"Hey, purple-haired woman over there! Do you know something? And what did you mean by what you just said!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of almost everyone focused on Acheron. Clearly, many people with stronger psychological resilience had heard Acheron's warning.
But the irony of reality is often that kind warnings do not necessarily receive kind responses; people sometimes do not return kindness for a well-intentioned reminder. Instead, they might pin all the blame on the person who gave the warning. Acheron glanced at the speaker with a calm expression, then ignored them completely. She had clearly expected such an outcome and was not surprised in the least.
To Acheron, the thoughts and lives of others were as insignificant as dust. After all, in her journey through the vast cosmos, such incidents had long become commonplace; expecting her to pay the price for others was nothing but a pipe dream.
"This place is an unknown domain; I suggest you tread carefully. If you disturb the lurkers in the dense forest, the end will be like the waters of the Yellow Springs—silent and all-consuming."
And so, after offering one last word of advice, Acheron headed toward a direction in the forest without looking back. Throughout the process, Acheron's expression remained indifferent; her steps were firm, and the hem of her clothes didn't pause for even half a second for the hesitation of those behind her.
And these people were exactly as Acheron had thought. Now, even those who were originally just watching the scene couldn't help but start shouting.
"This place is so eerie and terrifying. Why is this woman so fearless? Does she know some inside information?"
"Dressed so flashily, she's just a bit good-looking, yet she acts so supercilious."
"I bet this woman is an accomplice of the culprit behind this, right?"
"Damn it, what are you pretending for, you bitch! Stop right there and tell me right now if you're the one behind all this!"
Seeing Acheron being so bold, many people felt there was a major problem. In the group, only this woman's attire stood out like a crane among chickens. At the same time, her reaction from start to finish was one of complete indifference, making her look out of place compared to everyone else.
Now that she had tried to brush them off with a couple of random sentences and intended to leave alone, it further solidified the thoughts in people's hearts. 'You say there's a problem nearby, yet you dare to leave by yourself.'
In such an unknown environment, some people stopped caring about morality for a moment. After finding a high-sounding reason in their hearts, several large men stepped forward, preparing to take the woman down directly. The rest either had hesitant expressions or silently acquiesced to their behavior.
"Bitch, I told you to stop right there!"
The man who had started the commotion had already quickly reached Acheron's back.
Seeing that Acheron still ignored his words and continued walking forward on her own, the man's expression instantly darkened. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force, and the suppressed anger in his throat turned into a roar: "Are you deaf! I told you to stop!"
Before his voice could fade, he suddenly reached out his right hand, his fingers grabbing toward Acheron's wrist like iron pincers—his movement carried an irresistible arrogance.
However, the result was far from what he expected. Acheron, who was walking forward, didn't stop her pace but suddenly turned to her left rear without any warning. The man's fingers had just touched the air when they grabbed nothing, and his force was completely lost.
What was even more brilliant was that when Acheron turned, she deliberately took half a step wider, her toe pressing against the man's front foot like an iron nail. Due to his forward momentum, the man's center of gravity instantly collapsed, and he fell straight forward, landing face-first in the dirt.
The crowd watching this scene only thought the woman was lucky to have dodged the man's harassment, completely failing to notice that subtle nudge of her toe when Acheron turned. But when their gaze fell back on Acheron, everyone's breath hitched for a moment.
Acheron remained expressionless, her eyes as calm as a deep pool, but for some reason, everyone sensed a faint, spine-chilling killing intent from those eyes. The few people closest to Acheron, following the man, felt a chill on the back of their necks and involuntarily took half a step back.
They stared fixedly at Acheron's slit pupils, which were as purple as a ghostly pond. In the moment she turned, a red glow in her pupils flashed and vanished like a blood-blade, as if piercing a terrifying killing intent directly into the depths of their eyes.
In an instant, the noisy scene seemed frozen in ice; even the sound of breathing became a luxury. However, this chill came quickly and went just as fast. It was as if nothing had happened to everyone just now. After all, compared to believing that Acheron, a lone woman, could suppress everyone with just a look, they would rather believe that what happened just now was merely an illusion.
There was only one exception among them.
"Cough, cough, damn it! What the hell did you turn around for all of a sudden!"
The man, having eaten a mouthful of dirt, immediately pointed his finger viciously at the culprit who caused his misfortune after climbing to his feet. He clearly hadn't realized that everything just now was not a coincidence.
Facing the man's idiotic statement, Acheron didn't even bother to give him a glance this time, still choosing to ignore him. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the few people only a few steps away from her and asked softly:
"What do you want to do?"
Her tone was extremely flat, as if it were a simple, curious inquiry. But the few people in front of her felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, and even their breathing became cautious.
First, they knew very well that those malicious words of denunciation were unconcealed, and this woman must have heard them clearly. Second, what made them even more alarmed was that the image of the red glow flashing in Acheron's eyes when she turned still lingered in the minds of those closest to her—that smear of blood-red was like a branding iron, deeply imprinted on their retinas.
At this moment, they neither dared to conclude that the red glow was an illusion nor dared to respond easily. Silence was like an invisible net, wrapping everyone inside, and even the air became thick. However, this time they were indeed overthinking it.
Since turning around, Acheron had already withdrawn her attention from this group of people; her gaze was as calm as a cold pond, without any further ripples. She wasn't deliberately ignoring the crowd's reaction, but she truly hadn't noticed the abnormality of these few people.
The killing intent that flashed in her eyes just now was like a blade leaving its scabbard, aimed directly at the man with ill intentions; it was a warning, and also a punishment. As for the others, they had merely happened to make eye contact with her during that momentary clash and mistakenly thought they were the targets.
"You fucking dare to ignore me? Do you take me for thin air?" The man's furious roar exploded in the dead silence.
He stared fixedly at Acheron's back, his eyes churning not only with anger but also with a kind of shame turned into rage from being completely provoked—after all, a woman had actually dared to make him lose face in public. Seeing that Acheron still remained motionless like a statue, the corner of the man's mouth twitched violently, revealing a sinister smile.
He no longer hid it, squeezing a low threat from his throat. "Bitch, let's see how you can still act all high and mighty!"
Hearing this, Acheron still didn't turn around, her voice as clear and cold as an icy spring hitting a rock as she said faintly:
"I should have warned you... this forest is not a place where even a hint of commotion should be caused."
"Hmph, I want to see how much longer you can pretend..."
Puchi...