Chapter 109: Beyond the Forbidden Land

Unaware that they were being followed, Liu Zong and his companions had now gathered together. They had determined their location: a place resembling an underground space, yet not truly underground.

This place seemed underground only because no sunlight penetrated it. Typically, no light reached in here; when there was light, it came from luminescent plants or animals.

It was not underground, however, because it was indeed on the surface. The surrounding trees had grown so tall and dense that their branches and leaves had completely merged above, forming a thick canopy. Even with withered leaves, none fell to the ground, and sunlight could not penetrate the overlapping foliage.

This caused the near-ground area to become like an underground realm—a paradise for creatures adapted to living in darkness.

Upon arriving, Liu Zong and the others immediately donned all their gear. Now was not the time to conserve energy. The chances of encountering monsters in such a space far exceeded those on the surface at night; they did not want to be caught off guard by an ambush.

Once equipped and ready to move, Liu Zong suddenly faced an unsolvable problem: they did not know exactly where they were.

This was an absolutely perplexing dilemma. There was no sun or stars to provide orientation, making navigation impossible. There were also no distinctive landmarks, and even if there were, they had no map of this place and could not discern their position.

Nor did they know where they were headed. The only certainty was that they were on the surface.

After realizing this, Liu Zong was stunned for a long moment before finally saying, “If all else fails, we’ll use the oldest method.”

Upon hearing this, Reina, who loved collecting knowledge, immediately asked, “What method? The Tellica positioning method, or the Kaburaya tracking technique?”

“Neither,” Liu Zong replied mysteriously, shaking his head. He picked up a dry twig from the ground and tossed it into the air. The twig fell, its tip pointing in a direction. Liu Zong stared solemnly at that direction and said, “We go that way.”

The others stared dumbfounded at the twig on the ground, their lips twitching uncontrollably. Judging by their expressions, had Liu Zong not been their leader, they would have already stepped forward to beat him.

Unaware of his team’s disbelief, Liu Zong proudly explained, “Never seen this before? It’s called a divining rod. When lost, it points the way with about a 60% success rate—much higher than praying to the gods. And if luck’s on our side, that success rate can rise sharply. So trust me, we go this way.”

Had Liu Zong offered a more impressive explanation—like not knowing their current position in the forbidden area and that even determining north and walking straight wouldn’t help—the team might have believed him. At least everyone would understand that such a method had a 60% chance of success.

But with Liu Zong’s approach, all the team members wore expressions of disbelief, and the atmosphere instantly grew awkward.

Fortunately, Liu Zong took the first step toward the direction the twig pointed. Seeing this, Xu Ying and the others said nothing more and simply followed. They quickly moved forward along that path, occasionally marking trees to avoid losing their way back.

Traveling through the forest was difficult. Though the ground was free of fallen leaves and undergrowth—since no leaves fell due to the canopy and no sunlight meant no grass—the protruding tree roots slowed their pace considerably.

Because of these obstacles and severely limited visibility, making it impossible to observe anything hidden in the branches ten meters above, Liu Zong and his group surprisingly found a clue they had long sought.

It was the decorative markers of the Kuraste dwarves, made from amber and the heads of Karia demons, serving as various signposts.

These markers differed from previously discovered decorations; they seemed to conceal meanings unknown to outsiders.

Luckily, Reina was wearing two rings of wisdom. Though she had not yet advanced in rank, the power of the Ten Thousand Words ring was activating, allowing her to ‘read’ the hidden messages within these decorations through certain techniques.

However, the decorations were not as significant as Liu Zong had hoped. They contained historical accounts, intended to prove that the Kuraste dwarves had slain some powerful creatures here.

For Reina, these inscriptions were somewhat useful; guided by them, they at least knew their approximate position. According to her estimates, they were still quite a distance from the central Kuraste dwarven settlement.

What left Liu Zong and the others somewhat speechless was that these decorations were likely several centuries old. The current Kuraste dwarves had probably relocated to living in the treetops since they were not creatures of darkness. Even living in forests, they would require some sunlight.

When Liu Zong shared this, the others were somewhat at a loss, but Liu Zong was unfazed. In his view, they were not here to find the Kuraste dwarves but to locate the amber that once sealed the Adara insectoid.

That artifact should not have been moved casually. When it was sealed, it could not have been placed midair. Even if the dwarves moved their core settlement, they could not have taken the amber with them.

Moreover, since no one had searched for it in so many years, he believed the number of dwarves guarding it was small. Whatever lay ahead in their mission, their chances of finding the amber had clearly improved.

After sharing his thoughts, Xu Ying and the others agreed, and the team’s morale rose. Reina replaced Lü Shang as the group’s intelligence provider, and they began looking for more clues.

But luck was not on their side this time. Apart from the area where they found the dwarven decorations, there were no new discoveries nearby.

Seeing that much time had passed and everyone was growing tired, Liu Zong called a halt. They decided to set up camp to rest and search for new clues the following day.

Compared to previous camps, this one was far more troublesome. First came the problem of the campfire, then the tents, and finally the food.

One issue after another overwhelmed Liu Zong, leaving him dizzy and frustrated. In the end, he could not even light a proper campfire and had to resort to torches and other methods to cook their meals.