The sun rises and sets, time flies faster than imagined. When time is up, I pluck a sour fruit, close my eyes, and stuff it into my mouth.

It tastes terrible.

The reason why Shekh can eat anything so deliciously has been found: anyone who eats this kind of food every day would feel like they've never eaten before.

He was on the verge of a breakdown after only a week.

Shi Jinzhe washed his face by the river. Apart from him and Shekh, no one else had been found in this dense forest.

He briefly left Shekh, only to find that the forest was incredibly large and seemed endless.

Shekh spends his days either sleeping, spacing out, or wandering aimlessly in the woods.

She's having such a boring time.

Seeing that Shekh had come down from the tree again, Shi Jinzhe dusted off his pants and continued to follow.

She walked on, sniffing the air every now and then, and after a long time, she came to a cliff.

Shi Jinzhe looked down and saw a small wooden house in the far distance. Smoke was rising from the roof, and the aroma of cooking food, which could not be masked by the smell of firewood, wafted over. The two of them swallowed their saliva in unison.

After sniffing for a while, Shekh wrapped its tail around a tree trunk on the cliff and went straight down.

"Wait for me..."

The pinkish-purple tail slipped from his palm. Shi Jin slammed on the brakes, nearly veering off the edge of the cliff, and turned to run downhill.

This forest doesn't look like it's inhabited at all. If Sheikh were in her right mind, she wouldn't act so impulsively. The problem is, she seems to know nothing right now.

He was able to lure that silly snake with a serving of soy sauce chicken back then, and now he's probably even less able to resist the temptation.

But Shekh was too fast. By the time Shi Jinzhe came down the cliff, the snake had already disappeared.

Shi Jinzhe followed the golden thread and finally reached the small wooden house, but he did not see Shehe.

The wooden cabin door was wide open, and there was no one inside. Shi Jin went inside and found a pot of soup in the iron pot in the kitchen. It smelled very good, but it was a little cold.

He walked around the house to confirm that it was a hunter's dwelling. There were only a few summer clothes inside, and it wasn't usually occupied.

A black stone statue sat on a small cabinet. Shi Jin picked it up and asked, "The God of War and Glory?"

He frowned; something was wrong.

Shekh's current state hardly resembles that of a god.

When she entered the maze, she told herself about her memories. She was very clear-headed and mature when she stayed overnight at the statue, and she wouldn't be in this confused state.

Although her underage phase is real, this appearance is clearly that of someone before she became a god. Since she hasn't become a god yet, how can the hunter worship the black statue?

The timing doesn't match.

It can't be that Shekh is like this after he got the title.

"Snap—"

The sound of stepping on dry leaves caught Shi Jinzhe's attention. Unsure if everyone could see him, Shi Jinzhe steadied the stone statue and quickly retreated back into the forest.

The burly hunter returned to the cabin, panting heavily, and looked around before closing the door.

The gold thread on my wrist trembled, and before I could even examine it closely, I hurriedly searched for the thread.

As they went deeper, they saw several footprints on the ground, but these were quickly covered by brown fallen leaves.

The layer of fallen leaves underfoot grew thicker and thicker with each step, and a little mud would seep out from the edges of my shoes, making a sticky, squelching sound when I stepped on it.

Suddenly, several scratches on the tree bark caught his eye. "These are... marks left by a rope hanging on it?"

Moreover, it wasn't an ordinary rope; it must have had some tough metal twisted into it to break the bark through repeated friction.

When Shi Jinzhan's lips curl into a straight line, it's a trap...

The long, slender golden thread trembled again, and he discovered traces of a trap every few steps he took.

They took increasingly larger strides, constantly looking left and right, expending their life force to speed up the search for the person.

The golden threads shone brightly, and his continuous footsteps suddenly stopped; he tightened his grip on the tree.

Then, as if the movement was sputtering, he tripped on his first step and couldn't take it. He paused twice before running forward at full speed.

When he saw the golden thread extending diagonally into the ground, he almost couldn't catch his breath.

Once a thought arises, the imagination will rise and expand like a fully inflated balloon, but the air filling the balloon cannot supply breathing, and the feeling of suffocation will quickly compress his brain.

No wonder Sheikh hates wet mud so much.

Why are the people here treating her like this?

Shi Jin knelt on the ground, his hands trembling as he dug, his heavy breathing stirring up dirt.

How could she have fallen for such a simple trap?

Shekh shouldn't be like this. No one can bully her; she'll fight back. She's very wary, and she wouldn't be so impulsive...

Shi Jinzhe could only suspect that the system's intervention caused her to act so recklessly; if she really wanted to do something to them, it would be very easy for the system to interfere.

However, no amount of excuses could soothe his current emotions.

Shi Jinzhe dug through the stones mixed in with the soil, not even feeling the cuts on his fingernails. Mud and blood were mixed together. He dug for who knows how long before finally touching a soft, cool skin.

He can meet him now!

"Shekh? Shekh?!"

Shi Jinzhe wiped the mud off her face and lifted her by the back of her neck to rest in his arms.

The crescent moon hung high in the sky, and most of her tail was still buried in the slippery pit. He wanted to hold her tighter but couldn't, so he forced himself to calm down and listened to her breathing.

The effect of the [Longevity Lock] is slightly weak; its life-locking effect is ineffective here.

"Things where the interpretation rights belong to the system are really unreliable."

The only thing Shi Jinzhe is grateful for now is that his skills came from an illegitimate source, so the system can't directly tamper with them.

"It's so obvious they're targeting me, why don't they just steal my skills directly?"

He activated the formation and began channeling life force into Shekh.

The familiar force momentarily roused her from her daze. Shekh touched his blood-stained fingers and mumbled, "Eyes..."

Before she could finish speaking, she inexplicably fainted again.

Shi Jinzhe immediately looked into her eyes, which were still blocked. He pulled down the ribbon, and Sheh's lost life force began to be rapidly replenished by her own abilities.

Within seconds, Shekh’s breathing stabilized.

It wasn't until her breathing became rapid due to excess energy that Shi Jinzhe helped her put the ribbon back on.

"A ribbon that seals power..."

After Shekh evolved several times, the ribbon became thinner and thinner, and her body had absorbed most of the power. Since this ribbon was tied to her by her mother in the identity of Lady Mo, all of her power must be within Lady Mo's reach.

The royal palace and the frozen harbor are both places connected to the Queen; we still need to find a way to leave.

When time ran out, the life force supply stopped, and then it was discovered...

Once he stops using his life force, he will be unable to touch Shekh, and to bring her up, he will have to expend his life force.