Chapter 49

Chapter 49

The group exchanged helpless glances, but they all saw smiles in each other eyes. Even though Mo Xiaotian hadn’t intended to, his silly look helped everyone relax significantly.

“Well, he’s not entirely wrong. Let’s just think of this as a spring outing,” Mu Tieren agreed, nodding. “Let’s take a stroll. I’ve never been in a forest before.”

The group chose a direction and began moving forward together. Since forests were notoriously easy to get lost in and the sun was invisible, Su Bei suggested using the density of leaves to determine direction.

No matter where you are, sunlight generally influences the density of leaves differently on the north and south sides of trees. Although they didn’t need to pinpoint the cardinal directions, they only needed to ensure they kept moving in a single direction.

After walking for a short while, Su Bei suddenly furrowed his brows and glanced to the side, seemingly sensing something. “There’s something over there.”

From the moment they entered the forest, Su Bei had been using his psychic sense to monitor the surroundings. Although it consumed a lot of mental power, it allowed him to detect potential dangers in advance—a worthwhile trade-off.

Just now, he sensed a strange stone tablet in the woods to their left.

The others were momentarily stunned before following his gaze. All they could see were layers upon layers of trees, making it impossible to discern anything clearly.

Jiang Tianming and the others, who had researched the characteristics of advanced mental power user, quickly realized how Su Bei might have detected something.

To prevent Su Bei from becoming annoyed by too many questions, Jiang Tianming quickly spoke up. “Really? Then let’s go check it out! Oh, by the way, does it seem alive?”

“I’m not sure, but it hasn’t moved at all,” Su Bei replied, shaking his head. While the object seemed stationary, there was a chance it could be a camouflaged Nightmares.

Nightmares, as depicted in their textbooks, were pitch-black creatures. However, they were known to possess a wide range of abilities, making it impossible to guarantee that the object was safe.

Fortunately, no one in their group was faint-hearted. Despite the uncertainty, they unanimously decided to investigate.

Pushing through tall grass and vines and weaving between trees, they finally reached the object Su Bei had mentioned.

It was a stone tablet.

Clearly, this was a man-made structure because there is also a display screen on the stone tablet.

“It’s a mission,” Jiang Tianming’s eyes lit up as he approached and tapped the screen. The display immediately turned on, revealing the following message:

Mission 14: Eliminate 5 Nightmares

Reward: 500 points, 3 bandages, and 3 self-heating hotpots

(Team leader must tap their watch on the tablet's screen to accept the mission. No additional missions can be accepted until this one is completed.)

After reading the message, everyone fell silent. A moment later, Lan Subing cautiously asked, “Is 500 points a lot?”

The other rewards could wait, but points were something they needed to carefully consider.

It was a valid question and the reason for their silence. Killing five Nightmares would undoubtedly be a difficult task. Additionally, once they accepted this mission, they wouldn’t be able to take on others until it was completed—meaning they would need to commit entirely to earning these mission points.

The critical question was whether the reward justified the effort. After all, the dean never mentioned that mission difficulty would be proportional to the rewards.

Mu Tieren shook his head in frustration. “We don’t have any reference, do we?”

He opened the leaderboard and checked: “It’s still empty.”

Unsure whether to accept the mission but unwilling to pass up a potential jackpot, the group hesitated.

Finally, Jiang Tianming decisively proposed a solution. “Let’s split into groups now, as we planned. We’ll stay here and decide whether to take the mission while you explore other areas. If you find anything new, send someone back to inform us. Our positions are already marked on the map.”

This was a good idea, but there was still one concern. Wu Mingbai frowned and asked, “If we split up this early and encounter another group that’s still united, what do we do?”

This time, Su Bei answered, “Both you and Mo Xiaotian can manipulate terrain. In a forest like this, as long as you delay the enemy a little, they won’t be able to follow us.”

If they couldn’t win a fight, they could at least escape.

With no further objections, the six split into pairs. Wu Mingbai and Su Bei each took a teammate and headed in different directions. Before leaving, Su Bei carefully checked the compass needles above everyone’s heads and called out to Wu Mingbai.

“Wu Mingbai, change directions.”

He had noticed that Wu Mingbai’s compass needle pointed slightly to the left, indicating no good opportunities in that direction.

Surprised, Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing turned to glance at him. After a moment of hesitation, they adjusted their course. “How about this?”

Knowing Su Bei had the ability to glimpse fate, they trusted his advice. Especially since they were on the same team, there was no reason for him to mislead them.

When the needle shifted a lot to the left, Su Bei nodded in satisfaction. “Okay.”

Seeing Su Bei nod, Wu Mingbai flashed a bright smile. “Thanks!”

Su Bei didn’t reply and simply led Mo Xiaotian in a random direction.

“Hey, Brother Bei! If Mingbai’s direction wasn’t good, does that mean ours is great?” Mo Xiaotian asked curiously, hopping along through the forest.

Truthfully, Su Bei hadn’t checked. There was no way he could pull out his treasured mirror and glance at the compass above his head in this situation, right?

Fortunately, having teammates meant he could just check the compass above theirs.

“It’s decent,” Su Bei replied casually.

He wasn’t lying. The pointer above their heads only tilted slightly to the left. As members of the protagonist group, they wouldn’t be outright eliminated, so almost any result could be considered “decent.”

Of course, he hadn’t intentionally chosen this less-than-ideal path. It was just that he had subtly tested all other routes while walking with the group earlier. Apart from the one he directed Wu Mingbai to take, the others were fairly average.

As for why he gave Wu Mingbai that specific path, it was to further solidify his own credibility as someone with predictive abilities.

Besides, as long as they weren’t eliminated, none of the paths would be too bad.

“Then, Brother Bei, how did you spot that stone tablet earlier?” Having received an answer, Mo Xiaotian quickly moved on to a new question like a child with endless curiosity.

Though naive, Mo Xiaotian wasn’t stupid. He had noticed that Su Bei couldn’t have possibly seen the stone monument through the layers of grass and foliage from his previous position.

“I have some special perception tricks,” Su Bei said with a mischievous smile, smoothly steering the conversation elsewhere. “Since your ability is [Air] you should have strong sensory capabilities, right?”

For instance, while Su Bei relied on psychic energy to sense his surroundings, Mo Xiaotian’s control over air should naturally allow him to detect things within it.

By shifting the focus, Su Bei avoided further probing. He wasn’t sure if Mo Xiaotian was merely curious or trying to gather intel, but distracting him was a solid solution either way.

Hearing this, Mo Xiaotian scratched his head bashfully. “I’m not that skilled yet. I can only sense a small area.”

As he spoke, he gestured with his hands, outlining a modest square shape. “Maybe because the area I can control is so small, my control over it is really precise. That’s how I can make air blocks or explosive cubes.”

It was clear that Mo Xiaotian wasn’t holding anything back—he shared both what he could and couldn’t do without reservation.

Su Bei, however, felt reassured. Mo Xiaotian’s openness confirmed he wasn’t trying to fish for information earlier—he was just curious. Still, Su Bei couldn’t let his guard down. He knew for a fact that Mo Xiaotian was affiliated with the Black Lightning organization. Whatever he learned here would eventually reach them.

In Su Bei’s mind, Mo Xiaotian was akin to the so-called "Manga Awareness"—unwittingly committing acts of evil. Such people were often more dangerous than those who knowingly acted with malicious intent.

“There’s someone ahead,” Su Bei suddenly whispered, cutting off Mo Xiaotian’s chatter. He crouched down, his senses locked on a group ahead.

Roughly 20 meters in front of them, six people were moving together. The numbers were too uneven for a confrontation. If they didn’t want to end up running away in embarrassment, it was better not to draw attention.

Mo Xiaotian obediently shut his mouth and crouched beside Su Bei in the bushes. The dense grass and towering trees provided excellent cover, concealing them completely.

“Move to the side,” Su Bei instructed in a low voice. “They’re heading this way.”

The two carefully moved to hide behind another tree. Not long after, the spot where they had been hiding was passed by a group of people.

To their surprise, the leader of the group was someone familiar.

Mo Xiaotian’s eyes widened. He tugged on Su Bei’s sleeve and mouthed excitedly, “It’s Qi Huang!”

Sure enough, it was Qi Huang. She was leading a team of six girls as they explored the forest.

Suddenly, the group stopped at the spot Su Bei and Mo Xiaotian had just vacated. A girl with green braids and glasses adjusted her frames, speaking seriously. “It looks like something passed through here recently.”

Qi Huang, knowing her teammate’s abilities, immediately asked, “Can you tell what it was? Or at least how many?”

Whether it was humans or Nightmares, their group could handle it as long as the numbers weren’t too high.

The green-haired girl closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment before reopening them. “It should be humans... not many of them.”

Su Bei wasn’t sure either, but if teleportation was indeed its ability, it would make for a tough opponent.

Due to its unique ability, even though the creature faced six opponents, it showed no signs of tiring. In fact, it repeatedly caught Qi Huang’s team off guard, nearly turning the tide against them.

Teleportation abilities were incredibly challenging for novice ability users to deal with. Even if the opponent stood still, these rookies might struggle to control their abilities accurately enough to hit the target—let alone one that teleported unpredictably.

Fortunately, the Nightmare Lizard lacked significant offensive power. Otherwise, someone in Qi Huang’s group might already have been injured.

During this time, Su Bei had already discerned everyone’s abilities.

Qi Huang’s power, naturally, was the [Flame Phoenix]. However, she demonstrated some skills here that she hadn’t used during the arena battles. For instance, even without summoning the Phoenix, she could utilize a portion of its abilities, like launching fireballs.

The girl with green braids appeared to have the ability to control vines—an ability perfectly suited to the forest environment.

Qiqi’s ability seemed to lack offensive power and hadn’t been used yet. However, Su Bei noticed that she was always the first to detect where the Nightmare Beast teleported, likely due to her power.

The remaining three individuals possessed powers that included summoning bows and arrows, summons monkeys, and attacking with their hair.

Overall, they weren’t bad. Aside from Qiqi, everyone had some offensive capability, and even Qiqi could undoubtedly protect herself.

In addition, Su Bei noticed that Qi Huang seemed to have incredible luck. Her team was particularly well-suited for the alternate space's forest environment. With her fire-based abilities, the green-haired girl’s wood-based powers, and the monkey-summoning member, three of the six team members were well-aligned with their surroundings.

On the battlefield, Qi Huang’s face grew darker as she struggled to dodge attacks. When one of her teammates was knocked to the ground by the Nightmare Lizard, leaving a bloody gash on their leg, Qi Huang couldn’t hold back any longer. “Xiao Lin, can you surround this area and trap the Nightmare Lizard so it can’t escape?”

Xiao Lin, the green-haired girl, glanced at Qi Huang. This time, she didn’t hesitate and firmly nodded. “No problem!”

Hearing this, Qi Huang curved her lips into a beautiful smile, though her eyes were devoid of warmth—filled instead with blazing fury. “Good. Everyone except Xiao Lin, retreat slowly. I’m going to burn this forest!”

Currently, Qi Huang had not developed any wide-area attack skills, but in this dense forest, even an ordinary fireball could effectively function as a large-scale attack.

Since her single-target attacks weren’t working, she wanted to see if burning the forest could kill the Nightmares.

“Brother Bei, what should we do? Should we run now?” Mo Xiaotian immediately reacted after hearing Qi Huang’s declaration.

If Qi Huang intended to burn down the forest, they wouldn’t be able to escape unscathed. Leaving now was their only chance.

However, Su Bei didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at the Nightmare Lizard darting around the battlefield. “Do you still think its ability is teleportation?”

Mo Xiaotian froze for a moment, then followed Su Bei’s gaze. “Isn’t it?”

After speaking, he suddenly seemed to realize something and quickly added, “You mean to say that the Nightmare Lizard’s landing spots are always the same?”

Sure enough, Mo Xiaotian had noticed this as well. Unlike the people on the battlefield, they were spectators and could see more of the combat’s finer details.

Although the Nightmare Lizard darted around unpredictably, its landing spots were actually limited to just five locations.

From an observer’s perspective, this pattern was obvious. However, for Qi Huang and her team, caught in the chaos of battle, it was nearly impossible to notice such details.

Su Bei nodded. “Since it’s not random teleportation, we can definitely attack it.”

If it could truly teleport at will, Su Bei wouldn’t be able to manipulate his gears fast enough to harm it. Unless his speed far surpassed its ability, the Nightmare Lizard could always teleport away the moment it sensed danger.

This was exactly the predicament Qi Huang’s team was facing.

But if its landing spots were fixed, the solution became much simpler. All they had to do was set up attacks at those five locations, and no matter where it appeared, it would be doomed.

Mo Xiaotian immediately understood his plan, his eyes lighting up. “Are we going to steal the kill?”

Seeing his excitement, Su Bei’s expression became a little surprised, but he didn’t have time to question it. He simply clarified, “First of all, this isn’t stealing. They can’t defeat it, and we’re just ‘helping.’”

Then he quickly instructed, “Prepare a few air blocks to conceal our presence. Once I launch the sneak attack, we’ll make a run for it. Got it?”

“Got it!” Mo Xiaotian responded enthusiastically.

Su Bei prepared ten sharp-edged gears, using his mental power to guide them in pairs, quietly positioning them at the five locations.

At this moment, Qi Huang’s team was cautiously retreating to the outer perimeter, unaware of Su Bei’s subtle movements.

Soon, Su Bei’s setup was complete, and Qi Huang’s group had also withdrawn to a safer distance.

To prevent the Nightmare Lizard from escaping the encirclement to chase her teammates, Qi Huang launched itensive attacks to keep it confined.

This gave Su Bei the perfect opportunity. After observing for a few seconds and timing Qi Huang’s fireball attacks, he decisively activated his gears.

Sure enough, the Nightmare Lizard appeared at one of the designated spots in the next moment. Despite its coal-black body, it was still a mortal creature. Caught off guard, it was effortlessly struck down by Su Bei.

The sharp gear swiftly slashed through the Nightmare Lizard's throat, spraying black, oil-like blood everywhere. The creature collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot.

Without hesitation, Su Bei turned and softly said, “Run!”

With that, he and Mo Xiaotian quickly fled the scene.

Under normal circumstances, Qi Huang and her group would have noticed the strange commotion in the woods. However, their attention was entirely drawn to the Nightmare Beast's sudden death, and no one realized the culprits had quietly left.

“Phew! That was so thrilling!” After running nearly a mile, Mo Xiaotian stopped, gasping for breath, his cheeks flushed. His excitement was evident—he was still buzzing from the adrenaline rush.

Meanwhile, Su Bei, who orchestrated everything, remained composed. Glancing at his watch, he saw that the task completion count had updated to (1/5), and he nodded in satisfaction. “Looks like killing the Nightmares automatically adds to the count.”

He wondered how the system detected and confirmed that they had killed the beast and updated the score so quickly.

“Maybe I can ask the teacher about this later,” Su Bei thought. For now, he had another question. “I thought you’d oppose what I just did.”

He directed this question to Mo Xiaotian.

In Su Bei’s eyes, setting aside his mysterious backstory, Mo Xiaotian was a typical shounen protagonist type—cheerful, passionate, and righteous, someone who could brighten even the darkest of souls.

Su Bei had mentally prepared himself for a situation where Mo Xiaotian might object to his "stealing monsters." If that happened, Su Bei planned to part ways with him, creating a dramatic turning point for his own story arc.

To his surprise, not only did Mo Xiaotian not oppose it, but he even seemed eager to help. What was going on?

“Why would I oppose it?” Mo Xiaotian asked, scratching his head in confusion. “The rules allow point-stealing, so why wouldn’t they allow stealing monsters?”

That made so much sense! Su Bei realized he hadn’t thought about it from that perspective.

This seemed like a good opportunity to test him further. Su Bei’s eyes flashed with a hint of mischief as he asked, “What if there were no point-stealing rules? Say that Nightmares was already on its last legs, and I decided to finish it off for our team’s mission. What would you do?”

Su Bei expected Mo Xiaotian to take a while to answer, perhaps hesitating over the moral dilemma. To his surprise, Mo Xiaotian answered without hesitation: “I’d help you steal it.”

Su Bei was genuinely shocked. “Why?”

“Because we’re teammates!” Mo Xiaotian said with absolute conviction. “As long as it benefits the team, I’ll support it.”

“Even if it goes against your principles?” Su Bei pressed.

“Well, no.” Mo Xiaotian shook his head honestly. “At the very least, I wouldn’t harm my teammates.”

To someone unaware of the full context, Mo Xiaotian’s words might seem deeply moving. He sounded like an ideal teammate—principled yet willing to make sacrifices for the team.

Su Bei had no doubt that if this dialogue were part of a storyline, Mo Xiaotian would gain many fans. Protagonist supporters would surely love his sense of justice and loyalty.

But those fans wouldn’t know that when Mo Xiaotian said “teammates,” he wasn’t referring to Jiang Tianming and the others. He meant the Black Lightning Organization—the people who were his true allies.

In other words, if the organization ordered him to harm the protagonist team, Mo Xiaotian would likely comply, even reluctantly.

Su Bei could barely suppress a sigh. Finally, he let out a soft exhale and, rather than getting angry at Mo Xiaotian’s hidden affiliations, reached out and ruffled his hair. “Don’t put too much faith in your teammates...”

After all, what kind of good ending could a character planted by a villainous organization to infiltrate the protagonist team possibly have? At best, they’d be abandoned once discovered. At worst, they’d be betrayed by the organization.

Not waiting for Mo Xiaotian’s response, Su Bei changed the subject. “We didn’t get any points for killing the Nightmares earlier. Looks like once we accept this mission, we can’t earn points from other sources.”

“Huh?” Mo Xiaotian, easily distracted, immediately latched onto the new topic. “Then we need to finish this mission quickly, or we’ll lose out big time!”

If they didn’t complete the mission, even if they eliminated other contestants, they wouldn’t gain new points. Compared with Nightmares, Mo Xiaotian was far more excited about fighting humans.

There’s no need to rush, Su Bei thought. Who knows what might happen next? In a scenario where surprises are inevitable, the points they currently have might end up meaningless in the end.

Note: Sometimes, I wish abilities like these existed in real life because real life is just so boring.