They were stunned speechless, not anticipating that Zhong Shenxiu would leave the two of them guarding this place; it was practically a test of their psychological limits. While the area appeared calm and ordinary, who knew where lurking peril might be hidden? What if another "Black Butchering Fang" suddenly sprang out like last time? At the very least, shouldn't Robin have stayed behind?

The three looked up at Zhong Shenxiu with pitiful expressions, as if pleading, Please don't play games with us; we can't handle this kind of excitement!

Zhong Shenxiu merely smiled, turned to Xia Luo, and asked, "Woman, you've been here before; there shouldn't be any issue, right?"

Xia Luo frantically shook her head like a rattle drum. It was true she had been here, but that was when she came with her subordinates. They had maintained a perimeter in small groups, working twenty-four-hour shifts, which is how they avoided any accidents. Now, with just the three of them in the deep darkness, who knew what might dart out!

Zhong Shenxiu smiled again, said nothing more, but instead extended his hand and released his four skeletal roosters? He then winked at Robin and abruptly vanished before the three.

Before Xia Luo and the other two could process what was happening, Zhong Shenxiu and Robin were gone. Such a bizarre vanishing act made the hairs on their arms stand on end. But what truly made their scalps tingle was that Robin had left her "Black Butchering Fang" behind.

Xia Luo and the others were terrified, watching the "Black Butchering Fang" with strained vigilance, uncertain if it might suddenly attack again, especially given those chilling, glowing eyes that offered no comfort.

The four skeletal roosters, however, remained quite docile, settling into positions at the four cardinal directions, likely under some command from Zhong Shenxiu.

"Sister Xia Luo, what should we do?" Lisi was at a loss.

"Don't worry, I'm here!" Xia Luo said outwardly, though inwardly she was extremely tense.

After a brief silence, Lisi asked again, "Sister Xia Luo, it won't pounce on us again, will it?" He glanced toward the "Black Butchering Fang" as he spoke.

"It... it probably won't!" Xia Luo replied without much conviction.

This was because familiars usually stayed inseparable from their masters, and she had heard that once a familiar broke free from its master's control, it would revert to its wild nature. She had no idea if this "Black Butchering Fang" would do so!

Although Anjieliya remained silent, she had already gripped her longsword; it seemed she was just as nervous.

As the three stood there quietly in a standoff with the "Black Butchering Fang," to their utter surprise, the creature suddenly bolted away, disappearing from their sight in just a few bounds.

What was going on?

None of the three had anticipated this outcome, and for a moment, they could only stare at each other blankly.

After an indeterminate amount of time, when they realized the "Black Butchering Fang" was not returning, the three finally let out a long breath.

"Sister Xia Luo, where do you think the Master and Robin went?" Lisi asked, full of curiosity.

"I don't know," Xia Luo said, though her gaze drifted toward the small hill not far away. She vaguely suspected Zhong Shenxiu and Robin had gone there.

"The Master is truly amazing, turning an ordinary stone into this jade pendant! This jade pendant is so strange; when I held it, I felt an ineffable sense of ease, and all my fatigue vanished!" Lisi was already fiddling with the jade pendant Zhong Shenxiu had given him.

Hearing this, Xia Luo and Anjieliya examined theirs too; truth be told, even more than the pendant itself, they were shocked by the techniques Zhong Shenxiu had employed during the refinement. If they hadn't witnessed it firsthand, neither would have believed it!

The night grew deeper, but none of the three felt like sleeping; perhaps they wouldn't have been able to even if they tried.

Just then, a cool breeze swept through, and then Zhong Shenxiu and Robin materialized.

The three jumped, rising immediately to face them.

Xia Luo and Anjieliya, being more observant, immediately spotted a jade pendant hanging from Robin's waist—one that was even more crystal clear and significantly larger than theirs.

"Did anything happen?" Zhong Shenxiu asked casually.

"That..." Lisi looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated. "The 'Black Butchering Fang' ran off. It left on its own; we didn't do anything!"

To their surprise, Zhong Shenxiu and Robin seemed utterly unconcerned by the matter and simply went to rest.

What they didn't know was that this was truly nothing. The "Control Curse" was different from the "Contract Signing." Zhong Shenxiu recalled a time he hadn't checked on his "Swift Eagle" for an entire month, and yet nothing went wrong! The "Black Butchering Fang" that had run off hadn't actually severed control; as long as Robin willed it, she could summon it back to her side at any moment.

Time passed quickly; another three days had gone by.

As Zhong Shenxiu and the others pressed onward, they could begin to see traces of other mercenary groups that had passed through.

In terms of sheer area, the "Humid Forest" was at least twice or three times larger than the "Magical Beast Forest." However, its distribution differed greatly; it stretched primarily along a north-south axis, appearing as a vast rectangle when viewed from high altitude.

Zhong Shenxiu's group was heading west. At their current pace, they should exit this "Humid Forest" in a few more days. If they had gone south or north, it might have taken them two or three months to reach the end.

That noon, just as Xia Luo and Anjieliya finished preparing lunch and the group was eating, Zhong Shenxiu’s brow suddenly furrowed, and Robin stopped chewing.

Xia Luo and Anjieliya looked at Zhong Shenxiu in surprise, unsure what had happened.

Then, Zhong Shenxiu stated calmly, "Someone is coming!"

The three were momentarily stunned. They hadn't encountered any other people since setting out, and curiosity about the approaching party instantly piqued.

It was a mercenary group consisting of over twenty individuals. Strangely, there wasn't a single woman in the party; all were burly men, massive and rough-looking, appearing quite fierce.

"Ah, it smells so good! Did you smell that?" one burly man suddenly took a deep breath.

"Smells like someone's cooking," another agreed.

"Look over there! There's smoke rising!" someone shouted, pointing not far away, as if afraid no one would hear.

"Heh heh, now we can finally fill our stomachs properly," a corpulent fellow muttered, patting his bulging fat reserves.

"Let's go check it out!" the one who looked like the leader grinned broadly and suddenly commanded.

And so, the contingent began advancing toward the source of the smoke, accompanied by eight level six or seven magical beasts; their overall strength seemed considerable.

"Leader, look! There are women!" one man yelled as if he had just been injected with stimulants.

Instantly, the others became energized, pushing and shoving to get ahead.

"That chick is quite the looker!" the corpulent fellow leered, his eyes lingering on Xia Luo’s perfect figure with a wicked smile.

Hearing him, the others also adopted lewd expressions. It was now perfectly clear why this mercenary group had no women—any female entering their ranks would surely be walking into a den of wolves.

"Hey, the one next to her isn't bad either," another fellow said, his eyes lighting up as he glanced at Anjieliya.

"Heh, you old pedophile, look at the even smaller one next to her—I think she'd be perfect for you!" the man said recklessly, pointing at Robin.

Amidst their coarse banter, the group emerged from the thicket, closing the distance to Zhong Shenxiu's party to about ten meters!

Xia Luo and Anjieliya were furious, their lungs practically bursting from hearing their vulgarities. Anjieliya’s eyes flashed with cold rage as she glared at the newcomers, her beautiful face frozen to sub-zero temperatures.

The men surveyed the area and, upon seeing only women and a child, their laughter became even more depraved.

What an excellent spot for murder and evil deeds!

"Look at that little one; she looks quite tempting," one fellow said, seemingly fixated on Anjieliya, stroking his chin with a wicked expression.

As for Zhong Shenxiu, after these men showed themselves, his demeanor became utterly placid. He continued eating without even lifting his head. Robin was much the same, completely ignoring the intruders, almost as if she hadn't noticed their presence.

Xia Luo lacked such composure. She was not a woman who tolerated humiliation; she possessed a far more fierce temperament than most men and immediately wanted to step forward to teach this disgusting bunch a lesson!

However, someone stood up before she could: it was Lisi.

Lisi was also a spirited young man, and he could not bear to see his two "sisters" so insulted! He immediately pointed at the group and began shouting curses!

The men’s laughter paused as they shifted their gaze to Lisi, their expression suggesting they had only just noticed his existence.

"Hey, kid, you better get back to wherever you crawled out from! I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now!" a bald man declared arrogantly, his eyes returning to Xia Luo. He scanned her from head to toe with a greedy look, as if intending to devour her whole.

This group had initially only intended to fill their stomachs, but now it seemed their ambitions extended beyond mere sustenance; perhaps they intended to satisfy their appetites as well!

This was Anjieliya’s first time facing such a situation. She had always despised men who looked down on women, but now she realized she despised these kinds of men even more.

Anjieliya finally couldn't hold back. With a whoosh, she stood up, her longsword already drawn.

Just then, Zhong Shenxiu's voice cut through: "Girl, sit down!"

His tone remained utterly flat.

Anjieliya looked up at Zhong Shenxiu, feeling wronged. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't let her fight, why he paid no mind to these thugs.

"Finish your meal. You won't have an appetite later."