Who wants to become a god? Aren't you all forcing me?

#202 - Chapter 202: Ghost Ship Appears

The rising sun cast its cool morning light through the dappled leaves, scattering it haphazardly across the road.

The truck carrying Li Chenqiu was moving slowly.

Screech—

With a slightly jarring screech of brakes, the truck slowly came to a stop on the roadside.

Li Chenqiu jumped out of the truck bed and looked around. All he could see was lush greenery, with dewdrops hanging from the leaves, emitting the unique freshness of the mountains and forests.

"Is the cave near here?" Li Chenqiu turned to look at Yuan Ping.

Yuan Ping shook his head. "There's still some distance, but we have to walk the rest of the way. The truck can't go into the forest."

"Ah~" Xiang Nanzhi yawned, squinting her eyes. "Let's hurry up, we can sleep for a while once we get to the cave."

"Okay," Yuan Ping responded.

After everyone packed up their things, they carried their various sized packages and stepped into the dense forest.

Under Li Chenqiu's protection, the group arrived at the cave in less than an hour.

"Finally here!"

Xiang Nanzhi's eyes lit up, and she ran into the cave like the wind, flopped onto a pile of straw, and fell asleep.

"This…" Yuan Ping pointed at Xiang Nanzhi.

"Don't worry about him, just treat him like air," Li Chenqiu patted Yuan Ping on the shoulder, then stepped into the cave.

……

Because the cave was located in a remote area, there were no revived beasts roaming around, and peace lasted until midnight.

Sizzle sizzle—

Bright flames dispelled the darkness of the cave, and the aroma of roasted meat filled the air.

Li Chenqiu leaned against the cave entrance, calmly watching the dark forest.

"You're even putting on a melancholic act, thinking you're the male lead in an idol drama," Xiang Nanzhi walked over with a lamb leg pierced by a branch.

Li Chenqiu narrowed his eyes. "There's something I can't quite figure out."

"What can't you figure out? Tell me, and let me, the master of all knowledge, solve it for you," Xiang Nanzhi squatted down.

"They say the keel of that ghost ship is a solid piece of wood, so if this ship is sailing through the forest, it's bound to make some noise.

I went to the nearby forest during the day and did find some large trees that had been knocked down by that piece of wood, but…"

Li Chenqiu's tone changed. "But only nearby. Further away, there's nothing at all, and these fallen trees weren't knocked down recently."

Xiang Nanzhi scratched his head. "So?"

"Two possibilities: either the ghost ship has stopped and become completely invisible, or it has left this forest. If it left, where would it go?"

Li Chenqiu stroked his chin.

Xiang Nanzhi chuckled. "If you're really curious, you can just stay on the ghost ship when it appears and disappear with it."

Li Chenqiu didn't say anything.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Xiang Nanzhi hooked his arm around Li Chenqiu's shoulder. "If you're really that scared, I can go with you."

Li Chenqiu shook his head. "It's not that I'm scared, I'm worried that if something happens over there, it will delay the assessment."

Xiang Nanzhi smiled confidently. "If something really happens, don't you still have me?"

Hearing this, Li Chenqiu carefully sized up Xiang Nanzhi, then asked with some wariness, "Are you plotting to steal my contribution points?"

Xiang Nanzhi: (¬_¬")

Whoop—

Wah wah wah wah—

Just as Xiang Nanzhi was about to say something, a series of cries came from all directions, especially eerie in the dark night.

The people who were originally eating roasted meat instantly felt their hair stand on end when they heard the sound, and they all stopped what they were doing and looked outside the cave.

Yuan Ping led the group to the cave entrance.

"Is it here?" Li Chenqiu asked in a deep voice.

Zhao Xue looked at her watch. "The time is a little earlier, but the sound is right. It's the ghost ship."

"Li Chenqiu, how do you need us to cooperate?" Yuan Ping looked at Li Chenqiu.

"Just hide well."

After saying that, Li Chenqiu stepped out of the cave.

"Huh?" Yuan Ping's mouth was slightly open. "You don't need us?"

"You guys won't be of much use in a Fifth Realm battle. Hiding well is the greatest help you can give to Li Chenqiu," Xiang Nanzhi said with a smile, and was about to walk out of the cave when a large hand suddenly pressed on his shoulder.

Xiang Nanzhi turned his head, and what came into view was Xiong Shan's honest face.

"What are you doing?" Xiang Nanzhi asked in confusion.

Xiong Shan said in a muffled voice, "You won't be of much use in a Fifth Realm battle. Hiding well is the greatest help you can give to Li Chenqiu."

"I…"

Xiang Nanzhi's face turned red, wanting to say something in rebuttal, but he didn't know how to refute.

……

After leaving the cave, Li Chenqiu bent his knees slightly and leaped onto the rock wall.

Gripping the protruding edges with one hand, he overlooked the forest, searching for the ghost ship's踪跡.

"Strange, it's not nearby?" Li Chenqiu frowned, constantly moving his gaze.

Buzz—

Just then, a buzzing sound came from the forest.

Li Chenqiu looked in the direction of the sound and saw a patch of ghostly blue.

Under the soft moonlight, a deep blue mist filled the forest, gradually covering the lush green soil.

The space there rippled like water, and an ancient, completely transparent ship, glowing with a ghostly blue color in the moonlight, sailed out of thin air and landed on the mist, moving slowly forward.

The corners of Li Chenqiu's mouth turned up, and a pair of wings condensed from flames grew from his back.

"Interesting," A gleam of light flashed between Li Chenqiu's eyebrows.

The moment the words fell, the flame wings vibrated, and Li Chenqiu dragged a dazzling tail of light towards the ghost ship, as eye-catching as a star in the deep dark night.

The naturally drooping corpse-hanging vines suddenly trembled and shot towards the sky.

In an instant, the vines soared to a height of hundreds of meters, expanding from a diameter of less than a few centimeters to one meter, their menacing posture like giant pythons.

In comparison, Li Chenqiu was like a firefly, small but eye-catching.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

The vines tore through the air, whipping towards Li Chenqiu.

Li Chenqiu's pupils suddenly contracted, and scorching flames surged from his clenched fists, fearlessly meeting them.

Bang!

Brilliant flames erupted in the air, illuminating the forest below like daylight.

The revived beasts wandering in the nearby mountains looked towards Li Chenqiu's location.

Roar!

Howl~

Screech—

For a time, all kinds of beast roars resounded in the forest, and the chaotic and dense footsteps rose and fell, like muffled drums, shaking the ground.

At the same time, other hunting teams in the forest also noticed the abnormality here.

"What's going on over there?"

"I don't know, want to go take a look?"

"Let's go, let's go see, if there's danger, we'll retreat quickly!"

……

On the field, Li Chenqiu leaned back and retreated rapidly.

The next second, several vines landed in the position where he had been, smashing long gullies into the ground.

Li Chenqiu narrowed his eyes, stopped in mid-air, and flew higher.

The dozen or so vines pressed closer and closer, not giving Li Chenqiu a chance to breathe.