Star Hunter.

Chapter Twenty-One: Hush—

Chapter Twenty-One: Hush—

The additional test has no time limit and cannot be conducted using flying vehicles, unless you are a person like Zani who can fly.

There weren't many rules restricting them from hiding; they could stick together and team up. So, the five people in Xilin's dorm acted together.

From the very beginning, Xilin noticed that Teita's expression was somewhat unusual. Compared to the distressed expressions of Libero and Tie Tou, Teita seemed more like the joy of seeing an old friend, only trying hard to maintain a serious demeanor.

Despite his small stature, Teita was in excellent physical condition and managed to stay with the group the whole time.

To avoid being chased by the animals behind them, and knowing that there would likely be more troublesome creatures on the road ahead, Xilin and his companions witnessed an unfortunate fellow being twisted by the leg and flung backward by a chimpanzee. The tigers, leopards, bulls, snakes, and the like wouldn't fare much worse.

After running for a while, the five of them rested behind a pile of stones for a while before continuing in an hour.

"Teita, I didn't realize you had such good stamina," Ribero said.

"Of course, I've trained with my dad's men since I was a kid." Teita was quite proud of this.

Xilin glanced at the sky. Their pace couldn't keep up with the planet's rotation; they couldn't possibly experience perpetual daylight. However, no one knew what would happen after nightfall. You couldn't reason with those animals; one wrong move and you'd be in trouble, like that poor guy who got flung away by the chimpanzee earlier.

If Xilin were alone, it would definitely be much faster. And with Xilin's stealth abilities, he'd be far better than five people acting together. However, it's just an extra test; there's no need to compete for first place. Helping those guys out together would also allow them to gather other information.

Xilin had originally planned to send Gray Cat to build rapport with the animals, but before the additional matches even started, the cat disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only the words "I'm going to make some connections" before vanishing without a trace.

"It's getting dark..." Wei Lai said, leaning against the pile of stones and watching the sky gradually darken. His tone was somewhat sorrowful, unlike his usual carefree self.

  

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Teita asked.

"It's not fear, it's unease."

"Don't worry, we're here. If you want to sleep, go ahead and take a nap. Take a quick nap now, we'll continue on our way later." Libero moved to the outside, leaving Wei Lai in the middle.

You all stay here for now, I'll check out the terrain.

They had absolutely no idea what this unusual runway was like. They weren't allowed to bring detectors, there were signal jamming devices and magnetic field jammers around it, and anyone with a poor sense of direction would probably get lost.

Xilin quietly surveyed the area around the pile of stones, then climbed onto one. He then hid himself in the shadows, observing the surroundings.

Looking at the arrangement of these stone piles from above, Xilin gradually figured out some logic. The distribution of these stone piles could influence people's thinking, misleading those in the area to make wrong choices.

Something felt off about this place. In just a short time, Xilin noticed that the location of the piles of stones had changed slightly. They had marked the route when they entered the area, but if they continued to follow those markings, they would definitely go the wrong way. Going the wrong way, then going back, then going the wrong way again… in the end, they would be trapped until dawn, and everyone knew what could happen in the long, dark night. It was better to leave here as soon as possible and find another place to rest.

As Xilin was observing the layout of the stone pile, a figure quietly slipped into the stone pile area. After a brief pause, the figure "floated" towards Xilin, approaching from behind.

On the other side, Wei Lai, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked in Xi Lin's direction. But before he could speak, a loud "thump" was heard, like a heavy object falling to the ground. Wei Lai quickly got up and ran towards that direction, with Li Bello and the other two following closely behind. However, when the four of them arrived at the pile of stones where Xi Lin was, they found Xi Lin standing safely on the pile of stones, while an unfamiliar person was lying on the ground.

This person was definitely not one of the test takers. Xilin remembered all the test takers, but he was certain he had never seen this person before. That meant this person was a previous student.

During the long run of the supplementary test, in addition to the animals causing trouble for the candidates, there were also previous students watching. They were there to catch some candidates who did not follow the rules and used illegal props, and like the animals, they would occasionally create some small obstacles for the candidates.

Wei Lai walked over and nudged the person, saying, "He's unconscious."

"He ambushed me, so I just knocked him unconscious." Xilin climbed down from the pile of stones, looked around, and said, "Let's get out of here quickly. There's something fishy about this pile of stones. The longer we delay, the more it will affect our judgment."

The group nodded, but before they could take a step, they felt the ground shake.

"It's that chimpanzee! Get out of here!" Ribello said.

"No, we can't leave yet." Xilin pointed in the direction ahead, "Someone's coming over there."

The group quickly left and hid, erasing all traces of their previous actions, but the person who had been knocked unconscious by Xilin was simply left there.

Three people flew over from the sky: one was a winged alien, and the other two were of common race, but they were wearing flight suits and had miniature thrusters on their feet.

The three men headed straight for the spot where the unconscious man lay. After checking on him, they injected him with a drug, and he quickly woke up.

Seeing his companion finally come to his senses, one of them chuckled smugly: "Careless, huh?! Let me tell you, be careful. Even those who haven't received training from the affiliated school are quite formidable."

The man who had just woken up sat up, rubbing his neck, and cursed, "Damn it, that kid moved too fast, a miscalculation!"

"They should still be inside this pile of stones."

"It's not easy to find anything in the pile of rocks either. The instruments are all interfered with and can't detect anything. We'll have to search for it ourselves."

"No need. We just need to keep them here. An hour will be enough. By then, the kids will probably be completely disoriented by the pile of stones."

The group jumped onto the pile of stones and stood on top, chatting while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

As the group was talking, the chimpanzee drew closer and closer.

"Hey, King Kong, I heard you flung a poor kid away? Twisted his leg or arm?" one of them joked.

The chimpanzee bared its teeth and walked over, pounded its chest and roared, then raised its chin and ignored the four people, continuing to walk forward.

"Hey. This guy's getting more and more arrogant."

"But then again, King Kong doesn't seem to have ever gotten lost here."

"You should know that there's a term in this world called the instinct of a beast."

The four people on the pile of stones chatted casually, but Ribero and his companions, hiding in the shadows, felt a bitter taste in their mouths. Xilin observed for a moment. The chimpanzee was heading in the direction that would pass by them, but with those four people still there, they couldn't easily change locations, or they would be discovered by the four if they weren't careful.

Libero and Ironhead both wore bitter expressions, while Wei Lai's eyes were downcast, his emotions unreadable, but he was on high alert. Xilin glanced at Teita. The little guy was grinning and looking in the direction of the chimpanzee. Seeing Xilin looking at him, Teita looked up and made a "shh" gesture to Xilin, then continued looking in the direction of King Kong.

The chimpanzee was getting closer and closer, and Ribero's palms were sweating. If they were exposed, they wouldn't just be facing this black creature, but also the four previous graduates. He wanted to warn Teita not to look in that direction, but before his hand could even touch her, Teita's actions nearly made his hair stand on end.

Teita looked around to make sure the four previous students couldn't see her from this angle, then poked her head out as the chimpanzee approached, putting a finger to her lips and saying, "Shh—"

The four members of Xilin: "..."

Libero, Ironhead, and Wei Lai froze, their muscles tensing as if ready to charge at any moment, only to see Xilin and Teita leap towards the chimpanzee...

Four people were chatting on a pile of rocks. One of them glanced at the chimpanzee, frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head and continued talking to his companion about the topic they had just discussed.

The chimpanzee walked further and further away until it left the area of ​​the pile of stones.

"Hey, does this count as us using connections?" Ribero asked in a low voice.

The five of them were now clinging to the chimpanzee's belly, with the chimpanzee's back to them. Perhaps the four of them hadn't expected this situation to arise.

"I guess so." Wei Lai looked at the tuft of fur in her hand. It was really tough. She really hoped she could pluck a tuft and take it back as a souvenir.

The chimpanzee only stopped when it reached an area where the pile of stones was no longer visible.

"King Kong, thank you!" Teita landed back on the ground and patted the chimpanzee's arm.

"Hehe, you're welcome!" a clear, childlike voice rang out.

"Let me introduce you. Its name is King Kong. We've known each other since we were very young. It comes to my house to play every year," Teita introduced.

Now, the three of them finally understood why Teita wasn't worried at all, and why Xilin hadn't reacted at all—it was because Teita was an old friend. It wasn't surprising that many of the animals at the affiliated school could talk. But…why was it a baby voice?!

"Teita, it's just a child... no, it's just an infant?" Weilé looked at the big guy curiously.

"Yes, King Kong is still a child." Teita nodded.

The four members of Xilin remained silent. Was the difference in species really that great?

"I'll leave you here. I'm taking another route, one that's outside your runway area," King Kong said.

"Okay, go have fun." Teita waved her hand, "I'll come find you to play after the test."

"Wait, King Kong, right? I wanted to ask if you've seen a gray cat? Just a gray cat this big?" Xilin gestured and asked King Kong.

King Kong scratched his head with his thick, black fingers. "If you're talking about that cat named Purr, then I have indeed seen it."

"Yes, that's it. Do you know where it is now?" Xilin asked again.

King Kong shook his head. "I saw it half an hour ago. It made Dahl cry, so everyone remembers it quite well."

"Uh... Dahl is?"

"A small crocodile about my size."

Are crocodiles that are "big" still considered "small"? If "big" refers to roughly the same length, then they certainly aren't small. However, if we consider age, that's a different story.

Libero and the others were incredulous upon hearing this, including Teita, who couldn't believe that the cat he had recently slept on the carpet with could have made a crocodile cry. Since it was King Kong's friend, the crocodile must have been quite large.

However, Xilin wasn't too surprised, and sighed, "That guy's bullying someone else again."

After parting ways with King Kong, Xilin and his group of five continued their journey. They encountered several groups of people along the way, many of whom were injured. Their injuries weren't serious, but judging from their appearance, the main problem was likely psychological trauma. They wondered how the person who had been running at the front was doing now.

Here, if food is scarce, you have to find your own way. The fruit in the forest has all been looted by those ahead of you, and the animals you encounter along the way are not ones you can hunt. You can only find plants to fill your stomach. Compared to them, Xilin and his group are already quite fortunate. After all, the use of subspace is not prohibited here.

Running around and stopping, while searching for shelter to avoid encountering the previous students, Xilin finally met the gray cat by the evening of the second day. Judging from the cat's appearance, they had made good progress in building a relationship.

"Xilin, let me introduce you to a new friend, right ahead!" The gray cat raised its paw and pointed ahead.

The area ahead was a mix of swamp and dense forest, which appeared even more eerie as the night deepened. No one knew what lurked in the forest or beneath the swamp, but Xilin instinctively felt danger. Not long ago, they had heard a short, sharp scream, followed by silence. When they arrived, there was no one there.

Knowing that this area was fraught with danger, Xilin and his companions decided to wait until nightfall before proceeding, which would be slightly safer.

"You mean this area?" Xilin raised his hand and gestured towards the swamp and dense forest not far away.

"Yeah, he has a friend there, a really nice guy." The gray cat perched on Xilin's shoulder, wagging its tail and swishing it. "I even fought for him."

"Shall we go now?"

"Of course, aren't you in a hurry? This is its territory, so it can help you out." The gray cat was very proud; this was all its doing.

Xilin called the other four people and followed Grey Cat.

"Xilin, do we really have to go now?" Teita looked around at the eerie surroundings, feeling as if a pair of large, cold eyes were watching them from the darkness.

"It's okay, trust Huru."

"Yes, believe me, that friend has a really good temper, I'm not lying to you, you'll see when you see it." The gray cat led the way, jumping from branch to branch.

The night is dark.

Xilin and his friends finally met the "good-tempered friend" that Gray Cat had mentioned.

Near the pool, a tall thicket of plants grew, and there, a large creature was perched. The scales covering its thick body reflected the starlight with a cold metallic gleam. By the light, they could see the dotted patterns and diamond-shaped markings scattered on its body, and from time to time, they could see the sharp tip of its forked tongue. Its cold eyes had narrow pupils that stared straight at Xilin and the others.

A chilling, bone-deep feeling, colder than the night itself, washed over me. (...)(To read the chapter, please contact the author, or enter directly.)

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