Chapter 1 Determined

Having confirmed they couldn't go by air, the five of them entered the dense forest beside the beach.

Tianma Xingkong led the way, with Feichai Shu close behind, followed by Honghu, Feng Bujue, and Atobe. The group hacked their way through the undergrowth, heading slowly toward the center of the island.

The first step of the main quest was time-limited, which was a good thing. From this, they could deduce that the "Shrine of Faith" wasn't too far from their starting point, at least theoretically... they should be able to reach it within three hours.

"Is it possible... that the shrine is close to the coastline? Maybe we don't need to go deep into the island at all, and we can find it just by walking along the beach," Atobe suddenly suggested after walking for a while.

"It's possible," Feng Bujue replied with a smile, "But... if that were the case, a new problem would arise..." He turned his head and said, "On the beach, should we go left or right?"

"Um..." Atobe was a little confused by the question. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he replied, "Are you just trying to argue?"

"No," Honghu interjected before Feng Bujue could answer. "Brother Feng is right, there's no real difference between going left, right, or into the island." He paused, scratching his neck. "We don't have a map or any clues, so any direction we choose is just a shot in the dark."

Jue-ge picked up the thread. "However, based on experience and common sense, the probability of the shrine being inland is higher than being by the sea." He pointed at Tianma Xingkong in front. "Little Ma's first reaction was also to go inland, so... I also..." He stopped abruptly.

The next second, Feng Bujue's expression changed, and he shouted, "Don't move!"

The others didn't know who he was talking to, and all four stopped in their tracks.

"Honghu, don't move," Feng Bujue added in a firm, steady voice.

"What's wrong?" Honghu replied nervously. At that moment, he was like a statue, almost completely still, with only his lips moving as he spoke.

"There's something on the back of your neck," Feng Bujue said as he stepped forward, standing behind Honghu.

The other three, knowing it had nothing to do with them, breathed a sigh of relief and turned their attention to the scene.

"Hmm... that's strange..." Feng Bujue started to reach out, but then stopped.

"What is it?" Honghu remained calm, realizing that there was a reason his neck was itchy.

"It should be a leech..." Feng Bujue continued.

"Judging by your tone... it's not an ordinary leech," Honghu said.

"No," Feng Bujue replied. "Because I can't see it..."

"What do you mean?" Honghu asked again.

"I can see the wound on your neck wriggling and oozing blood..." Feng Bujue replied. "But I can't see what's sucking your blood..." He leaned in closer. "I'm just guessing it's a leech based on the shape of the wound."

"Invisible leech?" Feichai Shu interjected.

"No... it's definitely not invisible..." Honghu refuted, "If the leech were transparent, its outline would be visible once my blood entered its body."

"And what we're looking at has absorbed blood but hasn't become visible," Feng Bujue continued Honghu's thought. "Well... let's call it a ghost leech for now."

"Is this the time to be naming things?" Honghu responded quickly.

Clearly, Honghu was getting anxious. That's just how people are; some things don't feel special when you don't know about them, but once you do... it's like having thorns on your back or fishbones in your throat.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." As Feng Bujue spoke, he tilted his head and smelled the back of Honghu's neck. "Hmm, slightly fishy, definitely a leech."

"Hey... what are you doing... are you planning to eat it or something?" Atobe said, squinting at Jue-ge. To be honest, Atobe wouldn't be too surprised if Feng Bujue really did eat the "ghost leech."

"Just confirming," Jue-ge replied. "What if it's something else?" As he spoke, he took out the [Compound Anti-Gravity Catapult] from his bag. "With leeches... it's not a good idea to forcibly remove them, as the mouthparts might break off under the skin and cause an infection."

*Buzz*

As the catapult activated, the wound on Honghu's neck loosened, and blood flowed down his skin, indicating that the leech had been removed from his neck.

"Using this kind of gravity device avoids such problems," Feng Bujue said, holding up the catapult and glancing at Honghu's wound. "Hmm... judging from your wound, this one was quite large, curled up like a ball, but it might be ten centimeters long when stretched out."

"Hah... I was careless." Honghu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly covered the wound with his hand to stop the bleeding. "I only felt a bit itchy and didn't pay attention to my Survival Value." He paused for a couple of seconds. "Luckily... the loss wasn't too great, only 7% in total... I just don't know how long this thing has been attached to me."

"The problem hasn't been solved yet," Feng Bujue muttered with a strange expression. "I've been thinking about it... since this leech can physically interact with us, calling it a 'ghost' doesn't seem accurate."

"Are you still hung up on the name?" Atobe said. "It's not important at all."

"He's not hung up on the name," Honghu adjusted his glasses and replied, "He's hung up on the nature of this creature." He thought for a few seconds and offered a hypothesis, "Could it be... that it changes the color of its body based on the surrounding environment?"

"A chameleon?" Tianma Xingkong, who had been listening for a while, finally chimed in.

"Much more impressive than a chameleon (the scientific name for chameleon)," Feng Bujue replied. He raised his arm and aimed the catapult at a nearby tree trunk (the compound catapult can activate both suction and lighting functions simultaneously). "See, my catapult should be sucking on a leech right now, but it's in the beam of light, and the tree trunk doesn't reflect its shadow. This means... it's either distorting the surrounding light or directly interfering with our vision."

"That's not surprising," Honghu said. "The background of this scenario is obviously in the main universe of the game, which means... a magical setting. Therefore, it's normal for creatures to exist that defy common sense."

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue pondered for a moment, then asked, "Feichai Shu, can you see this leech?"

"No, I can't," Feichai Shu replied immediately.

"Can't see it under the light, can't see it with sunglasses..." Feng Bujue said, looking at Honghu. "It's invisible when attached to a surface at thirty-seven degrees Celsius, and it's also invisible at a normal temperature of fifteen degrees Celsius..." He added, "Does anyone have a device or skill that can emit infrared light?"

"You're really making a fuss about nothing," Honghu complained, but his hand was already reaching into his bag, searching for something. "Do you have to make this invisible thing show itself? It's just a leech, we've already taken it off, just throw it aside, wasting time on such a small matter might become a hidden danger later."

After complaining, he took out the item. Honghu held up an egg-shaped metal object, pressed a switch, and the object immediately unfolded, emitting a screen of light.

Instantly, everything around them was bathed in infrared radiation.

"Holy crap!" In that second, everyone except Jue-ge's fear level skyrocketed.

Under the infrared light, the players finally saw the leech, and... along with it, they saw thousands upon thousands of its kind.

At that moment, the players were surrounded by an ocean of invisible leeches... the canopy above them, the mud under their feet, the tree trunks beside them, and the grass and rocks... almost every surface was covered in these creatures, including the clothes of the five of them, which already had quite a few attached.

"Fortunately, our clothes are relatively thick, and there isn't much exposed skin," Feng Bujue said calmly. "And these leeches move very slowly, only wriggling a little bit at a time." He looked at Honghu. "As for you, Glasses-bro, it seems you're just unlucky..." He raised the catapult, gently shaking the leech that was being sucked up. "This one... probably fell from a branch and landed right on the back of your neck."

"Why are you still joking around?" Atobe looked at the things on his body, almost going crazy. He didn't dare to slap them off, so he could only shout in a panic, "What do we do now!"

"There's no need to do anything special..." Feng Bujue casually flicked the leech off the catapult, then looked around and said, "Look at this density... there's no need to rush to clean off the ones that have already attached to us, we'll just get more stuck on us after a few steps." He shrugged. "We might as well continue forward and clean ourselves off when we reach a place without leeches."

"Hey... what if the forest ahead is like this too? What if all the forests on this island are full of these creatures?" Atobe asked.

"Then we can consider... how to turn these invisible leeches into emergency food," Feng Bujue said, tilting his head.

"In any case... let's move quickly," Tianma Xingkong's face was now very pale. "I have trypophobia..." It seemed even heroes had their fears.

"Okay, let's keep going," Feng Bujue replied cheerfully.

Honghu took a deep breath and shook his head. "Brother Feng, there's one thing I have to admire about you... you're mentally incredibly resilient."

"Yeah, how can a normal person be so nonchalant after knowing the situation around them?" Atobe echoed.

"Heh..." Feng Bujue chuckled playfully. "If you're really that scared, why don't you sing a little song to distract yourself? Come on, sing with me..." He opened his mouth and started, "Little Ma, legs to the west, leading Feichai Shu, followed by three idiots."

"Hey! You insulted yourself for the sake of the rhyme!"