The 17 Winged Demons, including the two with raccoon-like and weasel-like heads, yielded 17 fruits of various sizes.

The two largest fruits were given to Yin Yi, and the rest were divided among the other Soul Beasts.

They had fought two battles on their way here, significantly draining both their Physical Strength and Spiritual Energy. This was a much-needed chance to recover.

Just as Xiaoyu prepared to extend its roots and absorb the five-meter-tall Winged Demon’s corpse, it found its roots couldn’t pierce the creature’s body. It couldn’t absorb any Energy at all!

Seeing that it couldn’t absorb the Energy, Lin Tianhe walked over to Han Ning and made a suggestion.

"Han Ning, should we take this large Winged Demon with us? The flesh inside is enough to feed our Soul Beasts for quite a while."

"And what about the Black Crystal Stones at the bottom of the pool? Should we pry them loose?" He Yang added, leaning closer and gazing at the black stones scattered across the pool floor.

"I think we can take the Winged Demon’s corpse, but we should leave the Crystal Stones. Take a look." Lü Xiuning pointed to the tightly sealed stone gate below.

"The Crystal Stones seem to be connected to the gate. If we dig them up, what if something dangerous escapes from inside?"

"Teacher Lü, are you saying there’s some kind of formation here? And prying the Crystal Stones loose would disrupt it? Maybe there’s some terrifying monster sealed inside..." Having read his fair share of novels, He Yang’s face immediately filled with apprehension.

"You’re overthinking it a little, but that’s the general idea. I advise against digging them up."

"I agree, we shouldn’t. The carvings on that stone gate give me a strange, sinister feeling," Han Ning said in agreement.

If the Winged Demon’s corpse had been connected to the gate, he wouldn’t have even considered touching it.

After resting for a while, the giant tortoise ate some of the fruit and seemed much more spirited. Although the shell on its back was still shattered, its skin had regained some elasticity, and it could now move, albeit with difficulty.

The group packed their bags, secured the items they had acquired along the way, and gathered around the giant tortoise.

Zhao Jingjing glanced around at the unsettlingly quiet and strange surroundings and couldn’t help but say:

"Let’s go. I can’t stand to be in this godforsaken place for another second. It gives me the creeps."

"You lead the way," Han Ning said, patting the giant tortoise’s uninjured cheek and pointing toward the mountaintop.

’The giant tortoise hasn’t shown any aggression. If it wanted to harm them, I don’t believe a Soul Beast could hide its intentions so well.’

"HNN!"

The giant tortoise flicked its tail, pressed its nose to the ground to sniff gently, then spun its body in a circle. Having confirmed the direction, it headed straight south.

Carefully surrounding the giant tortoise at the lead, they passed through the thick Gray Mist.

After ten minutes of walking through the mist, a small, upward-sloping path appeared ahead.

"HNNNGH~"

The giant tortoise wiggled its rear and began the difficult climb up the path.

After five minutes on the path, the view before them suddenly opened up.

The once-thick Gray Mist suddenly thinned, and a dim light from the sky shone down, illuminating everything around them.

"We’re finally out. How strange. We humans with Spiritual Power got lost in the mist, but this giant tortoise’s Spiritual Power is obviously not as strong as ours, yet it was able to lead us out." Lin Tianhe took a deep breath, looked at the verdant mountain ahead, and slowly exhaled.

Han Ning’s expression shifted when he heard this. "Could it be that we got lost precisely *because* our Spiritual Power is relatively strong?"

’He thought of that strange stone gate. It didn’t seem to be from the Insect-man civilization; everything about it was just bizarre.’

His words sent everyone into a thoughtful silence.

"It’s possible. Perhaps there’s some mysterious force that specifically lures in creatures with Spiritual Power. As for its purpose, we can’t know for now," Lü Xiuning said, his expression grave.

"It seems that when we get back, we’ll have to make it clear to everyone that this place is a Forbidden Land and must not be approached under any circumstances."

With one last look down at the thick Gray Mist below, the group turned and left without a hint of reluctance.

They followed the giant tortoise into a three-meter-high cave. After winding through the mountain for several hundred meters, a passage leading up to the forest above came into view.

"Rrooo~"

Just then, the giant tortoise suddenly stretched out its head and tugged on Han Ning’s and then Lin Tianhe’s clothes.

"What’s wrong?"

"Hnnh!"

The giant tortoise turned its head toward another fork in the passage.

"Where does it want to take us?" Lin Tianhe asked in surprise.

"Maybe it wants to give us something. Let’s follow it and see."

So, the group once again followed the giant tortoise down the other passage. After walking for nearly a kilometer, they entered a relatively warm cave.

The ground was covered with dry grass bedding, and a faint, bloody scent hung in the air.

The moment he caught the scent, Han Ning’s brow furrowed. ’The smell of blood?’

The giant tortoise ahead of them, however, grew even more frantic. It ignored Han Ning and its other saviors, scrambling directly into a smaller opening within the cave.

"RROOO!!"

Immediately after, a heart-rending cry from the giant tortoise echoed from the opening.

The group exchanged alarmed glances and rushed to the opening.

Inside was a smaller, even warmer cavern, about a hundred square meters in size.

Eight small, brown tortoise shells were scattered across the grass bedding. Blood stained the ground, with only scraps of flesh still clinging to the shells. The small turtles that had been inside were gone.

In a corner of the cave, another tortoise, about the same size as their guide, was curled up. Its eyes were shut tight, its state between life and death unknown. A large amount of blood pooled from beneath its body, staining the withered grass bedding red.

"Rrooo, whoo-whoo~"

The giant tortoise moved to its companion’s side, nuzzling its head again and again. Its eyes filled with an unmistakable, profound sadness.

Seeing this, the expressions on everyone’s faces grew grim.

At a signal from Han Ning, Yin Yi flew over to the unconscious tortoise. She extended a vine, piercing its body in an attempt to heal its wounds.

However, even after a bright green light flashed for over ten seconds, the tortoise still showed no sign of waking.

"Ling~"

Yin Yi seemed to have discovered something. She used her vines to wrap around the tortoise’s body and gently flipped it over.

Blood stained its entire underside.

In the middle of its belly was a horrifying, gaping hole. The organs and flesh inside were gone, as if devoured by some monster.

"RROOO!!" Seeing its companion was truly dead, the giant tortoise let out a continuous, heart-rending, painful whimper.

Even though Han Ning and the others had grown accustomed to matters of life and death, they couldn’t help but look sorrowful upon witnessing such a tragic scene.

"Giant Tortoise, why don’t you come with us?" Lin Tianhe sighed, squatting down beside it and speaking softly.