“Because…” He Lili’s face turned slightly embarrassed: “Because I read a novel in which the main characters’ team got separated, and the people who returned were replaced by shapeshifting monsters, and the person who got lost was already dead.”

Chen Jing sighed, returned the bracelet, and found an empty spot near the obelisk to sit down: "Miss He, what do you do for a living outside? A novelist?"

"Reporter," He Lili said softly, "What's wrong?"

...A high-risk profession, Chen Jing thought.

He discovered that Zhang Taoying and Li Aidan were already asleep. No wonder He Lili's voice sounded so soft; she was worried about waking them.

Chen Jing's own spiritual energy was also greatly depleted. He said, "I'll tell you about my findings later." Then, he leaned against the obelisk and entered into meditation.

After his spiritual energy recovered for a while, and after eating a grain bar, Chen Jing felt that his condition had returned to its best.

It's just a bit strange. According to Chen Jing's previous experience, using his abilities would hone his skills and improve his mastery of spiritual energy. But yesterday, all his actions didn't yield any results, and his spiritual energy growth rate remained at a normal level.

Dao Nan was a mortal and had no spiritual power, so there was no such thing as spiritual power consumption. After Chen Jing opened his eyes, he was still guarding near a stick of Mingguang incense.

"You changed it?" Chen Jing leaned closer and asked.

"Two," Dao Nan said. "At this rate, we'll soon lose our light source."

To conserve light, everyone had already extinguished their torches, using only a stick of incense for illumination.

Chen Jing glanced at the obelisk and noticed that all three girls had fallen asleep. He nodded and was about to tell Dao Nan to rest as well when suddenly, Chen Jing heard some faint noises.

Those faint sounds came from the prison window bars, the same windows they had passed on their way down. Now, the sounds of someone being tortured echoed from inside the windows; those tiny screams were terrifying.

"I heard screams... from the window frame," Chen Jing said in a low voice.

“I think I heard a little noise too…” Dao Nan said, “Let’s wake Ai Dan up first, he shouldn’t be asleep yet.”

"Why did you omit the girl's surname so quickly and call her so intimately?" Chen Jing thought to himself, then ran up to Li Ai's side and nudged her.

Noticing that the other person had woken up, Chen Jing put his finger to his lips to make a "shh" sign and then pointed towards the window frame.

Chen Jing noticed that Li Ai was squinting at the window frame, so he lowered his voice and asked, "Do you want to go take a look?"

“Take a look,” Dao Nan’s voice rang out from behind Chen Jing. “There’s a light coming from there.”

Light? Chen Jing turned around and, sure enough, saw a faint light shining through the previously dark window frame.