Chapter 21: Attack in the Dark

When it was still about a five‑minute walk from the Safe Lock, night fell!

The darkness here truly switched from light to black in an instant, with no transition at all.

Yesterday night, although he also rushed back at a checkpoint, he only arrived at the Safe House doorway at the appointed time.

So, although one can vaguely sense that the night here is unusual, as if an unnamed terror appears in the darkness.

But it is not particularly obvious!

But today, Lin Yifan finally felt it directly!

And as night fell, dense fog rose rapidly from the ground.

In less than a minute, the dense fog enveloped the entire forest.

Originally after dark, one could not see a hand in front of one, only faint blurry shadows; now with the dense fog, even those shadows are invisible.

All that can be seen is a chaos before the eyes!

Indeed, it is not absolute black nor pure fog; it is chaos!

Chaos in which nothing can be seen clearly!

When sight becomes useless, panic inevitably rises in the heart.

Lin Yifan took a deep breath, bit his tongue hard, and suppressed the panic in his heart, calming himself to face it.

He looked up toward the horizon; when he left, he had noted the direction, and this side is the west.

Last night, he saw a moon in the southeast sky, but it was a bizarre scarlet, filled with heavy ominousness.

But anyway, it should serve as a reliable directional reference.

Sure enough, that scarlet Blood Moon now hangs in the firmament; although the whole land is shrouded in dense fog, Lin Yifan stands within the fog at this moment.

By normal logic, he should not be able to see the moon at all.

Yet the Blood Moon hangs there, openly and boldly, emitting an ominous aura that makes anyone who sees it feel a chill.

Lin Yifan dares not let his mind wander; he looks at the direction of the Blood Moon and tries to force his way forward.

However, after only two steps forward, he feels something wrong with the ground beneath his feet.

The path he is on now is the one he cleared with his axe during the day, chopping away each section; both sides are filled with thorns and spiny vines, leaving no passable way.

Therefore, if he is heading the correct direction, he should be moving forward along that road.

But now, after only two steps, his foot steps on a spiny vine.

Obviously, his direction is wrong!

Yet clearly, using the Blood Moon as reference, the direction should be correct—how could it be wrong?

Lin Yifan stands still, furrowing his brows as he watches the Blood Moon, whose direction remains unchanged.

It seems that trying to use the Blood Moon as a directional reference is not feasible.

He steps back two paces, returning to his original spot.

With no better method, Lin Yifan can only begin to feel his way like a blind man, carefully following the sensations under his feet, moving forward slowly.

Fortunately, this road was forged by his own hands; no one knows it better than he does.

Moreover, he groped and picked up a wooden stick to gently tap the ground, checking the road ahead.

It is like a blind person using a cane to explore; although slower, the progress remains fairly smooth.

Originally there were only five minutes left; even at a slower pace, at most half an hour should suffice to feel his way back!

After about twenty‑something minutes of walking, Lin Yifan involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

He also noticed that as he neared the Shelter, the fog's density lessened, though it was still pitch‑dark.

But the suffocating sense of being enveloped by dense fog had eased considerably.

Yet at that moment, he suddenly sensed movement behind him!

Sssshhh!

Faint footsteps on dead branches and rotting leaves produced a slight sound.

But in this silent, deserted place, it cracked like thunder in Lin Yifan's ears.

He spun around abruptly, but the view was pitch black, and with the mist, nothing could be seen at all.

Yet from the sound, he could tell the source of the footsteps was approaching, getting closer.

Lin Yifan immediately prepared to throw half a Medicine Stick into the Ring Space, then carefully placed the charcoal‑filled box on the ground.

He then instantly drew his axe in his right hand, while his other hand produced an Arrow.

Upon close inspection, the Arrowhead glimmered faintly with oil, indicating Spectacled King Cobra Venom.

He had taken time last night to coat two of the arrowheads with the snake venom, as his final life‑saving trump card.

Spectacled King Cobra Venom is terrifying; a single bite can fell an elephant, let alone a small creature.

Thus, it is the perfect choice for a trump card!

Now, unsure what is approaching, Lin Yifan dares not underestimate it and pulls out all his trump cards.

At this moment, the footsteps are within arm's reach!

Yet Lin Yifan still cannot see what is approaching him.

He can vaguely sense that the approaching thing is dangerous, but since he cannot see it, all he can do is stay on guard.

Whoosh!

With a whooshing sound, Lin Yifan instinctively lifted what he held and swung a fierce axe slash to the left.

Aooo!

A mournful, harrowing scream rang out instantly!

Lin Yifan finally identified what was approaching him.

It is a wolf!

It made his pores stand up instantly, his expression became maximally vigilant, and every muscle in his body tensed to the limit.

Because wolves are pack animals!

If one appears, there must be a pack around it!

Even if there is only one in front of him, a pack must be nearby in the vicinity.

So, he is in danger!

Even if he can eliminate the wolf before him, he will eventually have to face the remaining pack.

Even if he flees back to the Shelter, this threat cannot be removed.

His Level‑2 Shelter is already a wooden hut, but against a wolf pack it is still insufficient; he must upgrade the Shelter to Level‑3 in a short time to have any guarantee.

But now is not the time to think about that; he must first deal with the wolf before him.

Otherwise, he won't even make it back to the Shelter; even a Shelter at level 100 would be meaningless.

Lin Yifan inhaled deeply, carefully brought the axe to his nose and sniffed, and instantly detected a heavy scent of blood.

This Wild Wolf is wounded!

His swing just now cut this Wild Wolf!

And the injury must be serious; otherwise there wouldn't be so much blood staining the bones.

Even so, Lin Yifan still dared not be careless.

Right now, the wolf's footsteps have vanished, even its breathing is unheard, so he cannot determine which direction the wolf is in.

Lin Yifan stood where he was and waited, not seeing a second attack from the wolf, but he could confirm the wolf hasn't gone far!

It is still nearby, watching him intently!