Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 346 The Visitor (35)

Someone is looking for them.

Qin Ziwen and Du Yu exchanged a glance and simultaneously came to the same conclusion.

In this remote, desolate place, people suddenly appeared, right in the vicinity of their usual activity area.

"My lord, we cannot leave too many people behind," Du Yu said immediately.

"Okay, I'll go talk to them."

Qin Ziwen found Qin Ziwu and explained the situation.

Qin Ziwu gripped the spear tightly. "I understand."

Soon, he turned back and found Cao Biansheng. The two returned and stopped the team that had come through, letting the main force return to the community, leaving only a few elites behind.

"Everyone else, go back too." Qin Ziwen glanced around and said, "Everyone else, go back too. There's no need for those without extraordinary abilities to stay, otherwise it will be difficult to evacuate later if there are too many people."

Qin Ziwu thought about it and agreed that it made sense, so he simply told the core hunting team members to return to their homeland first.

Watching everyone's departing figures, Qin Ziwen sighed inwardly, regretting that Mogu wasn't in the neighborhood at the moment.

During the day, Mogu led some of the fishmen out to sea to hunt.

Qin Ziwen took out a bow, coated the arrowheads with the venom of a silver-threaded snake, and put the venom-coated arrows into a quiver.

If there were other people lurking around, they would have noticed them long ago, given how much noise they were making.

Qin Ziwen found Hei Zai and asked, "Is there any other human scent nearby?"

Everyone in the neighborhood knows that there's nothing Blackie can't smell.

As a top carnivorous predator, its olfactory bulb is extremely well-developed, having evolved to the pinnacle of terrestrial evolution.

Even from hundreds of meters away, it can smell what kind of meat it ate for lunch just by burping.

Once, after Qin Ziwen finished eating barbecue, he wiped his mouth with a piece of paper and threw it in the trash can. Ten minutes later, this dog came to him with that piece of paper in its mouth, begging for food, its tail wagging like a propeller.

Upon hearing this, Hei Zai let out a low growl, quickly ran to the spot where he had previously discovered the horse's hoof, then lowered his head, walked a short distance eastward, and then stood up straight, gazing into the distance.

"They went that way?"

"Roar."

Judging from the direction Blackie discerned, the other party should have gone downstream of the river, which is towards the plains.

Qin Ziwen guessed where the other party came from.

It is very likely the same city we saw on the plains last time.

He was a little horrified. He only glanced at it from afar, but the other man not only shot him with several arrows, but also sent people to chase him for more than 100 kilometers, conducting a thorough search.

This is a dark forest!

Last time they came to beat someone up by following the internet connection; this time they're checking the room.

How can pure and kind people like us survive in this perilous world?

"Little White Dragon, you go back first." Qin Ziwen told the immature dinosaur to return to its home first. It was still just a cub, and there was no point in keeping it.

Then he looked at Blackie. It was big, but big size also makes it a big target and easy to be targeted.

I was just about to let it go back too.

The sound of flapping wings came from the sky. The harpy eagle swooped down, caught a bird that flew up from the woods not far away, and flew back.

This bird has golden wings, a dark blue back, and a white ring around its head.

His eyes narrowed slightly; there was a small iron hoop tied to the bird's leg.

It was raised by humans.

Did they deliberately leave a bird here?!
If someone comes out, the bird will fly back to report.

A hint of apprehension flashed in Qin Ziwen's eyes. It seemed he couldn't just come to the forest map so casually anymore.

Is this hard-won opportunity to go back in time just going to be wasted like this?

However, he was curious. Judging from the distance they were traveling, it would take them more than a day to search this place. Did they have a way to stay on the previous map for an extended period of time?

If you bring a person back to the previous map and leave them outside when the time-lapse ends, will the person continue to exist in that map, or will they be forcibly deported?

The group was gradually deported.

Du Yu stepped forward and volunteered, "My lord, I'll stay. It'll be a good opportunity to investigate their strengths and weaknesses."

Qin Ziwen frowned, and shook his head without hesitation: "No, the enemy's situation is unclear. How can we let you take risks? What if they have malicious intentions..."

“My lord,” Shi Hu, who had been standing silently at the back, suddenly spoke up, “I will stay. Instructor Du is the pillar of our homeland. Why not let me stay?”

“I’ll stay too. If there’s any real danger between us, one of us can come back and report,” Zhang Meng said.

Qin Ziwen turned to look at the two determined men. “Alright, if this succeeds, I will reward you for your efforts. However, it won’t just be you on duty; I will also assign you a helper.”

Everyone returned home, but Zhang Meng and Shi Hu stayed behind and sat down by the door.

Night came,

The forest was shrouded in darkness, with only the rustling of the wind through the leaves.

The two who stayed behind started a small fire in front of them.

The flickering firelight illuminated their faces, and on the ground beside them lay a quiet one-clawed dragon.

Just as a spark broke out from the campfire, the one-clawed dragon suddenly raised its head and looked into the distance.

Before long, the clear and rhythmic sound of horses' hooves came from deep in the woods, growing louder as they approached, shattering the silence of the night.

Shi Hu raised his head, his grip on the bow tightening slightly.

Three figures on horseback rode through the sparse woods and stopped directly at the edge of the flickering firelight.

The woman at the head of the group sat high on her horse, the firelight illuminating her sharply defined jawline. She surveyed Shi Hu and his companion from her elevated position, her voice cold and scrutinizing: "Quite cautious. You managed to detect our presence and even intercepted a messenger bird; you seem to have some skill."

The flickering firelight finally illuminated the visitor's figure clearly.

Shi Hu's pupils contracted slightly. This was a tall horse he had never seen before. What was even more astonishing was that a sharp single horn stood prominently in the center of the horse's forehead.

The woman did not dismount, and casually said as if she were just passing by, "I mean no harm. I have come here to bring you an opportunity. You should go back and inform your master immediately."

Shi Hu took a deep breath, stepped forward, straightened his back, and said loudly, "If you have anything to say, just tell me."

"You?" The woman's gaze finally fell on his face, her tone as flat as brushing away a speck of dust, "You are not qualified."

She spoke casually, as if she were stating a fact rather than addressing Shi Hu.

Shi Hu's fingers, gripping the bow's back, turned slightly white. Meeting the other's gaze, he spoke in a deep voice, each word distinct and weighty:
"I have been authorized by my lord, and I am his eyes and ears here. You are guests, yet I see no manners befitting them. How dare you order my lord around like that!"

"How dare you!"

Two men in black robes behind the woman drew their curved swords from their waists, the swords clanging as they slashed through the air, their tips pointing directly at Shi Hu.

Shi Hu sneered, advancing instead of retreating, facing the woman directly at the tip of the blade. "You draw your sword at the slightest disagreement? Is this what you call an opportunity and sincerity?"

A strange light flashed in the woman's eyes as she sized up Shi Hu, then turned to look at the two people behind her with displeasure. "Did I tell you to draw your swords? Put them away."

"Here."

The man in black robes responded respectfully.

Sheath the sword.

The woman's lips curled into a faint, enigmatic smile. "You've got some guts. Your master certainly knows how to use people."

(End of this chapter)