111: Chapter 111 Starve to death, you lot!

Mihe usually went to rest very early, and today was no different.

As the disc-like sun was submerged by the mountain peaks and night fell upon the land, he prepared to go inside and get into bed.

His daily routine was always this boring.

Because leaving the Magic Array carried the risk of being surrounded and suppressed, he basically had to stay inside the array on ordinary days.

Occasionally, he would enter the forest to hunt magical beasts to get meat for everyone, but he would never stay out for more than 24 hours; any longer, and the Lord of Gur City would detect his trail.

Once his retreat was cut off, to prevent the Magic Array from being discovered, he would have no choice but to flee into the depths of the Silent Forest.

That was undoubtedly a dead end.

Slipping under the covers, he pondered how to resolve the current desperate situation of the Resistance Army.

After a long while with no results, he let out a deep sigh.

Within the territory of the Lake Kingdom, there was no longer any place to hide.

Even if there were, with so many people in the Resistance Army, they wouldn't be able to evade the eyes of the cities along the way to migrate successfully.

"We are destined to fall."

Recalling the words spoken with a smile by his close friend on the day they founded the Resistance Army together, the unwilling Mihe finally admitted that he was right.

"Mr. Mi He! Are you asleep!"

A shout rang out from outside. His heart sank, and he abruptly threw off the thin quilt, grabbed the staff lying across the nightstand, and rushed out of the house.

"Is it the people from Gur..."

Looking at Domit, whose face was flushed with excitement, Mihe realized that the Magic Array was not surrounded by the legion.

In the moment he breathed a sigh of relief, he noticed the iron pot Domit was holding in both hands: "What is this?"

"A miracle!"

Domit's emotions were high, tears welling in the corners of his eyes: "It's a miracle, Mr. Mi He! Song of the Forest!"

Song of the Forest?

Stunned for a moment, Mihe silently approached him and leaned his staff against the edge of a stone table.

As if in disbelief, or perhaps fearing that hope would turn into disappointment, he took a deep breath, slowly raised his trembling palm, and lifted the pot lid.

Inside the pot, a viscous emerald-green potion emitted a refreshing plant fragrance that made one's whole body feel light.

"That's right, there's no mistake." Mihe's lips trembled as he stared fixedly at it. "I have seen Song of the Forest before; it's exactly the same!"

"Where is he?"

Domit opened his mouth blankly. After a few seconds, he realized Mihe was asking about Zhang Mu, and his expression changed drastically: "Damn it!

Mr. Zhang Mu has entered the Silent Forest alone!"

He had been so shocked by seeing the potion just now that he forgot to ask Leah where Zhang Mu had gone.

Now that he was asked, his mind whirred, and he guessed that Zhang Mu must have slipped into the Silent Forest.

Mihe grabbed his staff, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot, leaving only his voice echoing in the courtyard: "Put the Song of the Forest in my room and look after it well.

If anything happens to the potion, I will use my staff to smash your head like a watermelon."

...

Holding the crystal Domit had left for him, Zhang Mu walked to the edge of the Magic Array, opened a door, and stepped through leisurely.

Once he was out, he closed the door and looked around.

The forest at night was pitch black. Using a faint beam of moonlight that struggled through the lush foliage, Zhang Mu could barely make out that he was surrounded by thick trees.

This wasn't the place where he had entered the Magic Array yesterday.

Hmm... Zhang Mu rubbed his head. Which direction led deeper into the forest?

He had left too hurriedly; he should have asked Domit... Forget it, if he knew, he definitely wouldn't have let me into the forest.

He looked left and right for a while, but it was too dark to see anything.

After thinking for a bit, he pulled out his phone and took a look. It was just after seven; the mall hadn't closed yet.

He immediately summoned a portal to return to Blue Star, took a taxi to the mall to buy three sets of night-vision goggles, and then rushed back to the Other World after returning home.

He had bought head-mounted night-vision goggles. At a quick glance, they looked like a half-coverage helmet with a camera mounted on top.

He put them on and turned on the power.

The surrounding scenery instantly became clear, the vision appearing in yellow-green.

Zhang Mu clapped his hands, looked around, and randomly picked a direction to march forward.

Although he didn't know if the direction he chose was right, he didn't care much. At worst, he would just return the way he came.

He took the magic staff out of his Storage Pouch and pushed aside the waist-high bushes while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.

Even though he didn't fear death, dying over and over again was a waste of time.

Fortunately, after walking for half an hour, he wasn't ambushed, aside from the sound of some unknown things running through the bushes and rustling the leaves.

Another half hour passed. Zhang Mu waved his staff to clear away the much thinner bushes and looked up at the nearby trees.

The trunks were noticeably thicker than before.

"Strange, the bushes are getting sparser and the trees are getting thicker. Am I walking out, or going deeper?"

*Whoosh—*

The sound of something cutting through the air came from behind. He instinctively turned his head, only to see a lithe figure flash past before his vision went black.

In his soul state, Zhang Mu wasn't in a hurry to resurrect. He observed the magical beast that was currently devouring his corpse.

It looked a bit like a leopard, with large spots on its fur, and was about the size of an ox.

"You brain-dead thing, you're so big, is this little bit of meat of mine enough to eat?"

Rolling his eyes, Zhang Mu waited until it had gnawed "him" down to just a skeleton and licked its chops as it walked away before choosing to resurrect.

He opened his eyes, stood up, and tapped the night-vision goggles. Fortunately, they weren't broken.

He didn't linger here to avoid that leopard returning, and walked forward quickly.

Meanwhile, a certain leopard that had already climbed onto a tree branch and was lying down with its eyes closed, intending to sleep, opened its eyes in some confusion.

Didn't I just eat? Why am I hungry again?

Zhang Mu, of course, didn't know this. He kept rushing forward on his own until the trees were no longer so dense and he could see the faint dawn light through the gaps in the branches before stopping.

Leaning against a tree trunk and panting heavily, Zhang Mu cursed: "To hell with this. Eating me, huh? Just you wait and starve to death."

The night passed, and the journey was not smooth.

Since encountering the first magical beast, the peace from when he first set out never returned. Every ten minutes or half an hour, he would be ambushed from behind by dark shadows.

He calculated roughly that it had happened over eighty times.

At first, watching himself being gnawed on made Zhang Mu feel a bit uncomfortable.

But after so many times, he had grown accustomed to it.

It couldn't be helped. Even Mihe, a Magister, didn't dare to go deep into the Silent Forest. For a rookie Professional like him, who was an Apprentice Magician on paper but actually a Beginner Magician, being gnawed on eighty-odd times was already considered few.

Fortunately, Zhang Mu had tested it: when he used the resurrection function, all the tissues of his corpse would disappear.

In other words, the magical beasts and monsters that had used him as a snack would either have to sleep on an empty stomach after returning to their nests last night or go out to hunt again.

This gave him a bit of satisfaction.

After catching his breath, Zhang Mu looked around. The environment had changed significantly.

The trees were much sparser, the bushes were almost gone, and the thick layer of fallen leaves that had accumulated over the years had already rotted, sinking slightly when stepped on.

*Roar—*

While he was thinking about where to go next, a roar suddenly rang out nearby, startling a flock of birds into flight.

Zhang Mu was somewhat pleasantly surprised.

He didn't know if the Storm Bears had any similarities to the bears of Blue Star, but the roar that made his eardrums throb sounded very much like a bear's voice.

Since he was already here, he put away the night-vision goggles and quietly moved through the trees toward the source of the sound.

*Boom—*

A large tree that would take four people to encircle suddenly collapsed. Zhang Mu, who happened to be in its path, was smashed from 3D to 2D.

After resurrecting, Zhang Mu hid behind a tree to the right and peeked out to observe the battlefield ahead.

A grey-furred bear, standing on its hind legs and taller than a truck, was tearing at a giant python that was coiled around its body.