The relay station was in a state of utter decay.
Only one wall of the main building remained intact, providing a backdrop for the group as they gathered around a bonfire they had lit to cast light on their surroundings.
The bonfire revealed a once orderly path, now overgrown and strewn with broken stones, a clear sign of human craftsmanship now barely discernible beneath the encroaching weeds.
Desolation, ruin, decay, and shadow...
These were the impressions that the Dusk Forest left on first glance.
The bonfire, amidst the forest's pervasive darkness, seemed no more effective than a firefly in deep night, its light unable to pierce the profound gloom.
When Chen Guo made his unexpected entrance, those present instinctively drew their weapons in defense. Recognizing him, they relaxed.
"Boss Guangcheng!"
"Not the werewolf witch, but Boss Guangcheng!"
"With Boss Guangcheng here, I can finally relax. This place is too eerie, and the monsters are unnervingly bizarre, always lurking in the shadows to ambush us. I've been on edge the entire time!"
The group shared their relief.
Chen Guo surveyed the group, recognizing Zhou Tao and several young trial challengers he didn't know.
There were five young trial challengers in total, comprising two women and three men.
In a corner, apart from the rest, sat a little girl with snow-white skin and sheep-horn braids, her simple attire starkly contrasting with that of the trial challengers. Chen Guo immediately knew she must be an NPC.
"So, what's going on? What's the clue? Is it this little girl?" Chen Guo inquired.
"Well, the clue was found by Zhang Liting's squad," Zhou Tao started to explain.
As it happened, a few hours after Chen Guo had departed, the remaining inhabitants of 996's Beginner Village had split into groups of five and set out separately in search of the Gate of Myriad Realms' clues scattered across the map.
Zhang Liting's squad was among these groups.
They weren't original residents of 996's Beginner Village but rather elite recruits brought in after the village expanded its borders. They were an elite squad, known for their formidable average strength.
Take Captain Zhang Liting, for instance, who was at level 23 with a combat strength of 15,369. Even though his combat strength was a mere one percent of Chen Guo's, he stood out as an exceptional fighter among the ordinary trial challengers.
The strength of a team greatly influenced the choice of maps they ventured into. The level of a map was determined by its proximity to Beginner Village—the farther from the village, the higher the map level, the stronger the monsters, and the greater the danger.
That was the overarching rule.
Given the formidable strength of Zhang Liting's team, they naturally sought out more challenging maps, leading them to the perilous Dusk Forest in the northeast.
The Dusk Forest was treacherous, shrouded in darkness as if rejecting sunlight, and teeming with dangerous creatures that blended into the night, launching surprise attacks on unsuspecting victims.
There were three main types of monsters in the forest.
First were the werewolves, averaging level 30, with the occasional elite variant boasting higher levels and lethal claws, making them incredibly vicious.
These werewolves would often lie in wait behind trees or within thickets, springing out to ambush the team—a formidable challenge.
Then there were the witches, draped in voluminous black cloaks, their slight figures and chicken claw-like hands obscured beneath their hoods, their faces hideous and contorted.
Typically at level 35, these witches roamed the Dusk Forest, still keen on launching their own brand of sneak attacks—insidious magic traps that were even trickier to counter.
Lastly, there were the black wolves, ranging from levels 25 to 35. These massive creatures prowled the Dusk Forest, their mournful howls piercing the silence.
Unlike the witches and werewolves, the black wolves didn't favor stealth. They preferred head-on assaults, sometimes even banding together in packs, which posed a significant challenge.
Thankfully, Zhang Liting's team was not only strong but also well-coordinated. Without their combined prowess, they might have met their end in the depths of the Dusk Forest.
Despite their strength, the team was significantly drained. Recognizing the Dusk Forest as no place for an extended stay, they decided to withdraw shortly after delving into its ominous embrace.
During their retreat, Zhang Liting's squad faced a dire situation: a pack of wolves had snatched a little girl. They managed to fend off the wolves and rescue her.
The girl they saved is the one with pigtails sitting in the corner.
To their astonishment, they discovered she was actually human, her skin a sickly white due to years without sunlight.
Upon inquiry, they learned her name was Chu Xiaohong, a survivor of the Dusk Forest.
A century ago, Dusk Forest was a thriving fishing and farming region, bustling with towns and a dense population. Then, darkness fell over the land, blocking out the sun.
Trees grew wildly, engulfing the towns like monstrous octopus tentacles. Witches and werewolves emerged from the shadows, and the local wolves turned into massive black beasts. Humanity was on the brink of extinction.
In this desperate hour, a legendary hero named Lin Suzhen emerged. He rallied the survivors, founded a stronghold, and imparted martial arts knowledge, ensuring the survival of a remnant of humanity.
Within this stronghold, Lin Suzhen discovered Bright Light Stones. These stones not only cast light but also had a potent effect on demonic creatures.
Armed with the Bright Light Stones, the human warriors managed to defend their enclave, but it was a temporary fix at best.
With the formation of the Dusk Forest and the absence of sunlight, agriculture became impossible. The survivors subsisted on easily-grown mushrooms and the occasional wolf meat from their hunts.
This meager production was insufficient for growth or prosperity, and the Dusk Forest grew ever more perilous as evil forces crept in.
Humanity needed an escape.
The great Lin Suzhen learned of a legend: deep within the Dusk Forest lay Aerilon, a village housing the Gate of Myriad Realms. This gate was a portal to other worlds.
In a world ravaged by disaster, where most places fared worse than Dusk Forest, the only chance for survival was to venture beyond this realm.
Legend has it that Aerilon was once a village inhabited by immortals in ancient times. Though the immortals have long since departed, they left behind many of their belongings, including the Gate of Myriad Realms.
In a desperate bid to secure a glimmer of hope for humanity, Lin Suzhen tirelessly sought out Aerilon. His quest led him to vanquish a formidable beast and unravel the mystical locks placed by the immortals, granting him access to the village. But once Lin Suzhen crossed its threshold, he was never seen again, as if he had simply evaporated from the world.