Dan Chen looked towards the depths of the forest. He felt they hadn't explored everything yet. Besides the Blood Pupil, there were other things in Ping Han Ridge, and one of them might be the one controlling the entire place.
"You guessed right. I can feel it too. I, the Human-Faced Spider, the Ghost Mosquito, the Man-Eating Ape, and even the Blood Pupil are just residents of Ping Han Ridge."
"Residents?"
"Yes. Since we are residents, how we arrived here is worth pondering."
Dan Chen turned back and smiled, "You ponder such complex issues too?"
The Skeletal Man yawned, "Fairly well. Thinking about it when I have nothing else to do is good for the mind and body, lest my brain rust from disuse."
"Captain, shall we continue deeper?"
Jun Ci shivered. The Blood Pupil alone was terrifying enough. He couldn't imagine what kind of monstrous being lived at the end of the forest.
"Yes, I feel like things aren't entirely resolved. We must go into the depths of the forest."
Dan Chen nodded.
The Skeletal Man chimed in, "No need to be too scared. The creatures inside might not be more powerful than the Blood Pupil. The Blood Pupil is indeed a resident here, but it came on its own, in a parasitic state. Even if it wanted to leave, other creatures wouldn't stop it."
This indeed gave the few people some reassurance. They breathed a sigh of relief and continued deeper.
By now, the sky was a clear azure. The pressure from the Blood Pupil had completely dissipated, and their footsteps felt much lighter.
After walking for about ten minutes, there were no strange creatures around, not even a mosquito or an insect. It was eerily silent.
Yet, Dan Chen felt something was wrong.
There was wind around, but the leaves on the trees and the grass seemed frozen, not moving at all.
"True Sight!"
After activating True Sight, the scene before Dan Chen's eyes changed dramatically.
They had been walking in circles the entire time?!
That's right. Dan Chen felt a hard sensation under his feet. Around them was a crystal in a square shape, displaying images of trees and grass. These things were fake. They had never left the crystal, just walked in place. If this continued, not only would going further be impossible, but even returning would become difficult.
"Everyone stop!"
"Captain?"
Ignoring the astonished gazes of the others, Dan Chen used his electromagnetic cannon and blasted it fiercely at the crystal beside him.
"Crackle—"
Under everyone's stunned eyes, the "trees" beside them began to show spiderweb-like cracks under Dan Chen's electromagnetic cannon. The cracks spread, quickly filling the entire crystal.
Only then did they realize they had been trapped in this small space the entire time, never leaving.
"Bang!"
With a shattering sound, everything around them returned to peace. The sky was azure, the plants lush, and a gentle breeze rustled the numerous green plants with a "swish-swish" sound.
"We were trapped just now?"
"It seems so."
"Damn it! When will this end?"
Mi Le cursed loudly.
This move was indeed insidious. If Dan Chen, who could see through illusions, wasn't with the team, they would likely all be trapped and die here.
Dan Chen looked ahead. A silhouette gradually appeared before his eyes.
It was the back of an animal, resembling a raccoon. It seemed to be dozing, its small body swaying like a roly-poly toy, yet never quite falling over.
"It's a Baku."
Dan Chen breathed a sigh of relief. This creature generally had little offensive capability. It probably spent its entire life in a state of slumber, living out its life in dreams.
However, the Baku had a characteristic: it could inadvertently drag people into its dreams or bring its dreams into the real world, unintentionally attacking people.
For example, the circular crystal they had just encountered was actually a form of unintentional attack by the Baku.
"We can just go around it. Be careful not to wake it."
"Okay..."
The group proceeded cautiously, even looking at the fallen branches under their feet and deliberately avoiding stepping on them.
The front of the Baku was also very cute, making the eyes of the girls in the team sparkle. They were almost reaching out to hug it.
After walking further away, Dan Chen's expression relaxed slightly.
"There are too many of these strange things here!"
"It seems the Baku was also inadvertently teleported here in its dream state, similar to my situation."
This was easy to understand. Baku had been immersed in dreams since birth, essentially spending their entire lives dreaming. This meant staying in one place for their entire lives was common for the Baku species.
Not to mention the Baku, even the Skeletal Man, judging by the little girl behind Dan Chen, was quite a laid-back race. If they found a good spot, they'd want to stay there forever. How could they have traveled so far to settle in Ping Han Ridge?
Dan Chen sneered, "Which means, something teleported all of you here in one go?"
"It's possible. And that thing might have had some appeal to the Blood Pupil as well, otherwise the Blood Pupil wouldn't have chosen such a remote place."
The Skeletal Man nodded in agreement.
So the question arose: what kind of creature possessed such immense power to teleport so many strange beings to this place?
Dan Chen's curiosity grew.
"Dan Chen, is it possible that what teleported them wasn't some kind of heretic or bizarre creature, but an object?"
Qi Qing guessed.
Dan Chen nodded, "It's not impossible, but we'll only know when we see it."
Who was it that discovered the real estate company and Ping Han Ridge, and then lured them here with a photo?
Was it to put them to death, or to make them discover something?
Dan Chen was not only curious but also puzzled, wondering who the person behind all this was.
"Ah... you guys, look ahead. It seems there's no more road."
Qin Nanyuan exclaimed in surprise.
Dan Chen blinked and looked ahead.
Indeed, a thick wall blocked their path. It seemed they had truly traversed the entire Ping Han Ridge.
"No way? We haven't discovered anything yet."
"We're still some distance from that wall. Let's keep walking and see."
Dan Chen didn't intend to turn back just yet. He led the group slowly towards the wall.
As Dan Chen had guessed, the thick wall wasn't as simple as it looked. In the center of the wall, a small box was embedded.
It was a small iron box, carved with swirling dragon and phoenix patterns. Facing Dan Chen was a dark red button.
Dan Chen's eyes narrowed.