Leaden clouds hung low overhead, with several rumbles of thunder echoing from the sky.
The black-robed figure crouched beside the corpse that had been severed in two, dry fingers roughly tearing open the cargo bag.
After rummaging through it thoroughly, the black-robed figure simply grabbed the remaining half of the bag and shook it violently, dumping everything onto the muddy ground.
The other attackers gradually gathered over as well, emptying out the contents of the other three cargo bags together.
Eight black-robed figures squatted on the ground, searching earnestly like they were looking for soybeans in a pile of rice.
Yet they still couldn't find what they were looking for.
The one in the center irritably crushed a crystal in his hand on the spot. The other black-robed figures on both sides quickly retreated—whether to avoid the flying fragments or their leader's rage, nobody could tell.
"Nothing... nothing... nothing at all! Why is there nothing?"
The suppressed voice carried fury, but what came out wasn't human language.
"The intelligence can't be wrong. These lowly humans couldn't have discovered the anomaly so quickly either. Something must be off!"
"My lord," a black-robed figure beside him stepped forward, carefully reminding, "Could it be on the bodies?"
"Then what are you all still wasting time here for? Go search!"
"Yes, yes!" Several black-robed figures scattered in panic to search the other three corpses.
Ten minutes later, all the attackers had returned to the initial ambush site, staring at the bloodstained arrow on the ground.
The leader picked up the arrow and said softly, "Elvina?"
One of the black-robed figures immediately knelt down, hastily defending herself: "Lord Rakus, I swear that arrow absolutely pierced through his heart!"
"Then how do you explain this?" The arrow was pressed against Elvina's forehead, as if it would pierce through in the next second.
Elvina didn't dare move, only trembling as she begged for one chance:
"He... he must have had some other life-saving method. I can track him! Please allow me to redeem myself through service, my lord!"
After a brief yet suffocating silence, the arrow plunged into the mud in front of Elvina.
"Hunt him down! If you can't retrieve what our superiors want, you can wait to become blood cattle."
Upon hearing the words "blood cattle," not just Elvina but all the other black-robed figures shuddered together, hastily responding:
"Yes!"
————
Pattering raindrops fell into the forest. Dylan's soles sank into the pile of rotting leaves, each step bringing up sticky mud.
He supported himself against a large tree, bending over to catch his breath, trying to calm his violently heaving chest.
After running frantically for over ten minutes straight, his stamina was nearly depleted.
Becoming a half-puffshroom hadn't improved his attributes, though his heart didn't hurt much anymore.
He hadn't detected any movement behind him—he might have already shaken off those attackers, or they might not have even noticed he'd escaped?
Dylan found a small slope with some cover, planning to shelter here from the wind and rain temporarily.
Actually, the raindrops falling on Dylan's face felt quite comfortable, but having his clothes and pants soaked would be miserable.
And he still had this book in his hands...
Right, this book!
Dylan brought the book before him, gently stroking the creases on its cover.
What exactly was written in this book?
When Dylan thought this way, he naturally opened it.
Blank—blank—blank—
The leather pages contained... nothing at all?
Dylan quickly flipped through to the end, but couldn't find even a single note.
So this was just a blank new book?
All that effort keeping it while escaping was wasted.
Dylan thought this, but suddenly noticed that somehow a line of delicate small characters had appeared on the page.
[Not going to keep running? You'll be caught up to!]
After reading the words clearly, Dylan instantly felt his neck turn cold.
This world indeed had its share of high-level magical items with a certain degree of intelligence.
Like magic rings that could autonomously cast shields, or golems that could identify intruders.
But almost all of them only possessed vague or relatively low-level intelligence.
When a creation could chat with you eloquently, then in its creation, one material was certainly indispensable—
A soul!
While soul-based items didn't necessarily equate to evil, given their cruel manufacturing methods, their creators were most likely not benevolent people, naturally making the possibility of creating dangerous items higher.
For a moment, several horror stories related to soul-based items flashed through Dylan's mind.
He immediately wanted to throw it away.
But that line of text made him extremely concerned.
What did it mean?
Were those black-robed figures still pursuing him?
In the end, Dylan opened the book again, but the words had changed!
[Six more minutes]
"What does 'six more minutes' mean?" Dylan asked the book directly.
As soon as he spoke, the previous text disappeared and a new line appeared.
[Five more minutes until they catch up here]
!!!
Not daring to delay, Dylan rushed into the rain to continue his escape.
He wasn't sure if this book was deceiving him, but in the current situation—better safe than sorry!
Rainwater struck his body, soaking his clothes, but couldn't wet the book in his hands. No water stains could penetrate its pages.
While running, Dylan opened the book, wanting to ask something more, but found there was already a line of text.
[You can't escape like this—run toward the southeast]
Dylan had no other choice now. He quickly identified the direction and fled southeast.
After fleeing for who knows how long, when his strength was about to be exhausted again, Dylan's feet suddenly found nothing beneath them.
"Waaaaah—"
His entire body suddenly lost weight, tumbling as he fell into the deep pit below...
————
"Was it here?"
At the edge of the deep pit, the black-robed figure called Rakus asked behind him.
Elvina stepped forward two paces to confirm:
"Yes, though I don't know why the prey suddenly gave up resting and chose to continue fleeing.
But judging from his final set of footprints, his stamina was completely exhausted. He probably lost his footing in a daze and fell down."
Looking sideways at the deep pit before him, Rakus leaped down without hesitation, with the other black-robed figures following closely behind.
At the bottom of the deep pit, Rakus landed gracefully, not even stirring up half a ripple at his boot's edge.
His subordinates' landing postures weren't nearly as elegant—several of them created mud craters in the ground, though fortunately none were foolish enough to splash muddy water onto Rakus's robes.
What appeared before the black-robed figures was a natural cave.
These natural caves in the wilderness were far inferior in size and depth to those in dungeons.
So there was no worry about the prey drilling inside and becoming difficult to find.
Moreover...
A trace of blood in the accumulated water at his feet caught Rakus's attention.
Not just in one spot—the blood trail extended faintly into the cave—it seemed the prey had been injured when falling.
Just by this bloody scent alone, Rakus could track the prey himself.
A crimson tongue slowly licked across his canine teeth: "Little insect, wasting so much of my time. I hope your blood won't be too unpalatable."
Comments