Chapter 147: Hidden Mechanisms on All Sides

"No!" As if entirely ignoring He Zhizhi's comfort, Liu Chang suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Forgive me, but I still have to do something reckless. I'm sorry to all of you."

With these words, Liu Chang walked straight up to the three clones.

"Give me a compass."

"What are you planning to do?" the three clones asked, staring at him. "You can't possibly intend to go look for Xiaojing by yourself?"

"Yes. I'm going to search for her here. I refuse to believe she's dead." Liu Chang snatched a compass from one of them. "Even if she is dead, I have to find her body or her remains before I can leave with a clear conscience. Too many people around me have already died, and I don't want anyone else to just vanish into thin air like this without a trace."

Having said that, Liu Chang patted the shoulders of the three youths. "Li Qingshui entrusted you to me, asking me to look after you. I haven't done a very good job of it, but we have after all spent these past few days together. Try your best to take care of them and lead them out of this red forest. Once you get out of this forest, we'll meet at the next city we marked on our map—Handan."

"Once we're out of this forest, my sense of smell will recover, and finding you inside a city won't be a difficult task at all."

"Don't be like this. You know as well as we do that Xiaojing can't possibly still be alive," said the third clone. "Why bother? Our team needs your combat strength, and you need the three of us as well. In this massive forest, we are already extremely vulnerable. If you leave now, both groups will find it nearly impossible to escape this place alive."

"Without you, our survival rate will plummet, and the same goes for you without us. Why stake all our lives on a gamble for someone who is almost certainly dead?"

"That's why I'm saying I'm sorry." Hearing the third clone's words, Liu Chang lowered his head, guilt flashing across his face, before he suddenly snapped it back up. "But I have no intention of changing my mind. Forgive me. I want to be reckless just this once. Take good care of the others. Until I find Xiaojing—"

"I won't give up!" Without another word, Liu Chang grabbed the compass and plunged headfirst into the dense thicket, speaking no more to anyone.

No one in the group had time to stop him. In this squad, no one could match his speed, nor could anyone see anything beyond four steps away in this environment. They could only watch helplessly as his faint figure vanished into the swirling mist, his footsteps fading rapidly into the depths of the jungle.

***

Liu Chang entered the forest. The three clones watched him go and let out a heavy sigh. "Sigh, the road ahead is treacherous. Didn't that fellow from Anyang say this Liansang Forest is unimaginably vast? Can we even make it all the way across?"

"Who knows? If a beast tide wasn't hot on our heels, I'd rather circle around this damn depressing world. Dammit! Everything is blood-red. There isn't even a single other color anywhere. If we don't get out of here within three days, I'm going to lose my mind! And gods only know where that beast tide has reached by now!"

***

Meanwhile, outside Hebi City.

The joint refugee columns from Zhengzhou and Xinxiang had surged here. That massive migration of over a million people, journeying all the way, had brought the news of impending danger to Xinxiang as well. Upon hearing the news and witnessing the million-strong migration firsthand, everyone realized that the Great Willow Tree was approaching. Consequently, everyone packed their belongings and took to the road.

The entire populations of both cities had joined forces, crowding into Hebi City to the point where even the bald-headed soldiers could no longer hold back this colossal tide of refugees.

Moreover, the vast majority of those flooding into the city were starving. Along the journey, they lacked the abundant food and water supplies Liu Chang possessed, having essentially starved all the way here. Once inside the city, they devoured and looted everything in sight. Faced with the overwhelming temptation of food and the sheer magnitude of the human wave, even firearms lost their deterrent effect, plunging Hebi City into utter chaos.

The chaos wasn't limited to interpersonal conflicts either. The fastest animals had already caught up with the rear of the refugee procession. Those who hadn't managed to make it into the city were left stranded behind, locked in desperate combat with the swiftest predators.

Given the rule that the fastest runners were almost invariably the strongest creatures, calling it a battle was a misnomer; outside the city walls, it was a one-sided massacre.

The apex predators at the vanguard of the beast tide tore into the crowds, sinking their sharp claws and fangs into these fragile lives to replenish the energy expended during their long-distance migration.

"Damn it, why is this beast tide still pushing this far north? Didn't things quiet down a bit over the past couple of days? Why have they suddenly gone crazy again?" At the tail end of the refugee column, people faced the ferocious beasts in terror.

"Who knows? A couple of days ago, that giant monster chasing them must have stopped to rest. Could it be that the monster has recovered its energy after resting these past two days and started moving again?"

***

Deep within Liansang Forest.

Liu Chang walked cautiously, weapons in hand, through a world that dulled the five senses. Every so often, he would press himself flat against the ground or a tree trunk, sniffing intently in an attempt to pick up any trace of a clue.

"Although the sweet, fragrant odor here masks most scents, I haven't caught the slightest hint of blood." After leaving the group, Liu Chang had meticulously searched the entire area where Ji Jing had vanished. The bad news was that there were no clues; the good news was also that there were no clues. The complete absence of bloodstains meant there was still a possibility she was alive.

While this forest could dull the five senses, it could not entirely deprive a person of them. Whether it was the sweet fragrance permeating the entire forest, the wailing sound of the wind blowing through the trumpet trees, or the stripping away of colors—all of these severely obstructed the use of the senses, yet they could not completely shut them down. In other words, Liu Chang could still see what was directly in front of him, hear the sounds ringing in his ears, and smell the scents beneath his feet—though it was strictly limited to that.

Therefore, circling the perimeter of the area, he painstakingly inspected every blade of grass beneath his feet, closely examining every minute trace he could find. He even pressed himself against the turf like a tracker dog, sniffing the ground along every patch of grass he crossed. Finally, a short while later, he caught a faint scent of Xiaojing on the ground.

Yet, when he continued to follow this scent along the turf, he had advanced no more than a dozen meters when the smell abruptly vanished.

The disappearance of the scent was eerily unnatural, as if someone who already knew of his abilities had used a heavy reek of sulfur to mask it, blending it with the bizarre, turbid sweetness and rendering it completely impossible for Liu Chang to distinguish.

"Is someone targeting me?" (To be continued)