Chapter 449: Challenges

These scarlet bees ventured into the forest in different directions. The silence of the forest was overwhelming; the darkness swallowed up the scarlet bees as soon as they entered.

Xue Wei and the others waited for around five minutes before the Scarlet Bee Queen began frowning.

"I am losing contact with them, one after another," she said with a trembling voice. Although she had numerous bees in her beehive within the Beast Tag, the truth was that each and every one of them had hatched from her eggs.

Losing contact with them would only happen if they had died. But before their death, the only thing she had seen was a silent and empty forest. There were no signs of hostile creatures, no sounds, and no smells. Everything was eerily quiet.

The Scarlet Bee Queen informed Xue Wei of what she had encountered, but her heart was trembling. What if he made her send another batch of her children to their death?

But Xue Wei did not order her to call out another batch of Scarlet Bees. Although he did not care much for them, the fact that all of them had died so inexplicably showed that even if he sent more inside, their death would be guaranteed.

He would rather keep the bees for when a battle was needed, or to create scarlet honey since Scarlet Honey was a very rare and essential resource for him.

The Scarlet Bee Queen heaved a heavy sigh of relief when she saw Xue Wei in deep contemplation.

It was not only Xue Wei who was thinking about what happened, but also the others. The only one who was casual and carefree was Lan; he was standing against a tree, leaning with his back against the trunk, and smiled leisurely at the thinking group.

The group, who was deep in thought, understood certain things. Lan had led them here intentionally, but as to why, they did not know.

He had made them encounter this forest with a purpose, but asking him would be useless.

Since they were here, there was only one reason. Lan wanted them to suffer, but knowing him, he would not kill them.

If he wanted them to die, there was no reason for him to play with them like this, he could just think, and their lives would be forfeited.

Reaching this conclusion, Xue Wei and the others were still alert and vigilant, but they also knew that they had a chance of survival if they entered the forest.

Since it was not certain death, they could not back down. If they backed down, the entire purpose of the trip would be lost, and they would have wasted a long time, and much preparation, not to mention the mental blow it would bring to them.

So far, they had never backed down, no matter what they had been facing. If they suddenly gave up now, in the future, it would be easy to give up again and again.

In the end, they would become cowardly, and the bold advance they have had so far would be in danger.

Since this was their mentality, they could only advance. Xue Wei's eyes were full of determination, and as he looked in the other's eyes, he found the same emotions in them. None of them was willing to back down, even if it meant death.

They had long since accepted their lot in life. They had taken numerous lives, and their hands were full of blood, so if they died one day, that was also acceptable.

On the road to the apex, they had to encounter many situations that were seen as certain death, but they had their own luck to rely on in order to overcome it.

When all of them saw the determination in the other's eyes, they smiled, and a frivolous and light mood spread in the middle of the silent and eerie forest.

Lan had a twinkle in his eyes. This was his first test for them. Or, more precisely, the first test for Xue Wei. Was he going to back down in the face of something that might threaten them with their lives, or would he rise to the challenge?

He was not disappointed with what he saw when looking at Xue Wei. Not even once had he seen an ounce of fear in Xue Wei's eyes. He had been contemplating it, wondering what would be best for them, but he had never considered backing down.

Xue Wei smiled and felt as if a big load had been lifted from his shoulders. Now that he saw that all of them wanted the same, he felt relieved. He did not want to pressure anyone into following him, but he had made his decision long ago, and it could not be changed.

Seeing that all of them wanted to follow him out of their own free will, and when he noticed the trust in their eyes, he felt relieved. These people were indeed the ones who were the closest to him.

Lan waited for all of them to enter the forest before he slowly followed suit. He knew that Xue Wei would not ask for his help, but even if he did, he would not help him. This was a challenge that Xue Wei had to pass on his own.

Xue Wei was unaware that Lan was planning various challenges to test him. If he knew, he would become quite grumpy, but for now, he could only advance and hope that both he, and all his friends, would survive it.

They had come into the outskirts of the forest, but so far, nothing had been seen. It was as eerie and silent as it looked, no traces of anything living could be found.

The Luan birds were back in the beast tag, so was the Scarlet Bee Queen, and only Xue Wei and his friends were walking through the forest.