Dark Place

Zhang Zheng was very quiet the whole way, not saying a single word.

At times he frowned deeply, at others his expression was solemn, as if he were lost in thought about something.

"By the way, Your Excellency Jiamu, are there any very strong, high-Rank monsters here?" Hongye suddenly asked.

Jiamu pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and shook her head, saying, "I don't know. I haven't seen any. Usually, the ones I see are below Rank 40. I haven't seen any above that."

Hongye nodded and said to Ye Chen in a low voice, "Junior Brother Ye Chen, do you think there are powerhouses here like Lord Oen? Lord Oen mentioned before that powerful monsters live in these unknown areas, and that not all monsters have as good a temper as he does. You think..."

Hongye's words reminded Ye Chen.

Indeed, Aoun had once said that there must be powerhouses in these unknown areas.

"There should be, but I don't think they will be easy to find. The places they live must be very hidden, just like Aoun."

Ye Chen said.

Upon hearing this, Hongye nodded.

Zhang Zheng suddenly asked, "Aoun? Who is Lord Aoun?"

"A Rank 88 monster inside the mysterious Secret Realm we entered on the first day of the world's transformation," Ye Chen replied irritably.

"Ah!" Zhang Zheng's expression changed instantly.

He was clearly frightened.

"Rank 88? If we encounter one above Rank 70, we're all done for!" Zhang Zheng panicked a little.

Ye Chen glanced at Zhang Zheng and sneered, "Indeed, we would certainly be done for. These powerful monsters have very strange hobbies. Males like females, especially talkative females like you, and females also like females, especially burly females like you. But don't worry, even if you encounter them, they might not necessarily kill you; at most, they'll keep you as a plaything!"

"You're the one who's burly! Hmph!" Zhang Zheng retorted to Ye Chen in a coquettish voice.

Zhang Zheng was indeed not burly; he just didn't have that delicate, demure look.

Zhang Zheng glanced at Ye Chen and suddenly felt that he didn't dislike this guy in front of him as much anymore.

On the contrary, he was actually starting to appreciate Ye Chen more and more.

He was handsome, strong, and young. Apart from his love of retorting, he didn't really have any flaws.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zheng couldn't help but glance at Ye Chen again.

Fifteen minutes later, they finally arrived at the Dark Forest mentioned by Jiamu.

They saw that the tall trees were all black; whether it was the trunk, the branches, or the leaves, everything was black.

Looking around, the various plants growing here were also entirely black.

Aside from black, there wasn't a single other color.

The entire forest gave people a visual illusion.

It was clearly a real scene, yet it looked like a painting.

The sky had completely darkened, and looking inside, one couldn't make out anything else.

Jiamu said, "This is the Dark Forest. Why don't you wait until daybreak to enter? If you go in at night, you won't be able to see clearly."

Jiamu said gently.

Ye Chen nodded, "Mm, we know. We are planning to enter tomorrow."

After saying this, Ye Chen rented a four-bedroom apartment from the Monster Shop.

A house appeared behind them.

Jiamu's eyes lit up, and she said in surprise, "Your Excellency Ye Chen, this, what is this?"

Ye Chen laughed, "This is a house, our human dwelling. Haven't you lived in one before?"

Jiamu shook her head, "No, I usually sleep in the trees."

Looking at Jiamu's innocent appearance, Ye Chen smiled.

"Can I stay inside for a night?" Jiamu's eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled.

"Of course, please."

Ye Chen pushed open the door, and they walked inside.

As soon as they entered the house, Jiamu became even more excited.

"It's so beautiful! This thing is so soft! I've decided, I'm sleeping here tonight!"

Jiamu stood on the sofa, jumping up and down.

"This is called a sofa."

Jiamu clearly didn't understand these things well; she was like a silly girl, only saying this was pretty and that was fun.

Ye Chen taught Jiamu about everything; Jiamu was very smart and interested, and she learned it all in no time.

Zhang Zheng stood to the side, thinking indignantly, "Hmph, being so gentle to a monster, but acting like that toward this Young Miss—is this Young Miss not pretty enough?"

He looked at Jiamu's flat chest, then looked at his own mature assets, and became even more dissatisfied, humming to himself, "Or maybe this Young Miss's figure isn't good enough? I understand now, this guy Ye Chen must like this malnourished type. He's truly blind and has never tasted good meat!"

The more Zhang Zheng thought about it, the angrier he became, and he turned and went back into his room.

With a bang, Zhang Zheng slammed the door shut.

Jiamu, Ye Chen, and Hongye were startled by the loud slamming of the door.

"What's wrong with her? Is she in a bad mood?" Jiamu asked blankly.

"I don't know, maybe. Women always have days when they are in a bad mood."

Ye Chen redeemed a pile of food from the Monster Shop again.

Jiamu ate to her heart's content, enjoying the meal thoroughly.

"Ye Chen, thank you so much. Can I call you Big Brother?" Jiamu asked, blinking her watery eyes.

"Mm, of course you can." Ye Chen patted Jiamu's head.

"Hehe!"

After they each returned to their rooms, Ye Chen lay down on the bed.

Opening his backpack, Ye Chen checked the items he had obtained today.

Just from these bones and Spirit Stones, he had obtained thirty-six pieces today; the harvest was quite significant.

His phone suddenly rang. Ye Chen opened it and saw it was a call from Xuan Nv.

Ye Chen pressed the answer button.

"Hello, Ye Chen. I'm done with my business here. Have you gone to that place you mentioned?"

"Mm, I arrived. I just got here today. Are you coming?"

"Sure, send me the location."

"Alright!"

After hanging up, Ye Chen sent the location to Xuan Nv.

Xuan Nv replied that she would arrive around tomorrow afternoon. After chatting for a bit, Ye Chen fell asleep.

Early the next morning, they got up, had a simple breakfast, and headed toward the Dark Forest.

As soon as they stepped into the territory of the Dark Forest, they felt a chilling cold.

This cold was not the kind caused by low temperature, but rather a sinister chill.

A bone-chilling cold.

"Watch out for the ground!" Jiamu shouted repeatedly.

Ye Chen looked down and saw a pitch-black poisonous snake had crawled to his feet.

Ye Chen took out the Thunderclap Blade and cut the poisonous snake in two.

After the two halves of the body wriggled on the ground for a while, they stopped moving completely.

This snake was not a monster, because after killing it, Ye Chen didn't obtain anything. It seemed it was just an ordinary animal.

Ye Chen said in a low voice, "Be careful. This place is not simple; many such poisonous creatures grow here, which are not monsters."

The others were slightly startled, but they still nodded.