel most monsters. Don’t worry; the cave has enough food to last them for several days. I also believe in Du Tao’s abilities to control the situation.”

Han Kexin sighed, “This seems to be our only option.”

“There isn’t much time to waste; let’s go.”

Xiao Yu sliced off the two deer legs and a few chunks of deer meat with a kitchen knife and placed them in the space ring. Then, he carried Jiang Xiaowen, who was still in a coma on his back. After resting for a while and recovering their stamina, they immediately set off in the direction of the police station. Right now, they had to race against time since the wilderness was scariest underneath the darkness of the night. Because if they delayed till nighttime, there would be countless creatures haunting them, creatures even more terrifying than saber-armed beasts.

There wasn’t much water or food left as the thirsty, tired, and weary individuals trekked through this super gloomy wilderness. Moreover, several people’s wounds have been suppurated, making them feel dizzy and weak. If this situation persists, their conditions will deteriorate rapidly.

However, that was nothing compared to what he was most worried about, which was getting lost!

Though it still happened. In the beginning, everyone was still moving in the right direction, but as time passed and dusk gradually fell, the surrounding fields slowly dimmed. At this time, it was not that easy to judge their direction. It was a challenging procedure to go through the forest, to begin with, and oftentimes, because of some impassable obstacles or dangerous creatures, you get forced to change your route, and the more you change it, the more unfamiliar the forest gets. Gradually Huang Jianmin started to suspect that something was wrong.

The night was like a shadow that lingered and confused everyone’s hearts. The roars of unknown beasts have been dimly echoing in people’s ears, making them feel extremely nervous.

Han Kexin was already sweating hard, with a few strands of pink hair contracted by sweat on her forehead. Her pale face was bloodless, and her whole body was covered in dead leaves and scattered twigs. There was a green spear-like weapon in her hand, approximately seven feet long, relatively thin, and shaped like a green bamboo. It had some aesthetic appeal to it; however, the tip was incredibly sharp, indicating that it was a deadly weapon made especially for battle.

It was the reward she got after slaying a saber-armed beast.

Xiao Yu found a low-lying safe area and spoke, “It’s getting dark soon. We can’t get to the police station in time, so it’s better to find a safe place to hide for now. This place is not bad; we’ll spend the night here first. You all fill your stomach and get enough rest.”

At this time, everyone was exhausted, and no one raised any objections. Xiao Yu and Wang Chao cut down several big trees and laid them around the low-lying land as a screen for cover. Then they started a bonfire. They used a few broken pots previously found in the Goblin village to fill water, put a few pieces of sliced ​​deer meat, sprinkled a handful of salt, added some non-toxic fungi and wild vegetables, and then brought everything to boil directly above the fire.

Xiao Yu deliberately went off to the woods and found a plant with huge leaves. This was a perennial plant, similar to Plantago, but with larger and stronger leaves that can be cut off with a sharp knife and stacked into small containers which can be used as bowls for the meat soup.

This was already a rare delicacy in this cruel and wild world.

With the smell, it didn’t take long for Jiang Xiaowen to wake up as well.

“Are you awake?” Han Kexin, who was taking care of Jiang Xiaowen, helped her up by supporting her back, “Drink some soup so that your physical strength can recover faster; it’s a bit cold at night; drink some to get a little warmer.”

Jiang Xiaowen was very weak and obediently drank a few sips of soup. The taste was light and a bit fishy, ​​but it was not bad. She leaned on Han Kexin, her voice hoarse: “Is it dark already? Teacher Han, why are we still in the forest? Where’s Xiao Yu? Why can’t I see him?”

Han Kexin pointed to Xiao Yu, who was making the soup, “He’s there. Don’t worry; we’ll be fine. You’ve overused your skill today, and your spiritual power has been largely consumed. You must take a good rest to recover.”

When Jiang Xiaowen saw Xiao Yu, she felt a little safer. Just then, Han Kexin’s voice came to her ears again.

“Xiaowen, I have something for you.”

“Ah, this is…”

Han Kexin handed a long green bamboo-like spear to Jiang Xiaowen, “This is a medium gray weapon. It is on the same level as Xiao Yu’s withered bone knife. You have the advantage of flying, and you’re much faster than me. This weapon should be more valuable in your hands.”

Jiang Xiaowen shook her head, “No, how can I take it?”

Han Kexin stretched out her right hand, showing a red ring on her slender white finger, “I have this. This is a white weapon. It is very powerful, and it is enough for me.”

Xiao Yu put the last batch of meat soup into a bowl made of folded leaves and distributed it to everyone. He picked dozens of huge green leaves and returned with them to the low area. Then he took out some candies and chocolates from his space ring and distributed them to everyone. These snacks were high-calorie delicacies that could restore bodily strength rapidly.

The green leaves helped cover everybody’s scent, which could only hide them from a small number of night hunters, but most monsters with heat sensor organs or extremely sensitive sense of smell could still find them. Nonetheless, that was all he could do, and their fate was now in the hands of God.

Maybe nothing wrong will occur overnight, and they will see the dawn of the next day again and, luckily, survive.

And perhaps after this night passes, the people here will all turn into cold corpses and be buried inside monsters’ bellies.

Anything could happen……

When the night totally engulfed all the land, there were bursts of insects in the surrounding woods, and there appeared to be a few monsters fighting in an unknown location in the distance, with a distinctly audible roar echoing throughout the forest. The twenty or so individuals sheltering in the low area were covered in thick and huge leaves, yet they couldn’t sleep no matter what.

Policeman Xiao Chen tightly held a beautiful heart-shaped crystal necklace, looking at the night sky through the gaps between the dense sticks and leaves.

Huang Jianmin was resting next to him but couldn’t sleep as the faint moonlight shone on an object in his hands, a somewhat damaged photo of a charming cute boy who was only six or seven years old and smiling—it was his only son.

Jin Shi, who was slightly injured, as well as other relatively healthy individuals, were all in charge of the night watch. They dared not to be careless, and their nerves were always tense. Even the slightest disturbance made them nervous.

Fortunately for everyone, the night seemed to pass peacefully.