"Hoo... hoo..."
When everyone ran outside, Qin Nanyuan directly released fireballs and burned them to ashes.
"Holy crap... what were those things?"
"Vampire bats, a type of heretic."
Duan Chen panted heavily, his hands on his knees.
"This damned place is too creepy. I didn't even notice when we walked in."
"Me neither... I was too focused on walking."
"That..." Hai Ren scratched his face.
"What is it?"
No one could hear her except Duan Chen.
"Didn't you just blame me for not reminding you in time? Well, I'm reminding you now. Your situation is not good. Do you want to look around?"
"Ah?"
Duan Chen froze and looked up.
It was one thing to not look, but as soon as he did, he swore.
"Holy crap!"
The others followed his gaze, their eyes widening.
"Why... is it dark?"
"Something's wrong! It was daytime when we came in!"
But in the sky now, it was clearly deep blue!
The few of them dared not think further. Qi Qing simply sat on the ground and wailed, "What in the world is going on?"
"It's an illusion."
Duan Chen used his ancient scripture ability to connect everyone's minds, allowing them to hear Hai Ren speak.
"An illusion?"
"But it's so realistic! There are even bugs."
Duan Chen was no stranger to illusions, as Apostle No. 07 was a master of illusions, weaving a web of deception that made it impossible to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
However, even he couldn't believe it was an illusion now.
Everything was too real!
Even when Duan Chen activated his True Sight, he couldn't see anything!
He activated God's Eye, and all he saw was that giant, bloodshot eye.
"That thing you saw earlier was the Blood Pupil. I suspect it's the one that commands this forest."
"Blood Pupil? What does it do?"
"Many things. How would I know the specifics?"
"Captain, what do we do now?"
They couldn't even determine their location, let alone which direction to go.
Duan Chen glanced behind him. It was a deep cave. They must have entered through another opening and come out of this one.
"Keep moving forward."
Duan Chen led the group forward. This time, they had learned their lesson. They would look around every so often to avoid falling into traps and ending up in bat caves like before.
"Captain!"
Qin Nanyuan suddenly stopped.
"Look ahead!"
Duan Chen looked intently.
Before them, a strangely shaped ape suddenly appeared.
The ape's fur was pure black. Its chest was ripped open by something, oozing a light gray, foul-smelling, sticky fluid. It held a human head in its hand and glared at Duan Chen and his group.
"It's a cannibal ape."
Duan Chen looked at the human head in its hand. This creature was actually provoking them, throwing the mangled, half-eaten head towards them.
He glanced at it and thought it might be one of the villagers from Pinghan Village.
"Attack!"
Duan Chen never hesitated when it came to killers.
"Yes!"
The cannibal ape was incredibly agile, dodging every attack with ease. It swung from branches and soon landed in front of Duan Chen.
"Sequence 016: [Fae Law!]"
Duan Chen roared. A faint golden light shot from his fingertips, piercing directly through the cannibal ape's head.
"Roar..."
The cannibal ape, with its mouth wide open to attack him, hadn't expected Duan Chen to act so suddenly. It died with hatred in its eyes and fell to the ground.
"Hee hee—hee hee—"
More cannibal apes began to appear in their field of vision.
The battle was inevitable!
"Engage!"
"Fire Dragon!"
"Unwilling Heart Sword Technique, First Form: Sever!"
"Sequence 012: [Pseudo·Railgun!]"
A kaleidoscope of colorful lights erupted in the forest. After a hard-fought battle, these detestable cannibal apes were finally wiped out.
"Oh—quite impressive."
Hai Ren said lazily, perched on Duan Chen's shoulder.
"Why didn't you help just now?"
Duan Chen glared at her helplessly.
"I followed you to enjoy myself, not to work."
Duan Chen felt hopeless. Why did he always find her twisted logic so reasonable?
The ground was littered with ape corpses. Mi Le, Qi Qing, and Sheng Chen, whose abilities were not suited for combat, had spent the entire battle dodging and hiding. They were now utterly exhausted.
Buzz!
Duan Chen suddenly stood up!
It was back! That feeling of being watched!
Why so frequently?
Was it the Blood Pupil? Had they been under its gaze from the very beginning?
Was it monitoring their every move?
Duan Chen sat on the ground, his mind racing.
"Don't be scared. Though I am quite scared too."
Duan Chen gave a bitter smile.
It was a primal fear, how could he not be afraid?
"If you've rested, let's go."
They continued to advance. The further they went, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. Duan Chen had initially not wanted to turn on his flashlight, fearing it might attract stronger heretics. But now, the darkness was so dense that they could barely see their hands in front of their faces. This made them more vulnerable to attack, so they had no choice but to turn on their flashlights to illuminate their path.
"Brother Duan Chen... do we really have to go further in?"
"I just feel... so scared?"
Most of the people in the group were Spirit Hunter agents. Even if the three of Qi Qing weren't, they had experienced strange events before. They shouldn't be so scared, but for some reason, that fear lingered in their hearts, unable to dissipate.
Even Duan Chen felt a sense of pressure.
"Shh... let's keep moving."
Duan Chen's voice was hoarse, indicating that he too was under considerable psychological strain.
If they stayed in this environment for too long, he felt he would easily be driven mad.
"Pat!"
Suddenly, the surroundings felt empty, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, causing them to involuntarily sigh in relief.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Only then did they realize they were soaked in cold sweat.
"What... what exactly is going on?"
"Look ahead."
Hai Ren's voice was no longer lazy, but much more serious.
Ahead, a giant eyeball floated in the air, as tall as a tree. In its gaze, Duan Chen felt a profound sense of disdain!
He was almost certain that it was this eyeball that had been watching him just now!
Could this be the Blood Pupil that Hai Ren had spoken of?
Under its gaze, they couldn't even stand up straight, their heads tilted back as they looked up at the giant eyeball!
Duan Chen swallowed, his fear reaching its peak at this moment!
He had never been so afraid before!
Even Hai Ren shrunk her neck back, hiding behind Duan Chen, afraid to look directly at the eyeball. Her long body trembled slightly.
What a terrifying gaze!