Ch. 307 - Nothing More Terrifying Than Sudden Silence [1]

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Everyone was speechless. So this was what the Bandit called "forgiveness"...

Right at that moment, Chen Shu's right hand suddenly struck!

"Awooo!"

He grabbed the Husky's head. He'd been so busy tormenting... ahem... motivating the Swift Wind Sparrow that he hadn't paid any attention to the Husky.

Wrapped around the Husky's neck was a black backpack — the very same spoils of war that Zhao Yong's group had lost.

"Chen Pi, where'd you get this bag?"

None of them had even noticed Chen Shu's movements. It was practically supernatural, right under their noses.

"Found it. I figured nobody wanted it."

Chen Shu shrugged. Zhao Yong and his crew could barely save themselves.

Better for the Bandit to take over than let the Poison-Eating Bugs have it.

"Found it?! Don't tell me it belonged to that group?"

Everyone looked over at once. No wonder Chen Shu had made the Swift Wind Sparrow do that low-altitude flyover earlier.

Chen Shu licked his lips and opened the black backpack.

"Huh? The hell? Where are the herbs?"

His eyes widened as he rummaged through the bag. It was completely empty!

"Did I seriously get played?"

In that instant, he genuinely felt like he'd been tricked.

"Awooo!"

The Husky beside him nodded eagerly, signaling that yes, its master had indeed been deceived.

As it barked, a medicinal root accidentally fell out of its mouth...

Nothing more terrifying than sudden silence!

The Husky's expression instantly froze. Its wise, intelligent eyes darted back and forth, as if searching for a way out.

Silently, it turned around and began scraping at the dirt with its hind legs, and buried the evidence.

"You motherf—?!"

Chen Shu's face went blank for a moment, then it all clicked.

"Don't tell me... you swallowed all of it?!"

With a bandit's pounce, he pinned the Husky down and forcefully pried its jaws open.

Inside, there were still traces of herbal residue.

Since most of the herbs were poison-attribute, their scent was extremely pungent. He smelled it out without any trouble.

"You stupid dog!! You money-burning disaster!"

Chen Shu shook the dog's head, trying to shake every last herb out.

It wasn't that the herbs would poison the Husky, but herbs only reached their maximum value when properly prepared into potions.

Fang Si and the others watched the love-hate drama unfolding between Chen Shu and his Husky, shaking their heads.

This man and this dog... they really were a perfect match.

Half an hour later.

The Husky lay sprawled on the ground, its eyes rolling back, looking thoroughly deceased.

"Revival Era Year 981... Husky owes me fifty million Huaxia Currency..."

Chen Shu quietly stood up, pulled out a little notebook, and began writing.

"?"

All four of them turned to stare, feeling like this was beyond absurd. Their brains genuinely short-circuited for a moment.

This man was actually keeping accounts... for his contract spirit?!

Absolutely unhinged.

"Alright, dumb dog. Don't forget to pay me back!"

Chen Shu ruffled the dog's head and tucked the little notebook back into his bag.

He rubbed his forehead, looked up at the sky, and said:

"Why's it so damn hot?"

The temperature was so high he was even considering switching to his pajamas.

"Something's off. We've already reached the depths of the Living Wood Swamp, but the white fog all around us has cleared out. And it's so quiet here."

Fang Si had noticed something too.

"Let's head forward and take a look."

The group summoned their contract spirits and pressed on ahead.

Not long after, Chen Shu spoke up:

"Sis Fang Si, there's fog ahead. Looks like nothing's wrong."

A few hundred meters ahead, white fog hung in the air — but there was something unusual about it.

Fang Si, Qiao Yue, and the other two exchanged glances, as if recalling something.

"That's not fog. We've reached the edge of the space."

Chen Shu froze. "The edge?"

All he knew was that dimensional spaces weren't infinite — they had boundaries. But he'd never actually seen one.

"This is Space Boundary Fog. You can think of it as a dimensional barrier."

Fang Si explained. As a genius of Huaxia Academy, she commanded vast knowledge beyond just combat ability.

"In theory, if you could pass through the dimensional barrier, you could enter another dimensional space."

Chen Shu asked, "So are all dimensional spaces in the same plane?"

Qiao Yue nodded. "According to expert research, that seems to be the case."

Chen Shu rubbed his chin and said pensively:

"Could it be that all dimensional spaces are actually on one massive continent, just divided into countless pieces by the white fog?"

"There is a school of thought along those lines, but there's no way to verify it. The white fog is far too dangerous."

Fang Si nodded, gazing at the white fog ahead with deep wariness and fear.

"It's just fog. How dangerous could it be?"

Chen Shu walked toward it dismissively, saying as he went, "When has the Nanjiang Bandit ever been afraid of anything?!"

"Junior Chen Shu, don't go!"

"Absolutely not!"

Lu Zhining and the others looked alarmed and tried to stop him.

Fang Si's gaze remained composed as she said, "A King-rank contract spirit died in there."

"!!"

Chen Shu's steps screeched to a halt. He swallowed silently.

"On second thought... I don't actually like foggy weather. It's basically smog. Bad for your health!"

Chen Shu turned around with practiced ease and strode right back in three quick steps.

A King-rank contract spirit had straight-up died in there. What kind of joke was this?!

The four of them covered their mouths, laughing — none of them had expected Chen Shu's movements to be so fluid, so seamless.

Chen Shu's skin was thicker than city walls. He didn't care in the slightest and asked:

"Sis Fang Si, what exactly is in there?"

Fang Si shook her head. "No one knows. It's too quiet inside — not a trace of any living creature. There's no way to analyze it."

"What about the corpse of the King-rank contract spirit?"

"Once it died, it couldn't be recalled to the beast space. All we know is that it died — we don't know how."

Fang Si's words filled Chen Shu with deep dread toward the white fog before him.

"Let's put some distance between us and it. This thing is way too creepy."

Chen Shu backed away several dozen more meters, not daring to get anywhere near the white fog.

Then, as if a thought struck him, he asked, "Sis Fang Si, what if I tossed a nuke in there?"

"It'd sink like a stone. Skills have no effect whatsoever."

"What about ten thousand nukes?"

"??"

Fang Si hadn't even opened her mouth before Qiao Yue and the other two were completely dumbfounded.

What kind of brain circuitry even was this?

Fang Si said seriously: "In any case, do not enter the Space Boundary Fog!"

She wasn't worried Chen Shu would be reckless — the fact that a King-rank spirit had died there made the danger self-evident.

"We're already at the deepest part of the space. Let's retreat."

Fang Si made the call. They would head back the way they came.

Between the Poison-Eating Bug swarm's treasures and everything else, they'd already reaped enormous gains. All that remained for the return journey was to hunt a few fierce beasts, and they'd be done.

A full day passed, yet they hadn't encountered a single fierce beast.

"Something's not right."

It was high noon, and a flicker of alarm crossed Fang Si's eyes.

Chen Shu said, "The Space Boundary Fog's so dangerous. Isn't it normal for there to be no beasts around?"

Lu Zhining shook her head. "Junior Chen Shu, as long as you don't walk into the boundary fog, it poses no danger at all. Fierce beasts are often found wandering nearby."

Fang Si nodded. "It must be something else."

Just then, Chen Shu's mouth fell open. He looked completely dumbstruck.

"Sis Fang Si, I have a question."

"Hm?"

"Can the Space Boundary Fog dissipate?"

Fang Si answered, "Of course not. What are you thinking? If it could dissipate, wouldn't all the dimensional spaces connect together?"

"Are you SURE?!"

Chen Shu raised his right hand, following the line of the boundary fog, and pointed ahead.

[1] 最怕空气突然安静 (Nothing More Terrifying Than Sudden Silence): A lyric from Mayday (五月天)'s 2008 hit song "突然好想你" (Suddenly Missing You). This particular line evolved into a ubiquitous Chinese internet meme used to caption moments of extreme awkwardness when everyone suddenly falls silent — exactly what happens when the root drops from the Husky's mouth and everyone realizes it ate all the stolen herbs.