Generation Z Mainland

Chapter 1 Dark Forest (1)

A dense forest was shrouded in darkness. The boy slowly opened his eyes and looked around at the unfamiliar environment. His face was full of fear and he hurriedly stood up to look for his companions.

"Brothers! Where are you? I'm so scared!"

The young man jogged while crying, constantly calling out the names of his companions. The darkness around him continued to emit a terrifying atmosphere, making his voice increasingly trembling and weak.

"Zi Chen?"

Finally hearing a familiar voice, the boy looked around hurriedly for the source of the voice. Until the voice gradually approached him, he threw himself on the person and burst into tears.

"Brother! Brother Zuo Qihan!"

Zuo Qihan gently patted the boy's back and said softly, "It's okay, Zichen, I'm here, don't be afraid."

Zuo Qihan held the flashlight he carried with him in one hand to illuminate the way out and to find other friends, while letting Wei Zichen hold his arm tightly with the other hand.

In fact, Zuo Qihan himself was also very unsure. He had just woken up alone from a dark corner and found that none of his companions who had participated in the school camping trip were around. The fear in his heart was comparable to that of Wei Zichen who was now clinging to him.

"Brother Zuo Qihan~where is this? Where are the others? We have been walking for so long, why haven't we seen them?" Wei Zichen said tremblingly, holding Zuo Qihan's arm even tighter.

"I don't know either. Judging from the current situation, we must be far away from the camp." Zuo Qihan waved the flashlight around. Suddenly, a black shadow in a cloak flashed by on the left side of the two of them. Wei Zichen was so scared that his eyes turned red and tears flowed again.

"Wow! Brother! There's a shadow! He flew over! Wow~"

Hearing his brother's cries, Zuo Qihan comforted Wei Zichen while waving the flashlight around. Suddenly, a shout startled the two of them.

"Zuo Qihan! Your flashlight is making my eyes hurt!"

Zuo Qihan looked at the person illuminated by the flashlight and chuckled, "Really? Zhang Hanrui, you scared us!"

Zhang Hanrui pulled Yang Hanbo next to him and approached Zuo Qihan and Wei Zichen, asking doubtfully, "Are you two the only ones there? Where are the others?"

Zuo Qihan shook his head, hugged the trembling Wei Zichen beside him and said, "We don't know either. Besides, where are we and why are we here?"

Zhang Hanrui held his chin with one hand and thought, while Yang Hanbo beside him helped Zuo Qihan comfort the timid Wei Zichen.

"The most important thing now is to find everyone and figure out a way to leave here." After Zuo Qihan handed Wei Zichen to Yang Hanbo, he patted Zhang Hanrui on the shoulder and said, "Let's go. We'll lead the way." He turned to look at Wei Zichen, who was curled up in Yang Hanbo's arms, and said, "Hanbo, you have to take good care of Zichen. He's timid."

"Don't worry, I will." Yang Hanbo hugged Wei Zichen with one hand and patted himself with the other hand.

Zuo Qihan then turned around with relief and searched for a way out with Zhang Hanrui using a flashlight.

In the dark forest, the wind was howling. Four teenagers walked one after another, holding flashlights and each other's hands. As they walked, the four of them gradually disappeared in the dark forest.

After an unknown amount of time, Zuo Qihan felt as if someone was watching them closely. He couldn't help but tremble slightly and turned to ask Zhang Hanrui, "Do you feel like there's someone around?"

Zhang Hanrui thought for a while and said, "When I woke up and found Hanbo just now, I saw a black shadow flash by, right?" Yang Hanbo looked at Zhang Hanrui and nodded.

Wei Zichen, who was standing behind him, heard Zhang Hanrui say he had also seen the shadow, and his voice trembled with excitement: "Yes, yes, yes! Brother Hanrui! You saw it too, right?"

The four of them continued walking forward, wondering about the origins of the black shadow. They finally reached a relatively empty lake area. Just as they were about to sit down and rest for a while, they heard a heart-wrenching cry from behind them. Zuo Qihan stood up suddenly as his butt touched the stone slab: "What's that sound!"

Just when Zuo Qihan was puzzled and was about to check the situation, a group of teenagers fled in a hurry from the dark forest on the other side. Zhang Hanrui found a tall boy who had been taking care of the youngest child.

"Junior official!"

Zhang Hanrui quickly ran forward to check on his companions. He saw Guan Junchen holding Zhang Guiyuan's shoulders and walking towards Wei Zichen and Yang Hanbo, and then went to pick up other companions to rest.

Everyone was finally gathered. Zuo Qihan and Zhang Hanrui watched Guan Junchen settle his last companion, and then began to review what had just happened not far away.

Guan Junchen sat on a rock at the edge of the lake, his hands folded on his knees. He took a deep breath and said, "We woke up in a strange place, surrounded by darkness. Xiao Wang and I woke everyone up, and when we counted the people, we found that you four were not there. Zhang Guiyuan was anxious and scared, and even cried."

remember--

"Everyone, wake up!" Wang Junxi anxiously shook his friends around him. Seeing everyone slowly regain consciousness, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Is everyone okay?"

Guan Junchen watched his friends stand up. As the eldest brother, he quickly counted the number of people, but found that no one was there. "Where's Zhang Hanrui? Zuo Qihan isn't here either!"

Wang Junxi suddenly thought of something, looked around, and covered his mouth in surprise: "Where are Yang Hanbo and Wei Zichen?"

Everyone was shocked by the two brothers' words, especially Zhang Guiyuan. When he heard that Zhang Hanrui and Zuo Qihan were missing, his eyes instantly turned red and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Where are they? We have to find them quickly!" As he said that, Zhang Guiyuan wanted to rush out to find people. Looking at the darkness around him, he took two steps back and said timidly, "But it's so dark, I'm scared~" Then he subconsciously grabbed the arm of the person next to him. The person whose arm he held tightly turned his head to look at him and said, "Zhang Guiyuan, let go! You scared me! I'm scared too!" The person who spoke was Yang Bowen. Although he said this, he did not pull Zhang Guiyuan's hand away.

Guan Junchen looked at his frightened brothers, frowned, and said, "Our most important goal now is to quickly find the four missing people and leave this terrible place."

At that moment, a cold, bone-chilling laugh drifted from the sky above the forest. Chen Junming screamed in fear. Wang Junxi quickly hugged his brother, covered his ears, and yelled into the darkness, "Who is it? Come out if you have the guts! Stop playing tricks!" Zhang Zhongyu hugged Zhi Enhan, who was already frightened and crying, and gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid, brother, I'm here."

Zhang Yiran held Yang Jiahao's hand tightly and said tremblingly, "It's okay. Don't be afraid." Yang Jiahao turned his head with tearful eyes and looked at his brother and said, "But, brother, your palms are so sweaty."

Zhang Guiyuan held Yang Bowen in one hand and Li Yunchenrui in the other, trembling as he shouted, "Who is it? Come out if you dare! Stop hiding and scaring people!"

Chen Yiheng looked around, ran to Fu Ziming, tugged at his clothes and asked, "Brother, what should we do next? So many people are scared." Fu Ziming shook his head and said, "I don't know either. The key is that there are still people in our team stranded outside. We don't know where they are." Chen Yiheng turned around and looked at his frightened brother, sighed, looked at the dark sky, and said, "Where the hell is this place?"

Wang Lujie looked at Wang Hao, who was covering his ears in fear next to Guan Junchen. The usually carefree Wang Hao was now huddled behind Brother Guan and trembling.

The sound gradually faded away. Guan Junchen looked at everyone who had gradually calmed down, sighed, and said, "Let's go, Ziming. We'll lead the way. We have to find Zhang Hanrui and the others first."

——The memories end.

Guan Junchen looked at his two younger brothers sitting beside him, deep in thought, with a doting smile on his face. Zhang Hanrui was still pondering when Zuo Qihan spoke first, "Where on earth did that suspicious laughter come from?"

Guan Junchen shook his head, looked up at Zuo Qihan standing beside him and said, "I don't know either. I always feel like someone is secretly observing us. I don't know if it's my illusion."

"I feel the same way." Zhang Hanrui said, putting down his hand that was supporting his chin.

Suddenly, the three were frightened by a scream from someone not far away and hurried over to check the situation. Looking at the dark shadow gradually approaching from the other side of the forest, Guan Junchen quickly rushed to the front of the crowd with Zuo Qihan, blocking his younger brothers.

The black shadow approached them with a cold smile. When he got closer, everyone was suddenly blinded by a flash of white light and could not open their eyes. They only heard a cold word in their ears.

"Hello~ New friend~"

Through the white light, the young men looked around. The originally dark forest suddenly extended white light from under their feet, filling their surroundings.

In this empty space, the timid teenagers huddled together. Only Guan Junchen and Zuo Qihan, along with Yang Hanbo and Fu Ziming, stood in front of the others. They frowned as they looked at a figure in a black cloak gradually approaching them.
Guan Junchen was the first to shout at the newcomer, "Who are you? What on earth is this place?"

The man's facial features could not be seen clearly as his cloak covered most of his face, leaving only the slightly raised corners of his lips visible.

"I am the master of this dark forest. This is my territory."

Zuo Qihan tilted his head to look at the man and asked doubtfully, "Since this is your territory, was it you who arranged for us to be brought to this place?"

The man sneered: "I'm not interested in children."

Zuo Qihan asked again: "Then do you know why we are here? We are just students. Who arranged for us to come to such a strange place? What is his purpose?"

Zuo Qihan's string of questions overwhelmed the man in black. "Enough! Why do you have so many questions? This is my territory. I don't know why you're here. Anyway, if you want to leave, you must accept my test. My territory must obey me! Otherwise, none of you can leave!"

Everyone listened to the roar of the man in black, and the timid ones became even more frightened. Wang Hao, listening to the man's voice, actually had a bold idea.

"Hey, big brother, the tone of your voice just now sounded like a senior of mine. Are you Senior Yu Yuhan?"

The other party was obviously caught off guard by Wang Hao's words. He was stunned for a moment, then said seriously: "Who is Yu Yuhan? I don't know him. Did you listen to what I just said?"

Wang Hao realized he had recognized the wrong person and returned to his original position with embarrassment. Fu Ziming said, "Of course. What do you want?"

Yang Hanbo looked at his brothers who were still crying behind him, then turned to the man in black and said, "So, what exactly is this test you're talking about?"

The man slowly took his hand out from the black cloak, and a mysterious beam of light gradually rose in his palm. Several large words gradually appeared on the beam of light, which made everyone even more puzzled.

"Blazing flames descend from the sky, scorching the heavens."

"What does it mean?" Zhang Hanrui was the first to raise everyone's question, but what he didn't notice was that Zuo Qihan beside him quietly lowered his head to glance at the faint firework mark on the palm of his hand.

The man laughed contemptuously, retracted the beam of light, waved his cloak, and disappeared. The white space they were in also disappeared. What appeared before their eyes was the dark forest after dawn. Although there was some sunlight shining, it was still quiet and gloomy, which made people creepy.

Guan Junchen counted the people present and found that no one was missing. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Alright, let's find the exit of the forest while it's still daylight."

Wang Junxi nodded, and together with Wang Hao and his brothers, they followed Guan Junchen. Zuo Qihan stood at the end of the team and did not move. Zhang Hanrui stopped and turned to ask him, "Xiao Qiqi, what's wrong with you?"

Zuo Qihan came back to his senses, looked up at Zhang Hanrui, smiled and said, "It's okay."

Zhang Hanrui looked at his forced and awkward smile, half believing and half doubting, but didn't say much. He pulled his arm and caught up with the main group.

Behind them, a figure appeared again, following closely behind the teenagers. What kind of situation will they face this time?

"To be continued"

(End of this chapter)