It would be better to get them out as soon as possible.
"No, I'm not. I only arrived here recently. I was trying to go to a town, but I got lost…"
"A town? You're deep in the forest here."
"Are you alone?"
"The town is in the opposite direction from here."
The opposite direction?
After all that effort, it seemed Qiong Xing had been walking as hard as he could in the wrong direction.
"No wonder I never got there."
All the tension drained out of him and he sat down on the ground while still holding the egg.
Seeing him like that, they seemed to understand everything and their faces filled with pity.
He knew he was lost, but realizing he had been walking perfectly the wrong way was a heavy blow.
What had all those hours of effort even been for?
"Ah, well, um… you went through a lot. In a forest, it's easy to lose your sense of direction."
"Yeah, yeah. Honestly, it's impressive you made it this far on your own."
They tried to comfort him because he looked so dejected, but right now, that only made it hurt more.
"Thank you. More importantly, let's get this place open. Do you know where the key is?"
It would be better to open this place quickly and have them tell him the road to town.
If possible, he might even ask them to take him along.
When he asked, they said the key was being held by one of the bandits.
Qiong Xing was not good with conflict, but hoping he could somehow manage, he left the hut.
He looked around carefully while searching for the bandit, but there was no sign of anyone at all.
Just as he started thinking it might be faster to break the lock instead, he came out into an open area that looked like a plaza.
"Wha…?!"
He sucked in a sharp breath at the horrible scene in front of him.
It's blood!
A lot of blood!!!
The entire area was covered in deep red and the thick smell of blood filled the air so strongly it made his throat burn.
The men lying collapsed on the ground were clearly dead without the need for him to check it.
"What… is this?"
It was a sight more terrible than anything he had ever seen in his previous life. His voice shook and without realizing it, he tightened his grip on the egg in his arms.
After he force his trembling legs to move, he looked at a man lying nearby.
It looked like he had been bitten by fangs or something similar, there's two large holes that was torn straight through his body.
"Guh… urgh…"
Others were missing parts of their bodies.
Some looked like they had been torn apart while still alive since their insides has been spilled out.
Some had skin turned completely purple, maybe from some kind of poison.
It was so overwhelming that he could not close his wide open eyes.
This was real.
This world, this place where Qiong Xing now existed was a world where this could happen to him as well.