Eye of Evolution

Chapter 16: Enchantment Spell

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Although the Zombie Rat was already killed, the students’ had grim expressions.

Wu Xiaoyan poured the antidote over Zhou Yi’s wound.

Xiao Jinsheng squatted in front of the rat’s corpse and observed it. Jiang Wen and Bai Xiaowen stood beside him.

“This Plague Rat is much stronger than ordinary individuals, especially its Agility and Defense. It’s almost doubled in these aspects.” Xiao Jinsheng frowned before adding, “Most importantly, a normal Plague Rat wouldn’t attack so viciously as this rat did.”

In the end, they could only successfully kill the rat by relying on the rusty iron sword in Xiao Jinsheng’s hand.

This rusty iron sword was a type of spiritual equipment. It looked to be a low-quality item but in terms of destructive power, it was much stronger than a weapon made of steel. It could split a Zombie Rat with such stiff skin in half.

Xiao Jinsheng turned the Zombie Rat’s head over. Under the searchlight, he could see that its eyes were white, and its hairless skin had gone a sickly white and emitted a sickly luster.

“It must have been affected by something, so it got mutated.” Bai Xiaowen let out a cough.

“Secondary Mutation?” Xiao Jinsheng frowned. He stood up and looked into the dark depths of the Plague Rat Cave.

“If the cave is full of monsters who have undergone secondary mutation, then we absolutely cannot go any deeper.”

The thick layer of fat on Xiao Jinsheng’s face trembled slightly as he said solemnly, “I’ll report the situation here to the school and ask the school to send an Awakened to deal with it.”

After Zhou Yi’s wound was bandaged, he shouted indignantly, “It can’t be that bad, right? That rat isn’t that powerful either. I was ambushed by it earlier, so I wasn’t aware of how powerful it was. If I encounter another one, I’ll be able to kill it.”

Bai Xiaowen snickered.

Xiao Jinsheng shook his head and said, “Even if you can kill one in a one-on-one battle, what’s the point? In this Plague Rat Cave, there are probably hundreds of Plague Rats. Most of the time, they appear in groups. Once more than three appear, our team will suffer casualties.”

Zhou Yi stopped speaking and turned to glare at Bai Xiaowen. He felt humiliated.

“Mr. Xiao, why don’t we head back? Only one day has passed for the week-long actual field training. We can still go to other areas to train for the other days,” Bai Xiaowen suggested, ignoring Zhou Yi.

“Okay.”

The five of them came in high spirits and returned in low spirits. They returned the way they came.

When they reached the entrance of the cave, Jiang Wen—who was at the front—suddenly exclaimed, “Why is there light?”

All of them went forward to take a look and their hearts skipped a beat. The original entrance of the cave was actually covered in a hazy milky-white halo. It looked very strange in the dead of night.

Zhou Yi tentatively took two steps forward and his expression changed. “Mr. Xiao, it’s impossible for us to pass through here!”

“How can it be?” Xiao Jinsheng’s expression changed drastically as he quickly walked forward.

The hazy white light was like an invisible barrier that blocked the entrance of the cave. Try as they might, they could not pass through the barrier and advance at all.

“What’s going on?” Zhou Yi felt that he was very unlucky to be in such a situation. Strange things had been happening since the start of this actual field training. Things were not going well at all.

“This is a type of enchantment spell.”

Xiao Jinsheng exhaled and said slowly, “Someone cast a barrier to block the entrance. We can’t get out before the energy of the barrier dissipates.”

“Who is it? Why are they doing this?” Jiang Wen asked fearfully.

Xiao Jinsheng replied, “I don’t know either, but I’m afraid the other party doesn’t have any good intentions. Furthermore, he’s powerful! To be able to cast spells, he must be as strong as an Awakened. We won’t be able to defeat him in a fight.”

“Then what should we do?” Zhou Yi shouted. “Ask the school for help, Mr. Xiao! We can’t die here.”

“I’ll send a distress signal now. However, even if the Awakened sent by the school set off immediately, it will take some time for them to arrive. During this period, all of you must hide and turn off the searchlights. Don’t attract the enemy’s attention.”

Xiao Jinsheng classified the person who cast the barrier as an enemy. He led the four students into the depths of the Plague Rat Cave in the dark.

Bai Xiaowen frowned slightly and felt that something was amiss. He did not think someone who had the strength of an Awakened would target them, who were too weak to be a threat to him.

When Bai Xiaowen recalled the information he had gotten about the zombie rat through his insight, a possibility came to him.

“Mr. Xiao, I think… the other party isn’t here for us.”

Bai Xiaowen quickly walked to Xiao Jinsheng’s side. “If the enemy is here for us, there’s no need to spend so much effort. There will be plenty of opportunities along the way.”

Xiao Jinsheng frowned. “If he’s not here for us, then why did he come to this godforsaken cave?”

“I’m guessing that it should be related to the abnormal changes in the Plague Rat Cave,” Bai Xiaowen said. “Why did the Plague Rats undergo such a huge change? To be able to cause the Plague Rats in the entire cave to mutate, if it’s a treasure, it must be very impressive. It will make even Awakened jealous. Also, don’t you think that there’s something amiss with the stones blocking the cave entrance? It looks more like it’s done by a human rather than Plague Rats.”

“You mean that an Awakened discovered the abnormal situation here and rushed over to investigate?” Xiao Jinsheng frowned. “But why did he seal the entrance?”

“The other party saw that the stones at the entrance of the cave had been moved away, and he saw the footprints at the entrance. He must have guessed that we have entered the cave and are currently still inside. To prevent us from obtaining that treasure and taking it away, he sealed the cave.”

Bai Xiaowen’s analysis was reasonable and well-founded. At this moment, Xiao Jinsheng also felt that there was something strange with those stones at the entrance of the cave.

“Then what should we do?” Xiao Jinsheng asked.

“Since they aren’t here for us, we should go back to the cave and wait for help,” Wu Xiaoyan said in a low voice.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head. “We still have to follow Mr. Xiao’s instructions and hide first. Try not to be discovered. According to Mr. Xiao, the other party has the strength of an Awakened. It’ll be easy as pie for him to kill the five of us. I can’t rule out the possibility that the other party will kill us to permanently silence us.”

“Hmph, after analyzing for so long, you’re still telling us to hide. Then what you said is no different from what Mr. Xiao said,” Zhou Yi said disdainfully.

“Zhou Yi, that’s enough. Bai Xiaowen’s analysis has at least given us some confidence. We won’t be so flustered,” said Xiao Jinsheng.

He composed himself and added after some thought, “Now, we can’t wander around like headless flies. Let’s find a secluded place to hide first so that we don’t bump into that person. It’s best if we can get through this peacefully and safely.”

The five of them moved forward quietly. Upon reaching a fork, they chose a remote narrow path.

After walking for more than a hundred meters and making two turns, everyone’s vision suddenly widened and they entered a basement.

The basement was ten meters square and quite spacious. After arriving here, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Zhou Yi cursed in a low voice, “These damn rats are really good at digging holes. What’s the use of digging such a big basement?”

Bai Xiaowen turned on the searchlight and observed the basement carefully.

“What are you doing? Turn off the lights!” Zhou Yi growled.

Bai Xiaowen shone the light on the wall of the basement and touched it. His expression changed slightly. “This is bad. We have to leave this place. Now!”