Liao Fan and the second villager rushed back to the thatched cottage.
The black crystal block was almost used up.
There was no way Liao Fan could continue exploring.
With the mark made earlier, their returning journey was certainly much easier.
Liao Fan looked back.
The second villager was following him from behind, but with some difficulties.
He was already relatively thin and weak. With the addition of the heavy treasure chest, it was obvious that he would slow down.
Liao Fan would stop from time to time and wait for him to catch up.
Seeing how hard he had worked, Liao Fan decided to reward the villager with an egg dish once they returned.
When the two of them passed by the mound, Liao Fan was shocked!
This mound was where the first villager had been excavating. He had dug out a small part of the mound.
However, the strange thing was that the mark made on the ground had been destroyed.
There were also a few elongated lines nearby!
These lines were also drawn with a black material. The thickness was exactly the same too!
Liao Fan bent over. He rubbed his fingers against one of the lines. Then, he took a sniff.
"This is... coal!"
Obviously, he knew what coal smelled like because he was using them himself.
There was no mistake!
However, there was a slight disparity in the smell.
Although they were both coal-based, the products were different.
Nonetheless, Liao Fan could still tell the difference.
Ever since he arrived in this foggy world, his sense had sharpened and he paid great attention to every detail.
Despite that, the thick fog caused some interference.
Liao Fan knew that there was something different, but he could not pinpoint it.
In short, Liao Fan's mark had deliberately been messed with.
The other party even tried to trick him by using a similar material!
It was an imitation of his methods.
The other party messed up Liao Fang's markings so he would not be able to find his way back.
Only the lonely mound could be used as a reference!
However, it was impossible to distinguish the direction just by looking at the mound.
It was really confusing!
'This won't work!
'What was going on?'
Liao Fan was greatly shaken!
Someone or something was trying to kill him!
Losing his sense of direction in the dense fog was a death sentence.
Of course, he did not want to die!
He tried his best to recall his path.
Three lines had been drawn on the mound. Adding with the line he drew before, there were a total of four directions!
One of these directions was the right one.
If Liao Fan picked the wrong line, then that would be the end of him.
Plus, if the torch burned out before he could figure things out, he would die as well!
'Did the first villager do this?
'Impossible!'
Liao Fan refused to believe it!
The villagers were a hundred percent loyal to him. Even if they were not, it would be difficult for them to survive by themselves.
There was no way they would plot against him!
So, there was only one possibility left.
A mysterious person wanted him to die.
Perhaps the other party wanted to loot his treasure chest.
There were a lot of possibilities even after eliminating the impossibilities!
Liao Fan could only feel his scalp go numb.
One thing was for sure.
This only happened after the first villager had returned to the thatched cottage.
'But why would they want to kill me?
'How smart was the other part?
'Do I still have a chance of survival?'
Bang!
Bang!
Bang Bang!
The sound made Liao Fan jump.
His heart was beating rapidly.
*Gulp.*
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Liao Fan picked up the torch.
The light from the torch showed how pale his face had become.
Including the torch in his hand, there were only three more.
Basically, he only had more than half an hour left.
Originally, Liao Fan had plenty of time to return, but the current situation changed everything!
Now, even if he was given double the time, it might not be sufficient.
A chill ran down his spine.
Liao Fan felt that something was observing him!
The other party was just waiting for his torch to extinguish!
There might even be more than one of them!
Liao Fan was terrified. He suddenly remembered something that he had read on the world channel.
"I have bad news for everyone. Earlier, I ordered a villager to go out and explore. After taking two steps, he suddenly disappeared. Shortly after, a rain of blood fell from the sky along with pieces of flesh. I rushed out thinking that he was still alive but in the end, I could only salvage his bloody arm..."
Those words freaked him out even more!
There was definitely something hidden in the thick fog.
Worst still, it had high intelligence!
"My Lord..."
The second villager sensed the tense atmosphere. He kept swallowing his saliva.
His teeth were chattering.
Fear had taken over his heart.
After all, he was just a villager.
Although he was an NPC, he still had all the emotions of a normal person, including his own thoughts!
...
'Calm down! I have to calm down!'
Liao Fan was aware that he needed to compose himself!
In the end, he was careless.
He did not prepare a backup plan other than leaving marks on the ground.
Such an incident was completely unexpected!
Bang!
Bang Bang!
Bang!
Liao Fan was startled again.
Then, he slowly closed his eyes.
The crackling sound of the torch burning could be heard. There were also the whistles of the wind.
Everywhere was still shrouded in fog.
Nothing could be seen with the naked eye!
"One step, two steps, three steps..."
"One hundred and twenty-three steps... one hundred and sixty-nine steps!"
Liao Fan remembered the number of steps he had previously taken.
In his mind, he had constructed a map.
The thatched cottage was the starting point. From there, he counted every step that he took.
One hundred and sixty-nine steps.
Half a mile!
The cottage was only half a mile away.
Nonetheless, he still could not afford to take even one wrong step!
At this moment, Liao Fan was very calm.
Shortly after, he took a step forward.
After measuring the distance with this step, he suddenly yelled out, "Yes, this is the way!"
...