Chapter 32: Possessed?

Looking at the time, it was already eight in the evening. And today just so happened to be a moonless night, the starry sky exceptionally clear and bright, with a magnificent galaxy hanging across it — a sight Xu Xin, who had grown up in the city, had never seen before.

"I remember the moonlight was very bright last night, wasn't it a full moon? It's new moon today already, this world is really strange."

Xu Xin sighed, but didn't pay much attention to it. After all, it's another world, not to be measured by Earth's standards.

He geared up once more, heading towards the northwest direction of the treehouse.

The lake was just to the northwest of the treehouse, and Xu Xin wanted to go over there, but first he had to circle around the lake.

Of course, he had also considered that the treasure chest might be in this lake.

But if it was really in the lake, he currently had no means to retrieve it.

This lake is very dangerous.

Although the Lake Giant Python is gone, the lake is still the only place with a red dot within three kilometers of his treehouse. The red dots concentrated in the lake center aren't very bright, much dimmer than those wolves killed by the black bear earlier, but there are many, densely packed moving around, probably piranhas or something similar.

Given his current abilities, trying to snatch a treasure chest from piranhas in the water is as good as meeting the Black and White Impermanence.

Xu Xin swung his arm, throwing a stone towards the lake center.

"Eep?" Keke on his shoulder, affected by Xu Xin's action, almost got thrown off and clung onto his clothes with all limbs to climb back onto his shoulder.

The stone hit the lake center, causing a massive splash, and the lake water began boiling instantly. Because the water was clear, with a deep lake center that wouldn't stir up silt, Xu Xin could vaguely see scores of fish wildly swimming below the surface, with a few even leaping out of the water.

They were entirely blood-red fish, seemingly only slightly larger than his palm, but their sharp teeth looked like saws, making Xu Xin shudder.

Sure enough, they were piranhas. These piranhas seemed to only roam around the lake center and wouldn't come to the edge, so the fish and shrimp in the shallow waters were not affected.

At that moment, due to Xu Xin's stone, a large startled grass carp mistakenly entered the lake center area.

In an instant, the lake water erupted once more, the splashing water far surpassing that caused by the stone thrown by Xu Xin. The grass carp's original spot seeped a faint blood color that soon got diluted into obscurity by the lake water.

Oh dear, better not provoke it, better look for other places first.

Walking along the lake edge, it didn't take long for Xu Xin to reach the other side of the lake.

Xu Xin wasn't very familiar with this northwest direction. He only casually glanced at it during initial explorations and, finding no blue resources, hadn't been back. Therefore, the map of this area was blank.

Xu Xin continued straight toward the direction indicated by the Compass from earlier. With a map, he wasn't at risk of winding in circles in the jungle like others might, so the Compass in his hand could naturally be most effective.

The resource area extended eastward from the lake, so heading northwest he soon stepped out of the resource area, once again entering a sea of white light around him.

However, Xu Xin didn't find it strange. The bronze and silver treasure chest locations weren't inside the resource area either; they were both relatively far from the treehouse, with no high-level resources around. By this logic, the gold treasure chest might not be inside the resource area too.

Xu Xin continued forward without a clue, occasionally patting Keke on his shoulder, but Keke didn't lead the way as it did when finding the bronze treasure chest, staying lethargically on Xu Xin's shoulder.

Well, after following Xu Xin around all day, it was now evening, time for the little guy to want to sleep.

"Keke, don't the red berries and oranges I've given you have any special effect?" Xu Xin had given Keke several oranges today. If they had some effect, it shouldn't be sleepy, right?

"Eep?" Keke tilted its head at him, confusion twinkling in its sleepy eyes.

It seems the special effects of blue resources are of no use to them. Xu Xin shook his head, holding Keke in his arms, stroked its fluffy tail, and said, "Have a nap, I'll wake you if anything happens, you must stay sharp then."

"Eep." Keke replied, snuggling into Xu Xin's arms and nodding off.

The nighttime jungle was quiet, not even the sound of insects could be heard, only the rustle of leaves and the sound of his footsteps on the grass.

Without Keke moving around on his shoulder and brushing his neck with its tail, Xu Xin felt a bit unaccustomed.

Even though there were no red dots representing hostile units on the map, Xu Xin remained on high alert, constantly sensing the surroundings and monitoring map changes.

It was still the same monotonous jungle, the poplar forest. Xu Xin had walked this long without sensing even the faintest sign of anything amiss.

[Warning, do not leave the small treehouse area for more than three kilometers, or unwanted things will happen.]

Another step to the boundary.

Standing at the boundary, Xu Xin frowned.

This time he truly felt at a loss. Following the Compass all the way here, he hadn't sensed even the slightest anomaly. Could the gold treasure chest really be in the lake?

This is troublesome.

Xu Xin raised his head, looking at the hill looming just a stone's throw away.

A large formation of dense red dots lay beyond the hill less than a kilometer away. He couldn't go out, but neither did the beasts seem eager to enter his territory.

For now, it's still safe.

Looking at the hill before him, a sudden thought appeared in Xu Xin's mind.

"What will happen if I step out of this boundary? What terrifying things could occur?"

This thought took root in Xu Xin's heart, and a desire to go out inflated it, growing stronger, Xu Xin fixated his gaze on the hill with a sovereignty, seemingly unable to resist taking a step forward.

This time, the mysterious voice didn't warn him again.

Driven by desire, Xu Xin took another step forward, now with half a foot outside the boundary.

Just as he wanted to move again, Keke in his arms stirred.

"Eep..." Seemingly uncomfortable, Keke shifted in Xu Xin's arms.

With just that, Xu Xin snapped back to reality, but his third step had already gone out.

A fierce sense of crisis erupted in his heart, and Xu Xin quickly retracted the foot he had stepped out.

At the instant he pulled back, a sharp vine burst through the location where his third step was about to land, stabbing four or five meters skyward!

The deep green vine bore a few blood-red strands resembling blood vessels, sending chills down his spine.

Xu Xin hurriedly retreated a few steps, all muscles tensed, prepared to dodge, but unlike the vine at the bronze chest, this one didn't lunge at him. Instead, it lingered in the air momentarily before slowly sinking back underground.

On the map, the red dot representing the vine faded away, disappearing entirely within seconds.

"Just now, why did I do something so reckless!" Xu Xin thought back to his actions in disbelief. As a cautious person, he would never do something so suicidal, yet he did.

If not for Keke stirring, he could have at least had his foot pierced by the vine from the ground.

Thinking back now, the Xu Xin just driven by desire alone, walking out without regard for consequences, seemed unlike himself.

"Was I possessed or something?"