Warning! The evil god's minions are invading the eerie dungeon.

"Not only am I plotting something in my head, Chen Mu is playing tricks on me too..."

In the indistinguishable darkness, Qi Xie's consciousness drifted aimlessly.

The deep shadow that quietly overlapped Chen Mu's shadow was none other than Qi Xie's shadow.

He uses the technique of "imagination" to hide his true form in the shadow, and attaches his consciousness to the shadow to move and control it.

"Logically speaking, Chen Mu is most likely to take action when he is about to reunite with his teammates, so that he can immediately get support from his teammates should a conflict break out."

Now it seems he had another ulterior motive.

Although he kept telling me that he wouldn't be able to meet up with his teammates until the afternoon, his teammates had actually arrived nearby last night.

This way, once his teammates are secretly in position, he can launch a coordinated attack from within and without, catching me completely off guard...

But why didn't he wait for me to wake up so we could enter his teammates' ambush together, instead of quietly slipping away?

"Is it because he saw the carnage of the Fleshworm Nest yesterday and realized that even he and his teammates couldn't defeat me, so he wanted to escape beforehand? Heh heh heh, not bad, not bad."

Qi Xie pondered in secret, trying to let his thoughts wander, not intending to use Chen Mu as a scout, lest he be discovered by Chen Mu's malicious warning.

Under his watchful gaze, Chen Mu acted very cautiously, constantly changing routes, sometimes turning and changing direction, and sometimes using corners and obstacles to look back.

Without special abilities or equipment, this whole process would either discover the tracker or shake them off.

But Chen Mu probably never imagined that the person following him was hiding right under his nose, using his own shadow as a cover.

Soon, he arrived at a pet shop with a considerable area near that landmark building.

"Random Person A" really didn't notice me. It seems that yesterday's battle had taken a toll on him... After looking back several times, Chen Mu finally relaxed completely and let out a soft breath.

Honestly, I felt very safe around that somewhat mentally unstable young man; his strength was absolutely top-tier.

However, since there's a good chance of clearing the game if you team up with your teammates, finding a strong player to carry you is somewhat unnecessary.

Firstly, regardless of the spoils, the powerful figures will always take the lion's share, which, while safe, limits one's own potential for advancement. Secondly, the powerful figures might be after something extremely risky.

In the second scenario, if a problem arises that even the most capable person cannot solve, then it's highly likely that it won't be the capable person who dies, but rather the other person.

After all, there's a saying that goes, when you and your friends encounter a bear in the mountains, you don't need to run faster than the bear, just faster than your friends.

"And judging from the scene underground, that guy is definitely a psychopath. He also seems to lack emotional expression... Is his sanity and emotions unaffected?"

Chen Mu rubbed the tip of his nose, his stomach churning just thinking about what he had witnessed yesterday.

While he was thinking, he had already pushed open the door of the pet shop in front of him.

This was the meeting point he and his companions had agreed upon.

If he hadn't seen the scene underground, his original plan was to lure "Random Guy" here, then have his teammates, who were lying in ambush, work together from the inside to create an advantage, and get "Random Guy" to agree not to follow their team and leave on his own. That was all.

Their "Explorers Forum" is not a dark force; their main goal is to explore the nature of unknown things such as systems and the bizarre, and they do not want to kill and steal treasures.

Of course, this doesn't mean they won't fight for powerful spoils; after all, no one would complain about having the biggest fist.

Hohoho—!

An inconspicuous corner behind the door held an aluminum can, which rolled away as the glass door was pushed open.

Judging from the sound, there were small particles stuffed into the can to enhance the sound and warning function. Considering that this is a pet store, it's likely that it contained dog food or something similar.

Qi Xie observed the shadow for a moment.

The can was green, with two artistic fonts printed on it: "Lei Bi".

This made him even more helpless, confirming that the high-end clothes he had collected probably didn't have corresponding brands in reality and wouldn't sell.

Upon entering the pet store, a strong smell of burning filled the air, followed by a scene of utter chaos inside, as if several jeeps were playing bumper cars in the store.

At the same time, Chen Mu also saw many signs of battle and a lot of blood on the ground, as well as some muscle tissue wrapped with broken bones.

He instinctively became alert for a moment, but then relaxed his muscles.

Because those muscle tissues were covered with blood-stained feathers or hair that did not belong to humans.

Structurally, it is not difficult to distinguish that these are the limbs of certain birds, reptiles, felines, and canines, but the density of the muscles and bones is terrifyingly high, and the overall size is magnified several times.

It's highly likely that the pets in this pet shop were corrupted by strange energy and turned into bizarre creatures, which were then eliminated by his teammates.

The burnt smell makes it easy to guess.

These bizarre creatures come from the instance and have flesh and blood, so they can naturally be considered food.

Of course, to prevent any unforeseen problems, it should be cooked thoroughly and consumed in small quantities.

Qi Xie in the shadows made the same guess, but due to his special nature, he gained more information from it.

"In this instance, food is defined as anything containing eerie energy? Mushrooms, plants, animals, and even things like biscuits and bread that people normally understand—either they've been mutated by eerie energy, or the eerie insects themselves or their secretions contain eerie energy… The ecology of this instance is truly outrageous. You have to fight with your food before eating to decide who is the food?"

Qi Xie pondered:

"The purpose of consuming the food is to infuse the body with strange energy, making that darkness unrecognizable? This disguise is clumsy... That darkness is at least forbidden level, yet it can't even detect this? Is its intelligence low?"

Qi Xie suddenly thought of his own mentally challenged partner and realized that this matter wasn't so difficult to understand.

Since it has mastered the power of the evil god, it is normal for it to be affected by that god's corrupting influence.

However, that dark night was eerie, belonging to the realm of darkness and shadow, and should belong to the eerie retinue of [Shadow Eater].

It is unclear whether this influence comes directly from the power of the evil god or indirectly from [Shadow Eater], which has seized a portion of the evil god's power.

Qi Xie felt the latter was more likely.

After all, he himself possesses the power and corruption of an evil god, yet he is still a sane, enthusiastic, honest, and friendly young man.

While Qi Xie maintained a positive self-image, Chen Mu stood in the relatively empty shop and coughed a few times.

This was the secret code he and his companions had agreed upon.

A figure quickly emerged from the darkness. It was a middle-aged man who looked very refined, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, like a university professor.

Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his teammate's familiar face, and walked towards him with a smile.

But soon he stopped, his smile stiffening.

In his mind, the "malicious warning" was going off like crazy.

……

……