CHAPTER 399: CHAPTER 208: INDEED

It must be admitted, when Xia Nan followed a few members of the team, tracing the series of corpses found on the plains, reaching near the Mist Forest.

What appeared in his mind was the scene from his past life of scattering grains on the ground to guide the chickens.

These fragmented sheep carcasses seemed to be deliberately left by that Beastman for everyone to find, with the intention of luring the Sea Thorn Squad into the Mist Forest.

Xia Nan couldn’t help but feel dubious.

But in reality, if the Sea Thorn Squad had not experienced last night’s encounter, they originally planned to finish their investigation in Qingmai Village and then delve into the forest according to the general direction provided by the Association.

Now, it merely brought the plan back to its original state, except for a detour on the plains, there wasn’t much obvious difference.

Stepping in.

Accompanied by the gray-white mist quietly spreading in the air, the chilling cold wind whistling over the plains abruptly ceased, and the warm, bright sunlight melted into the lush, dense foliage overhead.

It was as though entering another world, with only the chirping of insects and the gentle rustling of Forest Wind in the ears.

Dangerous, silent.

Nearly a year of adventurous life had ingrained muscle memory into Xia Nan.

When the first wisp of mist lightly touched his skin, his entire being instantly became alert.

The body, slightly relaxed due to the broad view of the plains, suddenly tensed up, attention concentrated, wary of possible dangers around.

At the same time, without needing Cash, the leader, to give any orders, the team members had already formed their arrangement.

Cash led the way at the forefront, Vireis maneuvered on the flank, Mint was, as always, protected in the center, and Xia Nan brought up the rear.

Time quietly flowed by.

The highly focused attention, coupled with the low visibility and lush canopy of the Mist Forest, made it hard to notice the passage of time unless specially focused on.

Many novice adventurers might enter the forest in the morning, and in a daze come to realize a whole day had passed.

Fortunately, the Sea Thorn Squad consisted of adventurers who had properly obtained their Professional Level, so they wouldn’t make such mistakes in this regard.

Even without identifying time through the sunlight filtering through the foliage, they all had a rough judgment of what time it was.

"Stop, let’s rest here for a moment, and when we find a relatively safe spot, we’ll prepare to camp for the night."

At the front of the team, Cash suddenly stopped, glanced at the sunlight through the dense leaves overhead, and commanded.

It gets dark quickly in the forest, and preparations needed for overnighting must be made in advance.

If waiting until it gets completely dark before acting, the danger will greatly increase.

Hearing this, Xia Nan did not really relax, but stood cautiously, vigilant of his surroundings.

Compared to when he had just entered the Mist Forest, the Plate Chain Composite Armor on him had no obvious scars, but the blade surface of the Beheading Longsword in his hand showed several crimson streaks.

——These came from the recent encounters: a newly grown leopard, three blue-haired baboons looking starved for days, and a poisonous lizard hidden in the underbrush attempting a sudden attack.

This was just what he encountered while bringing up the rear of the team.

If including Cash and Vireis in the front, the number of attacks faced by the Sea Thorn Squad would be even more exaggerated.

Although no direct casualties were caused to the team, the number of enemies along the way certainly became the highest in over a month.

Even Cash, who seemed quite experienced in adventure, found it a bit strange.

But he only attributed it to the recent commotion caused by the wild animals in the forest and didn’t think deeply about it.

It’s worth noting that those animal carcasses that led everyone into the forest were no longer found once the team truly entered.

It was unclear whether they were cleaned up by scavengers overnight or if the Beastman never actually took that path.

Reflecting silently, Xia Nan felt he might have detected some potential doubts.

He turned to ask Vireis beside him:

"Those carcasses we encountered along the way, were they all left last night?"

"Of course, why?"

"Can you determine their exact time of death?"

"Xia Nan, what do you take me for?" The dusky-skinned, voluptuous Half Elf, Vireis, showed a helpless expression on her face.

"It’s true I’ve lived in the Dark Territory for a while, but that doesn’t mean I can control corpses or summon spirits like those Necromancers."

"If I had that kind of power, I wouldn’t be with you in this godforsaken place where you can’t bathe for days at a time."

Hearing this, Xia Nan could only smile awkwardly and asked no more questions.

In his past life, he had read some detective works where the detective protagonist could determine the exact time of death through some details on the body.

He wasn’t knowledgeable in this regard, just thought there might be someone in the team with relevant knowledge.

Now it seemed, Vireis was not the one.

And judging from Cash and Mint’s performance along the way, they probably didn’t know more than he did either.

As for why he asked this question...it was just some fleeting suspicion in his mind, not particularly important, and if it couldn’t be figured out, just letting it pass was fine too.

Set traps, build the camp.