Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

Huo Xiuxiu nodded slightly, her expression solemn. "It's very possible. I just don't know why he wants to snatch the crystal ball. Could it be that he knows that this crystal ball has other more critical uses?"

Zhang Shi clenched his fists and looked resolutely in the direction where the shadow disappeared. "No matter who he is or what his purpose is, our most important goal right now is to leave this foggy area. Time is running out, so we must act quickly."

Everyone nodded, knowing the urgency of the situation. After experiencing several battles in a row, everyone was more or less tired and unwilling to actively seek battle again.

The journey was relatively smooth. The few monsters encountered along the way were relatively weak and were easily dealt with by Zhang Shi with one sword. After spending most of the day, the group finally arrived at the center of the red area.

Huo Xiuxiu stopped everyone in their tracks. The bells rang silently, and the fog slowly dissipated, revealing the obscured scene ahead. In the distance, in the open space, lay the skeleton of a gigantic creature. The creature was enormous; the remains alone were as tall as seven or eight stories. It had wings on its back, and its thick tibia stretched across the ground like a bridge.

Surprisingly, most of its skeleton had turned to stone, and part of its body stood in the wilderness like a stone sculpture, eerie and majestic.

Huo Xiuxiu frowned slightly and led everyone slowly towards the giant beast's skeleton. She then increased the frequency of ringing the bells. The fog covering the sky also dispersed faster, finally revealing the full appearance of the towering giant beast.

When everyone saw the giant beast's appearance clearly, they were all amazed, and some could not believe their eyes. Zhao Feng even looked back and forth between his companions and the giant beast to confirm that he had not entered an illusion.

"Fuck, am I seeing right? This is a giant dragon?"

Zhao Feng carefully touched the dragon's skeleton and felt that it was no different from stone.

"Could this thing have been petrified by Medusa? Otherwise, how could it have become like this?"

Ge Dalong came back to his senses from his surprise, recalled some legends, and then answered Zhao Feng's question.

"According to some Western myths and legends, after a dragon dies, its remains turn into stone. This person in front of us is probably in the same situation."

Huo Xiuxiu also came back to her senses and looked carefully at the dragon's corpse. The petrified bones had a slope, leading straight to the dragon's spine like a staircase, and the mark she left on the three-headed monster was on the other side of the dragon's body.

"The three-headed monster is on the other side. Let's go. Be careful."

Zhang Shi and the other two looked at each other, and finally followed Huo Xiuxiu onto the shin, slowly walking up towards the dragon's body as if climbing a mountain.

Suddenly, two tall figures jumped out from the gap in the dragon bones, holding long-handled weapons and blocking the way of everyone. Zhang Shi took a look and found that they were actually two centaurs. He immediately thought of the centaur girl he met in the City of Mist. These two might be her tribesmen.

Just as Zhang Shi was about to go up to negotiate, the two centaurs rushed up with red eyes, their spears pointed directly at Zhang Shi's vital points. If it weren't for the powerful black light armor, he might have been knocked down by the other side.

"Fuck it, if you don't accept my toast, then I'll punish you. Come on, kill him!"

Zhao Feng was enraged by the two centaurs and rushed forward with an axe in hand.

Ge Dalong didn't hesitate either. He quickly formed seals with his hands, and with the surge of magic power, icicles rained down on the Centaur warrior. The Centaur warrior was agile and nimble, dodging the icicles flexibly while wielding his spear, shattering the approaching icicles one after another, sending up a shower of ice chips.

Seeing this, Huo Xiuxiu shook the bell in her hand even more rapidly, and the sound waves formed invisible ripples in the air, disrupting the movements and attack rhythm of the centaurs. However, the two centaurs seemed to be driven by some force and remained unmoved, continuing their frantic attack on the crowd.

While waving Lao Duan to resist the attack of the centaurs, Zhang Shi shouted loudly: "Everyone be careful, they may be controlled! Don't kill them, try to capture them alive!" He knew very well that the centaurs might have a close connection with the centaur girl in the City of Mist, and he didn't want to hurt them unless it was absolutely necessary.

Although Zhao Feng had a hot temper, he understood Zhang Shi's intentions, so he held back his attack, using only the back of his axe to strike the centaur's weapon, attempting to knock it away and render it incapable of fighting.

But the Centaur warriors were extremely powerful. They cooperated with each other tacitly, one attacking and the other defending, making it difficult for Zhang Shi and others to find any flaws.

During the fierce battle, Zhang Shi suddenly noticed a shimmering pendant hanging from the neck of one of the centaurs. The pendant's light was somewhat strange, seemingly out of tune with the surroundings. He wondered if this was the key to controlling them?

"Lao Ge, attack the neck of the centaur on the left. There is a pendant there, which may be the thing that controls them!" Zhang Shi shouted.

Upon hearing this, Ge Dalong immediately adjusted his attack direction, condensing a thick ice spike and shooting it towards the target. The ice spike was so fast that the Centaur warrior couldn't dodge it, and it hit the pendant on his neck. The pendant shattered instantly, emitting a blinding light.

The centaur's eyes instantly regained clarity, and he looked at the scene before him with a hint of confusion and fear. The other centaur, seeing his companion had returned to normal, couldn't help but slow down his attack.

Zhang Shi took the opportunity to rush forward and hit the other centaur on the head with the back of his knife, knocking it unconscious.

Everyone gathered around and looked at the two centaurs, feeling relieved.

The awake centaur looked at Zhang Shi and the others and said, "Who are you? Why are you here? How could I..."

Zhang Shi stepped forward and said, "We have no ill intentions. We are just passing through here. Are you being controlled by something?"

The Centaur frowned, trying to recall: "I only remember that when we were patrolling in the city, we suddenly encountered a black fog, and then I lost consciousness until just now..."

Huo Xiuxiu examined the centaurs' bodies and said, "There's still some dark magic aura remaining on them. They must have been controlled by someone using dark magic."

Ge Dalong asked.

"Do you remember how you got here?"

The centaur thought hard for a moment, then shook his head.

Zhang Shi was skeptical and asked after a moment, "Have you seen anyone with a crystal ball passing by here?"

The Centaur shook his head. "I don't remember."

Zhang Shi sighed, knowing that he could not get more information from these two people, so he planned to recruit them into the team. After all, one more person means more safety, so he immediately asked.

"It's extremely dangerous here. We are planning to..."

Before Zhang Shi could finish his words, the two centaurs began to tremble as if they had been electrocuted. In an instant, their eyes turned red again, and the weapons in their hands were pointed at Zhang Shi again.