At the end of the road, at the fork in the Small Grove.
Luo Yu had been standing there for quite some time. Lost, how pitiful.
The Yandere Evil God observed His delicate, fragile, and pitiable human follower with a cheerful mood.
If she were willing to devoutly kiss the back of His hand and plead with Him pitifully, He would gladly point her in the right direction.
But when would she realize that the one standing beside her was the very deity she devotedly worshiped?
The Evil God, having once violently erased Luo Yu’s memories to rid Himself of trouble, now found Himself in a dilemma over it, perhaps even slightly regretting that decision.
Not troublesome, but rather interesting.
He would carefully nurture her, just as humans might keep a lark with a melodious song to pass the time, until the novelty wore off.
Time passed, yet Luo Yu still lingered at the fork.
Ah, she really was slow.
The deity, in a burst of kindness, took her hand and guided it toward the right path.
“Go this way,” He murmured, coaxing.
Luo Yu scrunched her nose, unimpressed. “You knew again?”
Of course, He nudged her shoulder forward, the deity knew all.
And Luo Yu felt mentally exhausted. Wearing the bone whistle, she actually knew which direction to go, but she lingered at the fork hoping to figure out a way to shake off the sticky companion beside her.
Although repeatedly bewitched by his looks, Luo Yu always reminded herself that the one following her was not a player, but an NPC.
An NPC whose nature, good or bad, remained unknown.
She was not careless enough to be alone in a small grove with someone whose intentions and background were unclear, no matter how handsome the face.
Even though she had already made many concessions for that magnificent face.
But this was as far as it would go.
She absolutely, absolutely had to shake him off.
Luo Yu gently withdrew her hand from the man’s grasp and quickened her pace, putting herself in a safe spot beyond his control.
In the depths of the grove, the stone path laid by Qinggang High School had vanished, leaving only the muddy trails trodden by security patrols.
Occasionally, she could see signs on the branches reading “Swamp Ahead” or “Students Forbidden.”
Luo Yu carefully confirmed her direction and plotted her escape route.
Then she spun around abruptly, pointing dramatically behind the man and shouted, “Look! There’s a wolf!”
The man obediently turned. “Hmm? Where?”
He sensed no other creatures and was only slightly surprised by Luo Yu’s shout.
Luo Yu paused for a moment, then bolted.
She quickly put distance between them, using the trees as cover to leave him far behind.
A few minutes later, Luo Yu rested against the trunk of a large tree, still feeling somewhat incredulous.
Honestly, she hadn’t expected the man to be so easily fooled.
Her plan had been to startle him briefly, then, while he was distracted, deliver two quick punches to knock him out and seize the chance to escape.
But he had obediently turned around.
Luo Yu couldn’t help but wonder, if next time she told him “there’s a flying pig behind you,” would he fall for it too.
What a fool, this NPC.
Perhaps this was the legendary pretty fool. Luo Yu chuckled softly, adjusting her mood.
Next, the real work. After confirming the area was empty, she took out the bone whistle pendant from her chest, wiped it clean, and brought it to her lips.
The bone whistle emitted a few short, sharp notes.
Soon, a thick white mist rose among the trees, and from beyond the mist came the deep howls of wolves.
Just as expected.
Luo Yu’s eyes gleamed. She stored the whistle and followed the sound.
However, in this dense forest, it wasn’t only the wolves who heard the whistle. While Luo Yu tracked the wolves’ sounds, other monsters were also drawn toward her.
“It’s the intruder called Luo Yu. She’s discovered the wolves’ secret,” Brother Fat said.
His body was covered in scratches and he looked battered, though not seriously injured.
Several of his companions, however, were gravely wounded, their injuries exposing bone, barely maintaining their humanoid disguise.
All of this was caused by Sun Heng.
Though lacking in intelligence, Sun Heng’s physical strength was inversely proportional to his IQ, making him a strong player among his peers.
He had crippled several monsters and even injured Brother Fat, the strongest among them.
Normally, such a defeat would have forced the monsters to retreat.
But this group of monsters neither feared death nor displayed human emotions. Even with their comrades near death, they continued to attack like rabid dogs.
Sun Heng had no choice but, before his strength ran out, to painfully use his most precious life-saving item, the “Safety Talisman.”
By lighting the talisman on fire, it could remove any bizarre influence affecting the player, and if in danger, could randomly transport the player to a nearby safe location.
This talisman could have saved Yang Tian.
But Sun Heng ultimately used it on himself.
So Brother Fat watched in disbelief as the battered Sun Heng pulled a lighter from his pocket, ignited a mysterious yellow paper, and vanished from their midst.
The prey had escaped, an outcome that displeased Brother Fat.
Fortunately, it seemed fate noticed his misfortune and delivered a small compensation.
“They won’t live. Eat them all, then follow me,” Brother Fat ordered.
Upon hearing the command, the monsters surged forward, devouring their severely wounded comrades.
Then they all followed Brother Fat toward the direction of the bone whistle’s sound.
Disgusting! The monsters advanced, drooling.
Their flesh was foul and inedible. Human flesh, by contrast, was fragrant and delicious.
“Keep your drool to yourselves. It stinks,” Brother Fat scolded.
He prided himself on being above base desires; his craving for human flesh was less than the others. Rather than indulging in taste, he preferred to appreciate intruders’ expressions of despair and torment at the brink of death.
That intruder, Luo Yu, had previously pushed him to his limits.
He wondered how she would look when utterly desperate.
Brother Fat sneered silently, unaware that in this vile moment of fantasy, his death was already fated.
Elsewhere, Luo Yu was blocked by a vast swamp.
The swamp instilled a profound sense of foreboding. A mere glance evoked the illusion of being swallowed by the dark mud, so vivid it felt as if she had truly been engulfed before.
Luo Yu dared not venture in recklessly and stopped at the swamp’s edge, observing for a safe path.
Before long, she heard the “crackling” sound of branches breaking in the nearby Small Grove, someone approaching.
School staff or surviving players?
And more importantly, player or monster?
Luo Yu saw a group of shadowy humanoid figures approaching, led by a round figure, apparently Brother Fat.
Her heart tightened. She ran into the opposite side of the grove.
No time to think. First, hide.