77 The Qing Consortium (1/2)

Earlier, everyone was chatting happily because they thought that they had discovered the secret of the forest: As long as they stayed away from it, they would be safe at night.

But what was going on now? The rattling of the chains being dragged was getting closer and closer. What creature would move around while dragging chains? Had it been chained up but broken free somehow?

Just what sort of a place was the Jing Mountains? Why was there such weird happenings here?

That rattling of the chains being dragged seemed to be attracted by the light in the cave. It slowly came towards the edge of the forest.

Ren Xiaosu, Yang Xiaojin, and Xu Xianchu each disengaged the safety on their guns and were prepared to shoot in the direction of the sound.

Almost instantaneously, Yang Xiaojin realized that Ren Xiaosu's handling of the gun was too professional and even looked a little familiar!

This familiarity was somewhat baffling, but it made her feel extraordinarily comfortable. It was like how patients with obsessive-compulsive disorders felt after finally properly placing blocks of wood in front of themselves.

But right now, she did not have time to think about that. This was because the owner of the chains had crawled to the edge of the forest.

The people in the cave were straining to see what it was, but the other party kept itself hidden in the darkness and never showed itself.

When Ren Xiaosu heard a dripping sound from the forest, he felt nauseous as he realized it was the other party's saliva that was dripping onto the leaves on the forest floor!

”The moment it shows up, shoot it.” Xu Xianchu said, ”Our firepower will be quick enough to cover all of the directions that it can rush into the cave from. Then I'll command my shadow clone to subdue it.”

”OK,” Ren Xiaosu answered softly. He thought, 'If the creature turns out to be too strong, I won't care about hiding my shadow clone anymore.'

Nobody knew where those cheetah-sized wildcats and the boars built like miniature mountains had escaped to, but Ren Xiaosu knew that only a stronger and more unstoppable force could send those ferocious animals running from the forest.

As Ren Xiaosu took longer breaths, his emotions calmed down. He no longer paid attention to his heartbeat and breathing, but listened attentively for any sounds or movements coming from the forest.

The secret of the forest might just reveal its true face at the very next moment.

But what they didn't expect was that when the rattling chains rang out again from the forest, it was of the chains' owner moving further away.

”What's happened?” Xu Xianchu frowned as he said, ”Could it be afraid to come out of the forest?”

The three of them were still holding their aim as they were afraid the other party was trying to pull a fast one on them. Ren Xiaosu gave it some thought and said, ”It's very possible that the other party isn't willing to walk out of the forest. Otherwise, the wild animals from earlier wouldn't have regarded this cave to be their refuge when it's only about ten meters away from the forest.”

The rattling of the chains being dragged on the ground sounded further and further away. Ren Xiaosu and the two of them could finally relax a little. ”It seems that we're still too optimistic. We can't explore the secret of the Jing Mountains with just our guesswork.”

”Something is definitely fishy about the forest, or there could be some other forms of terror in it.” Ren Xiaosu said, ”Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the disappearance of Xu Xia's body without any clues.”

”Everyone, get some rest.” Xu Xianchu said, ”I'll take the first shift tonight. You guys can take over from me after midnight.”

But despite the words, Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin still tacitly stuck to their own two-shift rotation, with one keeping watch for the first half of the night and the other taking the second half.

Seeing this, Xu Xianchu gave a wry smile in his mind. It seemed that he was still an untrustworthy person to them.

Nothing else happened through the night. When the first rays of sunlight shone down in the morning, Ren Xiaosu could hear the shuffle of wild animals returning to the forest in the distance. From the looks of it, these animals were accustomed to taking refuge during the night and returning into the forest during the day. Could the wild animal with the chains from last night be a creature that slept during the day?