As soon as I put it on, I met a sickly man

The cheers of victory came to an abrupt end, as if suddenly snuffed out by an invisible hand.

The newly appeared runes on the artifact were like a cold flash of lightning, splitting everyone's brief joy and leaving behind suffocating uneasiness.

The strange light flickered like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue, emitting an ominous aura and tightly wrapped around everyone's heart.

Xiaoxuan pointed at the runes with trembling fingers, and her beautiful face was full of solemnity.

She tried hard to decipher these obscure symbols. Every curved line and every complex pattern was like a mystery that tightly locked the answer.

Time passed by minute by minute, and the air was filled with tension, like a taut string that could break at any time.

Sweat dripped from Xiaoxuan's forehead, but she still didn't give up. Her furrowed brows showed her inner anxiety.

"How is it? Xiaoxuan, can you see anything?" General Lin's rough voice broke the silence, with a hint of imperceptible worry in his tone.

Everyone else also held their breath, staring intently at Xiaoxuan, waiting for her answer.

At this moment, Ding Chen suddenly remembered something.

During an adventure, he obtained an ancient book which contained some methods of interpreting special runes.

He quickly took out the old book from his bag and flipped through it, hoping to find a pattern similar to the runes on the artifact.

"Wait!" Ding Chen's voice was filled with excitement. "I think I may have found some clues!"

He handed the ancient book to Xiaoxuan, and the two of them came together to carefully compare the runes with the records in the ancient book.

After some research, they actually deciphered some information!

These runes point to a mysterious place - the Misty Forest.

"Misty Forest?" General Lin repeated the name with a hint of doubt in his tone. "It's a dangerous place. It's said that few people who enter come out alive."

"But this is our only clue." Ding Chen's eyes were firm. "We must go."

Xiaoxuan also nodded, indicating that she agreed with Ding Chen's opinion.

Just as everyone was about to set off for the Misty Forest, Ying Feng suddenly spoke: "Wait..." Ying Feng swept his sharp eyes over everyone, and opened his thin lips slightly: "The Misty Forest is full of dangers. Going there rashly may play into the enemy's hands. We need to make a long-term plan." As soon as he finished speaking, General Lin slammed the table, causing the water in the teacup to splash out.

"Lin has been a soldier all his life, so why should he be afraid of a trap? If he hesitates to make a decision, he will suffer the consequences! In my opinion, we should set off immediately and kill him without leaving a single piece of armor!" His rough voice echoed in the room, with an unquestionable majesty.

Seeing this, Xiaoxuan gently took Ding Chen's hand, her soft finger drawing circles in his palm, and said in a tender voice, "Brother Chen, no matter where we go, as long as I'm with you, I'm not afraid." Ding Chen held her small hand in return, the warm touch reassuring him. He rubbed Xiaoxuan's hair lovingly and said softly, "Don't worry, I will protect you." He raised his head and looked at everyone with a firm gaze, "The general's concerns are not unfounded, but Brother Yingfeng's concerns are not groundless either. How about this..."

He paused, and a bold plan gradually took shape in his mind.

Just as he was about to speak his mind, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, followed by a panting soldier stumbling in, his face pale, shouting in horror: "Report... Report! Misty Forest... Misty Forest..." He seemed to have seen something terrible, but the words came to his lips but he couldn't say them. He just pointed in the direction of the Misty Forest, trembling all over.

"What happened to the Misty Forest?!" General Lin grabbed the soldier's collar and shouted sternly.

The soldier raised his shaking hand and pointed in the direction of the misty forest. His voice was trembling and almost inaudible: "It...it moved..."

The soldier's intermittent words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing ripples.

Misty Forest...

Moved?

How can this be?

Everyone looked at each other, unable to understand the meaning of this sentence for a moment.

General Lin even lifted the soldier up and shouted, "Speak properly! What do you mean by moved? Explain it to me clearly!"

The soldier was terrified and pointed in the direction of the misty forest, trembling and describing what he saw incoherently: the originally quiet edge of the forest seemed to come alive, the trees were twisted and swaying, dancing like ghosts, and the thick fog was rolling and surging, as if there were huge creatures moving around in it.

"Could it be some kind of illusion?" Xiaoxuan frowned and put forward her own guess.

"We can't rule out this possibility." Ding Chen pondered for a moment, his eyes gleaming with wisdom. "But we can't let our guard down. The Misty Forest is already full of dangers, and now this strange phenomenon has appeared, we must act with even greater caution."

In the end, everyone decided to send Yingfeng to investigate the situation first.

After receiving the order, Yingfeng disappeared from everyone's sight like a flash of black lightning.

After he sneaked into the misty forest, he immediately felt a strange breath. The trees were indeed strangely shaped, like monsters with bared fangs and claws, eerie and terrifying.

Moreover, he also discovered that many unknown creatures were active in the forest, and they made all kinds of strange noises, which were creepy.

Yingfeng moved forward cautiously. Suddenly, a huge demonized wild boar rushed out from the bushes, emitting a black aura, with its fangs flashing coldly, and rushed towards Yingfeng with great momentum.

Ying Feng dodged the wild boar's attack nimbly with a flash of his body. The dagger in his hand stabbed at the wild boar's vital points from time to time like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.

However, the wild boar had thick skin and flesh, and Shadow Wind's attack did not cause much damage.

While Yingfeng was fighting with the wild boar, he keenly discovered that the wild boar turned around slowly after each charge, which was a fatal weakness!

Yingfeng seized this opportunity and used his agile body to constantly move around the wild boar, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Gradually, he gained the upper hand, and finally, a precise dagger pierced the wild boar's throat, ending this thrilling battle.

After repelling the wild boar, Yingfeng continued to go deeper, but found a mysterious castle deep in the forest. The castle was pitch black and exuded a gloomy atmosphere, like a giant beast lurking in the darkness.

Yingfeng didn't know what was inside, but he felt a little uneasy and decided to go back and report to everyone.

Yingfeng told everyone what he had seen and heard. The existence of the ancient castle made everyone curious and worried about the Misty Forest.

General Lin was eager to rush into the forest and capture all the enemies hiding there.

Ding Chen was more cautious. He felt that things might not be that simple. The unusual movements in the misty forest and the appearance of the ancient castle all indicated that a greater crisis was about to come...

"Let's go." Ding Chen's voice was firm.