Book 5: Chapter 8: The Cabin in the Woods

This stretch of forested land was larger than expected. It was nearly dusk by the time the group faintly glimpsed Crystal Lake, having walked through the woods for almost an entire day.

The area of the lake they saw was actually a very small part of the whole Crystal Lake. It protruded like a tentacle into the forest, forming a small cove here. Even though it was just a cove, the lake surface was still hundreds of meters wide. The clear, green water sparkled with ripples under the fading sunlight.

The cove was surrounded by a crescent-shaped patch of open shore. In the center of this open area stood a small cabin. Down by the shore near the cabin door, a small pier stretched out. When the Crystal Lake Campground was still open, this pier once held rented speedboats and rowboats.

Now, all that remained were their decaying hulls, rotting in the muddy shallows near the end of the pier.

The group cautiously approached the wooden cabin. It was a typical ranger’s cabin. A wooden porch ran before the front door, and wind chimes hung from the eaves. The cabin had two floors, with a gabled attic and a brick chimney atop the roof.

“Don’t be so tense! There aren’t any monsters inside this cabin. We searched it thoroughly just a few days ago!” Michelle couldn’t help but laugh softly, seeing the group tense up like facing a formidable enemy.

“Does Sheriff Marov let you come this deep into the Crystal Lake Campground?” Hill looked puzzled as he asked.

“If the team was all Centaur police, we could usually go back and forth in the daytime. But anyway, Sheriff Marov always leads us out before nightfall!” Michelle’s expression dimmed slightly. “I’ve snuck in by myself many times during the day before and never found anything unusual here. But the nights are too dangerous. Even for my mother’s sake, I can’t afford to stay stubbornly hidden behind.”

“You did the right thing!” Hill reassured the Centaur girl with a smile.

Hansen holstered his shotgun and pushed open the cabin’s front door. Inside, dust coated the furniture thickly. The floor, however, bore many messy footprints, probably left by the police a few days prior.

“The kitchen has no gas. Looks like we’ll have to make do with bread for our bellies!” Cora announced to everyone, her voice full of resignation.

“The fireplace still works. I saw some wood stacked behind the cabin when we came in. I’ll go chop some kindling!” Hansen said, taking an axe from the wall and heading towards the back door.

“Michelle, does this cabin have a basement?” Qin Lun circled the cabin once before returning to ask.

“Haha, couldn’t find it, could you?” Michelle stifled a laugh behind her hand. “The old ranger hid the entrance under the staircase. But there’s only junk down there, nothing valuable!”

While speaking, Michelle pulled open a hidden panel beneath the wooden staircase. “It’s been ages since the power went out. If you want to go into the basement, you better find some candles in the kitchen first.”

“Not necessary. I can see just fine!” Qin Lun replied laughingly, pointing to his own eyes.

“Oh, sorry! I forgot you Elves are all night owls!” Michelle grinned.

Darkness fell swiftly. Even though it was summer, the forest night felt quite cold. A cool breeze blew in from the lake, laden with a chill, damp vapor.

Once full darkness settled, Hansen lit a campfire near the cabin door and stood watch with Qin Lun. The spot where the Johns were murdered was very close. Everyone knew this night might be key, making peaceful rest impossible.

“Want another beer?” Hansen waved a can towards Qin Lun – something he’d prepared beforehand.

“No thanks. I’m going to look around,” Qin Lun stood up and walked towards the dark forest.

Entering the woods, Qin Lun didn’t patrol around the cabin. For him, with his Elf Whispers ability, it was pointless. He stopped and leaned against a large tree, sinking into deep thought.

A sense of unease grew within Qin Lun. Rarely ever feeling this way before, he grew unusually irritated as time passed. He loved uncovering mysteries, but only those that stayed within the bounds of reason, like the earlier villa case. This whole “Mystery of Crystal Lake” clearly involved supernatural phenomena, where regular logic was useless.

Since entering the Crystal Lake Campground, he’d been utterly clueless. The forest’s feedback was simple: nothing unusual nearby, not even a trace of dangerous wild animals like wolves or bears.

Qin Lun’s gaze drifted towards the cabin in the dark. Something felt wrong about it, instinctively, but he couldn’t pinpoint why.

This cabin used to house park rangers and campground managers. They were responsible for patrolling the woods and the Crystal Lake cove. Providing visitors with various conveniences – cooking utensils, fishing gear, tents – almost everything someone could need. Inside were several rooms, and the basement he’d checked earlier even served as a small infirmary.

The cabin’s footprint was sizable. Seen through the branches swaying in the wind, it resembled a giant beast crouching in the dark night.

Closing his eyes, Qin Lun listened to the rustling foliage. Slowly, his heart calmed.

Suddenly, his perception began to extend through the wind. The faint trembling of leaves, the wriggling of earthworms in the soil, the chirping of insects – he felt like a tiny fish swimming freely through a vast ocean of trees.

Except for the cabin and Crystal Lake ahead, this whole area had never felt clearer in his senses. He could almost detect the subtlest movement miles away.

A piece of insight unfolded within Qin Lun. The greatest power granted by his Moon Night Elf Bloodline wasn’t an affinity for wind or wood magic elements. It wasn’t the bloodline abilities like Moonlit Summoning or Elf Whispers either. It was this territorial advantage within a forest.

Here, if he could maintain this minute, all-surrounding perception, even facing an opponent twice as strong in combat, he stood a chance of victory. No wonder Elves were called the Kings of the Forest. Compared to other forest races, like Centaur or Troll, they truly held an unassailable advantage.

“Ah!” Suddenly, a sharp cry shattered Qin Lun’s near-omnipotent sensory state.

“It’s Michelle!” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed. He lunged towards the cabin.

“What happened?” By the time he burst inside, he saw Hansen, who had been tending the fire near the door, was already in. Michelle, who had screamed moments before, clung to Cora, shaking with fright.

“The fire was dying fast. Michelle just went behind the cabin to fetch more firewood… she said she saw a dark figure!” Cora looked uncertainly at Qin Lun. Hansen was by the door, within sight. Only Qin Lun had been away in the woods.

“Wasn’t me!” Qin Lun frowned slightly. “Was Michelle alone gathering wood?”

“No, Hans (Shepherd Hill’s alias) went with her!” Cora glanced around, surprised. “Huh? Where’d he go? Did he chase after that shadow?”

“Hill!” Qin Lun and Hansen exchanged shocked, questioning looks. They both knew Hill, that old fox, would never foolishly chase a likely dangerous target alone.

“You two take Michelle and search ahead! Cora and I will check behind the cabin!” Sas’s eyes gleamed sharply. Though this Esmira constable had a tendency towards arrogance, he seemed dependable enough now.

“Let’s all go. The campfire out front makes the area visible at a glance. Advisor Hans wouldn’t be there,” Hansen said firmly after a brief moment of silence.

The group combed the area behind the cabin, searching multiple times near the spot where Michelle and Hill supposedly encountered the figure. They found absolutely nothing. Hill, that old fox, had seemingly vanished into thin air.

“He’s too weak! To get taken without putting up any resistance at all!” Sas slammed a fist onto the wooden table in frustration.

Qin Lun and Hansen locked eyes again, mutual shock mirrored in their expressions.

“There’s no way Hill could just disappear unless… unless a High-Rank Apostle was involved,” Hansen murmured privately to Qin Lun, muting the others on the Team Channel. “Maybe he hid himself voluntarily, for some reason.”

“Impossible. When he vanished, my Perception covered several square kilometers around here. He couldn’t hide from me in the forest,” Qin Lun shook his head firmly.

“Then how did he disappear?!” Hansen paced around the room, clearly agitated.

“Other than Michelle’s dark figure, none of us detected any signs of a struggle,” Qin Lun’s gaze hardened. “It’s too early to declare Hill missing. Hill must have been taken beyond our detection range before he could react.”

“Weren’t you just saying your Perception covered kilometers? How could that happen?” Hansen’s brow furrowed tightly. “Did the enemy use some kind of spatial teleportation ability?”

“Hmph. Unlikely. This Guidance Mission is just Sergeant Major level. As for that team you and Hill rubbed the wrong way, they wouldn’t find us so quickly, especially not in this forest,” Qin Lun mused. “If they intended to attack the group, they wouldn’t just take Hill.”

“Maybe they wanted info? To interrogate someone about our team?” Hansen seemed unsure.

“Why not grab Michelle, who’s weaker? In this world, our bloodlines are exposed, but other Apostles wouldn’t know she’s a Plot Character mixed among us,” Qin Lun quickly dismissed Hansen’s theory.

“What do you think, Mr. Qin Lun?” Cora whispered, approaching Qin Lun after calming her husband down.

Impressed by Qin Lun and Hill’s actions yesterday, this Esmira constable remained less panicked than the others, retaining great confidence in him.

“What do I think? Well, yes. I actually have one,” Qin Lun stared into the flickering light from the fireplace, his voice low and eerie across the Team Channel. “Perhaps Shattered Starry Sky gave us the clue long ago. But the target was too obvious, so we missed it.”