Chapter 212: I’ll Scout the Path for You
"Alright, your information is confirmed. You can go in!"
"But... a few words of advice for you, free of charge!"
"Once you enter this gate, your life is in your own hands!"
"The demonic and aberrant beasts inside are no joke. Don’t bite off more than you can chew!"
"If you really can’t handle it, just come back out. There’s no shame in it. Staying alive is what matters most. Got it?"
Lin Yi, Wei Nan, and the others all nodded.
"Thanks for the warning. We’ll remember that!"
"Good, as long as you remember. Go on in, then. I wish you luck and a swift completion of your mission!"
After the guard finished speaking,
RUMBLE—
the heavy city gates slowly swung open.
Instantly, a frigid wind carrying the stench of blood blew out from within.
Though only a single gate separated the two sides, it felt like standing between two completely different worlds.
Lin Yi and Wei Nan exchanged a look with the others.
Then, they walked straight through the gate.
Once the group had entered the true Jail City, the gates closed behind them once more.
"Too late to back out now, huh?"
Wei Nan’s brows furrowed deeply as he surveyed their surroundings.
Before coming here, they had all assumed it was just a desolate wasteland.
Stretching out as far as the eye could see.
Barren, with not a blade of grass in sight, and crawling with demonic and aberrant beasts.
But now that they were actually inside, they realized that wasn’t the case at all.
It was certainly a wasteland right in front of them, but in the distance, a forest loomed.
A thin mist hung around the outskirts of the woods.
Farther off, a great mountain stood, a dark and oppressive mass against the sky.
The environment was completely pitch-black, illuminated only by the bleak moonlight, which added a bizarre, eerie aura to the place.
The surroundings were dead silent; not even the chirping of insects could be heard.
There was only the sound of the wind gusting by...
"We’re not familiar with this place. I suggest we don’t split up. Once we finish our individual tasks, we leave immediately!" Zhou Qi said cautiously.
Sun Tao and Shen Mengyi both nodded.
Just now, Wei Nan had looked like he was scared out of his wits.
In reality, Lin Yi knew him too well. ’This guy only gets stage fright when he has to confess his feelings.’
’I’ve never seen him scared of anything else.’
’Besides, he was the one who told me about Demon Hunting in the first place.’
’He’s been secretly hunting demons to earn tuition money this whole time.’
’So, for him and me, this is just a change of scenery. We’re just continuing to hunt demons.’
"If you’re scared, hide in the back. I’ll scout ahead for you!"
As Wei Nan finished speaking, a long saber suddenly appeared in his hand.
The blade reflected the moonlight, flashing with a piercing, cold glint.
The smile vanished from his face, replaced by a resolute gaze as he strode forward.
Seeing this, Lin Yi chuckled and shook his head.
A long saber appeared in his hand as well.
He followed behind Wei Nan, heading for the forest.
Behind them, Zhou Qi, Sun Tao, and Shen Mengyi said nothing.
They each drew their weapons from their bracelets and hurried after Lin Yi and Wei Nan.
...
More than an hour after Lin Yi’s group had entered Jail City, a sports car came roaring toward the entrance.
The moment the car stopped outside the city walls,
several guards hurried over and surrounded it.
The next moment, the car doors opened.
Wei Shang and Feng Lei got out of the car in a hurry.
"Halt..."
The guards immediately surrounded the two men.
Seeing this, Wei Shang’s face darkened, and he produced a waist token.
On it were inscribed the two words ’Town Martial’.
Upon seeing the token, the guards’ attitudes immediately became respectful.
"Ah, so you’re from the Town Martial Department. Are you here on official business? Or..."
The lead guard walked over, smiling hurriedly.
This was the same man who had stopped Lin Yi’s group earlier to sign the life-and-death waivers.
Wei Shang glanced at him. "Did a few students just come through here?"
"Students? You must be joking, sir. Aren’t pretty much all the people who come here university students?"
Wei Shang felt a wave of embarrassment.
He realized his question had been a bit tactless.
Indeed, aside from university students, who else would come to a place like this for no reason?
He coughed lightly twice and rephrased his request, "Show me the life-and-death waivers for everyone who entered Jail City tonight!"
"Well... I’m terribly sorry, but I can’t show you those!"
"Even if you two are from the Town Martial Department, you don’t have the authority to view them.
Only your department head has that clearance. However, if you two insist on overstepping your authority to see them, it’s not entirely impossible..."
The guard captain maintained a smile the entire time.
But his words made the expressions of both Wei Shang and Feng Lei change.
’Overstep our authority? If Old He found out about this...’
’...the punishment awaiting us would be even more severe than getting fired.’
The Town Martial Department had always had an exceptional number of rules.
On the outside, they seemed to command endless respect, with everyone they met treating them with utmost deference.
But the restrictions placed on them were also unimaginable.
And if they broke a rule, the consequences were unthinkable.
"Stop wasting time talking to them. Can’t we just go in?" Feng Lei couldn’t listen anymore.
His face darkened, and he started walking toward the city gate.
But the guard captain blocked their path again.
"If you two want to enter, you must also sign a life-and-death waiver. Otherwise, if anything happens, we won’t be able to answer to the Town Martial Department. So... the rules cannot be broken!"
"You-!"
Wei Shang was about to explode with anger.
Feng Lei quickly gave him a look. "The mission comes first!"
At his words, Wei Shang’s anger dissipated completely.
Right now, the most important thing for the two of them was to get inside and find Lin Yi as quickly as possible.
They had to keep an eye on him at all times and ensure his safety.
Jail City wasn’t like other places; danger lurked everywhere inside.
If Lin Yi really had some accident in Jail City—even if he just got injured—and Old He found out,
his wrath would be more than Wei Shang and Feng Lei could bear.
So, they were in a huge hurry.
"We’ll sign. Bring the waiver. We’ll sign it!"
The guard smilingly brought over a life-and-death waiver and handed it to Wei Shang and Feng Lei.
The two men took the pen and signed their names.
"Is that good enough? Can you let us in now?"
"Of course. But I’d still like to offer a few words of friendly advice. It’s not like..."
"Advice my ass! Shut up!"
Wei Shang’s angry shout cut off his rambling.
He took Feng Lei and ran straight through the city gate.
...
BOOM—
A demonic beast slammed heavily into a tree.
PFFT...
Blood spurted out.
A look of terror flashed through its eyes.
It stared at the student approaching it with a raised saber.
"Don’t, don’t, don’t! I... I can give... you..."
SCHLICK...
Before it could finish speaking,
a single slash cut its body in two.
Only then did Wei Nan, Zhou Qi, and the others come running over, panting for breath.
"You killed it?"
Wei Nan said in astonishment, clutching his shoulder.
Lin Yi nodded. "It’s dead. How are you guys? Are your injuries serious?"
"Not serious, just minor wounds!" Zhou Qi and Sun Tao shook their heads.
At that moment, the way they looked at Lin Yi grew even more complicated.
And in their hearts, Lin Yi’s status had risen to a new, indescribable level.
The moment they had entered the forest,
they had been targeted by this very demonic beast.
It had launched a sneak attack on them.
This was a 3-star Monkey Demon, incredibly fast and elusive.
In the blink of an eye, Wei Nan, Zhou Qi, and Sun Tao had all been attacked.
If Lin Yi hadn’t been here tonight,
the group of them would have likely been done for.
When the guard had warned them earlier, they had been somewhat dismissive.
Especially Wei Nan, who, relying on his Demon Hunting experience,
didn’t care at all.
It wasn’t until they were ambushed by this 3-star Monkey Demon that they realized the importance of the phrase ’danger is everywhere’.
They had only just entered, and it had nearly cost them their lives.
There was no telling what dangers they would encounter later on.
Thankfully, Lin Yi was here and had slain the Monkey Demon.
Otherwise... the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Lin Yi checked their injuries.
They were all just superficial scratches, torn by the monkey’s claws.
"Be more careful from now on. This place is definitely not ordinary!"
"I’m afraid these demonic beasts are completely different from the ones in the Old District!"
Lin Yi reminded them in a low voice.
This time, Wei Nan didn’t dare act cocky anymore.
Zhou Qi, Sun Tao, and Shen Mengyi were even more vigilant, paying close attention to any movement around them.
[Plunder Trait?]
Just as they were all focusing their attention on the potential dangers around them,
a prompt appeared.
Lin Yi glanced down at the Monkey Demon and silently replied in his mind.
’Plunder.’
With that, the Monkey Demon’s talent traits were collected by Lin Yi.
The 3-star Monkey Demon’s talents weren’t bad.
Two purple talents and one blue talent.
And they were all passive traits.
The two purple talents could increase speed and strength.
The one blue talent could increase the strength attribute by 5 points.
For the current Lin Yi, those talent skills weren’t as important anymore.
Instead, he had a growing, urgent need for the five core attributes.
These attributes could permanently increase things like strength, speed, burst power, and endurance.
Naturally, the more the merrier...
After ’plundering’ the Monkey Demon’s talent traits,
Lin Yi lifted his wrist and glanced at his bracelet again.
Sure enough, the moment the Monkey Demon was killed,
the bracelet showed that his mission was complete.
"The next 1-star or higher demonic beast we run into is yours to kill. My mission is already done!" Lin Yi said with a light chuckle.
Hearing this, no one in the group had any objections.
They all nodded in tacit agreement with what Lin Yi had said.
And so, they continued deeper into the forest.
The forest was vast.
Only after entering did they realize they couldn’t see the end of it at all.
The deeper they went, the dimmer the light became.
The moonlight was blocked by the dense canopy.
making the area grow ever darker.
Being in such an environment was disadvantageous for Lin Yi’s group.
For the demonic and aberrant beasts, however,
it became their home turf.
Their vision was obstructed, and visibility became extremely low.
Especially as they went deeper, a thin mist began to fill the air around them.
Lin Yi vigilantly observed their surroundings.
"Everyone be careful, there might be—"
Before Lin Yi could finish speaking,
a premonition of danger washed over his mind.
Lin Yi had already avoided danger time and time again thanks to his [Alertness] talent.
"Watch out—"
Suddenly, a black shadow shot straight for Wei Nan.
It was so fast it happened in the blink of an eye.
Just as the shadow was about to pounce on Wei Nan,
he still hadn’t reacted.
In a moment of desperation, Lin Yi kicked Wei Nan hard in the hip.