In truth, he was a bit afraid he couldn't handle it all.

After emphasizing numerous precautions, Tong Shan suddenly realized as he watched the two of them move with the ease of familiarity, "You two must have had experience exploring the Crack Realm before, haven't you?"

Lou Feng: "..."

Ji Jue: "..."

Silence fell suddenly.

Amidst the awkwardness, Ji Jue stealthily glanced at Mr. Lou beside him with the corner of his eye, while Lou Feng's expression twitched. After shooting a glare at this guy, he finally squeezed out words through clenched teeth, "Yes."

"...Both of you?"

Tong Shan didn't understand why the atmosphere had suddenly shifted.

"Uh, cough cough, yes." Ji Jue turned his head away, struggling to control his expression, forcibly suppressing the curve of his lips into a solemn face, "The two of us, uh, work together quite, um, seamlessly, right?"

Is it you!!!

Lou Feng was nearly grinding his teeth to dust.

"Hush—"

Xu Guan, who had been sitting quietly with eyes downcast, suddenly lifted his head, signaling everyone to be silent. No one knew what he had seen, but both vehicles stopped instantly, pulling over. Under the protection and concealment of layers of telekinesis, they blended into the derelict streets above.

Following Tong Shan's hand gesture, everyone sat petrified in the vehicles, motionless.

Outside the window, amidst the decay of broken bricks and shattered tiles, nothing changed.

Ji Jue and Lou Feng exchanged looks, clueless. Not until Tong Shan suddenly raised his hand, gripping tightly.

Inside the vehicle, everyone's minds and bodies tensed instantly.

Only then did Ji Jue hear a sparse, dripping sound, like the gentle patter of rain hitting the ground, slowly spreading from the distance.

What he saw were shadows surging like a tide in the darkness.

There were no visible bodies, no perception of any spiritual fluctuations.

Those seemingly living shadows crept slowly across the ruins, like mercury spilling on the ground. In their wake, everything was enveloped, and sounds of rupture were constant.

Through the binoculars, Ji Jue saw a wriggling worm emerging from the sewer, only to be consumed by the shadows before it could react.

After the delicate sounds of breaking, it turned to dust.

Lou Feng, drenched in sweat and pale-faced, didn't know what he had seen.

Sensing Ji Jue's curious expression beside him, Lou Feng's demeanor changed, as if saying, "If I can't feel good, neither should you, damn it," and he placed his hand on Ji Jue's shoulder.

On his index finger, a diamond-like Blessing Relic flashed an illusory light, silently bestowing its power.

Then Ji Jue too began to sweat coldly.

On that writhing, shifting blanket of shadows, a vague and distorted outline started to emerge as if it were limbs.

As the shadows moved, bent and twisted limbs shuffled forward.

Sometimes, during a stumble, a complete silhouette would gradually appear, resembling the corpse of a giant beast rotted halfway, its skeletal frame protruding, with indistinct organs trailing beneath a split abdomen, swollen and decayed...

The enormous body, as large as a building, nonchalantly passed through ruins without obstruction, like a phantom. Only the thick, greedy shadows spread out from beneath, devouring any life they touched.

Upon the blurry body, tentacles like parasitic worms extended, wriggling through the air, delicately sniffing, seeking the scent of all living things.

The half-exposed skull of a carcass silently shrieked.

At that moment, as if sensing something, it abruptly turned its head, staring straight at the concealed Vanguard Team cloaked in illusion.

Its eyes were fierce and menacing.

Then, as if stunned, it paused.

The shadows, like a tidal wave, swept past, yet touched nothing.

It was like a hand rummaging in a biscuit tin, carefully probing every nook and crevice, only to find it had been in vain.

Here, there was nothing at all.

After a long while, that patch of shadow finally began to shrink, and the seemingly famished behemoth moved away into the distance.

It disappeared from view.

Not until ten minutes later did Xu Guan nod, and everyone in the car let out a synchronized sigh of relief.

The two vehicles hovering in midair slowly descended to the ground.

Without stirring any dust.

"Hurry up, we should get moving. With that guy having swept through, there shouldn't be any trouble on the road for a good while," Tong Shan started the vehicle, picked up speed, and sped off amidst the ruins.

"What was that?" Ji Jue finally couldn't help but lean forward and ask the people in front: "Disaster Beast? Mutant? Some kind of evil born locally?"

"Not sure, after all, we've never encountered it before."

Ji Xue replied, "Although that fellow is a bit large, it's relatively easy to fool. As long as it can't find you in the areas covered by its shadow, it can't do anything to you. It's not too much of a hassle. Just stay hidden and you'll be fine."

"Are there many of these things in Spring City?"

"From our multiple explorations, there are different types, big and small, probably around eight or nine, I guess?"

Ji Xue herself wasn't too certain, "Sometimes they mysteriously appear and just as mysteriously disappear again, without giving us a chance to classify or observe them.

The team from Ship City encountered something even more troublesome. It was as big as an entire city block, invisible in form, just a huge mist. People who entered would dissolve away without realizing how they died.

It's said to possibly have come from beneath the Vortex. We lost quite a few people, and it was not until the chief took action that it was driven away. By comparison, the areas we explore don't have troubles as big as those, and for that, we should be thankful."

"Don't jinx it."

Her brother reached out from the sunroof and tapped her head, "There's still plenty of troublesome stuff out there, Master Ji, you guys be careful too. Don't get out of the car unless absolutely necessary.

We're heading towards a region dense with anomalies, so everyone be careful."

During the silent and rapid ride, there was a moment when Ji Jue felt as if a light had brightened before his eyes, the afternoon sun was blazing, illuminating the storefronts and signs on both sides of the street.

The traffic was bustling, the crowds like a flowing river, noisy and prosperous.

The years seemed peaceful.

Under the scorching sun, the smiles on the faces of the pedestrians were brilliantly radiant, as they turned their heads towards the newcomers, looking at Ji Jue, waving and calling out.

But then, just as quickly, everything vanished without a trace.

As if it were but an ephemeral bubble.

Only the silent, shadowy darkness moved among the ruins with no sign of any living creatures.

The stale wind blew from afar, lifting the tattered hangings above the doorways.

Behind the curtain of darkness, blurred faces lifted, filled with exaggerated smiles, watching them, waving with arms that seemed boneless, fluttering lightly.

Enthusiastic calls.

The hallucinations emerged beside each person's ears.

"Spring City snacks, exquisite light meals, trucks add add add add water... Spring Spring City snacks... Light meals... Meals... Meals... Hungry hungry hungry... come come come come come in and sit sit sit sit sit..."

The vehicle sped on without stopping, even pressing the accelerator harder.

However, with every corner turned, they would pass by the same dilapidated doorway.

The blurred voices continued their pursuit, as if sticking close behind, getting louder, and each time Ji Jue looked in the rearview mirror, he could see that face.

With a fervent smile.

But within its pupils, there was only darkness, empty and staring back at him.

Finally, the speeding vehicle came to a sudden halt.

The gloomy, ruined doorway had appeared directly ahead, and the exaggeratedly smiling face was getting closer, pressing against the car window, "So hungry, so hungry, come on in and sit down, just eat something and you'll be fine, eat eat eat eat... eating something is good, isn't it, isn't it, isn't it..."

In that moment, the hollow eyes turned to Ji Jue, the smile growing more twisted:

"Shall we eat together?"

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