The Strange Flower Fragrance

Xu Xin felt that she was in danger.

He did want to go out and try, but it was just a thought. His cautiousness made it so that he couldn't possibly put this idea into practice.

However, the truth was that he seemed to have lost his mind, conquered by the desire in his heart, and easily stepped out.

"There must be something affecting me in this area!" Xu Xin looked around warily, but it was still the common white poplar and low shrubs.

It was only then that he realized that the orange (blue) he had eaten in the treehouse had lost its effect of rousing his spirit.

Xu Xin took out another orange (blue) from his backpack and ate it. His spirits were roused again, and his fatigue was swept away, his mind instantly becoming much clearer.

The surroundings were very quiet. The forest at night tends to give people a feeling of darkness, coldness, and danger.

Xu Xin stared at the crack in the ground. The vines had emerged from that crack.

"As long as I walk out of the three-kilometer range, vines will come out of the ground to attack me?" Xu Xin's mind cleared up and he began to think, "I'm less than a meter away from the limit. With such a short distance, won't the vines be able to get in?"

Xu Xin suddenly thought of the vine that had protected the copper treasure chest. After it appeared, it had only attacked him twice before becoming dry and brittle, easily broken. In contrast, the vine just now didn't do the same. It didn't even turn around to attack him, but just slowly retracted back into the ground.

It seemed that he was indeed protected within the three-kilometer range.

To confirm his thoughts, Xu Xin tensed his body and mind, and once again extended his leg.

This time, he hadn't been bewitched. It was a move he made after careful consideration.

As expected, a red dot quickly lit up on the Map. Xu Xin dodged to the side, and a vine even thicker than the previous one burst out of the ground, shooting six or seven meters into the air.

This vine was even densely covered with blood-red thorns, which made people feel disgusted.

At this moment, Xu Xin's feet were still outside the boundary, so the vine twisted in the air and swung towards his ankle.

He quickly retracted his leg and dodged to the side.

The vine did not enter the realm. It was as if there was an invisible wall at the boundary line of a three kilometers radius. It simply stopped abruptly outside the realm.

Under Xu Xin's cautious gaze, the vine did not attack him again. Instead, it twisted and turned a few times, then as if it had given up, slowly retracted back into the ground.

"So this is indeed the case?" Xu Xin's eyes narrowed as he pondered, "As long as I walk out of the protection zone, the strange creatures underground will attack me. But as long as I return to this area, even if those creatures have already attacked, they won't come after me."

Was it because if they chased after him, they would shatter like the vines that guarded the copper treasure chest? Then, how could he explain the giant Deinosuchus? Why could the giant Deinosuchus with the silver treasure chest move within the protected area?

Even though he couldn't figure it out, Xu Xin could at least confirm that there was something in the surroundings that was affecting his mind, trying to lure him out of the three-kilometer protection range and let the underground vines kill him.

Was it the monster that was guarding the golden treasure chest?

Xu Xin patted the little guy in his arms.

Cocoa wriggled in his arms and slowly opened its eyes, "Yin?"

"Cocoa, can you feel anything strange around?"

Cocoa rubbed its eyes with its paws and Xu Xin could feel the soft furball in his arms suddenly tense up.

"Yin!" Cocoa suddenly jumped out of his arms and stood up nervously behind Xu Xin. It raised its hands and made a gesture that indicated they were in danger.

Xu Xin pulled out the stone spear and aimed it in that direction.

Cocoa reached out and tugged at Xu Xin's pants, indicating for him to follow it.

"Be careful, don't get ambushed," Xu Xin said, looking at it worriedly.

"Yin!"

That direction was a place that Xu Xin had never been to before. The Map was black.

After walking for a short while, about a few hundred meters, Xu Xin seemed to smell a special fragrance in the air. The fragrance grew stronger as they advanced.

Xu Xin rubbed his nose, feeling a little uncertain, "This is... The fragrance of a flower?"

As they continued walking, Xu Xin realized that the poplar trees around them had become sparser. There were no longer weeds and shrubs under her feet. Instead, small yellow flowers that swayed gently in the wind gradually appeared.

The fragrance of the flowers assailed Xu Xin's senses, and he subconsciously quickened his pace.

However, he immediately realized that something was wrong. He pinched his arm to regain his consciousness.

"It's this flower fragrance! It was this flower fragrance that lured me out of the protection zone!"

Perhaps it was because the scent of the flowers was too faint earlier that it fooled his sense of smell, but now, Xu Xin could feel it clearly. The feeling that affected his mind was exactly the same as before.

Thinking of this, Xu Xin quickly lifted his clothes and covered his mouth and nose. Then, feeling that this would affect his movements, he took off his clothes and tied them to his face.

"Cocoa, come back. Let's go together," Since he had already sensed the danger, he naturally could not let Cocoa be the vanguard.

"Yin!" Cocoa didn't seem to be affected by the fragrance. It nimbly climbed up Xu Xin's leg and onto his shoulder.

This little fellow was truly mysterious.

Xu Xin held the stone spear in his hand and continued to walk forward.

The surrounding poplars grew sparser and sparser, while the yellow flowers on the ground grew in number. Even though Xu Xin had covered his nose and mouth, the pungent fragrance of the flowers still made him frown.

He didn't know if it was because of his high tension or the effect of the orange (blue) he ate, but even though the fragrance was pungent, it didn't seem to affect his mind.

"Hm? That's..." Xu Xin suddenly stopped in his tracks.

There were no more poplar trees around him. At this time, there was only a sea of bright yellow flowers under his feet. And right in front of him, a golden treasure chest was in the middle of the sea of flowers.

"The golden treasure chest?" Xu Xin's eyes lit up. He did not expect to find the golden treasure chest here.

"Yin?" Cocoa, who was on his shoulder, turned to look at him.

Xu Xin didn't continue walking forward, nor did he rush to open the treasure chest. He felt that something was off.

The golden treasure chest would not be so easy to obtain. There must be a huge danger hidden under this sea of flowers.

The Map in his mind didn't show any red dots, but Xu Xin still didn't forget to pay attention to it. Although the Map would not show the monsters underground, it would give a warning before the monsters came out to the surface, and that was enough.

Holding the stone spear tightly, Xu Xin slowly inched towards the golden treasure chest.

According to his earlier speculations, the monster would infinitely magnify his inner thoughts, making him forget himself and complete the inner thought. Therefore, he had to work hard to resist the desire in his heart.

However, he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. His mind was unusually clear, and he didn't feel like his inner desires had been magnified, nor did he feel like he wanted to put his thoughts into practice.

Nothing happened, and Xu Xin walked to the side of the treasure chest.

Standing in front of the golden treasure chest, he was confused.

He just... Came over like this?