Chapter 144: The Enchanted Forest

Chapter 144: The Labyrinth Forest

"Not even now." Sensing that prickling sensation on his back, Liu Chang slowly raised his hands above his head.

"Heh, you're not the one calling the shots right now." The bald man pressed his pistol against Liu Chang's back. "The news you mentioned is too important for us; we must verify its authenticity. So, you'll have to come with us to the military camp to clear things up."

"Since I already told you about the situation, you should know I don't have time to waste here. Even though that giant willow has stopped its advance, the beast tide is right on our heels. I truly have no time to go verify things with you," Liu Chang said, hands raised. "Besides, I provided you with such vital intelligence—is this how you treat a benefactor?"

"I'm sorry, but we really need to verify this..." The bald man was about to continue his lecture, but his words cut off abruptly at the last syllable. The tone of that final sound rose sharply into a piercing, shrill scream.

"Agh!"

Accompanying the scream was the sound of his leg bone snapping. With a crisp "crack," his kneecap folded backward in an unnatural angle, and, triggered by the surge of pain, his finger instinctively pulled the trigger of the pistol.

Bang!

The bullet grazed Liu Chang’s waist, tearing through the skin along his spine and taking a patch of hair with it before flying off. As he kicked out, Liu Chang spun instantly, using the momentum of his torso to deliver a hand-blade strike that severed the windpipes of the other two bald soldiers before they could even draw their weapons.

Having dealt with three men in two swift moves, Liu Chang shook the blood from his fingers and hurriedly began gathering food and water from the shop. He knew this establishment had powerful connections; the sound of gunfire would undoubtedly draw nearby guards.

Sure enough, while Liu Chang was frantically stuffing supplies into his backpack—within fifteen seconds, to be precise—a squad of fully armed soldiers burst out from the store’s inner rooms. They leveled their rifles at the doorway and unleashed a barrage of gunfire. The dense web of bullets didn't discriminate, striking indiscriminately even at their own men in a display of destructive force.

"Is this an army? Or a hit squad?" After shoving the last biscuit into his pack, Liu Chang spotted a gap in the barrage, dove through a window, and vanished into the thick fog.

The squad pursued him, and a sharp, mechanical wail, like an air-raid siren, erupted from within the store.

"Ever since the city-state system was established, the military's combat awareness and reaction speed have improved significantly. They’re also much more ruthless, since they no longer have to worry about the political fallout of opening fire." Liu Chang muttered to himself as he ran, keeping a wary eye on the soldiers emerging from the ground while guarding against the flocks of birds, which had become even more agitated and frantic due to the alarm. He sprinted all the way out of Hebi City.

Outside the city, a massive centipede team was already waiting for him.

Leaping onto the broad back of the creature, Liu Chang shouted, "Let's go! I've stirred up a hornet's nest."

"What kind of nest?" the leader asked, patting the centipede, which dived headlong into the jungle.

"Trouble caused by a loose tongue," Liu Chang sighed. "I originally meant to be kind and use the military to warn the people of Hebi about the incoming beast tide. But they didn't buy it and insisted I verify the news, so I killed three of them and ran."

"Sounds like you," the second clone chuckled.

"Definitely his style," the third added. "The style of someone who tries to steal a chicken but ends up losing the rice."

"Is anyone following us?" He Zhizhi asked, sniffing the air from atop the centipede.

"No, nobody can track me," Liu Chang replied. "I might not be able to promise much else, but my skills in tracking and counter-tracking are top-tier."

"Fair enough. After this little incident, we'll continue north," He Zhizhi said.

"Right, north," Liu Chang agreed. "The further the beast and bird tides travel, the less organized they’ll become. Those animals will gradually disperse into various parts of the jungle over these hundreds of kilometers, settling in places they prefer. So, the wave will lose its lethality the further north we go. By the time we pass through Henan and reach Hebei, the tides should be mostly scattered. Then, we can pick a larger city to rest."

"Liu Chang is right," the clone leader said. "Look, quite a few of these birds have already stayed behind. Oh, for f—"

As the leader spoke, a massive flying insect dived at his head, attempting to snatch him away, but the leader dodged just in time.

"You swear?" Liu Chang asked, surprised. "That came out so naturally. I recall that Li Qingshui rarely swore."

"He is him, and I am me," the leader emphasized. "Our bodies might share his cells, but my thoughts and energy are entirely different from his. I will say it again: I have an independent personality."

"Exactly. We three brothers are also quite different," the second clone said with a pout. "Stop treating us like someone's copy. We have our own emotions and thoughts, completely separate from his."

"Mm," the third added. "Among us three, the leader is more steady, while I prefer adventure. That’s the difference."

"Fine. Continue with what you were saying," Liu Chang nodded at the clone leader.

"Right. I was saying I agree with your point. Without the willow tree chasing them, those beast tides won't run in such a disciplined formation anymore. After all, with nothing chasing them from behind, none of them want to stray too far from their natural habitat. As you go further north, the climate gets colder, and the tree species and food sources change, so those southern animals won't like it much further up. They’ll just stop along the way, just as annoying as these birds lingering here."

As he spoke, the leader swatted away a few small insects.

"Well, following this route, we'll reach the borders of Hebei before long, but the next major metropolis—Shijiazhuang—is still quite far. We'll just take it one step at a time," Liu Chang said helplessly. "After all, we are on the run."

"Agreed. Let's keep heading north."

Once the decision was made, the team continued northward. Along the way, they passed Anyang, crossed the Henan border, and entered Hebei territory.

While passing through Anyang, they received a terrifying piece of news.

"I hear it's very hard for anyone to make it through that jungle on the border of Henan and Hebei," said an Anyang local, offering the well-meaning advice in exchange for a single biscuit.

"That jungle is vast and full of predatory species, most of which are excellent at camouflage. You could be standing right in front of most things there and not even realize they exist. It’s an incredibly dangerous place. Many people from Henan who tried to head north to Hebei died there; we rarely hear any reports from the other side. That jungle is deadly. I advise you to just stay here."

Liu Chang kept the man’s warning in mind, but despite the caution, the northward migration didn't slow down in the slightest.

Passing through Anyang and continuing north, the group easily arrived at the border of Henan and Hebei, standing before a forest of pink.

"This must be the Labyrinth Forest that Anyang man was talking about," Liu Chang said, sitting on the centipede's head and eyeing the strange-colored woods. "The trees, the flowers, even the fungi on the ground—they are all the exact same color as the red mist. Standing inside, even I have absolutely no sense of direction!"

Liu Chang stared at the pink forest, trying to distinguish the shapes of the plants, but he soon felt dizzy and nauseated.

"It’s sickening. The whole world is red, with no other colors. You can't even make out the outlines of the trees; a world of solid red is even harder on the eyes than a world of darkness." Liu Chang took a step forward, jumped off the centipede, and stepped into that pink world. "Damn, I feel like I can't see anything at all."

"Indeed, it's terrifying," the three clones said as they slid off the centipede. "A monochromatic world is essentially a blind man's world. The competition within this jungle's ecosystem is too intense."

"Single-ecosystem competition?" Liu Chang frowned.

"Yes. It means that within a specific ecosystem, all creatures evolve in the same direction. For instance, some islands are filled entirely with toxins—venomous snakes, poisonous plants, toxic insects. Because everyone in that circle is toxic, if you aren't, you simply can't survive," the clone leader said, looking at the flowers and trees that shared the exact color of the red mist. "And this Labyrinth Forest must be a world of camouflage. If you don't camouflage yourself, you can't survive here."

As he spoke, the leader "plucked" a blade of grass from the ground and observed it.

"Take this grass, for example. It looks like a blade of grass, but actually..." The leader flicked his finger sharply against the tip of the red sprig. Stung by the impact, the "grass" let out a sudden shriek, its blades unfurling to reveal wings. It transformed into a moth-like creature and fluttered away.

"...it’s an insect," the leader concluded, watching the red moth disappear from sight.