And so, in this perilous deep forest, the following scene unfolded - a nearly two-story tall dinosaur walked in front, looking ferocious, with prey almost as big as itself clenched in its jaws, its sharp teeth glinting coldly.

Yet behind it followed three people not even as tall as its legs, with the one in the lead looking as carefree as if he was out on a spring outing.

Xia Chuan felt that the atmosphere was so peaceful that it was simply bizarre.

Although the dinosaur in front of them did not show any hostility, he still did not relax enough to put away his dagger. He just casually held it behind his back as he walked beside Shen Lan, keeping about a shoulder's width distance, and quietly headed deeper into the forest.

As he walked, he unobtrusively noted the distance and direction, while also staying alert to any movements around them.

Logically speaking, in such a deep forest, there should be countless creatures living here. Just in terms of dinosaurs, there should be at least dozens of species, right? However, the areas they passed were all empty, with only the chirping of insects and the rustling of branches and leaves, as if all the larger animals had avoided them.

Dennis originally walked at the back carrying his backpack, but after a few steps, he kept worrying that something would pounce on him from behind. So he hurried a few steps to walk shoulder to shoulder with Xia Chuan, almost hugging Xia Chuan's arm for a sense of security.

Of course, at first he really wanted to hug him. He had just reached out his hand and hadn't even touched Xia Chuan's arm yet when he saw both Xia Chuan and Shen Lan glance at him from the corners of their eyes.

So he inexplicably chickened out and sheepishly retracted his hand...although even after walking more than ten meters, he still couldn't figure out why Shen Lan had glanced at him.

At first, following behind that dinosaur, Xia Chuan and Dennis were still a bit uneasy, always feeling that the big guy might drop its prey at any time, turn around and take a bite out of each of them. But after walking for quite a while, the dinosaur still showed no signs of changing its demeanor.

Dennis slowly let out a sigh of relief and muttered, "I never would have thought that a carnivorous dinosaur could be so friendly..."

Xia Chuan snorted coldly, "Have you already forgotten who was almost killed after being carried off by a dinosaur just now?"

"..." Dennis choked on his words. He raised his hand to touch his scraped arm, a bit worried. "What will happen if you don't get a vaccine after being bitten by a dinosaur?"

Shen Lan's ears twitched as he said, "You'll die."

Dennis: "..."

Just casually chatting, and he could die twice in four sentences. Dennis felt that with his constitution, he really couldn't be well.

But he couldn't keep his mouth shut. After holding back for a long time, he still couldn't help but curiously ask, "It shouldn't be like this. This forest can't possibly be home to only two dinosaurs, right? We've walked so far and haven't seen any living things besides us. It's so strange...not to mention anything else, there should at least be a few insects, right?"

His words expressed the doubts in Xia Chuan's heart, but Xia Chuan didn't know the reason, so he didn't respond. He just continued to pay attention to the movements around them.

It was Shen Lan who raised a finger to his lips beside them and said, "Don't talk nonsense."

His tone was casual and lazy, not like a warning, but more like a casual reminder.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Xia Chuan heard an extremely faint movement overhead. He reflexively stopped in his tracks while raising his hand to block Shen Lan and Dennis's chests, stopping the two of them.

The moment the three of them stopped, they saw something falling from high above, pattering onto the thick, soft leaves at their feet.

"Ow - what hit me on the head!" Dennis was still scared in this forest after all. With something suddenly falling on him, he was so startled that he almost jumped.

As he was hopping around, Xia Chuan had already clearly seen the things that had fallen at their feet - three...caterpillars...

If looking similar could count, that is.

The three bugs that had fallen to the ground looked very similar to caterpillars, except the bristles on their bodies were much thicker, and their size was more than twice as large. Their diameter was as big as a commemorative coin, about a dozen centimeters long.

Lying stiffly on the ground, they looked just like smoked sausages rolled in a pile of prickly pears, really not very attractive.

Xia Chuan looked away with disgust, not wanting to take a second glance. He lifted his foot to step over them when he heard Shen Lan say, "These things wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between my teeth, but quite a few creatures love to eat them. You guys-"

Originally, when Xia Chuan heard him speak, he paused and turned to look at him, thinking he was going to say something very useful. But what he got instead was this kind of comment. Without waiting for Shen Lan to finish the second half of his sentence, he walked away without looking back.

Shen Lan blinked and scratched his cheek, then turned to Dennis to finish the rest of his words, "Might as well pick them up and roast them to try, if you're too lazy to bend down...the one on your head is not bad either, fat enough." With that, he strode off to catch up with Xia Chuan.

Dennis was stunned for two seconds, then let out a howl and hopped around in a flurry of flailing. He wanted to get the bug off but didn't want to touch it with his hands. He shook his head and flailed his face for quite a while before finally shaking off the fat caterpillar perched on top of his head.

He looked down at the four fat bugs on the ground in a self-tormenting manner, then made a retching sound and chased after Xia Chuan and Shen Lan, clutching his chest.

"I've lived this long and never discovered that I have the skill of being a jinx..." Dennis said weakly.

Shen Lan glanced at him and lazily repeated his earlier reminder, "Don't talk nonsense here."

"Why?" Xia Chuan hadn't taken his words to heart before, but hearing him repeat it again, plus the coincidence of the bugs appearing right after mentioning them, he couldn't help but ask, "Is there something fishy going on?"

Shen Lan shrugged but didn't answer.

The leading dinosaur finally stopped after a long time, moving its head as if indicating that they had arrived.

The three following behind circled around its massive body and finally saw what it was facing - a small elevated area in the forest, not too steep a slope. Below the slope was an earthen hole, about half a person's height. The entrance was hidden behind a clump of bushes, dark and gloomy. They were unable to see what was inside.

That ferocious-looking dinosaur opened its mouth and dropped its prey on the ground, then raised its thick, long tail and whipped it at the entrance of the hole a couple of times, as if summoning something from inside.