Looking at Xiao ABER's stat screen, Lin Luo was both shocked and frustrated. Shocked because Xiao ABER had inexplicably become his Special Contractor, securing her place as the number one mascot from now on. Frustrated because he had absolutely no way to find out why Xiao ABER had become his Contractor—it felt like something had been forced upon him.

Since he currently lacked the authority to investigate this matter, overthinking it was pointless. With that thought, Lin Luo let the issue drop, setting it aside. After all, once his level increased in the future, what he was meant to know, he would know; what he wasn't meant to know, he would eventually learn... Yes, everything could wait for later.

After chatting a bit more with Lei, the two rested briefly before leaving. No matter what, they couldn't stay there forever. The enemy had been eliminated, so hiding served no purpose. As for whether other enemies might appear, that was ultimately uncertain, and even hiding there offered no guarantee that another foe like the White-Haired Dead Apostle wouldn't suddenly emerge.

As they traveled, Lin Luo ruthlessly took down a few small animals along the way for sustenance. Entering the Contracted state consumed a great deal of his stamina, and if he didn't restore himself to full strength, he risked facing the same precarious situations as before if they encountered another enemy.

Speaking of which, magic was truly practical for daily life, especially for a magician versed in all Five Elements. Wind magic could serve as a blade, fire magic for cooking, water magic for bathing—and even offering a freezing effect... If this were applied in the real world, think of the money saved!

Every time Lin Luo slaughtered a small animal, Lei would show a look of aversion, yet she understood that humans needed to eat, just as she needed sleep. If one didn't eat, one couldn't survive. So, despite her reluctance, she never stopped him, merely turning her head away and pretending not to see. In that regard, she was truly considerate.

Though Lei disliked eating small animals, Lin Luo hadn't forgotten her. All along the path, he picked any edible fruits he saw for her. Of course, he tested them first... If, by some terrible misfortune, he picked a poisonous mushroom, treating himself—an ordinary person—with the Holy Healing spell would certainly cost far less Vitality Points than treating Lei. After all, in such a dangerous place, any reduction in Vitality expenditure was worthwhile.

Originally, restoring Vitality by eating required some time for digestion. However, with Lin Luo's current Walker Level of LV2, the digestion time seemed significantly shortened. In no time at all, the energy consumed from the food would instantly convert into Vitality.

Thus, after eating their fill, the two continued their journey... Due to physical limitations, Lei spent most of the time riding on Lin Luo's back. During this time, to guard against accidents, Lin Luo ensured Lei slept to replenish her energy.

Gradually, Lin Luo lost track of how much time had passed... A strange feeling came over him: time seemed to flow indistinctly within this forest. Even his precise clockwork-like internal rhythm couldn't accurately judge how many hours had passed since they left the gully.

Furthermore, he couldn't tell if the forest was simply too vast, because after walking for so long, there was no sign of the edge, nor had the surrounding environment changed much. If it weren't for the fact that he hadn't encountered completely identical scenery, he would have suspected he had wandered into a forest labyrinth or perhaps stepped inside some esoteric formation.

"Ah... Damn it, what is this place?" After walking a while longer, Lin Luo finally lost his patience and began cursing internally. If his power allowed, he truly wished to summon celestial lightning to blast this forest to pieces. "Wait... what is that?"

Suddenly, Lin Luo noticed a spot not far ahead, near a cluster of interconnected bamboo stalks, where the very space seemed to distort momentarily. Though the fluctuation was slight, Lin Luo's eyes were too sharp to miss it.

Curiosity piqued, Lin Luo cautiously approached. As he neared the bamboo grove, his brow furrowed. "Indeed... this place is truly bizarre."

Before him, connecting several bamboo stalks, was a surface—not a spider's web, nor anything else familiar, but something resembling water, albeit very faint, almost invisible unless examined closely.

"Is it a barrier or something?" Lin Luo wondered, studying the anomaly for a long moment. He couldn't sense any aura of a barrier. Gathering his courage, he tentatively reached out and touched it. The surface immediately rippled with a faint, shallow wave. Snatching his hand back as if shocked by electricity, Lin Luo was astonished. "Could it be... this thing is the exit from this forest?"

Lin Luo stretched his hand forward again. As the ripples formed, a strange sight unfolded:

His hand suddenly vanished. It was no longer visible to the naked eye, yet conversely, he felt no discomfort or pain. He tried clenching his fist and still perceived its complete tactile sensation... as if his hand had entered another dimension?

"What is this..." Lin Luo was utterly stunned. This situation was even more inexplicable than Xiao ABER's sudden appearance. After a moment of hesitation, Lin Luo finally gritted his teeth and lunged forward—continuing to wander aimlessly was not getting him out, so he might as well take a gamble; perhaps this truly was the exit.

The main reason he resolved to take such a drastic step was that the entity opposite him gave off absolutely no sense of danger. With his current perceptive abilities, if anything—be it animate or inanimate—posed a threat to his life, his heart would register unease, subconsciously urging avoidance.

The instant his body rushed through, the other side reacted immediately. Like a vortex, he and Lei were instantly sucked in...

Lin Luo didn't even have time to cry out before he felt a dizzying, world-spinning sensation, as if caught between dream and wakefulness. A moment later, his head cleared. Opening his eyes and looking ahead, he froze.

The environment was not vastly different—still a forest—but the visual impression was staggering: vastness. Boundless vastness.

For example, the smallest tree near him had leaves on its branches large enough that any one falling could completely conceal Lin Luo. And a blade of grass by the path—or what he assumed was grass—stood taller than him by two heads... He deliberately measured, noting it was two and a half heads tall.

Looking up at the colossal trees whose tops disappeared into the sky, Lin Luo was completely overwhelmed. A gentle breeze swept through, causing the leaves to rustle with a colossal shhh-shhh-shhh sound, giving him the feeling that the sky was collapsing. Especially those "weeping willows" that swayed violently in the wind, momentarily pressing down until Lin Luo felt like an "electric pole" was about to crash down on him...

"What kind of place is this? A land of giants, or did I shrink?" Lin Luo admitted he couldn't comprehend it. Arriving abruptly in such a place made him uneasy, though not particularly frightened.

Despite the tremendous commotion, Lei on his back showed no sign of waking up. Her eyes remained tightly shut against his shoulder, seemingly fast asleep... In terms of sleeping prowess, she was probably the world champion.

Since Lei was still asleep, Lin Luo decided not to wake her. Setting aside how she might react, waking her would only force him to waste time explaining, creating unnecessary trouble.

He looked behind him: an endless forest, no trace of the "net" to be seen. Although, by normal physics, taking three steps back should have returned him to the small bamboo grove, clearly, this place could not be described by the word "normal." It was as if they had been dropped from the sky... they could enter, but not exit.

"Forget it." Sighing, Lin Luo casually picked a direction and walked forward. Although he seemed to have left the previous bizarre forest, the situation hadn't improved much; it was just a change of scenery... Now he had to grope his way through an even larger forest.

"The trees are impossibly large. I just hope the creatures here aren't as big."

Lin Luo was grateful he wasn't a jinx, not like the protagonists in third-rate novels who encounter rats the size of elephants or flies the size of eagles, triggering intense human-beast battles—such cliché drama. Or perhaps meeting a giantess tens of meters tall who scoops him up and places him between her breasts as a mascot... In any case, whether good or bad, he encountered none of that. In fact, he hadn't encountered any life forms at all. As he walked, aside from the occasional sound of the wind, the entire world was silent, as if devoid of life.

At this point, Lin Luo began to feel a touch of unease. A serious question dawned on him... If there were no other creatures here, what would he eat? Lei could use sleep to restore her life energy, but he couldn't simply adopt that habit. If he did, within ten days to half a month, he'd likely be dating the King of Hell's daughter.

However, this worry dissipated after about ten minutes. Because just as he rounded a bend onto a small path, he saw with perfect clarity... under a mushroom the size of a pavilion across the way, a little girl sat alone, hugging her knees, staring blankly at the ground.

Seeing her, Lin Luo stopped abruptly, astonished.

The little girl opposite seemed to sense his gaze, lifted her head, and the moment she saw Lin Luo, her eyes snapped wide open, displaying an even greater shock than his own.

Though Lin Luo couldn't know what the girl was thinking, he could see her face clearly expressed, "Why is this person here?" For a moment, neither spoke, merely observing each other, like opponents in a life-or-death duel sizing each other up.

The girl opposite appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen, exquisitely beautiful, easily rivaling Lei in looks. A cascade of long, golden hair fell over her shoulders, and like 'Our King,' she sported a cute ah