Chapter 824 "The Peeper in the Dark Forest"

As night fell, the forest was shrouded in thick fog, as if an invisible barrier isolated everything from the outside world. The shadows of the trees were mottled, and the leaves swayed gently in the breeze, making a subtle rustling sound, as if whispering.

"This place is really creepy." Zhang Meng stood in the woods, shuddering, and couldn't help complaining, "When can we find a clue? It feels like a monster will jump out of this forest at any time."

"Are you walking in front to scare yourself?" Ye Li said half-jokingly, "This place is indeed a bit gloomy, but we haven't really found any danger yet."

"Even if there are no monsters, this strange aura makes people uneasy." Chu Tian said as he observed his surroundings. His hand was always tightly gripped on the hilt of the sword, appearing ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

"Stay alert." Qin Feng reminded in a low voice, his eyes swept around, "The energy fluctuations in this forest are very unstable, and abnormalities may occur at any time."

"Another energy fluctuation..." Zhang Meng sighed, "You researchers can always sense things that we ordinary people can't feel."

"That's because you lack a keen intuition." Li Xiao said coldly, his eyes as sharp as an eagle, staring at the darkness ahead, "Your intuition always takes effect at the last moment."

"Hey, stop hitting me all the time!" Zhang Meng was a little dissatisfied. "I am the warrior of the team. If there is any danger, I will be the first to go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a low roar suddenly came from the depths of the forest, as if some huge creature was wandering in the darkness. Several people immediately went into alert.

"It seems that you have a chance to show your courage this time." Ye Li said in a low voice with a teasing smile on her lips.

"This... let's figure out what it is first." Although Zhang Meng was tough, the smile on his face had begun to stiffen. He tightened his weapon in his hand and stood in front of the team, obviously unwilling to show weakness.

Qin Feng signaled everyone to move forward slowly, trying not to make any noise. He whispered, "We need to get closer to see what it is. If the villagers are in danger, we must act quickly."

Several people approached the source of the roar cautiously. As they walked further, a pungent smell filled the air, like the smell of rotting plants mixed with wet soil.

"This smell is wrong." Chu Tian frowned, "It seems that something happened here."

"It may be related to the missing villagers." Qin Feng said nervously, "Stay alert."

As they approached, suddenly, the bushes in front of them were pushed aside, and a huge creature jumped out from the darkness. Its body was covered with dark scales, its eyes were flashing scarlet light, and sticky black liquid was dripping from the corners of its mouth. It was obvious that it had just hunted something.

"Oh my god! This guy is not small!" Zhang Meng took a breath, but then raised his weapon and stood in front of the team, "Come on, I, Zhang Meng, am not afraid of a monster like you!"

"Don't be impulsive!" Qin Feng stopped him immediately, "The energy fluctuations of this monster are very strong, and its power may be beyond our imagination."

"Although the monster is powerful, we are not weak." Li Xiao calmly drew his weapon, "We must fight together to effectively defeat it."

The monster roared and suddenly rushed towards them at an astonishing speed. Zhang Meng rushed forward immediately, holding the weapon with both hands, and slashed at the monster's head. However, the monster dodged flexibly and Zhang Meng's attack missed.

"Damn, it's quite agile!" Zhang Meng roared, turned around and swung his weapon again, but the monster easily dodged again.

"Too reckless!" Li Xiao said coldly, and then seized the opportunity to attack the monster from the side. His sword scratched the monster's scales, making a harsh metallic sound, but did not cause any substantial damage to the monster.

"This thing's defense is too strong!" Ye Li shot a few arrows from a distance, but the arrows bounced off when they touched the monster's scales and could not penetrate its defense at all.

"We have to find its weakness!" Qin Feng commanded loudly, "Although it is fast, its defense may be weak."

Zhang Meng panted and continued to struggle with the monster. He glanced at the monster's lower abdomen and suddenly found that the scales there were obviously thinner than other places. "I found its weakness!" Zhang Meng shouted excitedly.

"Lower abdomen!" Qin Feng reacted immediately, "Everyone, focus on attacking its lower abdomen!"

Several people immediately changed their strategy and focused all their attacks on the monster's abdomen. Zhang Meng roared, jumped up suddenly, and slashed at the monster's belly. This time, he finally hit the target. The monster screamed and its huge body shook a few times, obviously suffering a lot of damage.

"Well done!" Ye Li aimed at the monster's exposed lower abdomen and quickly shot an arrow, hitting the vital point. The monster roared in pain and its body began to shake.

"Take advantage of now and give it the final blow!" Qin Feng shouted.

Zhang Meng was not willing to be outdone, so he immediately raised his weapon and rushed towards the monster again. This time, he did not hesitate, aimed at the monster's fatal weakness, and chopped it down with all his strength. With a deafening roar, the monster finally fell to the ground, and its huge body smashed a deep pit, and the surrounding ground shook several times.

"Huh, finally done!" Zhang Meng stood beside the monster's corpse, panting, wiping the sweat from his forehead, and looked at the fallen beast with pride. "I told you I could do it!"

"You did perform well this time." Ye Li said with a smile, "But don't be too complacent. We don't know what will happen next."

"That's right." Qin Feng looked at the monster's corpse, his eyes still solemn. "This kind of monster is not naturally generated. There may be a bigger conspiracy behind it."

"I knew good things wouldn't be so easy." Zhang Meng curled his lips, "But it doesn't matter, no matter what the conspiracy is, I, Zhang Meng, can handle it!"

"I hope you can maintain your confidence." Li Xiao said coldly.

After a short break, they decided to go deeper into the forest to look for more clues. Although the monster had been defeated, they knew that the darkness behind it was far from over.

"We must find the source of these powers as soon as possible." Qin Feng said, with a hint of uneasiness in his tone. "Otherwise, more villagers may be in danger."

"What are you waiting for? Let's keep going!" Zhang Meng said energetically, "I'm ready to face any challenge!"

As they went deeper, the atmosphere in the forest became more oppressive. The surrounding trees seemed to be whispering, and there seemed to be countless pairs of eyes secretly watching them in the darkness.

"It feels like something is watching us." Ye Li whispered, frowning.

"Indeed." Chu Tian nodded, looking around vigilantly. "We must be careful."

"No matter what it is, we will defeat it." Qin Feng said calmly, "This is our mission."

As they go deeper, new dangers and mysteries are approaching step by step. And the secrets hidden in this forest are about to be revealed.