Chapter 178: The Vanished Target

No matter what, Qin Chuan was still happy that his good friend had a bright future.

Oh right, how are you and Ai Mi doing?

He suddenly recalled Xiao Pang's partner in the Dream World and asked casually.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing that question, Xiao Pang suddenly fell silent.

A moment later, he gulped down the remaining sausage in one bite, his expression indignant: "Qin Chuan, hear me out, brother—never trust a beautiful female player in the Dream World!"

Qin Chuan: "... Ah?"

"Fake! All of it's fake!" Xiao Pang chewed the sausage, his expression growing ferocious: "I finally managed to get Ai Mi's real-world contact—guess what?"

"That Ai Mi in real life is a deviant gay man! His chest hair is thicker than my leg hair!"

"He even said he likes me and wants to continue developing in real life!" Saying this, Xiao Pang couldn't help rubbing his arms, goosebumps popping up.

"Pfft~" Qin Chuan burst out laughing.

A moment later he finally held back his laugh, sympathetically patting Xiao Pang's shoulder: "What's your situation now? You're not teaming up with him, are you?"

"Of course not." Xiao Pang shook his head like a rattle drum, "Just then the person in charge of Dragon Gate Camp contacted me, and I joined the camp."

"That's fine." Qin Chuan gave a slight nod.

Given Xiao Pang's strength and personality, he should do very well in Dragon Gate Camp.

When the preparation bell rang, the two tossed their wooden tags into the nearby trash can and walked side by side back to the classroom.

As the teacher entered the classroom, Xiao Pang once again slipped into a focused study state.

Qin Chuan, meanwhile, stared absentmindedly out the window.

Speaking of which, Yue Li's avatar in the Dream World is also quite pretty.

I wonder what she looks like in real life? Xiao Pang's experience flashed through Qin Chuan's mind, and he sharply shook his head.

Impossible, absolutely impossible! Yue Li could never be a smelly oaf! —'Clang—'

'Ding—'

The clash of metal echoed across the field shrouded in night; Qin Chuan panted, blade in hand, he swiftly retreated, dodging Ji Huai's sweeping heavy halberd.

"Ten moves." Ji Huai lowered his weapon, "Congratulations, you managed to last ten moves against my full-force strike."

"Teacher Ji, what stage am I at now?" Qin Chuan chuckled, a hint of pride on his face.

During the evening skill sessions, his progress speed was lightning fast.

Of course, this is closely related to the improvement in his overall physique after practicing the Unnamed Breathing Method.

"Maybe minor achievement." Ji Huai's face remained calm, "Bullying beginners is still fine."

Qin Chuan's smile froze.

Wanting to hear a word of praise from Ji Moyang's mouth is too hard.

"Teacher Ji, can I still follow you to learn from now on?" Qin Chuan suddenly spoke up.

Today was the school's final cultural class, and also the last session of both the Supernatural Theory and Supernatural Combat classes.

Afterwards, if he didn't come to school, there would be no more of Ji Huai's skill sessions.

But Qin Chuan still wanted to continue learning.

Weapon technique isn't just about using weapons; it's also about enhancing combat proficiency. Now Qin Chuan strikes much more cleanly when slaying demons, and Ji Huai deserves the credit.

"The Special Affairs Group Headquarters has a training ground, open from noon to one p. m. each day."

Hearing this, Qin Chuan's eyes lit up: "Thank you, Teacher Ji!"

"But I can't tomorrow or the day after." Ji Huai disassembled and recycled their weapons, "Remember the corpse of the fourth-tier demon beast I killed when we operated together?"

"When the cleanup crew arrived, the corpse was already gone."

"The corpses of the six third-tier demon beasts remained where they were."

"Over the past two days, investigators looking into this have found some clues; multiple fourth-tier demon beasts may be lurking in the outskirts of Longprosper City." Ji Huai spoke calmly. "Do you need my help?" Qin Chuan quickly replied.

"Stay in the city." Ji Huai shook his head.

Qin Chuan couldn't help but frown.

Although Ji Huai can handle a single fourth-tier demon beast, dealing with multiple fourth-tier demon beasts might still be beyond him, right? Isn't that overconfident? Seeing Qin Chuan's doubt, Ji Huai rarely elaborated: "Zhou Zixiu thinks the clues we found might be the demons deliberately exposing themselves."

"Fourth-tier demon beasts might be even more cunning than we imagine."

"Letting you stay in the city counts as a safety net."

"As for me…" Ji Huai lifted his eyelids, "If I can't win, I just retreat."

"All right." Hearing that, Qin Chuan gave a slight nod.

Ji Huai just needs to have a plan.

It was getting late; after they parted, Qin Chuan quickly returned to his rented apartment.

Sitting on the bed, he was still thinking about the fourth-tier demon beast matter Ji Huai had mentioned.

The discovered clues might be the demons deliberately exposing themselves…

Then what, exactly, is the purpose of these demons?

During fixed time periods, as the Dream World Entrance opens and human consciousness enters the Dream World, demon beasts also, in the same period, fall into a consciousness slumber.

This slumber resembles forced hibernation; during the quiescent period, the demon beasts' physical strength greatly increases, and their mutation speed accelerates.

The demon beasts' current rapid mutation speed, allowing fourth-tier demon beasts to appear in an extremely short time, has this slumber as one of the main causes.

Because this slumber exists, Qin Chuan need not worry about demon beasts sneaking into human cities while humans are immersed in the Dream World.

Moreover, he could think of no other means the demon beasts could employ.

No longer pondering, Qin Chuan slowly closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. —Next day.

Setting out early, Ji Huai led a dozen or so stronger members of the Special Affairs Group, following the investigators' clues, all the way to the lair where the fourth-tier demon beasts were hiding.

After slaying the intercepting demon beasts along the way, the dozen or so finally stood before a pitch-black cave mouth.

They hadn't even entered yet when they caught from the cave entrance a strong, nauseating stench and bloody smell from inside.

"Leave it to me." A woman in the team spoke solemnly; as a breeze stirred, the surrounding air instantly cleared, and any possible toxins and other harmful substances were expelled.

She raised her hand, condensing several orbs of light that dispersed among the people, and nodded toward Ji Huai.

"Stay close to me." Ji Huai spoke calmly and took a step into the cave.

More than a dozen people behind hurriedly followed.

Under the illumination of the light orbs, the scene inside the cave became clearly visible.

After just a few steps, everyone's faces darkened.

At the top of the cave's rock walls hung countless spider‑silk‑like nets, each holding a corpse that had completely turned into a desiccated corpse.

Most of them were demon beasts, but some were human.

"The naked eye can't identify them; we need to take them back for DNA comparison." One person stepped forward quickly, examined for a moment, then his face grew solemn: "Earlier there were missing persons reported nearby; the investigation then found no clues. I suspect these might be the missing."

Ji Huai gripped his longsword tighter, and in silence he led the group deeper inside.

Along the way, the increasing number of hanging desiccated corpses made everyone's expressions grow graver.

Upon reaching the deepest part of the cave, they saw a gigantic spider‑web nest suspended in midair.

Inside the nest, there was not a trace of any demon beast.

"The spider silk here is fresh." One person quickly noticed, moved close to a strand, examined it, and shouted loudly, "That guy hasn't been gone long!"

Ji Huai fell silent for a moment, and killing intent flashed in his eyes.

"Chase!" — (End of chapter)