Chapter 1023: Danger Ahead

Chapter 1023: Danger Ahead

“Oh… I’m sorry, big brother… I promise, please don’t be angry…”

The little girl looked a bit wronged, but what could she do? It was indeed her own fault for dragging them down; now they were relying on Lin Nuo.

She thought about keeping quiet, but her curiosity was too strong, so she soon asked Lin Nuo another question:

“Big brother, I still don’t know your name! Your clothes look like they’re from a rich family, right? Where are we going after we get down the mountain? Can I go with you to your home?”

“You sure have a lot of questions.”

Lin Nuo turned his eyes back, retorting with some annoyance,

“You don’t even know your own name; you don’t need to know mine. You’ll find out after we get down the mountain.”

Really, if you follow me home with that talent of yours, be careful the Lin family doesn’t end up treating you as a child bride to raise.

After saying that, Lin Nuo turned to face forward and continued on his way.

He knew the direction behind him led down the mountain, and he might even run into someone from the Lin family.

But that was pointless; once he met them, he’d be dragged back home and face severe reprimands. He recalled the old Lin Nuo who had gotten into trouble, sneaking up the mountain while the bodyguards were off drinking. And that was how this mess began.

Later, the bodyguard got killed, and so did he.

If the Crack of the Demon Realm doesn’t disappear, that group from the Lin family could probably form a team to go questing too.

“Big brother, how much further do we have to go? I can’t walk anymore…”

After walking for a while, the little girl was panting and unable to move any further.

“With your physique, how did you make it up the mountain?”

Lin Nuo complained, but what could he do? This little girl was mysterious; he couldn’t just leave her behind.

Of course, he wouldn’t carry her or hold her; he simply didn’t have that strength, unlike that Wind Man from before who could easily hug and run.

Not to mention, it was that affection that led him to a dead end.

Thinking of Cheng Ge’s experiences from years ago, in a sense, he too was a protagonist.

“This mountain is pretty big, so it might take a while to get out. You can sit for a bit; there’s some water in the water bag, you can drink.”

Lin Nuo tossed the water bag to the little girl. Although his tone didn’t sound very friendly, his actions warmed her heart a bit.

Taking the water bag, the little girl had a few sips; she was very thirsty but didn’t dare drink too much, wanting to leave some for Lin Nuo.

“Big brother, would you like some?”

“I don’t want any.”

After saying that, Lin Nuo climbed back up a tree; standing higher allowed him to see further, thus slightly opening his field of vision.

Fortunately, there were many wild beasts in this mountain, and the river water was clean, so with just their food requirements, they could go indefinitely.

But after a while, with more people coming up the mountain, those two little kids would probably get caught and sold.

“Big brother, you’re really good at this! Unlike me, I’m panting just walking, I’m dragging you down.”

“If you know you’re dragging me down, then save your breath and warm your belly. You really talk a lot. Here are some fruits, eat those, and stop talking.”

Lin Nuo plucked some fruits from the tree, took a couple of bites himself, then tossed two down to the little girl.

The little girl was very happy; after all, she wanted to eat the sweet fruits from the tree but felt too shy to ask.

Big brother is really nice, even picked two for her.

Lin Nuo still didn’t have much of a clue and could only fumble around.

The birds above didn’t dare come down into this mountain forest, probably because they had seen countless companions die here, so they wouldn’t dare land.

After a long time, the two continued forward, unknowingly arriving at a fork in the road, presenting them with two paths.

Without a map, they could only choose randomly.

But at that moment, the little girl became anxious, tugging at Lin Nuo’s sleeve and saying:

“Big brother, let’s take the left path. I feel like the right one isn’t safe…”

“Did you hear something? Or have you been through something?”

“N-no… I just feel like the right side isn’t safe…”

“You feel?”

Lin Nuo grew suspicious; I didn’t feel anything, but you inexplicably have a feeling? Too fishy.

So the right path must have some surprises for us!

“Great, then we’ll take the right one.” Lin Nuo said immediately.

“Huh? Big brother, let’s not do that…”

The little girl was shocked; she was only trying to offer good advice, why did Lin Nuo insist on the right?

“If you’re scared, you can go left by yourself. I’ll go right by myself. That’s decided.”

“Ah, no! I’ll stick with big brother…”

With no choice left, the little girl could only follow Lin Nuo; after all, her intuition didn’t hold much ground, and big brother was the more reliable choice.

Let’s go, let’s go.

The little girl felt increasingly uneasy, unable to articulate why, just felt that this path was unsafe.

She could only closely follow Lin Nuo, even clutching his clothes again.

“Big brother, I still think there are bad things on this road…”

“Give me a reason.” Lin Nuo countered.

“I vaguely feel like I passed this way before… I don’t know why I have this feeling… but I just feel unsafe.”

“Feeling unsafe is right; who takes the safe road when they’re serious? If someone wanted safety, wouldn’t they find a place to hide after being reborn? Why are they running around with you?”

The more the little girl said that, the more convinced he was that this was the right path.

The number of animal corpses lying on the ground was increasing, and these bodies didn’t look like the ones they had encountered initially; they had a purplish hue, at least to some extent.

Was this a sign of Demon Qi seeping into their bodies?

Lin Nuo crouched down, using a small knife to cut into the body of a wolf to check its meat.

The meat had an even more severe purplish color, purple from the inside out—this was a phenomenon caused by the qi invading the body.

“Big brother, these animals are very different from those we encountered before. This place really is dangerous; let’s go back…”

“Keep moving forward.”

“Ah… Do we really have to go?”

“You still have the option to go back.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll follow you…”

The little girl could only keep following Lin Nuo as they moved further along the path. They soon saw the wild beasts displaying a more pronounced purplish hue, and Lin Nuo guessed they were getting close to the Crack of the Demon Realm.

“You feel this danger because it’s likely you came this way before, and you probably saw something terrifying back then. Can you remember what you encountered?”

Lin Nuo looked at the little girl; she was straining to recollect, but still had a headache and couldn’t bring anything to mind.

“Never mind.”

Lin Nuo waved his hand, indicating she didn’t need to push herself,

“Just go with your feelings; haven’t we gotten more dangerous?”

“Um… It should be more dangerous…”

“Then let’s keep going.”

They pressed on, reaching the end of the road, and Lin Nuo also had a sensation.

An aura similar to Demon Qi, close to what he felt in the cave earlier.

“Here it is.”

“Big brother, what’s here?”

“Something really fun.”

Lin Nuo sneered.