155: Chapter 155 Deep Abroad

Deep within the dense Black Swamp Forest, two figures sped past like meteors.

"Whoosh—!"

The dark shadow ahead was extremely fast, with strange movements, using the trees and terrain for cover, like a slippery loach.

He looked back at Chen Xi and Ye Fei, who were in hot pursuit, his brows furrowing tightly beneath his mask.

"These two guys are really persistent."

The dark shadow cursed under his breath, but didn't dare to stop for even a second, instead accelerating again in an attempt to shake off the tail behind him.

However, he underestimated their speed.

Chen Xi rode on Little Si's back, with Ye Fei sitting in front of him, the wind whistling in their ears.

"Want to run? It's not that easy!"

Chen Xi's eyes were cold as he patted Little Si's neck:

"Little Si, faster!"

"Awooo!"

The giant wolf exerted force with its four paws, each leap covering dozens of meters, keeping a tight lock on the dark shadow's trail.

As the chase went deeper, the surrounding environment began to undergo subtle changes.

The originally damp and gloomy swamp gradually disappeared, replaced by thicker, more ancient black giant trees, and the air was filled with a suffocating, heavy pressure.

Suddenly, a strong sense of heart palpitations struck without warning.

"Stop!"

Chen Xi yanked on Little Si's mane, and the giant wolf braked urgently, plowing two deep furrows into the ground.

"What's wrong, Captain?"

Ye Fei asked nervously.

Chen Xi didn't speak, only looked around vigilantly.

That feeling was as if they were being watched by countless invisible eyes in the dark, and his hair stood on end involuntarily.

"Something isn't right here."

Ye Fei also closed her eyes to sense the surroundings, and her expression changed abruptly:

"Captain... the aura around here is so terrifying."

"It's several times stronger than the Third-Order Poison Spider from before! That sense of oppression... it's a qualitative leap."

Chen Xi nodded, his expression grave:

"I felt it too. It seems we have unknowingly gone deep into Outside the Border."

"The creatures lurking around here are likely all Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts."

Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts!

Those are terrifying existences corresponding to around Lv.80!

At this current stage, it is an absolute forbidden zone, a grim reaper that kills upon contact.

"Captain..."

Ye Fei's small face turned a bit pale, and she subconsciously gripped Chen Xi's sleeve:

"How about... we stop chasing? For just those materials, if we accidentally disturb a Fourth-Order Fierce Beast, we won't even have a chance to run."

In her understanding, no matter how important money is, it's not as important as life.

However, Chen Xi was silent for just a second, then the hesitation in his eyes was replaced by a ruthless look.

"No."

Chen Xi stared at the dark shadow still fleeing ahead, gritting his teeth:

"That's 100 military merit points! It's the key for us to exchange for the void spirit stone!"

"If we let him get away, who knows how long Xiao Xiao's SS-rank advancement will be delayed. No one can steal my, Chen Xi's, things!"

"Besides, don't I have you..."

For Chen Xi, Ye Fei was always his biggest trump card.

He firmly believed that as long as Ye Fei was there, those fierce beasts wouldn't touch him.

Besides, that dark shadow didn't seem to be in cahoots with the fierce beasts either.

Chen Xi pointed ahead:

"Look, he has slowed down too, which means he is also wary of the fierce beasts here. We are about to catch up!"

It seemed to confirm Chen Xi's words.

The big commotion from the two's chase had indeed aroused the dissatisfaction of the surrounding fierce beasts.

"Roar..."

"Hiss hiss..."

From the shadows deep in the jungle, waves of low and terrifying roars came.

Several huge Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts, emitting purple auras—some Two-Headed Demon Apes, some Iron-Armored Earth Dragons—slowly poked their heads out from the darkness.

Their eyes, filled with the desire to kill, locked tightly onto these two reckless human intruders.

Just at this critical moment.

Ye Fei, sitting on the wolf's back, trembled instinctively, and the aura on her body spread out unconsciously.

A miraculous scene happened again.

The few Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts that had been eager to try, preparing to launch a thunderous strike, saw the fierce light in their eyes freeze the moment they felt this aura.

They sniffed the air in confusion, and then, as if they had encountered something they were in awe of or wary of, they let out an unwilling low roar, and one after another retracted their poked-out heads, disappearing back into the darkness.

"Phew..."

Seeing this, Chen Xi breathed a sigh of relief, his confidence growing even stronger.

"Looks like I bet correctly."

He patted Ye Fei's shoulder and smiled:

"With you here, this is our biggest source of confidence. As long as you don't make a move, they won't move."

"Since even the Fourth-Order Fierce Beasts are making way for us, what else is there to be afraid of?"

"Little Si! Keep chasing!"

"Roar!"

The giant wolf started again, turning into a gale, and lunged towards the direction where the dark shadow disappeared.

Soon, after passing through a dense forest, a towering black stone mountain appeared ahead.

The dark shadow who had robbed them flashed and dived directly into a hidden, pitch-black cave at the foot of the mountain, disappearing from sight.

At the cave entrance, chilly winds blew.

Chen Xi and Ye Fei jumped off the wolf's back.

"Captain, he went in."

Ye Fei looked at the deep cave entrance, a bit hesitant:

"Should we... still chase? This looks like a trap."

"Must chase."

Chen Xi did not hesitate at all.

Because the cave was too narrow, the giant wolf couldn't maneuver.

So they simply got off the mount and went in on foot.

At the cave entrance, Chen Xi said as he walked:

"A-Fei, you need to understand one principle."

"In Outside the Border, true powerhouses disdain petty thievery."

"If that person just now was really some worldly expert, or possessed the strength to crush us, he could have completely killed the Frost Giant Python himself, or even directly killed us to steal the items; why bother sneakily stealing our skins while taking advantage of the smoke?"

Chen Xi sneered, a flash of disdain in his eyes:

"This kind of behavior can only prove one thing—his strength is nothing special."

"At best, he is just a professional pickpocket who is good at speed and makes a living by scavenging."

"Besides, even if there is an ambush inside, I'm no pushover. If it really comes to it, I'll be responsible for attracting firepower, and you'll be responsible for using your 'get-out-of-jail-free card' to help us slip away in the chaos."

After listening to Chen Xi's analysis, the unease in Ye Fei's heart dissipated quite a bit.

Indeed, the Captain never does things he isn't sure about.

"Okay! I'll listen to the Captain!"

The two of them, one after the other, walked cautiously into the cave.

The inside of the cave was very damp, with glowing moss hanging on the rock walls, providing faint illumination.

They followed the footprints deeper and deeper inside.

About five minutes later.

Suddenly, there was no path ahead.

A hard stone wall blocked the path; it was actually a dead end.

"No road?"

Ye Fei looked around in surprise; the empty cave had nothing but stones:

"Where is the person? Do they know wall-phasing?"

"No..."

Chen Xi stopped abruptly, the hair on his back standing up instantly.

"Careful! Overhead!"

Before he could finish speaking.

"Die!!"

A sinister roar came from the darkness above.

The dark shadow was seen clinging to the rocks on the cave ceiling like a gecko, and at this moment, using gravity, he descended from the sky like a hunting falcon!

He held a poison-tipped dagger emitting a faint blue light, stabbing directly at Chen Xi's crown!