39: Chapter 39 The Bizarre Beast Tide

The campfire crackled, and steam from the compressed rations continued to rise, yet Lu Cheng felt increasingly uneasy, as if a thin needle were constantly pricking his back.

He looked up and scanned his surroundings.

The perimeter of the campsite darkened quickly; the low slopes, scattered rocks, and bushes that were visible during the day had now faded into mere blurry silhouettes.

The wind blew from the depths of the Wasteland Zone, carrying a dry, cold scent, occasionally accompanied by the low roars of ferocious beasts in the distance, which sounded normal enough.

Yet, the more normal it sounded, the heavier the unease in Lu Cheng's heart became.

Su Wan put away the route markers and glanced up at him.

"Your expression doesn't look right."

Lu Cheng rubbed his brow.

"I have a bad feeling."

Xia Xi immediately sat up straighter.

"Is it very dangerous?"

"Hard to say." Lu Cheng glanced at the campfire. "Let's stick to the plan for now; I'll take the first watch. You guys go to sleep first, and I'll wake you if anything happens."

Ma Dachun was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, but upon hearing this, he still forced himself to raise a hand.

"I can keep watch with you, too..."

Before he finished speaking, he swayed.

Lu Cheng chuckled.

"Forget it, if you keep watch any longer, I'll have to resuscitate you first."

Ma Dachun wanted to retort, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he yawned again and could only sullenly crawl back into his sleeping bag.

"Then I'm just... strategically sleeping~"

Before long, the campsite fell quiet.

Lu Cheng dimmed the fire, leaving just enough light so it wouldn't be pitch black.

He sat next to a rock with his blade by his side, one hand pressed against his knee, his ears constantly listening to the movements in the perimeter.

At first, everything was no different from an ordinary night in the Wasteland Zone.

The sound of wind. The rustling of grass leaves. The occasional roar of a beast in the distance. And the faint scuttling sounds of small nocturnal insects crawling on the ground.

But slowly, Lu Cheng's brow furrowed.

Something was wrong. The sounds were increasing.

It wasn't just one place; it was increasing from several directions.

Something was running behind the bushes on the left, there was rustling below the low slope on the right, and in the darkness further away, there seemed to be low, stifled breathing and growls, as if things that were originally scattered in different areas were slowly closing in on this spot.

At first, Lu Cheng thought it was just the peak of nocturnal activity.

The Wasteland Zone was naturally more chaotic at night than during the day; it was common for ferocious beasts to come out to forage, chase each other, and fight for territory.

But the next second...! His heart tightened abruptly. That familiar stinging pain exploded almost instantly.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck had issued a warning.

And it wasn't the mild reminder from earlier in the day; it was pushing forward like crazy, as if someone had shoved a siren directly into his brain and blasted it.

Danger! Extreme danger!

Lu Cheng's expression changed instantly.

What made his heart sink even further was that this sense of danger wasn't coming from a general direction; it was as if something was specifically targeting them.

"Damn it..." Lu Cheng cursed under his breath and stood up abruptly.

He rushed to Su Wan first, his voice low but extremely rapid. "Get up, stop sleeping, there's a problem."

Su Wan wasn't sleeping deeply to begin with; upon hearing this, her eyes opened almost instantly, and she was fully awake, rolling over and grabbing her sword bag.

"What's the situation?" "Be on alert!"

Lu Cheng went to pat Xia Xi. "Xia Xi, wake up!"

Xia Xi opened her eyes groggily, instinctively grabbing Lu Cheng's wrist. "What's wrong..."

"Don't ask, just get up." "Oh!"

She scrambled up, her movements quite agile, and grabbed her weapon, standing beside Lu Cheng.

Finally, it was Ma Dachun's turn. This guy was a deep sleeper; Lu Cheng patted him twice with no reaction, so he finally grabbed the opening of the sleeping bag and dragged him out.

Ma Dachun was dragged out halfway, his soul not yet back in his body. "WTF! What's going on???"

"Get up! Something's about to happen!"

Upon hearing the words "something's about to happen," Ma Dachun jolted, instantly becoming mostly awake, and scrambled out of his sleeping bag, his hair sticking up like a bird's nest.

The four of them assumed defensive stances in the shortest time possible.

It was at this moment that the anomaly on the perimeter became fully apparent.

First, a very light rustling sound came from the ground on the left.

Su Wan raised her hand, frost condensing on her palm, and shone it on the ground using the faint light of the fire.

A trail of fresh beast paw prints. And not just one trail.

Large ones, small ones, sharp ones, hooked ones, all messily overlapping, converging from different directions.

Ma Dachun took one look, and his face turned pale. "This... this number isn't right, is it?"

The wind blew again. This time, it carried a distinct, fishy stench.

It wasn't the scent of just one or two ferocious beasts, but the stench of many mixed together—blood, fur, saliva, and rotting meat all churned into one, stinging the nose.

Xia Xi gripped her weapon tightly, her voice tensed. "I hear breathing... there are quite a few of them."

In the darkness in the distance, one pair, two pairs, three pairs... ghostly green, dark yellow, and scarlet eyes began to light up low to the ground. Sometimes near, sometimes far, flickering in and out of sight.

Lu Cheng's scalp went numb. This scale was absolutely not something a team of novice martial artists like them could handle!

Let alone the four of them, who were Body Refining Realm students, even if two more teams came, they might not be able to hold out.

Su Wan crouched down, wiped her finger along the edge of a rock, and her fingertip was quickly stained with a layer of dark red mucus.

She brought it to her nose to smell it, and her expression immediately turned colder. "Blood." "And irritating medicinal powder."

Lu Cheng was stunned. "Medicinal powder?"

"Yes." Su Wan scanned the surroundings, her voice very low but certain. "Someone tampered with the area near our camping route in advance. The scent of blood is responsible for luring the beasts, and the medicinal powder makes them more agitated, more prone to losing control and crowding each other, until they all charge in one direction."

She paused, her eyes even colder. In her past life, when the students came to the Wasteland Zone for the first time, this didn't happen... meaning... it was human-made.

Ma Dachun's voice changed. "Who is so wicked?!"

Su Wan didn't answer, just swept her gaze through the darkness. She already had a judgment in her heart.

To be able to do this on the outskirts of the Wasteland Zone and be so clear about their route and training arrangements, this was not a spur-of-the-moment action, but a targeted layout.

The goal was also very clear. It wasn't all students. It was just their team.

If nothing went wrong... it seemed the only ones with a grudge against them were the Zhou Family... could it be that the Zhou Family knew that the person that day was me... this really wasn't good news.

Meanwhile, on the further outskirts of the Wasteland Zone, a team of people wearing mismatched protective gear were retreating, using the cover of night.

Their movements were skilled; they retreated along a pre-scouted route, carrying empty blood bags and medicinal powder canisters in their hands.

The leader cursed under his breath. "These students have pretty good luck; the campsite they picked isn't the worst."

The person beside him laughed coldly. "It doesn't matter how good it is; this area has already been driven here by us. Once a few beast hordes are squeezed together, anyone below the Source Gathering Realm who enters is just throwing their life away."

"That young master of the Zhou Family is really willing to spend money."

"Nonsense, if he wasn't willing to spend money, how could he take away that girl from the Xia Family?"

"Alright, stop talking nonsense, we are only responsible for luring the beasts. How many people die afterwards has nothing to do with us."

The few of them quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Back at the campsite, the first wave of the assault had already arrived.

A Gray-backed Tusk Wolf near the size of a small calf was the first to dash out from below the low slope, its eyes red, saliva hanging from the corners of its mouth, as if it had been driven completely mad by something.

As soon as it poked its head out, two Split-claw Beasts followed behind it, along with a black-striped hyena crouching halfway.

"They're here!" Xia Xi gave a low shout, stomped the ground, and her figure shot forward like an arrow. Her weapon swung in a heavy arc, slamming hard into the side of the head of the leading Gray-backed Tusk Wolf with a bang.

The wolf was sent staggering sideways, howling in pain.

But before she could follow up with a second strike, the Split-claw Beast on the side had already pounced.

Su Wan raised her hand, cold air condensing into a sharp cone, and a Frost Piercer shot out, precisely piercing into the front leg joint of the Split-claw Beast, forcing its pouncing motion off course.

Lu Cheng also rushed up at the same time. Crushing Fist erupted! Bang!

His fist slammed into the chest of another Split-claw Beast, sending it flying backward, rolling several times on the ground.

But there was not a hint of relief on Lu Cheng's face. There were too many. They kept emerging from the darkness. One, two, five, ten...

They had just dealt with the first few, but the denser sounds of breathing from the perimeter were already closing in, as if the entire night was shrinking toward this spot.

Ma Dachun's hands were shaking, but he still bit the bullet and threw the pre-carried beast traps and noise-making traps toward the perimeter. "Th-th-th-this is all I can do!"

"Stop talking nonsense, reinforce my left!" Lu Cheng roared. "O-okay, okay, okay!"

The next moment, a hyena stepped on a beast trap, letting out a shrill scream, which temporarily blocked a small gap.

But this small effect was a drop in the bucket when facing the beast horde.

While fighting, Lu Cheng frantically mobilized the vague guidance given by Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck, forcibly finding the relatively viable path out of a pile of death routes.

"Retreat to the right rear!" "Don't get bogged down in the fight!" "Su Wan, control the left!" "Xia Xi, don't charge too deep!"

The four were forced to retreat continuously. The ground was full of scattered rocks and pits; a single stumble could lead to being pounced upon.

Lu Cheng had just punched away a Gray-backed Tusk Wolf when his back was slashed by the claws of another hyena; his clothes tore instantly, and it stung sharply.

Now that he had teammates, Lone Hero could not be triggered; there was only the passive boost from Hardening Pulse... it really hurt!

Xia Xi was also nearly surrounded by two Split-claw Beasts, but fortunately, Su Wan's cold air timely sealed one of the feet of one of them.

Although Ma Dachun kept shrinking in the back, he still genuinely looked after the team's rear. He was knocked over from the side by a small ferocious beast and rolled in the dirt, his face covered in dust when he scrambled up.

Lu Cheng's eyes became increasingly heavy; that sense of danger was still rising. Sure enough, the next second, a deeper growl came from the depths of the darkness.

Once that sound emerged, the agitated ferocious beasts in front seemed to be stimulated to go even madder, all pressing forward together.

Su Wan's expression changed slightly. "There's something bigger behind!"

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth, his heart sinking to the bottom. They couldn't hold out. At this scale, facing it head-on meant death.

His hand had already reached into his pocket to touch that battle puppet. Could this be where the danger lay?