The little fox, of course, listened to the fatty. So, he nodded obediently and quietly nestled beside the fatty, suppressing his breath and muffling his movements, hiding with the fatty.
They observed the outskirts of the forest for a while. At the place where they had heard the commotion earlier, a group of three to five people and several wild beasts were engaged in combat. It seemed they were also unable to use their cultivation, otherwise, they wouldn't be struggling so hard with the beasts, and they appeared to be at a disadvantage.
It seemed Ye Tiancheng's previous judgment was correct. He himself, the fatty, and the little fox, all three of them couldn't use their abilities. Therefore, the people who were transported to this strange place with them were also unable to use their abilities.
From this perspective, this was indeed good news for them, but not entirely so. Looking at the beasts fighting the people, if they had to face them, it would be terrible.
The fatty felt fortunate that before Ye Tiancheng and the three of them had woken up, they hadn't encountered those beasts. Otherwise, they might have already been devoured by the beasts unknowingly, dying without a complete corpse. Now, it was others facing the beasts, not him and the little fox.
When he couldn't use his cultivation, the fatty wasn't entirely confident that he could fully protect the little fox from the beasts' attacks.
The little fox now not only couldn't use talismans and other skills but was also a child. Without the enhancement of talismans, his innate combat ability was weak, making him a fighter with almost no combat power. Whatever the fatty had to do, he would definitely prioritize the little fox's safety.
It seemed this place was indeed not as peaceful as it appeared, which made the fatty even more uneasy. He couldn't help but turn to the little fox and quietly instructed, "Little fox, if you encounter any danger later, your main priority is to protect yourself. If you encounter something you can't handle, run, hide, and don't worry about me. I'll come find you after I deal with it, understand?"
The little fox had originally come to the construction site because Ye Tiancheng and the fatty needed his help, which was why he had rushed over overnight. Who knew such an accident would occur now.
He wanted to help Ye Tiancheng and the fatty, but he didn't want to be a burden. He wasn't an insensible person, so he immediately nodded, indicating that he understood. He wouldn't joke about his own safety, as that would only drag down Ye Tiancheng and the fatty, which was not what he hoped for.
Meanwhile, the fatty and the little fox, to avoid trouble, had hidden in the shadows on the outskirts of the forest, observing the situation. In another part of the forest, Ye Tiancheng had already ventured a considerable distance.
Unlike the relatively uneventful experience of the fatty and the little fox, Ye Tiancheng encountered several beast attacks shortly after entering the forest. He encountered beasts like lions, wolves, tigers, and leopards, but he didn't encounter wolves. Perhaps it was because wolves are nocturnal animals, so he didn't meet any. As for the other three, Ye Tiancheng had encountered them all.
Fortunately, through his long-term experience and training, Ye Tiancheng himself was a capable person, not someone who relied solely on his cultivation and became useless without it. Otherwise, he would probably have been devoured by some beast by now.
His experiences in the forest made Ye Tiancheng inevitably worry about the situation of the fatty and the little fox, wondering if they had encountered any beast attacks.
However, thinking about the situation by the lake, he had observed it. There was nothing by the lake that could threaten the safety of the fatty and the little fox. Even if some beasts approached, the visibility by the lake was quite open, with no hiding places. And the fatty, even though he couldn't use his cultivation, had sharp enough intuition and enough time to react.
It was for this reason that Ye Tiancheng had asked the fatty and the little fox to scout along the lake while he ventured into the forest alone to check the situation.
Although, judging by his current encounters, there might be something fishy about the lake. Otherwise, why would the lake appear completely safe, with no beasts approaching? Perhaps there were even more dangerous things present, but this danger might not be easily triggered.
Otherwise, Ye Tiancheng, the fatty, and the little fox had stayed by the lake for quite some time before separating, and it was impossible that they hadn't encountered anything or sensed anything.
Therefore, even though he was somewhat worried about the fatty and the little fox, Ye Tiancheng was not overly concerned to the point of losing his composure. He was still able to calm himself down and continue his investigation. However, Ye Tiancheng checked the time. It was almost time for their agreed-upon rendezvous, so he should probably head back.
One point of difference between him and the fatty and the little fox was that although Ye Tiancheng had encountered many beast attacks along the way, he hadn't encountered anyone else. He didn't know why, or how large this place was, that everyone who was teleported here had not been able to meet.
As for the fatty and the little fox, they had watched those people fight the beasts, gradually lose, be unable to escape, and finally be annihilated, leaving no survivors.
However, for some reason, the beasts that attacked the people did not devour their bodies after defeating and killing them. They simply bit through their necks, confirmed they were all dead, and then ran away from the place.
Fortunately, it seemed the beasts had no intention of approaching the Blue Lake area, but were heading deeper into the forest. Otherwise, the fatty wouldn't have known what to do.
The fatty vaguely felt that there must be something unusual about this Blue Lake, which was why the beasts had no intention of approaching. His intuition told him so. However, this Blue Lake was now their reliance, and they also needed to reunite with Ye Tiancheng, so they couldn't easily leave the lake.
The scenes were too bloody and cruel. The fatty, considering the little fox's young age, covered his eyes at the last moment. He was initially worried that the little fox would have some psychological trauma from seeing the beasts eat people. However, although the beasts didn't eat people in the end, the scene was still too terrifying. The fatty had to be glad he had covered the little fox's eyes quickly.
The little fox quietly let the fatty cover his eyes, knowing that the fatty was doing it for his own good. He didn't struggle or resist at all, just stood there, allowing his vision to darken.
Only when he heard the sounds of fighting and the roars of the beasts gradually subside did he lower his voice and ask the fatty softly, "Fatty brother, is it all over? Have the beasts left? They shouldn't have come this way, right?"
The fatty then put his hands on the little fox's shoulders, turned him in a direction away from the scene, and then released the little fox's eyes.
"It's all over. It seems the beasts have no intention of approaching the lake. We are safe. But it seems it's really better not to enter the forest. Let's go quickly."
The little fox nodded in agreement, then took out his phone to check the time. "Then let's go, Fatty brother. We've been scouting here for a long time, and it's almost time for our agreed-upon meeting with Brother Ye. Let's go back to where we were and see if Brother Ye has returned."
"That's what I was thinking. Then let's go. We didn't find much on the way. This place is truly strange and eerie. Sigh... I don't know how we can leave, and what's happening back at the construction site."
The fatty and the little fox walked back together and successfully met Ye Tiancheng. Neither of them encountered too many unexpected events. However, the fatty and the little fox noticed that Ye Tiancheng looked much more disheveled. His clothes and pants were torn in many places, and he had some wounds on his body. They didn't know what he had gone through.
As soon as the little fox saw Ye Tiancheng's disheveled state, his eyes widened with concern. He ran towards Ye Tiancheng and asked about his condition with a frown.
"Brother Ye, what happened to you? Did you encounter something? You're even injured... There's no way to properly treat wounds here. Is there any danger?"
Seeing that the fatty and the little fox had returned safely and were not disheveled at all, Ye Tiancheng's previously worried heart was completely put at ease. Judging by their appearance, even their clothes were neat, indicating they hadn't encountered any danger. This put him at ease.
It seemed they were different from him and hadn't encountered beast attacks. The beasts indeed wouldn't approach this Blue Lake. This lake was indeed unusual, and his guess was not wrong.
As for his own injuries, Ye Tiancheng didn't take them too seriously. He got injured because he didn't have his cultivation to rely on and faced so many beast attacks. It was inevitable to get minor bumps and scrapes, but he wasn't seriously injured. These minor injuries did not threaten his life.
"I'm fine. It's inevitable to encounter some beasts in the forest. Of course, I'll get some injuries when I fight them, but nothing serious happened. However, I didn't meet anyone else."
Seeing that Ye Tiancheng wasn't too concerned about his injuries, but the fatty and the little fox were very concerned, the fatty frowned, looking at Ye Tiancheng's wounds. "Still, you should get them bandaged simply. We don't have any conditions now, so we can't be picky. I'll tear a few strips of cloth from my clothes and bandage you, Brother Ye."
The little fox clearly agreed with the fatty's suggestion and was even more willing to tear his own clothes to bandage Ye Tiancheng. Ye Tiancheng looked at them with a complicated expression.
He sincerely wished that the little fox would always be like this. Then he wouldn't have to overthink things and only needed to be good to the little fox. It wouldn't be bad for the three of them to continue like this.
"Forget it, I can't argue with you. Let's get bandaged. I'll tear my own clothes. I don't have many wounds anyway. You two also tell me about your experiences during this time. You two were scouting here, did you discover anything?"