Because Zou Zhiqing and the others refused to eat the black fruit, the stalemate continued. The boy was helpless against them and only asked them to collect the dark essence immediately in order to repair the core of the world.

But given their current situation, how could they possibly split up to collect black crystals? The boy seemed somewhat displeased. "Don't forget your identities. You were born to collect the dark essence to repair the world's core. Your current passive attitude completely betrays the world's good intentions!"

Wen Zuo said, "The premise is that all our people are healthy. Look at our people... Under these circumstances, asking us to go out and collect the dark essence is a bit unreasonable, isn't it?"

The boy frowned unhappily. Suddenly, he stood up and looked into the darkness, which then enveloped the surroundings. As a result, Wen Zuo and the others could not see anything except for the area in front of them. They soon discovered that they could not even hear any sounds from the outside world.

What did he discover?

"That's the clan! He's actually here!"

"Damn it, your bodies have fallen into the hands of that race! He will kill you!"

Mo Shuwan and the others frowned. Although the other party reacted quickly, they had clearly seen the light from the lighting prop card. Apart from Wen Zuo and the others, she couldn't think of anyone else who could use the lighting prop card.

There probably won't be a second group of passengers in this world, right?

If what the Black Spirit Clan said was true, then the scene she saw before she fell asleep was also true. She was indeed sleeping in Wen Zuo's arms. In other words, her body is now being protected by Wen Zuo, and Wen Zuo and the others have also fallen into the hands of the clan that the Black Spirit Clan mentioned.

"Get out of the way."

"What are you doing?!" The Black Spirit Clan members were shocked to see Mo Shuwan raise the silver bow. "You're going to fight that clan? Are you crazy?! You can't beat her! You'll die, and if you die, it won't get enough Dark Essence, and it will be angry!"

For the first time, Mo Shuwan felt that this Black Spirit Clan member was both verbose and irritating. "Shut up!"

As the last note faded, she pulled back the bowstring, and the arrow, which had been emitting a white light, shot towards the darkness in the distance. The arrow was blocked outside the darkness, but its tip eventually peeked out.

Wen Zuo, who was holding Mo Shuwan's body, suddenly stood up. After his expression changed several times, he took two steps forward. Before he could reach the arrow with its tip just showing, the boy pushed him back. "Don't go! It's dangerous!"

"I..." Wen Zuo watched helplessly as the tip of another arrow pierced through the air. His heart pounded, and he took two steps forward, stepping around the boy. He suppressed his excitement and forced himself to remain calm. "Let us out! Our people have come back to find us!"

The boy turned to look at Wen Zuo with pity. "You're wrong. They are no longer your people."

Just as Mo Shuwan was about to draw the bowstring again, a sharp pain shot through her head, and a muffled voice sounded in her ear, "Come... back..."

Her body was pulled backward uncontrollably, and Mo Shuwan, her face filled with terror, suddenly roared, "Wen Zuo!"

Wen Zuo, trapped in the darkness by the boy, changed his expression drastically. "I'm here—let us out!"

A huge, gleaming white sword was pressed against the boy's throat in the blink of an eye, and the others who had been standing still moved at the same time.

"They are no longer your people! You shouldn't turn against me because of them!" The boy looked at him with disappointment and didn't even intend to resist. However, he suddenly removed the darkness around him.

But when Wen Zuo and the others looked, there was no trace of Mo Shuwan and the others.

Mo Shuwan's appearance made the boy's words even more cryptic. Zou Zhiqing and the others dared not eat the fruit again. What terrified them even more was that after the boy trapped them in darkness, they were completely unable to sense Mo Shuwan and the others approaching. But when the darkness dissipated, they clearly discovered that the faint senses were rapidly retreating in the opposite direction from them.

It was indeed Mo Shuwan and the others who returned just now. I don't know what difficult method they used, but they were pulled back by something. However, they missed the chance to return to their bodies!

Oh shit!

Only a minute or so had passed between them. Mo Shuwan and the others had been traveling at top speed for almost an hour before they finally got close to Wen Zuo and the others, but now they were pulled back by the presence of the stone gate in just one minute.

A putrid stench enveloped them, making it hard for the four to breathe. A gigantic finger jabbed at their face, and an angry groan echoed from the darkness, "Black... Origin... Stealing... Unforgivable!"

"Damn, I never expected it to have this trick up its sleeve." Qu Dan cursed, recalling how the monster's finger had tapped their heads before they left. Now that he thought about it, that was when it tampered with their things, but they hadn't felt a thing.

Arou also said with a grim expression, "So that means we can now be summoned by it at any time."

The monster was clearly angry because they had failed to bring back the source of darkness. In the darkness, the huge horn on its head flickered with lightning, and a suffocating aura spread throughout the vast space.

Fearing that if she didn't come up with a solution soon, she would either be eaten or suffocated by the rotten smell emanating from the monster. Mo Shuwan coughed and shouted, "You've misunderstood. We brought back the source of darkness."

After saying that, she took out the remaining ten or so black crystals from her storage space, and then immediately turned to look at Qu Dan and the others. The three of them also quickly took out the only black crystals they had left.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!