I'm Really Going to Become an Immortal
Chapter 61 - 57: Traces of Humanity in the Deep Mountains

Chapter 61: Chapter 57: Traces of Humanity in the Deep Mountains

Staring at the bear that had been played with on the ground.

Chen Yun felt slightly disappointed.

This disappointment was not because he hadn’t been able to kill it.

He wasn’t particularly bloodthirsty at the moment, and besides, this bear was a ranking individual with a tracking device implanted inside.

If anything went wrong, nearby departments would undoubtedly get involved in an investigation.

The reason for his slight disappointment

was because the bear’s strength was not enough to showcase his current mighty power.

The black bear’s level was too low.

Among all the fierce beasts on land, it couldn’t rank highly.

Its relative, the brown bear, with the largest individuals approaching a ton, and a strength of about a ton, truly was impressive.

The black bear could be killed in an instant, without lasting even half a second.

Chen Yun tried to shake the black bear awake by holding its neck.

However, the bear was evidently very clever.

Chen Yun distinctly felt its emotions switch from a mostly void stupor to a complex mix of nervousness, fear, and angst amidst the shaking.

But

it kept its eyes tightly shut, refusing to open them.

It was quite adept at playing dead.

This caused Chen Yun to helplessly roll his eyes and say, "Come on, you’re a bear, huh."

Unfortunately, the black bear, who knew well the way of survival, remained completely still.

Clearly, it was very aware of the strength of the two-legged beast in front of it.

Chen Yun could only toss the black bear onto the ground.

It seemed next time he could only try sliding tackle a tiger?

Speaking of which, after hitting the black bear just now, he vaguely felt he had gained some insight.

Pondering,

Chen Yun, with thoughts in his mind, turned and walked away.

He left the black bear that lay down from the heart and headed deeper into the forest with his slightly ragged clothes.

...

Lush broad-leaved canopies sporadically blocked the sunlight.

Beneath his feet, the decaying tree leaves, twigs, fruits, bark debris, and other organic remains gradually accumulated into a layer of humus.

Each step he took felt exceptionally soft.

After a while, as Chen Yun walked through the woods, he faintly sensed something special about this place.

This location, which should not bear human activity traces, seemed to have faint human footprints and scents.

Even though these footprints were covered by new fallen leaves and twigs in the layer of humus, they still appeared on and off under Chen Yun’s Transparent World 2.0 perception, suggesting they had only appeared a few days earlier.

Thinking,

Chen Yun took out a rough map of Laojun Mountain from his almost empty backpack.

This map only showed an outline of the vast area covered by the mountain ranges and forests, without any details.

However, the villages around the mountains were roughly marked.

He located Huangjia Village, where he had entered, and then compared the distance and direction he had walked so far.

Chen Yun found that he should still be in the midst of the deep mountains.

"Deep in the mountains, where did these human traces come from?"

He frowned and muttered to himself.

Could it be a scientific research organization?

Or a ranger?

Looking at the occasional footprints,

Chen Yun thought for a moment, then started to follow these traces.

With his strong Perception Ability,

he easily tracked down these barely noticeable marks.

Whether it was the faintly visible footprints, the direction in which the weeds had fallen, or those smells from beyond the forest...

all served as clues for Chen Yun to follow.

Before long,

Chen Yun followed these marks to a small stream.

Across the creek, there was a soft limestone clearing.

On the clearing, two men were drawing water with wooden buckets. One looked thin with a buzz cut, the other was fatter with slightly longer hair.

The two men were dressed in fairly loose white robes.

They didn’t look like people who dared to venture deep into the mountains; probably they didn’t need to travel far, so they didn’t bother changing clothes.

From this, it could be seen.

Nearby, there must be their dwelling places.

But...

Aside from rangers and some people needed for scientific research, who would bother living deep in the mountains?

Not only is everyday life inconvenient without water, electricity, and a series of modern amenities,

there are also potential dangers.

After all, these woods indeed harbor black bears, wild boars, martens, and other wildlife.

While it’s nothing to Chen Yun, it poses a lethal threat to most people.

Silence fell.

The two men also noticed Chen Yun’s approach.

They were first taken aback, then the crew-cut man slowly set down his water bucket and looked towards Chen Yun, saying, "Hello, are you lost? Would you like to rest for a while at our Spiritual Cultivation Association?"

His voice sounded very sincere,

as if he truly felt compassion seeing Chen Yun appear disheveled in the deep forest.

But before Chen Yun,

nothing was hidden.

The fat man standing on one side, who hadn’t spoken, harbored emotions of calm and tranquility.

But, it seemed that the crew-cut man’s heart wasn’t as sincere, instead harboring some sort of... greed?

The situation didn’t seem so straightforward.

Musing,

Chen Yun nodded and said, "Truly, thank heavens, I thought I was going to be trapped here."

Although he wasn’t crying while saying this, he still managed to impart an air as if on the verge of tears.

His powerful body coordination and control allowed his acting to penetrate to the core.

A mixture of three parts fear and seven parts relief at surviving the ordeal, his performance was vivid. Just like a genuinely lost person in the forest who, upon suddenly encountering others, feels relief.

Such acting, combined with his tattered clothes from dashing through the forest, was more persuasive than any evidence.

The next moment,

Chen Yun indeed noticed the crew-cut man’s emotions shift to secret delight, as if he was the one being rescued in the deep woods.

"Then come with us, we have food, water, and lodging," said the crew-cut man with a smile, picking up the full water bucket and heading north.

The fat man quickly hefted his water and followed.

Seeing this,

Chen Yun decisively followed.

This so-called Spiritual Cultivation Association, which sounded like a Cult and was situated so deep in the mountain forest, was definitely suspicious.

The greedy emotion shown by the crew-cut man a moment ago had also irked Chen Yun.

So,

without overthinking, Chen Yun’s choice was to immediately follow these two men.

Shortly afterward,

they arrived at a prominent mountain face.

There were several caves in the mountain.

Chen Yun smelled the scent of saltpeter, presumably from ancient mining tunnels left by past generations.

Near the cave entrance, there weren’t many trees, just a dozen or so crude wooden huts.

On the clearing between the wooden huts and the caves,

Chen Yun glimpsed a scene that caused his eyes to narrow in contemplation.

A middle-aged man with a goatee was sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Eyes closed, he adopted a pose akin to conjuring spirits.

Around him were eleven adults, both men, and women, encircling and seated as they murmured prayers.

Their emotions were filled with fervor.

Outside this inner circle of seated individuals, a tall ’older sister’ figure silently watched the returning trio, including Chen Yun.

Her gaze carefully scrutinized Chen Yun’s unfamiliar face.

All the people here,

just like the two men who had led Chen Yun here, were dressed in white robes.

Seeing this,

Chen Yun couldn’t help but look up at the usually shaded sky, where the sun was at an angle suggesting it was around four in the afternoon.

The slightly dim sunlight streamed onto the ground before him, casting an eerie light over the scene as if the group was engaged in some sort of prayer.

This plunged Chen Yun into deep thought.

Have I... inadvertently wandered into the lair of a Cult?