IRM Chapter 139

Their increasingly urgent calls sounded anxious, but Ji Chi didn’t sense any threatening creatures approaching.

Oh wait, actually there were some, but they all sounded so weak… From a great distance away, he could already hear that group’s wheezing breaths like broken bellows.

That left only one possibility—some kind of non-living entity was spreading through the forest, heading in their direction.

Too bad the panel’s camera function had also been disabled, otherwise he could have cheated by using the camera to view their surroundings.

While Ji Chi’s mind wandered, Brandon asked worriedly again, “Ji Chi? What’s wrong with you?”

By now, everyone had noticed something was off about him. Ji Chi could clearly sense their breathing had grown heavier as well.

He curved his lips in the direction of their voices. “It’s just temporary blindness, nothing serious. It’ll be fine after a day.”

“Heh, going missing was ‘nothing serious,’ and going blind is also ‘nothing serious’… Do you need to stop breathing before it counts as ‘something serious’?” That familiar sarcastic tone poured into his ears.

Saintess Coralie’s mouth showed no mercy, but her hands were honest—healing spells rained down on his eyes one after another as if they cost nothing, and even though they weren’t doing much good, she persisted in releasing her magic power.

The Light Spirit looked up to gauge the distance, saying, “We won’t make it in time. I’ll carry him first.”

Brandon glared at him. “You knew this would happen all along, didn’t you? You didn’t mention anything earlier, so how can we trust you now? No need to trouble yourself, I’ll carry him away myself.”

The Light Spirit studied the young master for a moment, then raised the corners of his mouth, pointing at his eyes before pointing at Ji Chi. “Better not. I don’t trust you either. Your eyes are so swollen—what’s the difference between you and him right now?”

The young master bristled. “You’re lying! I’m nothing like that!”

Dominic poked him worriedly, whispering, “It really is true though… Can you still see the path? Do you need me to carry you?”

The young master’s hair bristled in anger.

The Light Spirit watched them with amusement, saying leisurely, “Don’t worry, he’s now half my master. Serving him is my duty.”

Chloe, standing to the side, felt quite indignant hearing this, muttering quietly, “But he’s still Chloe’s 1.0 master…”

Linton coughed, trying to correct her. “Chloe, humans don’t usually express it that way… And that’s not how you calculate the unit for ‘master’…”

In the end, Ji Chi ended up on the Light Spirit’s back. Listening to their conversation with his ear cocked, he felt like laughing—

Time seemed to flow backward to when everything began: the chattering young mages, the chaotic bickering, the silent mutual protection.

“This is really nice…” Ji Chi murmured softly without thinking, and the Light Spirit close by caught it.

He turned his face slightly with a smile, asking softly to Ji Chi on his back, “What you can see isn’t necessarily real, but when you can’t see, you can actually feel more, right?”

Ji Chi pressed his lips together and stayed silent.

The Light Spirit didn’t mind. He turned his face back forward. “That’s why I sometimes quite detest light. It appears to illuminate everything, but actually conceals many places that don’t want to be discovered.”

This spirit was quite philosophical.

Lying on his back, Ji Chi silently experienced them swiftly threading through the dense forest, warm breezes streaming through his hair, interweaving between his companions.

When Ji Chi felt the Light Spirit’s pace gradually slowing, knowing they must have escaped the dangerous area, he asked, “What was that just now? Was something spreading?”

From beneath him came the Light Spirit’s curious question. “Eh? I thought you already knew. How did you manage to hold back until now to ask?”

Ji Chi thought of those brain-dead operations in movies from his previous life, where certain protagonists refused to leave without hearing the truth, and couldn’t help but fall silent before saying, “Maybe it’s also a kind of PTSD?”

The Light Spirit couldn’t understand what he was talking about and didn’t pursue it. He was just about to explain—

“Hey! Wait! Wait for us! You guys run so fast… Hah-huff-huff—” A wheezing sound, not far from death’s door, came from behind. Ji Chi tilted his head slightly—his heightened hearing was sufficient to let him discern the number and strength of the newcomers.

Oh, it was that group of noobs from earlier. There sounded like seven or eight of them?

The Light Spirit very sensibly stopped his explanation, turning back to look at that bedraggled group, asking, “You are… adventurers?”

“That’s right, you’ve got good eyes haha! We’re adventurers from the Golos Empire. This is our first time in the Elven Forest, and we didn’t expect to encounter such a disaster.” A burly man took a long time to catch his breath, speaking in a hearty tone, though it was also filled with lingering fear.

“Is that so.” The Light Spirit was noncommittal.

The Golos Empire was an obscure little country. Its citizens were dirt poor—even their most capable adventurers couldn’t afford the weapons that ordinary adventurers wielded.

Moreover, for a first visit to the Elven Forest, how would they know to adorn their hair with a few inconspicuous olive leaves? Or to hide a filthy dagger in their sleeves?

Olive leaves signaled friendship to unicorns, while a filthy dagger could grievously wound a unicorn in the blink of an eye… These ‘adventurers from a small country’ were really ‘completely unfamiliar’ with the Elven Forest indeed.

The Light Spirit smiled amiably, but deep in his eyes lurked scrutiny and coldness.

The companions also quickly noticed something was wrong. Under Evan’s cover, Dominic used wood elements to dye the pale golden patterned wings behind him into the emerald green of ordinary elves.

Those who claimed to be adventurers casually assessed them with a glance. By now, the other light spirits had long since hidden in the shadows. Before the adventurers stood only Ji Chi’s group of companions and the Light Spirit.

They looked like a very ordinary adventuring party.

“Are you also adventurers? Or students out on a mission?” the burly man who had spoken first asked them in a friendly manner.

The Light Spirit spoke first, “We’re students from the Saint Trilley Empire, searching for antidote grass nearby. Who knew we’d run into such bad luck…”

The adventurer uncle: “Oh? The Saint Trilley Empire? That’s quite a powerful nation… Are you from the Combat Academy?”

The Light Spirit smiled bitterly. “How could that be possible? That academy requires exceptionally outstanding talent to enter.”

“Is that so…” The uncle looked at them with half-belief, saying casually, “I thought since you ran so fast, you must have received excellent guidance and training.”

The Light Spirit smiled, replying lightly, “It’s just practice from running for our lives.”

“Why are you being so polite with a bunch of weak students!” Someone in the adventurer party finally lost patience. “Hey, you lot! How exactly did that black fog spread? Did you secretly do something?”

The Light Spirit blinked in surprise, looking somewhat angry. “We didn’t do anything at all! Why would you ask that? We almost got swallowed by the fog too, you know?”

Hearing this, Ji Chi closed his eyes.

I really admire how naturally you can pretend.

The one speaking rudely was a short archer. His beady eyes swept around in a circle, lingering especially long on Chloe and Saintess Coralie’s faces, then settling on Ji Chi on the Light Spirit’s back.

He sneered. “Then how did this person go blind? No matter how terrible your academy is, they wouldn’t recruit a useless blind person, would they?”

This remark angered all seven people except Ji Chi. The atmosphere around them instantly darkened for a moment.

Ji Chi rested both hands on the Light Spirit’s shoulders, smiling obediently. “I accidentally touched an explosive fruit and got poison in my eyes. My teammates brought me here to find antidote grass for treatment.”

This actually matched up with the Light Spirit’s earlier lie. The adventurers believed it somewhat, and the faint wariness in their eyes dissipated considerably.

“Hmph—” The archer snorted coldly. “So useless. In our party, he would have been thrown into the forest to feed magical beasts long ago…”

“Mog, shut up!” The uncle frowned and called his name.

Mog shrugged dismissively, muttering quietly, “They’re just a bunch of useless people. Is it worth being so careful… If it doesn’t work out, just kill them all?”

Mog was only talking. He wasn’t willing to kill them yet. This party’s strength was nothing to speak of, but their faces were all one-in-ten-thousand beauties. Whether male or female, they could fetch quite a few gold coins if sold.

The uncle actually had the same idea. He smiled falsely at them. “Don’t mind Mog. He’s encountered quite a few vexing matters recently and gets irritable with everyone… Let me apologize on his behalf first. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Seeing no reaction from them, the uncle spoke up familiarly on his own. “Being able to meet companions in the vast Elven Forest is very fortunate, especially when we’ve avoided danger together. This must be the will of the gods! He must hope we can overcome difficulties together!”

The uncle smiled warmly. “Why don’t we team up and travel together? More people means more strength!”

Before Ji Chi and the others could answer, Mog cut in. “Don’t expect us to waste effort protecting a bunch of useless people. If you don’t want to die, keep up… Especially that blind one—if you dare cause any trouble, I’ll make sure you die in this forest both deaf and blind!”

The companions fell silent. Mog thought they were afraid and couldn’t help showing a smug smile.

But Ji Chi, who knew their natures well, knew that the black sesame filling of those white-on-the-outside-black-on-the-inside characters was about to overflow!

“Boss, where are we going now? The forest’s been contaminated by such dense dark elements. Those unicorns we worked so hard to catch are definitely all dead…” Mog said regretfully. “What a shame—those unicorns were all premium quality. I thought we’d make a fortune!”

The uncle thought for a moment, then said lightly, “Although unicorns are precious, they’re still quite common in the Elven Forest. This time we can explore for even more precious treasures.”

Mog’s eyes lit up. “Oh? What would that be?”

The uncle smiled, jerking his chin toward the dense forest shrouded in black mist. “Tell me, dark matter that can instantly pollute half the Elven Forest—how many dark creatures would want it?”

The excitement on Mog’s face froze. He looked fearfully at the distant churning black fog still spreading. “But… wouldn’t going in like this be too dangerous? We don’t even know how to resist the fog.”

The uncle shook his head with a smile. “Why do you think I kept those useless people around? They’re all rare experimental materials!”

Mog’s face filled with admiration. “Worthy of being the boss! But can we keep those two girls? It’s the first time I’ve seen such beautiful faces, hehe…”

The uncle glanced at him with some disdain, though his tone remained as gentle as ever. “Of course, do whatever you want. After all, we are… teammates.”

They walked farther and farther away, thinking their conversation was quiet enough, not realizing that behind them, every pair of cold eyes was gazing at them as if looking at corpses.