Chapter 62: It Seems We Are Lost

Qinchuan kept walking for a solid kilometer before he finally came to a halt.

By the time he stopped, he was drenched in sweat and collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted.

We are safe!

Shangguan Ruoyun looked at their surroundings. Although everything was still blanketed in a dense, poisonous fog, not a single venomous ant was anywhere to be seen.

"Qinchuan, take a good rest." Shangguan Ruoyun sat down as well. Her suppression of the toxins within her body had reached its absolute limit.

"You should clear the poison out of your system quickly, too."

As he spoke, Qinchuan instructed Shangguan Ruoyun on how to use her internal spiritual power to purge the toxins, following his method. These poisons were not instantly fatal; they would only cause death if inhaled in excessive amounts.

Neither Shangguan Ruoyun nor Shen Gongbao had inhaled a massive quantity, so it would only take them a little time to clear it entirely.

Seeing that they were safe, the others watching breathed a sigh of relief.

Though venomous ants were merely tiny insects, when their numbers multiplied to such a degree, they genuinely became terrifying.

This was the living proof of the adage: a colony of ants can kill an elephant.

An hour later, Qingchu finished his meditation and recovered his strength.

At that moment, however, he noticed that his progress in roleplaying the demon child Nezha had surprisingly risen to 29%.

No wonder he felt noticeably stronger than before; his roleplay synchronization rate had increased.

With this boost, he would be better equipped to face even greater crises.

"Why did it jump up by so much?"

Qingchu was not entirely certain. If he could figure out the exact trigger, he would be able to rapidly accelerate his roleplay progress.

Moreover, a message had just echoed in his mind: once his roleplay synchronization broke through to 30%, he would be able to summon one of Nezha's magical treasures.

This was something he had been dreaming of acquiring.

The moment he obtained one of Nezha's magical items, his combat power would undoubtedly multiply several times over!

The might of a divine magical treasure was simply too immense.

"I must raise my roleplay synchronization rate as quickly as possible!"

Qinchuan was filled with a surge of motivation.

He seemed to have figured out why his synchronization rate had increased so significantly.

Battling monsters and slaying powerful beasts could elevate the synchronization rate.

Another crucial factor was protecting Shangguan Ruoyun and Shen Gongbao.

Although Nezha was notoriously mischievous and unruly, Nezha was also deeply righteous and loyal to his friends—no matter how grave the danger, he would never abandon a single companion.

He always shouldowned up openly to whatever he had done, never implicating others, and least of all allowing anyone to bring harm to those close to him.

What Nezha desired, above all else, was simply the acknowledgment of others.

And every single thing Qinchuan did earned him the recognition of the entire Yanhuang nation. This was the most vital reason why his roleplay synchronization had been rising so rapidly.

Seeing that Shangguan Ruoyun had regained consciousness, Qinchuan asked, "Sister Shangguan, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright." She glanced around and said, "I honestly have no idea how vast this poisonous fog forest really is."

"I'll go look around and see if there's any way to counter these toxic mists," Qinchuan said.

"Then be careful."

Seeing Qinchuan scurry off toward the woods in a flash, she quickly called out a warning.

Where there was poisonous fog, there was bound to be an antidote growing nearby. Since Qinchuan was a cultivator of immortality, he was naturally able to tell the difference.

He rummaged through the nearby underbrush for a long time until he finally spotted a specific type of grass—the very kind that could resist and repel the poisonous miasma.

"Found it at last."

Qinchuan hurried forward, reaching out to pluck the herb, when a venomous snake lunged at him with lightning speed. However, Qinchuan caught it effortlessly with a single hand.

"I saw you long ago, trying to pull a sneak attack."

With a gentle squeeze, Qinchuan crushed the one-star venomous snake to death on the spot.

The snakes here were all lethally poisonous, and Qinchuan had no appetite for snake soup. After gathering a sufficient amount of the grass, he returned to Shangguan Ruoyun's side.

"Is this grass of any use?" Shangguan Ruoyun looked at the plants Qinchuan had brought back.

"Don't worry, it's definitely useful," Qinchuan replied with absolute certainty.

"How do you know?" Shangguan Ruoyun asked, full of curiosity. After all, he was only four years old.

"I used my spiritual sense to probe the properties of this grass and found that the toxic fog actively avoids it. Therefore, this herb must be a counter to the miasma," Qinchuan answered.

"You are so clever." Shangguan Ruoyun expressed her heartfelt admiration.

Countless online viewers were equally impressed by Qinchuan, never expecting his observational skills to be so sharp that he could notice even this detail.

"So, how are we supposed to use this thing?" Shangguan Ruoyun asked.

"Well.... You just eat it, I suppose."

Qinchuan himself wasn't entirely sure.

With that, Qinchuan turned his gaze toward Shen Gongbao, who had just woken up, and grinned. "Let the big cat test it out, and we'll know for sure."

Shen Gongbao had just regained consciousness only to be greeted by Qinchuan's mischievous smile, and the entire leopard instantly felt a deep sense of dread.

Shen Gongbao whimpered: "Wuwuwu~~"

Translation: "I protest, I am not testing this."

"You don't get a choice." Qinchuan stepped forward, pried open Shen Gongbao's mouth, and shoved several stalks of the grass inside.

"If you throw it up, you'll be eating grass for the rest of your life," Qinchuan threatened.

Shen Gongbao: "O(≧口≦)O"

Shen Gongbao had no choice but to swallow the strange herb against its will.

The netizens were once again amused by Qinchuan's antics.

"Shen Gongbao has been pranked by Qinchuan yet again."

"Qinchuan: Little leopard, let's see you try to act tough with me again!"

"If you don't obey, you don't get fed."

"For the sake of food, the little leopard decides to sacrifice itself."

A short while later, Shen Gongbao realized that the remaining toxins in its body had been completely purged. It hurried to share this wonderful news with the other two.

Shen Gongbao whimpered: "Wuwuwu~~~"

"Judging by the big cat's reaction, I didn't pick the wrong grass. Sister Shangguan, you can eat it without worry," Qinchuan said.

Shen Gongbao: "w(ﾟДﾟ)w"

What a pitiful leopard; its job description had just expanded to include serving as a test subject.

Having consumed the herb, the trio resumed their journey deeper into the poisonous fog forest. After walking another few kilometers, they found that the thick mist had reached an astonishing density, reducing visibility to less than two meters ahead.

"This fog is simply too heavy. If we hadn't eaten that grass, I'm afraid we wouldn't even have made it this far." Shangguan Ruoyun hadn't anticipated that the toxins here would be so potent.

"Once we clear this core area, we should be able to walk right out of here," Qinchuan said with a hunch.

"Then how much farther is it?" Shangguan Ruoyun truly disliked this place.

There were simply too many venomous insects, ants, snakes, and bees here.

Fortunately, they had Qinchuan, who seemed to be the natural nemesis of all these monsters—these deadly creatures were often wiped out by Qinchuan before they even had a chance to attack.

"Let's go this way."

Guiing himself by his perception of spiritual energy, Qinchuan headed toward the direction where the spiritual aura felt densest.

In an environment like this, failing to distinguish directions made it extremely easy to get lost.

As it happened, Qinchuan soon realized that he had indeed lost his way within the fog.

"This doesn't quite feel right." Qinchuan vaguely remembered having walked past this exact spot before.

"What's wrong?" Shangguan Ruoyun asked.

"It seems... we might be lost," Qinchuan replied.