The Forest’s Deception

In truth, this outfit was nothing more than ordinary clothing.

At least, Xiang Qi hadn’t detected anything special about it—unless exceptional comfort counted.

However, the attire was not the current concern.

The real issue at hand was that they had lost their way within this rather small forest.

“Indeed, you’ve noticed it too.”

Uncle Li halted, his gaze grave. He pulled the bewildered young man closer with his slightly rough hand, then turned his head to look at Xiang Qi.

He had always been confident in his stamina; walking five kilometers in half an hour was not difficult for him, merely an average pace.

Yet, this patch of woods, by his estimation, couldn’t possibly stretch five kilometers in diameter. It seemed impossible that they had walked for so long without finding an exit, especially while moving in what felt like a straight line.

Although he hadn’t been with Xiang Qi and Du Nan for long, Uncle Li had been wandering alone in this forest for a considerable time before encountering them. Even if he had strayed slightly from his original path, he shouldn’t have failed to see an exit after all this time.

Uncle Li was, in fact, a meticulous person. While his somewhat rugged appearance often led to misjudgments, it did not change his true nature.

Underestimating him would lead to grave consequences.

“As expected, something is amiss here.”

Xiang Qi wholeheartedly agreed. Speaking with intelligent people was so much simpler, avoiding the frustration of being on different wavelengths.

The girl crossed her arms, her pristine white dress fluttering in the wind. The drizzling rain dampened her hair, pressing her bangs against her forehead, yet it could not obscure her clear and luminous eyes.

Indeed, Xiang Qi’s entire essence seemed to reside within that pair of light purplish-black eyes.

Du Nan listened to their conversation, feeling somewhat bewildered, yet he understood that something significant seemed to be happening. He immediately glanced around nervously, attempting to conjure a sliver of reassurance.

“Stop looking. There’s no one here.”

Xiang Qi felt no particular affection for this young man, who was actually younger than her true age, but she found his constant jumpiness a bit much.

Though, purely based on appearances, Du Nan clearly looked older than Xiang Qi.

“Just stick with us, you’ll be fine,” Uncle Li said, patting Du Nan’s shoulder. He then offered Xiang Qi an apologetic smile. “The boy is just a little shy.”

‘Assessment complete: one is overly benevolent, the other merely a liability.’

With her own calculations running through her mind, Xiang Qi tilted her head, letting out a soft sigh that seemed to hold an unspoken meaning.

It appeared the difficulty of this mission would be easier than anticipated. She only wondered about the capabilities of the remaining players and hoped they wouldn’t be too troublesome to deal with.

Watching Xiang Qi’s somewhat awkward movements, the middle-aged man stroked the stubble on his chin, a faint smile unconsciously gracing his lips.

‘Though she’s a veteran, she’s truly a lovely child.’

Reaching middle age naturally made one a little more sentimental. Uncle Li genuinely liked these vibrant young people and didn’t mind offering them assistance when needed.

There were always more good people than bad in the world. However, good people usually just quietly did what they could in their own lives and weren’t necessarily conspicuous. Bad people, on the other hand, often had opportunities to make a show of themselves and be seen by others, which created the impression that there were more bad people than good.

By ordinary standards, Uncle Li was undoubtedly a good person. Xiang Qi, however, was an out-and-out villain.

If her past deeds were ever unearthed, well… this book would have to venture into some indescribable territory.

The rain showed signs of intensifying. What had begun as a few faint drops was now a distinctly palpable, misty drizzle.

For the moment, it didn’t seem to have much impact, but if it continued at this rate, things would become quite unfavorable.

“How about we make some marks here and then continue forward, to see if we loop back?”

Uncle Li pondered for a moment before offering his suggestion.

“If we come back to this spot later, it means we’ve actually been walking in circles.”

Then he met Xiang Qi’s inscrutable gaze, which seemed to convey a silent disdain for his intelligence.

“Then what?”

Xiang Qi spoke, her eyes carrying a hint of helplessness.

“What then?” Uncle Li asked instinctively, feeling a little self-conscious under that gaze.

“We discover we’ve been going in circles—what then?” Xiang Qi didn’t bother to play coy. She resumed walking, preparing to continue along the path. “Even if we confirm that, it won’t help us now. After all, we’re currently trapped in it, and we haven’t found a way out.”

“Besides… do you think I haven’t already done that?”

Seeing the two follow, Xiang Qi explained as she walked, outlining the reasons for her actions.

“From the moment I entered this forest, I vaguely sensed something was off, as if my own senses were being misled by something, giving me a hazy, unreal feeling…”

“At that time, I kept my guard up, making inconspicuous marks every so often, precisely to guard against a situation like this…”

At this point, the girl decided not to elaborate further. She enjoyed seeing others intrigued, eager for answers, yet unable to satisfy their curiosity—this was part of Xiang Qi’s mischievous nature.

Uncle Li pondered deeply. Indeed, doing so earlier hadn’t yielded much. It would be a good method if they were lost in a natural environment, but this situation clearly felt unnatural. Whether conventional methods would work against something system-related was indeed a question worth discussing.

Moreover, the girl claimed to have already made marks along the way, yet she still had no immediate solution. This implied that her method wasn’t as effective as imagined, at least not for their current predicament.

“Xiang Qi, since you’ve already made marks, why are you still following this path? Shouldn’t we try a different direction?”

Du Nan hadn’t quite caught up with their line of thinking and asked, somewhat confused. In his view, since a method had already been implemented, wouldn’t it be better to just follow it?

‘Excuse me, are we that familiar? Calling me by such an intimate name.’

Though it was a temporary alias—or rather, she had simply used the name of the identity her father left her, too lazy to invent a new one—Xiang Qi disliked such inexplicably over-familiar people.

One only needed to recall the cunning Shu Xun from the last game, who had stumbled precisely because of this.

Getting overly familiar with others might, at most, earn you their dislike, but playing that game with Xiang Qi was a deadly endeavor.