"No problem." After finishing the inspection, the middle-aged man led the group away.
At this moment, the guide sat by the car, waving at them and saying casually, "Be careful. If you need me to pick you up, just call. I'll give you a discount on the price."
The middle-aged man looked at the group and asked, "Are you planning to go to the village?" Menchi nodded.
The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then said, "Hmm—once you enter the village, you have to abide by the villagers' rules. You are Hunters, so you should have gathered all the necessary information. I won't bother you with more details. If you feel uncomfortable staying, leave early. All right, you can go in now."
Saying this, he had already led the group to a stone monument. This stone monument was densely covered with incomprehensible characters and runes. Kevin's eyes narrowed slightly, roughly guessing that these were "Divine Script"—a type of script related to Nen ability. He had only learned a little bit of it, which wasn't very useful, but recognizing it as "Divine Script" was relatively easy.
The middle-aged man stood in front of the stone monument and did not go any further. The group nodded, and Gawain even bowed to express his gratitude.
Looking at the group's retreating figures, the middle-aged man sighed and muttered, "Coming at this time—fortunately, these young people seem quite strong." He was an old hand in this line of work, and his judgment of people was relatively accurate.
In front of the group was a plain with sparse trees, a small path extending into the distance, and danger signs planted along the roadside.
"Did you feel anything when you first entered?" Kevin asked.
"Feel anything?" Menchi looked at him in confusion.
Kevin nodded and said, "It felt like passing through a thin membrane. There should be a barrier formed by Nen ability outside. I'm not sure exactly what it does, but it definitely affects Nen." However, the other three didn't feel anything. Their control over Nen ability was not as excellent as Kevin's, and they weren't as sensitive to Nen acting on themselves as Kevin was. However, this also indirectly indicated that the barrier's influence was very weak, and its purpose was probably to prevent creatures in the Mystic Realm from crossing the area boundaries at will.
"Come—come here~" A gentle breeze blew past, and Kevin heard such a sound in his ear. Hearing this sound, he immediately stopped, his brows tightly furrowed. Menchi and the others, who were walking, also quickly stopped and became alert.
"Did you find something?" Menchi asked.
"The [Come Here Sound], I heard it," Kevin replied.
"Are we that unlucky?" Menchi couldn't help clicking her tongue. This was a unique phenomenon in the Mystic Realm, its specific principle unknown to anyone. Some Hunters, after entering the Mystic Realm, would hear a voice telling them to come over. This sound would disappear after entering the village or leaving the Mystic Realm. Its appearance was very random, and only a very small number of Hunters could hear it. According to intelligence, if one followed this sound, they might be led to the lairs of some dangerous creatures. Hunters with strength and strong curiosity could go and investigate, while those without strength should just ignore it. Not following it would not cause any danger or other effects, though it might make one feel a bit annoyed. They didn't expect their luck to be so bad, encountering it right after entering.
"How about we ignore it for now and check it out later if we get a chance?" Menchi suggested casually. After all, they had confidence in Kevin's combat power.
"Let's go, things aren't that simple," Kevin said.
"What did you find?" Buhara asked curiously. After all, the intelligence they had did not mention the specific reason for this sound's generation. No one had investigated it yet.
Kevin nodded and said, "It's resentment. If there's no accident, it should be a sound produced by Post-mortem Nen." In other situations, Kevin might not have noticed, but if it was related to Post-mortem Nen, then it just so happened to fall into his area of expertise. Though Kevin couldn't guarantee how deeply he understood Post-mortem Nen, when it came to sensitivity to this thing, there was nothing to say. He had not only personally peeled off Post-mortem Nen but had even witnessed its generation process firsthand. Whether it was Post-mortem Nen, as long as he got close, he could immediately judge it—this was not difficult for him. He didn't expect this sound to actually be caused by Post-mortem Nen.
"I didn't expect you could detect that. Have you studied this thing too?" Menchi muttered softly a couple of times and didn't ask any more questions.
"Don't worry too much about it. I just heard a couple of sentences. We can research it later when we have time."
Kevin said. After all, it was only the end of September now, and they would stay here until at least next year, as the Harvest Celebration was held at the end of each year, at the moment of crossing into the new year.
So, the group continued to move forward unhurriedly. They were not in a rush, as the danger level would sharply increase after entering the Mystic Realm. According to intelligence, there were a large number of creatures here that possessed Nen, and some even mastered Nen ability.
"Bang! Shatter!" A dull sound came from the ground, and they even felt the ground beneath their feet tremble. The group exchanged glances and immediately hid in the nearby bushes, retracting their Nen and entering the "Zetsu" state. They quietly looked in the direction the sound came from.
The trembling sound grew louder, and then, behind a small hill in the distance at the edge of their vision, a huge shadow appeared. A head covered in green moss and weeds emerged from the top of the hill. This head alone was several times larger than an adult. Following closely, a massive body slowly walked out. This was truly an extremely exaggerated giant creature. Honestly, if Kevin hadn't known that the Dark Continent existed in this world, he wouldn't have believed that such a thing could appear.
This giant creature was at least fifteen meters tall, possibly even twenty meters, like a small building moving. It looked somewhat like a dinosaur, but its body was more corpulent, covered in plants and mud. The giant creature slowly walked past in the distance of their vision until the rumbling sound of its movement gradually weakened and disappeared.
"This, this is the Mystic Realm?" Menchi asked blankly, unable to help herself. It was her first time entering an area sealed by the Hunter Association, and she didn't expect to be given such a "welcome gift" right after entering.
Kevin just nodded slightly, saying honestly that he found it acceptable. The size of this giant creature was about the same as the Calamity Dragon when it stood up, but the Calamity Dragon's intimidating presence was much greater than this dinosaur-like fellow, and the Calamity Dragon was more fantastical, with a stronger impact.
"The data in the intelligence is cold. Only when the actual object appears before your eyes do those data become living reality," Buhara said with emotion. They had seen information about this giant creature. It was said that its tail meat was delicious, while the meat from other parts was ordinary. Its bones could be ground into a special seasoning powder, which had a unique flavor.
"Why aren't you surprised at all?" Menchi looked at Kevin strangely.
"I just fought a similar guy a while ago."
Just as Kevin finished speaking, he suddenly felt something and turned his head sharply to the side. At this moment, Gawain stood slightly there, his eyes narrowed into slits, looking as if he was about to fall asleep.
Kevin didn't hesitate and punched Gawain.
"Bang!" The huge impact sent Gawain back several steps, and he landed on his butt on the ground. He was completely unprepared. After being hit, Gawain seemed to wake up and quickly scrambled to his feet, a knight's sword appearing in his hand. He instinctively held the blade horizontally in front of him, adopting a defensive stance.
The hilt of this knight's sword was blue-gold, the crossguard extended outward in a cross shape, its color elegant, with a transparent blue sapphire embedded in the center. The straight and broad blade extended forward, engraved with incomprehensible patterns. To be honest, it was very cool. Kevin guessed that this sword was a product of Materialization System Nen ability, though it could also be Specialization.
Kevin's sudden attack made Gawain instinctively react defensively, but he quickly realized that he didn't seem to have suffered a substantial attack; his body felt no pain. Instead, his mind cleared up instantly. However, he immediately felt extremely weak and quickly plunged the blade into the ground to support himself and stand steady.
"I—" Gawain's voice was weak and powerless.
Kevin immediately fumbled in his bag for a vial of potion and handed it to Gawain. Gawain took the potion and drank it without thinking. As the potion went down, its effects quickly took hold, and Gawain's feeling of weakness immediately receded.
"Looks like you were poisoned," Kevin said.
"When?" Gawain was very confused by Kevin's words; he had no idea when he had been poisoned.
What Kevin gave Gawain was an [Antidote]. This was a simple and effective potion that Hunters usually carried with them. As long as it wasn't a special poison related to Nen ability, it could quickly cure poisoning symptoms.
Even for Nen-related poisons, it could temporarily suppress and alleviate the effects. In short, this was a very practical potion with good sales, a product that every VIP user would purchase. Moreover, it was simple to make, not even ranking as a C-class item.
At this time, Menchi and the other two were also very surprised, as they had been together the whole time and hadn't noticed when Gawain was poisoned. This meant that the poisoner could also strike at them without them noticing.
Then, the group collectively jumped back a few steps, their eyes all fixed on the bushes they had hidden in earlier. They had stayed in the bushes in a "Zetsu" state for at least ten minutes. The group sent out their Nen in a probing manner, scanning the bushes. However, they were at least twenty meters away from the bushes at this point.
Kevin frowned, because he didn't scan anything. He began to walk forward, rebuilding his "En." Kevin's "En" could be irregular, but the larger the "En" expanded, the lower the precision would be if his own strength wasn't sufficient. He wasn't sure if others were the same, but at least he was. The further he sent out his Nen, the weaker his control became.
If his Nen did not leave his body by more than ten meters, then everything within the "En" would not escape his perception. This had nothing to do with whether the "En" was regular; ten meters was a limit for him, which was clearly related to the Emission characteristic of his Nen ability. If he didn't have excellent control over Nen ability, he probably wouldn't even be able to reach the ten-meter range.
It wasn't until he was within ten meters of the bushes that Kevin finally discovered what was hidden inside. It was a snake, about the thickness of an index finger and no more than twenty centimeters long.
"Whoosh!" Kevin suddenly rushed into the bushes and grabbed the snake hiding inside. The snake clearly didn't expect to be suddenly caught. Out of instinct, it bit directly at Kevin's arm. However, its crooked head hit Kevin's steel-hard Nen barrier. Not only did it fail to bite, but it also knocked itself dizzy.
Kevin pinched the snake's head and formed a cage with Nen. The center was empty, and the outer perimeter was made of hexagons, trapping the snake inside. This was a small technique he had mastered.
Menchi and the others gathered around.
"It's an Invisible Snake, as expected," Buhara said. Having read the intelligence thoroughly, he had already made this guess. Kevin didn't seem surprised. After all, Hunters had some understanding of the creatures in the Mystic Realm. This information was clearly recorded in the intelligence, especially for some key marked creatures.
Gawain looked at this silver-gray, inconspicuous little snake. He had, of course, learned about Invisible Snakes and knew the symptoms of being bitten by one, but he didn't expect to be hit right after entering the Mystic Realm. If he hadn't been with Kevin and the others, he probably would have been defeated right after entering.
[Invisible Snake]—its characteristic could be seen from its name—super strong concealment, as if it could become invisible. If one was accidentally bitten by it, they might not even notice the injected venom. This creature could cause organisms to fall into drowsiness through its venom, as if they were anesthetized. It is said that its venom is a top-grade natural anesthetic that can quickly circulate throughout the body via the bloodstream and is not detected by the body's immune system, nor does it cause rejection reactions. After the venom is metabolized, no residue can even be detected in the body.
Invisible Snakes live by sucking blood, but their size shows that the amount of blood they can suck each time is limited. Therefore, unless the bitten person was particularly unlucky, they would likely not know what happened to them after waking up.
The entire body of the Invisible Snake was a complete C-class top-grade material, which somewhat surprised Kevin. So, Kevin reached out and lightly flicked the Invisible Snake, instantly knocking it unconscious. He took the specialized sealing bag from Menchi and carefully sealed the Invisible Snake inside. These sealing bags were specially used by Menchi and the others to store various materials. They had been proven very practical through practice.
"Good harvest." Looking at the snake in the bag, Kevin smiled. He was already eager to know what kind of potion could be concocted using this highly concealed snake. The moment he saw the Invisible Snake, he already had some ideas.
"This place is not a good place to research potions," Menchi complained.
"Of course I know, I'm just happy," Kevin replied with a smile.
After adjusting their mood, everyone continued to move forward.
This time, they dared not take it lightly again. The previous encounter had taught them a good lesson. To some extent, it was more intimidating than the giant beast that walked past them. Maintaining a state of vigilance, they didn't encounter any more dangers along the way and successfully penetrated deeper into the Mystic Realm.
The sky gradually darkened.
"Should we take a break?" Buhara asked.
Menchi shook her head and said, "According to the experience of other Hunters, under normal circumstances, if we follow this path, we should reach the village by night." They estimated that the village should not be far away, so they decided to reach the village before resting. After all, whatever they planned to do in the Mystic Realm, operating from the village as a base was a planned procedure, so there would definitely be no problem with that.
"Then let's keep going," Kevin said, looking at the clouds in the distance.
As the sky grew darker, they went deeper into the Mystic Realm. Kevin gradually felt that the surrounding environment was somewhat unusual—this didn't refer to changes in the environment itself, but rather that a faint, subtle "thing" seemed to permeate the air.
"Mr. Kevin, what's wrong?" Gawain looked at Kevin and could somewhat sense something was off from his expression and behavior. At this moment, Kevin was walking forward while looking at the sky, frowning slightly.
"It shouldn't be my imagination. The further we go in, the more obvious the resentment becomes. Though this feeling is strange, there is indeed a faint, subtle resentment permeating the air," Kevin said. This resentment was very weak, even weaker than the "Come Here Sound" they heard when they first entered the Mystic Realm during the day. It was so weak that Kevin was a little unsure if his feeling was accurate.
"Are you saying the village might not be safe?" Gawain asked.
"Not necessarily," Kevin shook his head. "After all, the villagers are said to be cursed, and this is a Mystic Realm. It should still be considered normal for this kind of situation to occur." If everything was completely normal, this place wouldn't be called a Mystic Realm. They were already prepared for this.
The group did not stop their steps and continued to advance toward the village.
After the sky had completely darkened, they saw flickering lights in the distance.
"We're almost there," Menchi said softly.