Though Lan Jin's body was wrapped in insulated gear, the goosebumps prickling her skin told her that something about this place's climate was different from anywhere else.
Lan Jin asked, "Anyone have a thermometer? How hot is it now?"
Captain Zhang replied in a low tone, "I already checked. It's still over seventy degrees."
Shen Zhiyan shivered. "Then why do I feel so cold? My goosebumps haven't gone away."
"It's definitely over seventy degrees," Captain Zhang said. Worried they wouldn't believe him, he showed them the thermometer in his hand.
It wasn't an ordinary thermometer. Developed at their base, it was a palm-sized high-tech display screen. Numbers shifted in real time with the temperature. Even now, the numbers flickered, but no matter how they changed, they never dropped below seventy degrees.
"That's strange. If it's that hot, why do I feel cold?"
The dense canopy of trees couldn't be the cause. If the thermometer still showed over seventy degrees, the outside temperature had to be even higher.
Xi Yu frowned. "Didn't headquarters send out a message before we left? They said the temperature might rise to eighty degrees."
But that wasn't the real issue. The problem was that seventy degrees shouldn't make anyone break out in goosebumps. If it wasn't the weather, and the thermometer wasn't broken, then this forest itself was the problem.
Captain Zhang would never doubt equipment made at the base, so the suspicion naturally fell on their surroundings. Scanning the eerily silent forest, he ordered, "Move faster. We need to get out of here."
But the moment he spoke, as they took only a few hurried steps forward, glowing eyes suddenly appeared, blocking their path.
Shen Zhiyu's eyes widened. He immediately thought of the creature that had been tailing them earlier. "Captain Zhang, is that the thing you saw before?"
Captain Zhang nodded, frowning. "Yeah, but before it vanished in a blink. There was only one then. Why are there so many now?"
Lao Shi frowned. "Can any of you see what it is? I only see glowing eyes."
Pei Xin's voice trembled. "I can't see anything else either. What if… it only has eyes?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Xi Yu retorted. "Maybe it's like the vines earlier. Invisible."
"If it can turn invisible, why leave its eyes out? Think its eyes are too pretty to hide?" Captain Zhang said dryly.
Zhou Zhiye added awkwardly, "Maybe it's just too dark, and they're far away. That's all."
Maybe it really was that simple. Why were they all overthinking?
Ling Jiang spoke softly, "No, something's off. It was sneaking around before, just following us. Why bring so many now? And they're blocking us. They don't want us going forward."
"That makes sense. We're probably close to their nest," someone guessed.
Or maybe not. It was just speculation.
Another teammate offered, "What if the one from earlier was scouting us, counting prey, then went back to call for reinforcements?"
Lao Gao snorted. "Prey? I'm no prey."
He stepped forward and unleashed a wave of fire abilities.
The instant the flames burst forward, the glowing eyes flinched and turned away. The blazing light revealed their surroundings. The creatures weren't just glowing eyes—they were enormous bats, each as large as a grown human.
And because of the fire, they saw more than just the path ahead.
In the branches above, countless strange birds perched silently.
On the ground, countless odd insects crept close, their movements skittering and sly.
Behind them, a mass of enormous bugs followed. The sudden blaze startled some, making them rear their bodies and wave their many legs in the air as if terrified of being seen.
In short, the entire forest of mutated creatures had been trailing them in silence.
So this explained why there hadn't been a single attack since the second stage of their journey. It wasn't that the creatures hadn't attacked—they had been stalking them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
…
Yet for all the beasts surrounding them, what froze Lan Jin wasn't the ones in front or to the sides. It was the thing behind them. The same went for Pei Xin, who screamed with her.
Their combined shrieks made the entire team flinch. Even the beasts themselves recoiled at the sound, retreating several steps. But these weren't just normal mutated creatures. Each one, every single one within sight, had a twisted human face.
At the sound of Lan Jin's and Pei Xin's screams, those faces grinned grotesquely, then turned furious.
In the next instant, the entire horde surged toward them.
Weapons were raised, but no matter how skilled they were, there was no way they could fight off so many creatures.
Lan Jin spun around, finally catching sight of the insect behind them—and froze. Panic overwhelmed her. Her reflexes, usually sharp, couldn't keep up.
The beasts closed in, and Lan Jin was frozen stiff, unable to react.
Just as everyone thought it was over, Ling Jiang darted forward and conjured a thick ice barrier. With a deafening crack, the wall took the brunt of the attack.
But with so many creatures, the shield didn't hold. Cracks splintered through the ice at once.
Ling Jiang knew she couldn't hold the barrier. Even as she fought to keep it up, she wrapped her arms around Lan Jin, trying to soothe her panic.
"Lan Jin, Lan Jin! Stop screaming! We're not dead yet. Fight back!" Ling Jiang whispered urgently. She herself had been startled, but she was far calmer than Lan Jin.
"I can't! I can't do it! Bugs with so many legs… I'm terrified of them!" Lan Jin wailed, trembling uncontrollably.