Chapter 701

The Uncle said, "In recent years, more and more people have entered the Fantasy Forest to find someone, but very few can be found. Only by sealing off the entire Fantasy Forest will it be possible to dig out some information from within."

"Then how do you plan to enter? You aren't professionals responsible for investigating this place, are you?" Lin Zhong cut straight to the point. The Uncle said, "Of course not. If you must say it, just consider us bored. When the forest is sealed, whatever is inside will reveal itself; there's no need for us to go investigate personally."

Did Ning Chen nodded: "That's easy to arrange. You could just have someone announce that this forest is sealed, solving everything at once and saving trouble."

"What you say sounds easy," the Sunglasses Man, who had appeared beside them at some point, interjected, "but the feasibility is zero. Such a vast forest doesn't belong to any country; how can you just seal it? Who will guard it then?" Did Ning Chen shrugged: "I'm just giving you a suggestion."

Did Ning Chen and this man couldn't get along; it was obvious that the Sunglasses Man and Lin Zhong were at odds, and Lin Zhong wasn't the type to waste energy arguing with strangers. So after Lin Zhong said that, he fell silent and said no more.

The Uncle's face looked worried: "So because of this, you're backing out and not going in?"

He was asking the captain of another team. That person looked the Uncle up and down a few times and said, "We feel it's not safe. It's already getting late; if we go in, we might encounter something unexpected. Therefore, we plan to set off tomorrow morning."

The Uncle turned to look at his teammates. Someone walked over to the Uncle and said, "Then we'll stay behind too. For safety's sake, we really can't go in today." The Uncle sighed. This was the worst option, but he had no choice.

Lin Zhong stood aside watching this scene and suddenly said, "Fine, if none of you are going in, then I will."

Everyone hearing this turned their heads instantly to look at Lin Zhong.

Did Ning Chen's expression was very relaxed, as if joking: "Isn't it just exploring? I love this kind of thing. Since I'm idle anyway, let me scout the path for you."

He claimed he was scouting the path, but in fact Lin Zhong didn't even bring a flashlight. The Sunglasses Man frowned first and said, "You? Scouting? Forget it." Lin Zhong heard the contempt in his words and merely laughed: "We haven't known each other long, have you? Your attitude really makes me think I offended you somewhere." The Sunglasses Man just snorted coldly and said nothing.

The Uncle tried to dissuade him, but before the Uncle could speak, Lin Zhong said first: "Don't worry about me; I've made up my mind. Besides, it's not completely dark yet; you can still faintly see the path. If you want to help me, lend me a flashlight."

The Uncle hesitated for a moment, then quickly took a flashlight out of his bag and handed it to Did Ning Chen.

Did Ning Chen caught the flashlight, pressed the switch, and a beam of light appeared instantly. The flashlight's battery must have been fully charged. Lin Zhong nodded to the Uncle and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, I should come out late at night. I don't know where you plan to rest; after I come out, I'll return the flashlight to you." The Uncle looked at Did Ning Chen and finally nodded.

Did Ning Chen took the flashlight, didn't pause even once, and walked straight toward the forest entrance.

His action stunned everyone present. Most people's gazes were fixed on Did Ning Chen, but Did Ning Chen seemed not to notice at all, continuing toward the forest entrance, leaving behind a very confident back view.

Yet no one warned Did Ning Chen to stay out. Most people watched Did Ning Chen as if watching a joke, their eyes filled mostly with pity, like looking at a poor person about to lose their life.

Did Ning Chen didn't care what they thought. After stepping into the forest, he looked up at the sky and found it was already late, though not yet too dark to see the path. In about half an hour, the sky would be completely dark, so Did Ning Chen chose to hurry forward while it was still light.

Did Ning Chen moved very fast. Although he wasn't running, in just ten minutes he had already covered the distance they had walked in half an hour before. The deeper he went into the forest, the less sky he could see.

Because the sky was blocked by layers of branches, the light grew dimmer and dimmer.

After walking another few dozen meters, it would already be time to use a flashlight, but Did Ning Chen's night vision was very good; this level of darkness wasn't enough to make him turn on the light.

The deeper Did Ning Chen went into the forest, the stronger the sense of unease in his heart became. He rarely felt such intense unease, because since his strength increased, he basically had sufficient means to deal with such situations.

But he heard some unusual sounds.

It wasn't the sound of wind blowing through leaves. If one had to describe it carefully, it sounded like someone making an extremely low hum with a very hoarse voice.

The reason Did Ning Chen could hear so clearly was partly because his hearing was good, and partly because this sound was very distinct in this forest.

Anyone who stopped to listen carefully could hear it clearly, especially someone with good hearing like Did Ning Chen.

Did Ning Chen possessed the ability to locate sound sources. He frowned and carefully searched for the source of the sound.

Finally, he tilted his head slightly and fixed his gaze on the south.

That sound was some distance from where he was standing. If he rushed from his current position toward there, it would probably take several dozen minutes.

Did Ning Chen sighed slightly in his heart and looked up again. The sky was now completely dark; even relying on his night vision, he might not be able to see the path ahead clearly.

He took a deep breath and finally turned on the flashlight.

But this would make his target too big. First, Did Ning Chen could confirm that what was hiding in this forest was neither gods nor ghosts, nor any beast, but humans.

And a large group of them.

That was why he had told the Uncle to retreat first; after all, they couldn't handle so many people.

Did Ning Chen choosing to enter the Fantasy Forest alone at night was already an extremely challenging thing. If it were anyone else, they would have deliberated repeatedly, but Did Ning Chen stepped into the forest without a second thought.

His action made everyone unable to understand, especially some viewers who weren't familiar with him, who said after Did Ning Chen stepped into the Fantasy Forest:

"Don't you think the streamer looks like a clown seeking attention? Knowing what happens in that forest, he still goes in to die."

"Looking at the streamer's appearance, he doesn't seem like someone who can walk out safely. Today might really be the last time we see the streamer; cherish every moment."

Others, though their words weren't so sharp, still revealed malice in their tone, making some who truly defended Did Ning Chen feel uncomfortable, so they couldn't help but start arguing.

Did Ning Chen naturally had no time to deal with this. He was concentrating on judging whether there were unknown risks around. He didn't choose to turn off the flashlight because Did Ning Chen could confirm that a group of people, not something else, had appeared in the forest.

Since humans were staying in the forest, in this environment there would inevitably be light. At that time, the opposite side might not discover Did Ning Chen, but Did Ning Chen would see them first.

While walking inward, Did Ning Chen couldn't help but glance up at the bullet comments. Just that look made him frown.

Did Ning Chen didn't care how others slandered him, but some people's words were too sharp; he wasn't a straw man with no temper at all. However, the environment had many restrictions. If he made a sound, even though people inside that distance couldn't hear anything, caution had always been Did Ning Chen's principle.

So Did Ning Chen said nothing, silently remembering the names of the few who spoke. When Did Ning Chen looked up at the bullet comments, his face happened to be facing the screen, creating an effect of eye contact with the isolated audience.

Did Ning Chen's eyes carried a hint of warning. It must be said that when he lowered his face and stared someone down, his intimidation was very strong. At least after that one glance, within a minute, those few haters didn't speak again.

As Did Ning Chen slowly approached the sound source, people outside the entrance also wanted to retreat.

Entering the forest was an extremely unwise choice, and sleeping not far from the forest entrance was also extremely unwise, because they simply didn't know what was hiding in the forest.

So some people moved outward. They brought plenty of camping equipment and could sleep on the ground anytime, but they needed to choose a good spot.

A so-called good spot first had to be close to the forest entrance but carry no risk. Several teams fought to find the best possible spot, but spots were somewhat hard to find, especially with many monks and little porridge.

The Uncle led his team to stop at a fairly good spot. At this time, he was so bored he became taciturn. After setting up the camping equipment, he crawled inside and didn't say a word to his teammates the whole way.

His teammates didn't think the Uncle would turn against them because of Did Ning Chen; after all, the two of them had been comrades-in-arms for several years.

So the Sunglasses Man crawled into the Uncle's tent; he was the one closest to the Uncle: "You haven't spoken much the whole way. What are you thinking about?"

Hearing this, the Uncle turned his head, looked at the person sitting beside him, then leaned back, supporting the back of his head with both hands and resting on the pillow: "Thinking about that kid we met before."

The Sunglasses Man wasn't too surprised; he had already taken off his sunglasses, revealing a ugly scar under his right eye: "I guessed you were thinking about that kid... Why bother? We've met many young people over the years; more of them died. He said he'd return late at night, but he might die inside."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," the Uncle said. "I got along quite well with that kid. He's one of the few in recent years who caught my eye. It would be a pity if he died."

"What can be done?" the Sunglasses Man said. "If he wants to die, no one can stop him. We'll just see if he can come back tonight."

"It's difficult," the Uncle shook his head, his expression somewhat regretful.

At that time, Did Ning Chen had gradually approached the place where the sound came from, but for some reason, those sounds were getting farther and farther from him. Just a moment ago they seemed right at hand, but after taking another step forward, those sounds became even quieter.

Hearing this, Ning Chen couldn't help but frown; it was too strange. The closer he got, the quieter the sound became. While puzzled, this also sparked some curiosity in him, turning his original intention of checking in at the Fantasy Forest into an exploration of the entire forest.

The system was somewhat surprised by this shift in him, yet it was also within expectations, so it spoke up proactively: "I can extend your check-in time for you. After the check-in time ends, the corresponding check-in interval will also be extended for you."

Ning Chen was still not entirely sure whether he should continue exploring; everything appearing in this forest held a strange attraction for him, and those eerie disappearances were indeed enough to make Ning Chen curious.

So finally, after thinking it over, he nodded and agreed to the system's proposal.

After all, he could extend his vacation later; why not?

At this moment, Ning Chen stood still in the middle of the forest, tilting his ear to carefully judge the direction from which the sound came. Ning Chen had always been very confident in his hearing; basically, he would not make mistakes when locating by sound.

But this faint pulling sensation surprised Ning Chen somewhat; he did not feel that his hearing had any problem.

Ning Chen chose to turn off the flashlight and judge the position from which the sound emerged even more carefully.

However, that sound grew quieter and quieter. It was already an extremely strange sound, and for some unknown reason, it vanished into the wind. Perhaps because the wind at night was very strong, that sound was drowned out by the wind.

In the end, Ning Chen still did not turn the flashlight back on; he relied on the sound to determine his direction of advance.

Finally, he stopped in the middle of a tree with particularly lush growth.

He truly could not hear any sound at all anymore; there was only the wind whistling past his ears.

That wind seriously affected his judgment. After failing to hear that sound, Ning Chen could only advance based on the direction from his previous memory.

But after walking for ten minutes, there was no result.

Ning Chen sighed; if he went forward any further, he estimated he would spend the whole night in this forest, after all, walking back would take a very long time.

If he wanted to sleep well, he had to go back and find a tent to rest. Ning Chen made up his mind: walk forward for another five minutes; if there was still no result, then he would head back.

Three hours later.

Ning Chen appeared outside the camp where everyone was resting.

Ning Chen's expression was somewhat complex because he truly had not found anything in the forest, so he could only choose to withdraw hastily.

607 returned to the crowd, explaining and notifying.

If he stayed any longer, he truly would not be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

There were people standing guard outside the tents; every team would send people to take turns standing guard, so the moment Ning Chen arrived at the camp with his flashlight on, someone had discovered his presence.

Among them, some did not know Ning Chen, so when Ning Chen appeared at the camp, the person on guard quickly woke up the others in their tent. Everyone from the various teams inside the tents woke up, and Ning Chen was also searching for the uncle's tent among a pile of tents.

So when Ning Chen was surrounded by people, he was even somewhat dazed.

The faces of those people surrounding him were written with scrutiny and examination; looking at him was like looking at a monster. Ning Chen understood that they had misunderstood; he shrugged and said, "Don't guess wildly, I am human... oh, just the one who entered the forest before."

Hearing Ning Chen say this, those people's vigilance relaxed somewhat, but someone still said guardedly, "How do you prove it? What did you encounter in the forest?"

Ning Chen said somewhat inexplicably, "Why should I prove it? There are no ghosts in Lin Zi; could they have swapped me out instead? First find the person I am looking for; I will explain the rest to you slowly later."

After Ning Chen finished speaking, he lifted his foot, stepped over the person closest to him, and wove between the tents.

Most of the people here had already woken up, but Ning Chen still did not see the uncle among these awake people, meaning the uncle very likely was still inside a tent and needed to be found one by one.

Thinking this, Ning Chen sighed, took a step, and arrived beside the few tents closest to him, scanning tent by tent face-to-face.