After walking for a while longer, the sky gradually darkened, and the surrounding visibility dropped to a point where one could not see their hand in front of their face.
Lu Heng and his companions advanced, relying entirely on vines to scout ahead. Lu Heng couldn't see the surrounding environment, and even with the searchlight from the apocalypse he now held, its strong beam had no effect within the forest.
"Let's return to the space first. There are too many variables when traveling at night here."
Following this, Lu Heng's mind stirred, and he and Blood Wolf vanished from their original positions. The vines he had been using to scout also disappeared simultaneously.
Several minutes after they disappeared, the ground where Blood Wolf had been standing began to loosen. A small mound of earth was gradually pushed up.
The soil on the mound shook a few times, and then a furry little head emerged.
The small head looked around left and right, and its tiny nose twitched, seemingly sniffing the surrounding scents.
After a brief period of sensing, the mound of earth vibrated again, and a round body, disproportionate to its head, emerged entirely from the ground.
It was exactly the same as the giant rat Lu Heng had seen earlier, only slightly smaller.
The little giant rat that emerged sniffed the ground around it, then headed in the direction Blood Wolf and the others had come from.
However, after a short while, the little giant rat returned. It circled the area where it had broken through the soil again, twitching its nose and sniffing the air in all directions.
At this moment, a gentle breeze blew, dispersing some of the lingering scent on the ground. The little giant rat raised its forelimbs and inhaled sharply in the air. Then, without any further hesitation, it returned to the hole it had just dug.
After a good night's sleep, Lu Heng still spent too much time in the space. After taking a bath in the apartment, Lu Heng still returned to his room in Nameless City to check on things.
At this moment, Lin Yu had already fallen asleep. The boy's tender face already showed signs of maturity, and a light stubble had begun to appear on Lin Yu's chin.
Fortunately, the entire building had central air conditioning providing warmth all day, so Lin Yu, who had kicked off his blanket, would not catch a cold.
In the apocalypse, illnesses like colds and fevers could be fatal, especially for those with weaker constitutions. With a lack of medical supplies, many people couldn't withstand high fevers and died.
Lu Heng did not cover Lin Yu with the blanket. If he looked at Lin Yu now, Lin Yu probably wouldn't even notice, but if he touched the blanket and made contact with Lin Yu's body, it would be a different story.
Seeing that the person was safe, Lu Heng turned and left Lin Yu's room. He returned to his own room and then went back into the space.
Holding Blood Wolf's father's fang, Lu Heng sat at the table and carefully examined the tooth.
It was estimated that Blood Wolf's father had died in his prime, so the tooth was still in quite good condition.
He pulled out his computer and looked up tutorials on how to make a wolf fang pendant. After watching several times, he found the necessary tools from the space.
After a period of grinding and shaping, Lu Heng finally finished processing the entire wolf fang, creating a wolf fang pendant wrapped in silver ornamentation.
He found a metal chain and took the finished pendant to Blood Wolf's room.
Blood Wolf, who was resting in the room at the moment, raised his head to look at Lu Heng when he heard his footsteps.
Lu Heng dangled the wolf fang pendant in his hand, "It's better to keep this in the room. I'm afraid you might lose it if you wear it outside."
Blood Wolf stared at the dangling wolf fang and let out a low whimper, "Master, can I hang this on the Holy Spirit Fruit Tree?"
That Holy Spirit Fruit Tree was by the ancient well downstairs. Lu Heng had completely forgotten about the fruit tree before, but fortunately, Blood Wolf had always remembered it and would always ask Black Bear to help water it.
"Okay."
Turning, Lu Heng took Blood Wolf to the fruit tree downstairs. Blood Wolf's father had been guarding this fruit tree at the time.
Lu Heng hung the wolf fang pendant next to a fruit, "This way, your father will always be with this fruit tree."
Lu Heng wasn't very good at saying sentimental things, and even if he did, Blood Wolf probably wouldn't understand. So, after simply hanging the tooth on the fruit tree, Lu Heng looked again at the soil where the fruit tree was planted.
"Oh, Black Bear must be slacking off. The soil is a bit dry." He fetched a bucket of water from the ancient well and poured it directly into the pot.
"Master, Black Bear is hibernating."
Although the temperature in the space remained constant year-round, Black Bear still followed its instincts and gradually became lazy as winter approached.
It would often sleep for a week straight without getting up to eat. Only when Blood Wolf felt the fruit tree needed watering would it wake up Black Bear, the only one capable of grasping things.
"Oh, I forgot. Should I contract a monkey or something? This Black Bear's work is seasonal, and it's quite inconvenient."
He had forgotten the purpose of contracting these animals. He had contracted them precisely because of their special abilities, hadn't he? Now they had become laborers.
Blood Wolf looked up at the wolf fang on the fruit tree and was about to let out a howl, but a hand suddenly landed on its head, stopping the sound it was about to make.
"In the space, don't make too much noise when I'm here."
Blood Wolf looked at the wolf fang and nodded. It could only stick out its tongue and lick the wolf fang.
"Alright, go back and rest. We have to hit the road early tomorrow."
Tugging at the fur around Blood Wolf's neck, Lu Heng turned to leave. "It won't run away if it's hung here. You can come and see it whenever you have time."
After a good night's sleep, utilizing the time difference in the space, Lu Heng and Blood Wolf got a full rest.
They returned to the Cloud Mist Forest. The sky was already bright, and the fog seemed a bit thinner today.
Lu Heng observed the place where they had left yesterday. The small hole on the ground had not been filled in.
Lu Heng looked at the newly appeared small hole and pondered. He was certain that the ground here had been flat when they left yesterday.
Because Blood Wolf had been stopped yesterday and had stomped its feet in place for a while, if there had been a mound of earth here yesterday, Blood Wolf would not have failed to notice it.
"We were followed."
Blood Wolf lowered its head and sniffed. The scent had dissipated after a night, but looking at the small hole that had emerged from the ground, it was easy to imagine that it was the work of the giant rats from yesterday.
Lu Heng squatted down and dug into the hole, picking out a few hairs. These hairs were not long and were gray, indicating it was indeed one of the giant rats.
He had not killed the weakened giant rat yesterday. Logically, he should be considered a savior to the giant rat, as it had likely been injured by the giant python, and by killing the python, he had indirectly saved it.
There was no reason for this giant rat to send its subordinates to track him.
Regardless, Lu Heng had not offended the giant rats. Even if a conflict arose, Lu Heng believed he could handle them.
At worst, he would simply stop entering the Cloud Mist Forest. If he couldn't win, couldn't he at least run away?
Lu Heng stepped forward and stomped on the mound, completely filling in the small hole, before mounting Blood Wolf and leaving again.