They had been walking for about half an hour when Lu Xin suddenly frowned.
All along the way, he had been releasing [Silk Touch] and [Air Flow Perception], doing his best to avoid the surrounding monsters.
But he soon discovered one thing: the sounds around him had been drained away.
It was similar to the situation when he was looking for the cat in the forest, only this time it was more pronounced.
He looked at the knights around him, still chatting and laughing. He could clearly see their mouths moving, but Lu Xin couldn’t hear a single sound.
At that moment, Audrey was spreading a map over Lu Xin’s back, studying it earnestly. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
Lu Xin suddenly understood: only he was affected by this.
Immediately after, [Air Flow Perception] sent back feedback—something around them was moving.
He swept his gaze over the surrounding trees. Something was off. These trees seemed to be moving along with them.
After a moment of thought, he spoke up.
“Stop.”
Upon hearing this, Audrey reined in her horse. The others also stopped and looked toward him.
“What’s wrong?” Audrey asked, puzzled.
“The trees around us are moving.”
As soon as Lu Xin finished speaking, laughter came from the group.
“Trees moving? You’re not hallucinating from fear, are you?”
“I told you commoners can’t be relied on. Now he can’t even lead the way properly.”
Jack seized this opportunity, stepped forward, and said to Audrey:
“Knight Captain, this guy is completely unreliable. Who knows if he has some other agenda.”
Audrey ignored Jack’s words and instead looked at Ruilin.
Ruilin immediately closed her eyes to sense the surroundings, then opened them and shook her head.
“I detect nothing unusual.”
Audrey was silent for a few seconds, then asked Lu Xin again with doubt.
“None of us noticed anything wrong. How did you detect it?”
Lu Xin activated [Air Flow Perception] to its maximum, observing the area around them.
But the fact was, the trees were just trees. They weren’t moving now.
But Lu Xin didn’t doubt his judgment, because both he and Ailya had encountered this situation before. It was just that now he was the only one.
The knights around grew even more contemptuous of Lu Xin, discussing whether to return to the town and replace him.
Lu Xin remained silent, his expression somewhat displeased, because he had only now realized that the softness on his back was actually the Fluffball Monster.
He raised his head and looked at Audrey. He chose not to mention the anomaly of the sounds being drained away.
Doing so would only make others think he had lost his mind.
As for whether to let him continue leading, that was up to Audrey.
“Keep moving. Lu Xin will still lead the way.”
Audrey’s voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone to hear.
Though the group was dissatisfied, no one dared to say anything more.
By noon, nearly six hours had passed since the Knight Order set out.
At their current location, sunlight could barely penetrate. Combined with the thick fog, their progress had become very slow.
Audrey folded up the map that was spread over Lu Xin’s back and signaled for everyone to rest here.
“Rest here. Check your equipment. If you need to leave, you must go in pairs.”
The knights dispersed in twos and threes. One of them lit a campfire in the center of the resting area.
Lu Xin dismounted from his horse and walked over to a stone at the edge to sit down.
The Fluffball Monster jumped down from his chest and rolled around in front of him, stretching its body.
No one came to talk to him. No one even looked at him.
Lu Xin didn’t mind. He took out the bread Ailya had prepared for him that morning from his chest.
He broke off half and gave it to the Fluffball Monster, then slowly ate the remaining half himself.
‘An absurd mission, incompetent colleagues, and a helpless me.’
‘Can’t carry them. Absolutely can’t carry them.’
Just as Lu Xin was eating his bread and complaining about this operation…
The Fluffball Monster at his feet suddenly let out a pooch and rolled away into the distance.
It rolled a few circles, then looked back at Lu Xin.
Its black bean eyes were filled with anticipation.
Lu Xin immediately understood: this little guy had caught the scent of honey.
Still, eating plain bread was indeed dry. Having some honey wouldn’t be bad.
He stood up, brushed the breadcrumbs off his hands, and prepared to follow.
“Hey.”
Hai Er was leaning against a tree trunk, chewing on jerky, and turned his head to look at him.
“Don’t die out there. You’ll delay our progress.”
Lu Xin didn’t respond. He turned and followed the Fluffball Monster.
Hai Er watched him walk into the fog until his figure completely disappeared, then chuckled a few times.
He had personally ventured into this Central Region before, so he naturally knew how terrifying the monsters in this forest were.
It was a pity he had kindly warned him, but the other party didn’t appreciate it.
Lu Xin followed behind the Fluffball Monster while paying attention to his surroundings, releasing [Silk Touch] and [Air Flow Perception].
[Silk Touch] allowed him to sense the positions of furry creatures around him, allowing him to avoid them.
[Air Flow Perception] helped him detect subtle changes in air currents, alerting him to whether any living things were approaching.
With the combination of the two, Lu Xin’s survival ability in this forest surpassed that of the vast majority of knights.
Plus, with the earlier mana and physical enhancements, his endurance was also fully up to par.
As he walked, he observed the surrounding trees.
He was sure he hadn’t sensed wrong—those trees had definitely moved.
If those trees were disguised monsters, then they must have regarded them as prey to have been following them all along.
In that case, they had no reason to give up on this opportunity to catch him alone.
But unfortunately, [Air Flow Perception] didn’t send back any feedback.
By now, the Fluffball Monster had stopped in front of a withered tree, excitedly circling its roots.
Lu Xin walked up and used [Fluid Mastery] to draw out the honey.
The honey continuously flowed into the small pot he carried. The pot wasn’t very large to begin with for easy carrying, and it quickly filled up.
Just then, both Lu Xin’s [Air Flow Perception] and [Silk Touch] sent warnings at the same time.
Even he himself could be sure that the tree to his left had just changed position, even if only by a tiny bit.
The feedback from [Silk Touch] was strange. He was now completely surrounded by that furry creature.
He missed Ailya. At least Ailya knew more monsters than he did. She might know what the hell was causing this.
Lu Xin observed for over a minute. That tree trunk had indeed shifted a small distance horizontally.
But when the trunk stopped moving, Lu Xin couldn’t distinguish it at all.
Lu Xin closed the pot, patted the Fluffball Monster’s head, and turned to head back.
After a few steps, he stopped and looked up at a thick branch to his front right.
There was a person there, with gray-purple skin and pointed ears.
It was the Dark Elf who was with Audrey.
Lu Xin only glanced once, then averted his gaze and continued walking back.
Ruilin crouched on the branch, looking at Lu Xin with a slightly raised eyebrow.
‘Did that guy just see her?’
‘But in such a dark environment, an ordinary person shouldn’t be able to see her at all.’
‘Probably a coincidence.’
Ruilin glanced at the moving trees, then lightly leaped down from the tree and silently returned to the camp from the other side.