Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Chapter 140 Bandit Bart, Spiritual Talisman Paper, Incantations

The two wolves were larger than ordinary wild wolves, and their gray-black fur was covered with mud and dried blood.

They did not flee immediately upon being discovered, nor did they bark; they simply stood there like two emotionless statues.

Green thought for a moment, his furrowed brows relaxing slightly, and said, "Could it be a wolf acting as a lookout or scout?"

His years of experience living on the edge of danger in the wild taught him that when ordinary wolf packs encounter human groups, they either attack directly or run away with their tails between their legs.

Only large wolf packs, led by extremely cunning alpha wolves, would send out these scout-like reconnaissance wolves.

They are not responsible for fighting; their only task is to assess the strength of their prey and relay the information to the main force behind them.

Green did not draw his knife; he knew that in this terrain, alerting the scout wolves would quickly lead to endless trouble.

He thought for a moment, then reached into a leather pouch at his waist, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a black, muddy substance that emitted an extremely pungent, fishy odor.

"This is tiger dung."

Green turned to Daisy and Celen and explained with a touch of seasoned confidence, "Sprinkle some in front of them. If there are wolves, they'll be deterred from approaching by the scent of this apex predator."

As he spoke, he broke the tiger dung into pieces and scattered them evenly around the base of several large trees that the group would inevitably pass in front of them.

The pungent smell instantly filled the humid air, overpowering the original humus odor.

The two scout wolves hiding in the bushes had clearly smelled the scent.

A hint of human-like fear flashed in their eerie green eyes, and a very low whimper escaped their throats before they slowly retreated, silently merging into the deeper darkness.

Xilun glanced at the tiger droppings scattered on the ground and nodded slightly.

There's a trick to it.

Although he had accumulated extremely rich experience in killing in gang fights in the slums, he did not really have much experience in this kind of pure wilderness survival skills.

Although Green acted somewhat arrogantly on the train, he did possess the professionalism befitting a hired bodyguard.

"Let's go, hurry up."

Green patted the crumbs off his hands, his expression not lightening despite the wolves' retreat. "The beasts in this forest are getting smarter and smarter. Tiger droppings can only fool them for a while."

Once the cunning alpha wolf realizes there's no blood of a live tiger in the scent, they'll eventually follow.

Daisy nodded, tightened her grip on Susie's hand, and quickened her pace.

The team continued deeper into the heart of the wild forest.

As time went by, the surrounding light grew dimmer, as if dusk had arrived prematurely.

The trees became increasingly distorted and bizarre, their trunks covered with huge, malignant tumor-like burls, and tiny, faintly glowing fungi stubbornly grew in the crevices of the bark.

Xilun's nerves gradually tightened.

He could sense that the mysterious, free-floating elements in the air had become unusually active, but were also filled with violent aggression.

Just then, Green, who was walking in front, suddenly raised his hand and made a stop gesture.

"What's wrong?" Daisy asked in a low voice.

Green did not answer. He crouched down and used the tip of his machete to pick up a huge leaf from the ground.

Beneath the leaf, a deep footprint was clearly visible.

Those were definitely not wolf footprints.

The footprints were as big as an adult's head, with irregular, torn edges. Most chillingly, the soil at the bottom of the footprints was a strange, charred black, as if it had been corroded by some kind of extremely hot acid, and was even emitting wisps of pungent white smoke.

"Not an ordinary beast—"

Green's voice became somewhat hoarse. He raised his head, his eyes revealing a deep sense of dread. "It's a mutant. And judging from the signs of corrosion, it's at least one creature that has undergone a cleansing process."

"I just don't know what kind of creature it is."

"7

Xilun stepped forward, his gaze calmly fixed on the footprint, lost in thought.

Less than two kilometers away from Xilun and the others, in a secluded depression with a natural dome formed by intertwined giant vines, a campfire was burning.

A rusty iron pot sat on the campfire, inside which a murky meat broth was bubbling.

Unidentified animal meat bobbed up and down in boiling water, emitting a strange aroma mixed with earthy smells and cheap spices.

Around the depression, a dozen or so men in tattered clothes were scattered haphazardly.

They were emaciated with sunken eyes, and their weapons were a motley collection, including rusty machetes, chipped iron axes, and even a few crudely made firearms from discarded steel pipes.

They were like a pack of wild dogs on the verge of starvation in the dead of winter, staring intently at the iron pot, swallowing their saliva incessantly, but none of them dared to take a step forward.

Because sitting next to the iron pot was a man as tall as an iron tower.

The man had a messy beard, wore a black leather eye patch over his left eye, and his right eye gleamed with a fierce yet weary light, like that of a wild beast.

He was shirtless, his bronze skin covered with crisscrossing scars, the most horrifying of which stretched from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, almost splitting him in two.

His name is Bart, and his nickname is "One-Eyed".

In this St. Albans Wild Forest, he was a bandit leader feared by many caravans and herbalists, and also a genuine first-order baptist.

Bart used a dagger to stab a piece of half-cooked meat from the pot and began to chew it, blood and all.

The rough flesh made a teeth-grinding grinding sound between his teeth.

He wasn't a born robber.

More than three years ago, he was an honest small farmer on the outskirts of the city.

He had a gentle wife and two lovely daughters. Although his life was poor, it was quite stable.

Until that pot-bellied nobleman took a fancy to his land and tried to forcibly buy it at an extremely low price to build a private hunting ground.

Bart refused.

The cost was devastating.

On a stormy night, a mob stormed into his farm and set fire to his house.

His wife was burned alive in the fire, and his two daughters are missing.

Bart fought his way out of the encirclement and, with fatal wounds, fled into this wild forest abandoned by the civilized world.

He had no choice but to survive and search for clues about his daughter.

He gathered together a group of refugees, fugitives, and bankrupts who were also driven to desperation, and formed this band of horsemen.

They disregard morality and right and wrong; they'll do anything to earn gold and winter food.

"Boss."

A short, monkey-like man slid down from the treetops at the edge of the depression and ran quickly to Bart, his expression revealing an barely suppressed greed and excitement.

"The scout is back; there's a fat sheep here."

The skinny monkey lowered his voice and said, "Four people, two men and two women. One of the women was dressed very elegantly, like a noble lady. The other one who led the way was a tough nut to crack; he smelled of blood and savageness, and he even used tiger droppings to force our outposts to retreat."

Bart stopped chewing, a cold glint flashing in his single eye.

"Tiger droppings? I have some wilderness experience, but not much."

Bart stuck the dagger into a dead tree nearby and stood up.

His imposing physique instantly instilled a strong sense of oppression in those around him.

"Since you dared to bring a woman deep into the wild forest, you must be looking for valuable magical potion ingredients."

Their equipment and gold coins are enough for us brothers to make a small fortune.

"But boss, that guy who's leading the way is a tough nut to crack—" Skinny Monkey hesitated.

"Just a Tier 1 bodyguard."

19

Bart sneered and walked to a cave deep in the depression that was sealed off by an iron fence, then kicked the iron fence hard.

From the depths of the cave came a chilling, low roar, accompanied by the clanging sound of chains rattling violently.

A strong, acidic, and corrosive stench emanated from it.

"Release Steel Teeth." Bart's voice was cold and devoid of warmth. "Let it lead the pack to scout ahead. If that bodyguard can't even get past this, then they don't deserve to leave this forest with those good things."

Skinny Monkey shuddered, nodded quickly, and beckoned several of his men to take long iron hooks and carefully unlock the chains in the cave.

Bart turned around, looked at his men who were filled with longing, drew his heavy saber from his waist, and raised it high.

"Brothers, get ready to work to survive!"

There were no deafening cheers, only the sound of weapons being drawn in the dead silence, and pairs of bloodshot eyes like hungry wolves.

Meanwhile, Xilun and his group had already stepped into a dead land shrouded in mist.

The surrounding trees became sparse, and the ground was covered with mud of varying depths.

The air temperature dropped to freezing point, and white frost condensed around the mouth with every breath.

Daisy's face turned somewhat pale. Although she was well-versed in occult theories, her physical abilities were ultimately those of an ordinary person.

If it weren't for Xilun occasionally releasing a trace of his vital energy to help dispel the chill, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold on much longer.

-

Susie remained in a daze, as if the surrounding cold had no effect on her.

The grayish-white miasma, like a living thing, slowly crawled between the twisted tree trunks.

The layer of decaying leaves underfoot felt soft and spongy, constantly oozing foul-smelling black mud.

Daisy stopped and stomped her muddy boots, her delicate face full of annoyance.

"What bad luck today."

She crossed her arms and couldn't help but complain, "We haven't gotten anything after all this time. All the spots we planned to visit have already been picked over. Who has such a huge appetite, leaving not even a scrap?"

She sighed, her eyes filled with helplessness.

As a mystical scholar, she is currently in the apprenticeship stage.

The materials she needed, though strange and unusual to ordinary people, were actually not expensive or particularly useful in the real market for extraordinary individuals.

As a result, even these scraps were snatched up by others.

"It's so cold here." Daisy tightened her coat and exhaled a puff of white breath.

Susie, who was walking beside her, stopped. Beneath her gray hood, her calm eyes blinked, and she said softly, "Let's start a fire."

Xilun paused slightly, halting his vigilant steps.

Susie reached into the pocket of her robe, fumbled for a moment, and took out a palm-sized, rough-textured talisman.

The paper was a dull, earthy yellow, with twisted, eerie lines outlined on its surface in some kind of dark red pigment.

Susie clasped her hands together, holding the talisman between her palms, with faint white energy emanating from her fingertips.

She closed her eyes, her lips moved slightly, and began to recite in a very low, very fast syllable that was completely unlike any other language.

As she chanted, the dark red characters on the talisman seemed to come alive, emitting a faint glow.

Immediately afterwards, with a soft "whoosh," the talisman spontaneously combusted without wind, turning into a faint flame suspended in mid-air.

The firelight wasn't dazzling, but it possessed a strange penetrating power.

The firelight slowly spread, enveloping the four people: Xiren, Daisy, Susie, and Green.

Xilun suddenly felt that the chilling coldness that seemed to seep into his bones had been forcibly dispelled, and the miasma within a radius of several meters around him had also become thinner, making his vision much clearer.

"What is this?" Xilun looked at the floating ball of fire, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes.

Susie paused, seemingly surprised by Siron's question, and answered calmly, "Spiritual talisman paper."

Daisy rubbed her hands together, and after feeling the temperature rise, her complexion improved considerably. She explained, "This is inscribed with a kind of yang-heat talisman, written using ink mixed with spiritual materials."

It can provide stable light and temperature, and its performance is quite good even in harsh environments like those in the wild.

Xilun stretched out his hand, feeling the warmth from the firelight, and pondered, "This seems to be somewhat useful. Can I use this kind of talisman paper?"

Susie glanced at him, her eyes cold and devoid of any emotional fluctuation, and said crisply, "No way."

"Don't mind her, that's just how she talks."

Daisy smiled and explained, "The spells are written in a script specific to occultism, requiring not only that the user be proficient in these complex words, but also to practice a special spiritual guidance technique."

The extraordinary properties sealed within the talisman must be brought out in a specific way and at a specific frequency; otherwise, it will trigger a spiritual backlash.

Laymen should not attempt this; it's very dangerous.

Xilun nodded slightly and gave up on the idea.

Since it requires a lot of effort to learn a completely new system, it is not worthwhile for him, who urgently needs to improve his hard skills.

The group continued forward by the light of the fire.

Half an hour later, they arrived at a huge dead tree. The trunk of the tree was completely hollow in the middle, forming a natural tree hole large enough for several people to take shelter from the rain.

Daisy's eyes lit up. She quickly walked to the edge of the tree hollow, squatted down, and rummaged through the rotting wood chips and dirt for a while before exclaiming with delight, "Found it!"

She carefully picked out several plants.

These plants look completely different from normal weeds; some have translucent purple leaves, and some have tiny fleshy growths on their stems.

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