Chapter 63: Dark King
Old Bal held the animal hide map in both hands, a map his ancestors had obtained with blood and life.
The black mist around the Black Forest did not dissipate for the first time. Within specific periods, this black mist would vanish for a time, ranging from three to five days at the shortest, to half a month at the longest.
The intervals between each disappearance of the black mist were very long. Coupled with the increasingly backward civilization of the Yasman tribe, this led to the loss of information. In later generations, knowledge was passed down only by word of mouth. Added to this was the emergence of the insect race, which drastically shortened the lifespan of the Yasman people. So by Old Bal's generation, they only had a partial understanding of the situation within the Black Forest.
Cold disaster, the Undying, the Dark King, assimilation—this was all the information Old Bal knew. However, the Yasman tribe had recorded the terrain of the Black Forest quite clearly.
"We're not in danger for now."
Old Bal spoke.
"Not in danger?"
Umbrella Brother looked at the dagger on the ground, riddled with holes, his expression saying, 'Are you fucking kidding me?'
"Relatively speaking."
Old Bal's words made Umbrella Brother and Little Confused's hearts tighten. If this wasn't considered dangerous, what would they encounter later?
"Roar!!"
Just as they were talking, a roar came from the distance.
"What... is that?"
Little Confused swallowed hard. Even the usually lively Bubu Wang tucked its tail between its legs.
"If I'm not mistaken, that should be the roar of the Undying. Let's go. That's what we'll be facing."
Old Bal's eyelids drooped. He knew the Black Forest better than the others, so he was already prepared to die.
Although Umbrella Brother was a bit uneasy, he still walked at the very front. That was the responsibility of the main tank.
Su Xiao's position was behind Umbrella Brother, followed by Little Confused and Bubu Wang, with Old Bal bringing up the rear.
The team quickly advanced deeper into the Black Forest. Moving fast was dangerous, but they had no choice. Although Old Bal said there was enough time, they couldn't take the risk. If they couldn't leave the Black Forest before the Primordial Life Force ran out, even Su Xiao would die. After half an hour of erosion, a death judgment every five seconds—what a desperate situation that would be.
The team stopped after advancing for ten minutes. The reason was a group of 'rhinoceroses' ahead.
Although it was uncertain whether these were actually rhinoceroses, this animal looked similar to a rhino, only larger in size.
A herd of over three hundred rhinos was gathered together. These rhinos were nibbling on the tender grass on the ground, occasionally lifting their heads to look around, their ears perked up.
The more Su Xiao looked at this herd of rhinos, the stranger he felt. Rhinoceroses don't have many natural enemies, so they usually appear lazy. But these rhinos were different.
"Should we go around them? A herd this size is a bit troublesome."
Umbrella Brother's suggestion was reasonable, but Su Xiao directly walked out from the bushes where they were hiding.
All the rhinos raised their heads to look at Su Xiao, stopping their eating, their large eyes filled with panic.
Su Xiao continued forward. If this were on Earth, the rhino herd might have charged at him.
An unexpected situation occurred. The rhino herd scattered and fled like startled deer, showing no intention of fighting Su Xiao.
Su Xiao hadn't drawn his blade or released his aura. He stood before the rhino herd with the presence of an ordinary person.
"These rhinos are so timid."
Little Confused also stood up from the bushes, with a few leaves still on her head.
"These might be animals at the very bottom of the food chain, similar to rabbits or deer on Earth."
This wasn't good news. This distorted ecological environment indicated that this place was very dangerous.
After advancing for half an hour, the surrounding trees gradually became sparse, and a tall stone wall appeared ahead.
The stone wall was grayish-brown, with an uneven surface. This wall had been built by intelligent beings, weathered by time into its current state.
This was a ruin, littered with rubble and half-collapsed round stone pillars.
Entering the ruins, the group spread out a bit to check the surroundings.
"Come over here."
Old Bal's shout came. The group gathered towards him.
Old Bal crouched in front of a low stone tablet. Faintly visible on it were words, but they were too blurry to read clearly, only a small part could be made out.
"What does it say?"
Although Su Xiao didn't recognize the script, he had seen this type of writing before. It was the Yasman people's script.
"Thirteenth Star, Cold, Experiment, Failure..."
Old Bal shook his head. "The writing is too blurry. I can only make out these."
This information was useless. The group spread out again.
Five minutes later, they regrouped at the other end of the ruins and continued deeper into the Black Forest.
"Any information to share?"
Umbrella Brother was still walking in front, steam rising from the gauntlets on his hands.
"No."
Su Xiao was constantly on guard.
"..."
No one behind spoke.
"Little Confused! Little Confused!"
Umbrella Brother called out twice.
"Huh?"
Little Confused, who had been lost in thought, looked at Umbrella Brother in confusion.
"Any findings?"
"No."
Little Confused scratched her head and smiled apologetically.
"Woof, woof woof woof~."
Bubu Wang barked a few times. Umbrella Brother and the others didn't understand what it meant.
"It says it smells a strange odor."
Su Xiao translated for Bubu Wang. Umbrella Brother and the others looked at Bubu Wang, then at Su Xiao.
"How do you understand what it 'says'—no, the meaning of its barks?"
Umbrella Brother and the others were amazed.
"Eye contact."
Su Xiao's expression was calm. Bubu Wang's meaning was easy to grasp, but it required a long-term relationship.
Old Bal at the back of the team shook his head, indicating he hadn't found anything.
The team became exceptionally quiet. Apart from the sound of stepping on dead branches and rotten leaves, there was no other noise.
Contrary to the imagined danger, apart from the initial poisonous insect, the team had encountered no danger in three hours of delving deep into the Black Forest.
At first, they could still hear animal roars or occasionally see wild beasts running past. These beasts all had one characteristic: they were inedible. Having survived the erosion of the Black Mist Source, their bodies contained varying degrees of toxins.
After advancing for four hours, the surroundings became even quieter. There wasn't even the sound of wind. It could only be described as so quiet you could hear a pin drop. In this silence, Su Xiao could clearly hear everyone's breathing.
The veins on Umbrella Brother's forehead bulged. The current situation was worse than if one or two beasts had attacked. He was under immense psychological pressure.
"Fuck."
Umbrella Brother cursed under his breath, his eyes bloodshot.
Under this torment, the team advanced five hours into the Black Forest.
"There's more and more."
Su Xiao suddenly spoke. Little Confused behind him flinched in fright.
"Scared... scared me to death. Don't suddenly speak like that."
Little Confused wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, pressing her chest in lingering fear.
"More and more of what?"
Umbrella Brother looked at Su Xiao with bloodshot eyes.
"Things following us around. Why else do you think it's so quiet? Those things scared away the beasts."
Su Xiao placed his hand on the hilt of his blade. His perception was the most sensitive, so he was the first to notice the anomaly around them.