Ultimate Rice System 113 Unexpected Guests

Xin Fan traversed through the forest waiting to encounter somebody new. With his senses, he felt that both Tianfei and Chilong had their movements halted by something. For a while, they seemed to be moving in the same direction. He could feel the fighting from where he was, across the entire forest. He hoped that he would meet at least one of them within the examination. The weather however suggested that it wouldn't be any time soon. He was surprised that he hadn't encountered any beasts yet. Given that the strongest beast around these areas would be a grade 1 beast, he had yet to encounter any. Just as Xin Fan said this, he saw a wandering figure in front of him. It was an unusual sight to say the least. It wasn't anything new however to see it here was strange. It was a skeleton. It's body was devoid of flesh and was held together at it's joints by some unknown force. It's teeth clattered as it wandered around with no clear direction.

'Is that...a skeleton?'

Xin Fan's mind wandered off to what Jun Fan had said. The barrier between the abyss and the human world has been shattered. Things that seemingly can only exist in the abyss are allowed to leave. Xin Fan stalked it and shot out a blade of energy breaking apart the joint's in it's body. The skeleton collapsed onto the ground lifelessly as Xin Fan walked up to it to observe closely.

'But...why is it here?'

The skeleton was harmless. It was weaker than an average human in physical strength and had only the slightest amount of qi just to keep it animated. With a single blow, it could be taken down just as Xin Fan did. As he peered inside the skull, he saw a small purple stone embedded between it's eyes. It was crystalline in appearance but had many imperfections in it. From Xin Fan's previous experiences, the skeletons in the abyss did not have this. Only the stronger beasts like the snake had one but certainly not the weak undead.

'Why...does this?'

Xin Fan heard a rustle in the bushes behind him. There was a short, skinny boy wearing a visor behind him. He had a blow dart made out of bamboo and had it aimed right at him. Xin Fan rolled to the side dodging the dart. The boy was about to shoot another dart however his eyes stopped at the decapitated skeleton on the ground. His eyes widened in shock. Although Xin Fan was literally right there, he ignored him and ran up to the skeleton.

"Why is this here?"

Xin Fan looked at this student in wonder. He was unique to say the least. No matter who it was, they would at least have some precaution. Xin Fan walked up to the boy with his wooden scythe raised up high. Before he was about to drop it, the boy extended out his arm.

"Stop! 5 minutes. I'll let you eliminate me later. I had no chances anyway. Just give me 5 minutes to look at this."

The boy was intriguing. He observed every minute detail from the cracks to even the break marks. The boy turned around to look at Xin Fan.

"Was there something on it's forehead?"

Xin Fan took out the stone from his bag. The boy looked at it for a moment before turning back to the skeleton. He stood up with his arms outstretched. He looked at Xin Fan waiting for a moment.

"So are you going to do it or...?"

"Oh okay.'

Xin Fan slashed down with his scythe and eliminated the boy. He didn't even ask for the other's name. Xin Fan looked at the skull which started to sink in the gathering mud. The terrain was getting worse and mud was making the ground slippery and hard to move in. Xin Fan was at the bottom of the hills and mud was gathering faster and faster. He needed to move uphill to gain a better vantage point. A flash of lightning brightened up the sky as he saw the peak of the hills getting stuck. There was a brief flash of light in the distance before going away.

'Maybe the peak is not such a good idea.'

-

The boy found himself in an open courtyard. He had only lasted for 5 hours and he already saw around 70 people eliminated. w.a.n.g Mei stood there with a projection of the entire map of the forest with white and red lights. The white lights represented the location of the students and the red lights represented the beasts. The boy walked up to the teacher who was carefully observing the map.

"Um...I have a question."

w.a.n.g Mei pushed up her gla.s.ses and looked up at the boy standing in front of her.

"Yes? Is there a problem?"

The boy paused for a moment before resuming.

"Um...I just want to ask. Was there any reaction of beasts where I was eliminated?"

w.a.n.g Mei frowned. She was unsure of what the boy was referring to.

"No, It was just you and student Xin Fan. Why?"

The boy's face froze. Although this was a minor incident, on the larger scale, there was bound to be more encounters like so.

"Xin Fan eliminated a skeleton before encountering me."

The boy took out his recording tablet and displayed the latest image. w.a.n.g Mei had a silent gasp looking at what she saw. w.a.n.g Mei squinted her eyes to see a really faint signature of a beast right where Xin Fan was standing at. It seemed to be following him, as if carried. What worried her the most was not the fact that the students would be in danger from the beasts. If such a beast was there, she would know. What she was most worried about is how the 'beasts' are getting in. It wasn't not a matter of emergency so it could wait. However, it remained a nagging feeling in her mind.

-

A slim figure of a boy walked through the forest unsure of where he was headed towards. He walked aimlessly in hope of finding a particular person he wanted to fight. He had an axe by his side which he used to climb and maneuver around rough terrain. Given that he could have easily used a technique, he was conserving energy for battles and moved around normally. Through the forest of dense trees, he slowly found himself getting lost. He was sure he had moved in a single direction however for some reason, he found himself back in a particular spot. He looked at the axe markings on the tree. There was 2 lines and now, he had made the third.

"There is only one person who will do this."

He heard some giggling behind him and he swung his axe behind him. A faint figure moved away as if a simple apparition.

"It's you isn't it...runt."

"Get my name right and maybe I will tell you."

Chilong felt a bolt of lightning appear seemingly out of nowhere and he felt a shock across his whole body. It was a weak attack but it hurt nonetheless.

"So you are going to play this game...eh?"