The Forest Trail

Everyone turned toward the source of the smell only to see Lin Qi and his guards eating steaming roast beef.

That scene left them all stunned. Lewis looked down at the unappetizing dry food in his hands and felt unsatisfied.

On the other hand, Lin Qi used the gourmet system to retrieve the Wagyu Beef from the Newbie Gift Bag.

He was well aware that he would have to spend the night in the wilderness at some point during the trial, so he always carried fire-making tools with him.

"Young Master, I wasn't aware you had hidden such provisions with you this entire time!"

"That's right. Now it's your turn to take care of us guards!"

Lin Qi rolled his eyes. He was now very different from before.

Even so, he still was not sure whether he could safely pass the trial.

After all, only a day had passed and there was still a long way to go. There is no telling what kind of dangers he would encounter in the future.

Just like that, the Lin family had their fill and slept soundly in the tent.

On Lewis's side, he was the only one who had eaten the dry rations. His guards were left sleeping with empty stomachs and watched longingly as the Lin family guards received good treatment.

The next day.

They followed the path and arrived at the New Moon Forest. The chief guard halted at the entrance.

"Pay attention everyone. This is the New Moon Forest. There are many ferocious demonic beasts here, so don't let your guard down."

The guards of the three prominent families were standing at attention.

"How fierce could they possibly be? They won't be so fearsome under the blade of a grand swordmaster like me!"

Lewis walked out with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked extremely confident.

However, after yesterday's incident, no one believed Lewis at all.

Lin Qi could not help but quip, "Alright grand swordmaster. You should fix your sword first."

With that, everyone burst into laughter.

Lewis's face instantly turned red. He gritted his teeth and glared at Lin Qi.

'Lin Qi, are you mocking me just because you did a meritorious deed yesterday? Just you wait, when I find an opportunity, you'll be dead for sure!'

The young heirs knew that they could not count on Lewis. Therefore, they followed Lin Qi's lead.

They walked into the New Moon Forest. As expected, there was an eerie aura saturating the air. Just as they walked in, they could feel a sense of despair.

However, what puzzled them was that they had been walking in that forest for more than an hour, but they had not found anything out of the ordinary. They could not even hear the chirping of birds.

"This is strange."

The chief guard stopped walking and exhaled deeply. "Something is wrong. The New Moon Forest was a place infested with demonic beasts. Although not many demonic beasts above three-star are found here, a multitude of one-star and two-star demonic beasts should be roaming around."

"That's right. So why can't we see any of them now?"

Lin Qi did not understand what was going on but he felt that fewer demonic beasts to face was a good thing.

"There aren't any demonic beasts here, so why don't we walk faster?"

Since Lin Qi was the one who suggested it, everyone agreed. They all quickened their pace.

By the time it was evening, they still had not seen a single demonic beast. The sun was beginning to set, so Yu Meng proposed to start setting up the camp.

There was a small river nearby which was convenient for them to access water from. Thus, they decided to camp in that area.

When Lewis left to get some water, he suddenly noticed something on the ground.

"Ahh!"

His scream alerted everyone, and they all ran over.

Lewis's face was pale, and his legs were trembling. He pointed toward a huge footprint beside him.

"This... There must be a devil beast here!"

Yu Meng walked over calmly and observed carefully. She said, "This footprint is three meters long. He's right, this belongs to a four-star devil beast!"

As soon as she said that, everyone became nervous and looked around anxiously.

However, Lin Qi exhaled and said, "Don't worry, everyone!"

"Don't worry?" Lewis sneered and said coldly, "Look at this footprint. There is a four-star devil beast around!"

Lin Qi looked indifferent and stood before the large footprint. "Don't you see? There's a puddle in this footprint, and there's no water source around it. These puddles must have been formed by the rain."

Lewis was not convinced. "So what?"

"Think about it, did it rain yesterday or the day before?"

Everyone gave it some thought and shook their heads. "No, the last time it rained was last week!"

"Exactly!"

Lin Qi then pointed at a pile of bones that had been gnawed on, as well as some scattered bird feathers.

"Look."

Yu Meng frowned. "It is definitely an extremely strong opponent if it is capable of killing so many demonic beasts."

Lin Qi nodded. "That's right. This devil beast is most probably the only real threat in this area. However, due to how long ago it passed by here, we won't be so unlucky to encounter it."

Everyone's faces were ashen. After all, a hundred one or two-star demonic beasts were many times better than even a single four-star devil beast.

Moreover, the sky was already dark. If they wanted to continue moving forward, it would be too dangerous. They had no choice but to continue to camp cautiously.

There was still a large pile of Wagyu Beef and Delicious Steak in Lin Qi's system. After taking them out, they were cooked over the fire with some other ingredients. The fragrance assailed their nostrils.

On the contrary, Lewis had eaten up both portions of dry food last night because he needed to replenish his energy. Now, he could only press a hand against his stomach and starve.

There was still no movement from Yu Meng's side. The same could not be said about her guards, who were staring at Lin Qi's guards as they ate and drank.

While Lin Qi was eating happily, he suddenly felt an inexplicable gaze on him.

He suddenly turned his head and looked around, but because the fire could not illuminate the darkness in the distance, he could not see who or what it was.

"Could it just have been... My imagination?"

All of a sudden, a guard from the Yu family walked over and humbly asked Lin Qi, "Young Master Lin, could you share some of your food with us?"

To prevent Lin Qi from misunderstanding, the guard added, "It is not for us guards to eat, but it's what our Young Mistress needs. She hasn't eaten anything for a day and a night..."

Lin Qi blinked. He was not stingy at all and had plenty of food anyway, so he said casually, "That's alright, you can come and take some if you want."

The guard had not expected him to be so generous with something as important as his food supply, especially in such a difficult environment. It seemed that he had misunderstood him in the past.

"Thank you, Young Master Lin. From now on, you have our respect."

"But not too much of it!"

Lin Qi waved his hand in good nature and distributed the food to the guards of the Yu family.

The guards were not greedy. They only took a small portion and handed most of it to Yu Meng.

"Young Mistress, this is Young Master Lin's goodwill."

"Take it away!"

Her cold voice left the guards stunned.

"Young Mistress, you haven't eaten anything for a day. You can't go on like this!"

"If you beg others for food like this, it would be a disgrace to our family. Go ahead and return this because I won't eat it even if I starve to death!"