Su Qing was basically entirely resting against Hu Bugui. This time he couldn’t tease. His chest still hurt, as though something heavy were pressing down on it. Everything looked a little blurry, and there seemed to be some membrane over his ears, impacting even his hearing. 

Hu Bugui squatted down and looked at his pale fingers pressing his chest. Anxiously, he asked, “Do you want me to carry you on my back? Where does it hurt?” 

Su Qing feebly waved a hand. “I can’t even see very clearly right now. Captain Hu, is this ST Training Course thing harmful?” 

Hu Bugui frowned. He hadn’t noticed anything wrong—until Su Qing had reminded him, he had entirely forgotten that he was at the ST Training Course. Hu Bugui raised a hand and waved it in front of Su Qing’s eyes. “Like this…can you see?” 

Su Qing gasped twice, then quietly said, “Not that kind of not seeing clearly. It’s further away. Everything is a little blurry.” 

Hu Bugui rubbed his palm to warm it up and lightly put it over his eyelids. “Does this hurt?” 

Su Qing shook his head. After a while, Hu Bugui lowered his hand and asked, “Is it still blurry?” 

Su Qing nodded. Hu Bugui pointed to a nearby tree and asked, “Do you see that tree? Can you see the branches and leaves clearly? Is there double vision… Oh, you can still see it. Where can’t you see clearly?" 

Su Qing squinted. “Around…the fifth or sixth tree is a little blurry.” 

Hu Bugui glanced in the direction he was looking, paused, then said, “Actually, I can only see up to around the seventh tree.” 

Su Qing instantly realized what Hu Bugui meant. “You mean that…my physical condition now is what it was before I had the two grey seals?” 

Before Hu Bugui could nod, Su Qing continued, “But I could still walk upright before.” 

It was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality—Hu Bugui sighed, pulled over Su Qing’s arm and put it around his neck, put his other arm around Su Qing’s waist, and lifted, half supporting and half carrying him. He thought that the weight he was holding wasn’t quite right, so he said, “Are there some heavy objects on you that you haven’t removed? Take them out right now.” 

Only then did Su Qing remember that he still had some mystical stones of the Ji clan on him. He quickly turned these things up from his pant legs, collar, and various other nooks and crannies. While his legs still felt weak, he breathed a big sigh of relief. He could more or less walk. Hu Bugui felt the weight he was holding suddenly decrease by more than half. His fingertips seemed to touch Su Qing’s ribs. He frowned. After a long moment, he said, “…Don’t stress yourself out so much. You should look after your health.” 

Su Qing curved his eyes in a smile. “Captain Hu, it’s because I treasure my life and fear death.” 

The two of them didn’t know where they had ended up. There had been no hints from the ST Training Course, and there was absolutely no word from the others. Beneath their feet was spongy earth and fallen leaves. It didn’t take too much effort for Hu Bugui to support Su Qing, but so that he could gradually get accustomed, he walked very slowly. Beside them was the whispering sound of wind blowing through the thick forest, occasionally bringing a faint fragrance of flowers from some unknown place. The atmosphere was extremely tranquil and relaxed. 

Hu Bugui turned his head and saw Su Qing’s profile within reach. He dully said, “Forgive me for my poor eyesight, but I hadn’t noticed that.” 

Having passed through a period of understanding, in Hu Bugui’s mind, this Su character was simply a death-seeker. 

He didn’t believe it, and Su Qing didn’t say anything further about it. He airily changed the subject. “Captain Hu, where do you think we are?” 

This was just where Hu Bugui thought the strangeness was, because he absolutely couldn’t remember how he had gotten here. Seeing his reaction, Su Qing understood somewhat—they had indeed been moved in their sleep by some means. He didn’t know whether standing here was his consciousness or his real body. So he briefly explained his experience, from seeing the white smoke to suddenly being dropped into the forest, to Hu Bugui. 

After pondering for a long time, Hu Bugui asked, “So you mean that we might still be dreaming now? Or we’ve entered a cyberspace without being aware of it, like those…holographic games? But if this space is simulated, it wouldn’t simulate those weights on you as well, would it? Anyway, why would they drop us into this forest?” 

“Captain Hu, have you noticed that the trees here are getting closer and closer together?” 

Hu Bugui paused in his steps. If you said that at first the path they were walking on could be called pleasing, the place they found themselves now wasn’t especially calculated to put people in a good mood. The leaves were so dense that not a drop of sunlight could squeeze in, and the path was becoming narrower and narrower. This way, it looked like in the cracks between the vast, ancient trees, there was an enormous black hole waiting to consume them. It actually appeared a little sinister. 

“There’s another problem.” Su Qing’s voice was even softer. “All this time we’ve been walking, have you heard the sounds of birds or insects?” 

As soon as he spoke this question, he nearly broke out in gooseflesh himself. He increasingly felt that this place was like an enormous tomb. Apart from himself and Hu Bugui, there were simply no other living beings. 

Hu Bugui didn’t respond. He was looking in the direction they had come. Su Qing turned his head to look, too, and immediately felt a chill evil wind blowing over his back—the irregular, sun-scattered pleasing path they had come by was gone. The trees behind them had become as dense as those in front. The branches and twigs of the greenery waved slowly in the wind as though they were alive. But the strange thing was that Su Qing didn’t feel the air moving at all. 

“Let’s get out of here.” Hu Bugui spoke in a whisper, but this place was truly too quiet. His whisper sounded unusually clear. An echo even came from some unknown place. The tone of the echo had changed somehow. It sounded as if something in the depths of the thick forest was imitating him in an affected voice. 

“How are you feeling now, recovered a little?” Hu Bugui asked softly. 

Su Qing stretched out his fingers, then clenched his fist. He shook his head slowly. This ST place seemed to have thoroughly broken off his plug-in. Su Qing took a deep breath, a thread pulling taut in his mind—he had sniffed out the danger in this place, but he was completely powerless. 

Just then, Hu Bugui removed Su Qing’s arm from around his neck and simply pulled him into his embrace. “We can’t exactly retreat. Should we rest here or continue on ahead?” 

Like this, Su Qing’s sensations were a little strange. Hu Bugui’s arms had reached out and gathered his whole back against him. His shoulder blades were even pressed against Hu Bugui’s chest, as if he was surrounding him with his body. But he couldn’t say anything like “I can walk for myself”—he might be able to walk, but he was certain not to be able to walk fast or jump high. With things at this stage, it would be unreasonable to quibble. So he took a look back over Hu Bugui’s shoulder. “To tell you the truth, Captain Hu, it’s all right as long as you’re stopped here. If we go in a few more circles, I’m afraid that right now I won’t know which way is ‘ahead.’”

He raised his head and looked up. “Neither of us has a compass, and we can’t see daylight. We can’t even distinguish direction. Which way should we go?” 

Hu Bugui’s eyes lit up as he followed his gaze. “You mean that we should climb a tree?” 

But this strategy was clearly forbidden, because no sooner had he said this than a tragedy occurred—they heard a fierce wind. Hu Bugui dodged automatically, holding Su Qing. He turned to look. A big vine as thick a man’s waist had crashed directly into the place where they had just been standing, making a hole half a meter deep. 

Before they could catch their breaths, the big vine suddenly twitched, as though shuddering. Then it charged murderously towards them. Hu Bugui chose his moment precisely, stamping on the vine. His skills after all were the result of sure and steady training, entirely living up to the name of “field personnel gorilla.” Even holding someone, he could still jump around unhindered. 

Su Qing suddenly said, “Behind you, get down.” 

Hu Bugui threw himself forward without even thinking and felt another enormous shadow brush over his scalp. 

Su Qing looked up and found that the surrounding air space was a flailing chaos. He opened his mouth and patted Hu Bugui on the shoulder. “Captain Hu, I think we’d better run.” 

There was no need for him to say this. Hu Bugui was already putting it into practice—this time, there was at last no need to discuss which direction to go in or how to determine direction. They were entirely chased by an awakened tree demon’s vines. 

Even the bushes around them became denser and denser. Often a sharp branch swept by. Su Qing was all right with Hu Bugui protecting him, but Captain Hu’s appearance became rather cutting edge during this run. 

Just then, a light flashed in Su Qing’s eyes. But it was only once. Before he could find the source of the light, a club-like vine once again blocked his line of sight. So in that instant, he only had time to say, “Careful, up ahead, there’s… “

Hu Bugui took a step into emptiness—he had originally been stepping on the exposed root of an ancient tree, but somehow, the moment his foot touched the root, the big trees, as densely packed as shoppers lining up for a weekend sale, instantly separated. Hu Bugui missed his step. There was no path up ahead. The two of them were simultaneously thrown forward. A vine came sweeping over. Hu Bugui held Su Qing tightly in his arms and turned, using his back to take the hit. His vision blacked out, and he nearly fainted. 

At their feet was a pit of unknown depth. In an instant, Su Qing chose his time precisely and extended a hand, tightly grasping a branch within his reach. He struggled to get his other hand free and caught Hu Bugui under the armpit—the lucky thing was that his desperate attempt succeeded; the unlucky thing was that the branch he had grabbed was covered in thorns. 

The thorns stabbed fiercely into Su Qing’s palm, and blood immediately flowed down his wrist—never mind that his arm was weak to start with, he was also holding a person the size of Hu Bugui. At that moment, only one sentence was left in Su Qing’s mind: That old fart Xiong tricked me!