Bright Moon Forest (Part 2)
Bright Moon City, Hengqing Hotel.
As the group entered the hotel, the smell of sweat mixed with animal skins and rust hit them in the face.
On the wall behind the front desk hung a large screen with an unusually low resolution, making the electronic map of the Bright Moon Forest and surrounding terrain look as if it were covered with a thick mosaic.
The lights in the hall were dim and flickering. It was hard to imagine that lights of this brightness and quality still existed in their time; the rough iron tables and chairs were placed in a disorderly manner, and blankets made of animal fur were casually covered on them as table mats.
"Is the funding from the school only enough for us to live here?" Mahuyou shouted exaggeratedly, holding his face with both hands, his sleeves falling to reveal his glowing terminal.
"Turn off the light effect on your terminal." Linyin noticed that a burly man with a dagger on his waist was looking at Mahuyu's wrist.
"You are just the captain of the team and have no right to interfere with my outfit." Ma Huyou argued.
"Can you please be a bit of a team player?" Kaeya had been putting up with him for a long time. "Didn't you read the school document? It's a mess around Bright Moon Forest. Keep a low profile, please!"
Mahuyo closed his eyes and spread his hands. "The fact that I was willing to stay in such a terrible hotel is a perfect example of my team spirit."
"You can choose to turn off the light effect yourself, or I can keep the terminal for you." Lin Yin pulled a folding dagger from his belt. "I have strong hands. If I take the terminal, I can't guarantee the integrity of the terminal and your arm."
Mahuyu looked at Linyin's dagger and reluctantly adjusted the settings, muttering, "Just wait, I will definitely report you when I get back."
"Please do as you please." Lin Yin didn't care at all. When had she fought before and was not reported? Those noble students who were beaten loved to stare at her and report her. But some things still had to be made clear in advance: "During the trial, please execute my orders immediately. Otherwise," she bent down and looked directly at Mahuyu -
"As long as your presence threatens the safety of other members, I will deal with you directly."
The folding dagger was about to touch his face. Mahuyu took a few steps back with his lips moving, trying to stand further away from Linyin.
When Song Baiyue came back after completing the check-in procedures, he found that the atmosphere among the few people was even more depressing than when they were in the guest room. It seemed as if a galaxy was drawn between Mahuyu, Rinyin and the other three.
Seeing that the terminal in Big Trouble's hand was dark and no longer glowing, Song Baiyue understood and started to issue room cards.
"Three people share a room. The boys will follow me, and the girls will follow Rin." He handed the card to Rin, "Meet at the door at six o'clock tomorrow morning."
Linyin took the room card and glanced at the room number. After nodding to the boys, she turned around without any reluctance.
"Kaeya is so miserable." Crystal couldn't help but feel sympathy for Kaeya who was about to be attacked by the teacher and the weirdo.
………………
When the terminal displayed 6:10, the Bright Moon Forest was still shrouded in haze. A dirty, old hovercraft, carrying a group of young men, slowly stopped at the edge of the forest.
The car door opened and the teenagers got out one after another, and the equipment on their bodies made crisp clinking sounds.
The leader was a tall girl with short hair, carrying a common hiking backpack, and had a calm expression. Following closely behind were two shorter men, one with a bulge around the waist and the other with a buzz cut.
"They all look like skinny dogs." Old Hans, the forest ranger, held a cigarette butt in his mouth, his cloudy eyes glued to Rin Yin and his group, rolling repeatedly, "Wait, there's a water fish."
After Song Baiyue and Kaiya jumped out of the car, they waited for a moment before Mahuyu slowly got out. He was carrying a bag nearly as tall as himself. He hadn't had so much luggage when he left the day before. It was unclear if he'd made some last-minute purchases in Jiaoyue City. No one cared. While Linyin didn't underestimate the idiot's destructive power, she had already decided to kick him out if he held back.
Aside from him, even Song Baiyue, everyone else was wearing the training uniforms issued by the academy. On the one hand, the school's training uniforms were indeed of excellent quality, and on the other hand, it served as a deterrent to others—the Fantasy Beast Academy itself, as well as the possible backgrounds of these students, would make those who wanted to take action hesitate.
Mahuyu, who was completely unaware of being seen, was still complaining that the hovercraft was too old and that it was shaking his butt so much that it hurt.
3 skinny dogs, 2 snails, 1 water fish. This ticket is capable.
After analyzing the composition of Linyin's group, Old Hans saw them approaching. He stood up with a hunched back and forced a smile on his face: "Children, welcome to the Bright Moon Forest Trial."
Linyin simply glanced at him calmly, and Old Hans continued, "We began preparing as soon as we received the notice from the academy." He unfolded the map at his feet. "This time, your academy sent nine teams. The remaining eight teams arrived early and claimed other areas. Only Point 6 remains."
"What? Arrived early to claim the place?" Kaiya exclaimed. "No wonder we didn't see our classmates when we set out."
Yes. Because Ma confirmed the invitation too late, they were unable to set out with the other teams. Not only did they miss out on the better-equipped inn, but when they arrived at Bright Moon Forest, they could only go to a single remaining quest location.
Fortunately, the Bright Moon Forest is large enough, and the remaining Area 6 is also a fairly large area.
"Boss, the Moonlight Unicorn that Yuzhu wants seems to be in Area 2..." Shuijing looked at the map on the muddy ground and whispered to Linyin.
"No problem. After we complete our collection and observation missions, we can 'pass by' other people's mission areas." Lin Yin had anticipated this situation and turned to ask Old Hans, "What is the collection target in Area 6?"
In order to prevent students from preparing mission items in advance, according to the trial rules, collection missions need to be issued by the forest ranger.
"It's snake saliva grass." Old Hans took out a few small paper tubes and a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket. "The internet connection is poor in the forest. Here are the emergency signal tubes and instructions for use. If there's an emergency, be sure to notify us."
Rinyin took the paper and distributed the paper tubes to several people. The kitten suddenly woke up for some reason and meowed at the paper in Rinyin's hand.
Rinyin didn't understand what was going on and wanted to touch its head as usual, but the kitten dodged her hand and insisted on meowing again.
Linyin looked at her hands, "What's wrong? My hands are not dirty..."
After the boys were out of sight, Old Hans reached up and touched the miniature communicator hidden in his thick beard. He lowered his voice and said, "Three skinny dogs, two snails, and one water fish. No phantom beasts were seen. They went towards Area 6. Skinny dog has a strong idea, so be smart."
A few low responses came from the other end of the communicator, like a dormant beast.
………………
The fresh morning light shines through the gaps in the leaves and blends with the mist in the forest.
The fallen leaves rustled under their feet, and the sound of unknown birds came from afar. The Bright Moon Forest was unfolding a travel picture full of unknowns to this group of young people in all directions.
On the small path trampled by their predecessors, six people were marching in a goose-step formation.
Rin walked in front of the left wing. She wore a headband to hold down her loose hair and ensure her vision was not obstructed. After entering the forest, she began to concentrate highly. The kitten sat on her shoulder, also listening carefully to the surrounding movements.
In front of the right wing was Song Baiyue. His mythical beast appeared in front of Rinyin and the others for the first time. The inconspicuous brooch turned into a translucent deer that ran happily around the team, throwing silver halos to the team members from time to time.
"The Yingyue Spirit Deer will give you random buff states." Song Baiyue gave a brief introduction.
Transforming into a personal belonging is a skill only possessed by celestial-level mythical beasts. Yuzhu, following closely behind Linyin, had no time for envy, but instead a wary expression. Her gait was light, her movements making almost no sound. Crystal, behind her, was closely guarded, as she lacked close-quarters capabilities.
Kaia was the rear guard, and his other task was to keep a close eye on Mahuyu who was in front of him and stop him immediately if he did anything suicidal.
After walking for several hours, following the map given to them by the academy, they safely bypassed the territories of several Xuan-level exotic beasts. Mahuyu's energy was exhausted, and he almost uttered a dying cry, "I'm so hungry... We've been walking for so long and can't even stop to eat... I'll report you when I get back..."
Kaiya was also a little hungry. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, "Why don't we find a place to rest and eat something first."
Linyin checked the terminal map. The signal was intermittent, and the location was inaccurate. The closer they got to the center of the Bright Moon Forest, the taller and denser the trees grew. Judging by the terrain, their current location should still take half a day to reach Area 6.
A few people found a relatively flat surface and sat down. Rinyin broke off the cafeteria's specialty—the Front Teeth Trialist, Masseter Muscle Stimulator, and Iron Stick Bread—piece by piece. Shuijing used a thermos to hold the bread Rinyin had divided, as it was too hard to chew dry. Kaiya brought some air-dried synthetic meat slices, which he also shared with everyone. Song Baiyue politely declined the synthetic meat slices, but asked Rinyin to break off a piece of bread for him.
While everyone was busy distributing their food, Mahuyu took out a box of self-heating chicken rice from his backpack that was as tall as a person.
...and he tore open the package with extremely fast hands.
Once this type of self-heating food is opened, the technological fuel inside will start to heat up when it comes into contact with oxygen.
"Put it down!" Linyin had just broken off Song Baiyue's portion of bread when she looked up and saw Ma Huyu trying to commit suicide. She quickly stopped him. However, the chicken cutlet rice packaging had already been torn, and the brand's unique three-second rapid heating technology allowed the aroma of the chicken cutlet to spread rapidly.
"You big pig!" Crystal wanted nothing more than to blast him to death with Lei Bi. "You can't eat anything with a scent! It'll attract strange beasts!"
"His mythical beast is celestial-level. Most of the beasts in Bright Moon Forest are Mysterious-level. How could any mythical beast dare to come here?" Ma Huyou pointed at the Moon-Shaped Spirit Deer nonchalantly. "You were so nervous the whole way here, it's really inexplicable."
Before she could finish her words, Rinone heard something that gave her goosebumps.
The sound was subtle at first, like countless small claws crawling rapidly on dry leaves.
She raised her hand to signal for silence.
In just a few breaths, the sound grew louder and harsher, like sandpaper scraping against each other. The crackling of branches breaking continued—something enormous was rapidly approaching.
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