Others clearly hadn't noticed the black shadow at first.
Initially, Zhou Niannian thought it was her own shadow, flickering in front of her under the candlelight, but the silhouette of the shadow didn't resemble hers at all.
It had a small, somewhat short physique, its legs braced on the ground with its hands as points of support.
Lifting its head, it seemed to be looking in Zhou Niannian's direction. Zhou Niannian shifted the candlelight slightly, allowing it to fall on the face of the entity before her.
In the fleeting moment the candlelight flickered past, Zhou Niannian saw its eyes.
The eyes glowed with a green light, leaving Zhou Niannian momentarily bewildered.
Her body hadn't even begun to move, yet its voice had already echoed through the pentagonal formation.
The piercing sound reverberated within the deep cavern, and Zhou Niannian's pupils widened. She held her hands up in front of her, blocking, afraid the creature would leap onto her face.
Hearing Zhou Niannian's cry, Jiang Fan immediately snapped back to attention and looked in her direction.
Jiang Fan also spotted the figure.
However, with a swift lunge from Jiang Fan, the figure vanished like a phantom, escaping before him.
Its speed was so great that Jiang Fan couldn't react in time.
But the immediate priority was to check on Zhou Niannian.
As Jiang Fan approached, he placed his hands on Zhou Niannian's shoulders, seemingly trying to calm her down.
As Zhou Niannian's gaze gradually steadied, she realized the man before her was Jiang Fan and finally recovered.
Zhou Niannian pointed in front of her, trying desperately to explain what she had just seen, while Jiang Fan comforted her emotions.
Evidently, Jiang Fan and the others had all seen the phantom-like figure.
They all gathered around.
The monster seemed to have long since fled, leaving the few of them in the cave.
Zhou Niannian's voice still echoed in the cave, and by now, everyone had reached her.
Clearly, they had all noticed the monster from earlier.
A tense atmosphere spread through everyone's hearts.
They had mustered their courage just to stand in those corners, and the two girls were particularly terrified.
Dai Xiaomei tried desperately to convey to everyone what she had seen.
But her gibberish, like dinosaur sounds, didn't make any sense to them.
The atmosphere plummeted to an all-time low.
They had thought that by standing in their designated spots, they could open the door, but instead, they had encountered this creature.
However, it was clear that the monster hadn't been attracted by the five positions.
More likely, it had either escaped in when they opened the door earlier, or it had always lived there.
The reason the door hadn't opened yet, Jiang Fan could only explain as them not standing long enough.
"Damn, that thing escaped. But it's good that it didn't attack us, everyone, don't worry."
Jiang Fan tried his best to soothe the emotions of the two girls beside him, but their feelings didn't seem to improve as expected.
"The door still hasn't opened, and I think it's because we haven't stood long enough. It probably requires a certain amount of time to open the door. Let's try again."
Hearing Jiang Fan's words, Zhou Niannian reacted.
"No, I won't. That thing was too terrifying just now. I saw its face, it was truly horrifying."
When Jiang Fan suggested trying again, Zhou Niannian immediately stomped her feet in fear.
Zhou Niannian tightly clutched Jiang Fan's arm, genuinely terrified.
However, the most likely reason right now was, as Jiang Fan had said, that they hadn't stood for the required duration, which was why the door hadn't opened.
"If that monster had attacked me just now, I would have been eaten. I really don't dare to try again."
Zhou Niannian's voice trembled, and her eyes were already welling up with tears.
The others also knew that the only way to potentially open the door was to stand in those positions again, but Zhou Niannian was clearly unwilling at the moment.
"If I stand there again, I'm afraid it'll eat me. Really, believe me, it's too terrifying."
How could the people around them not understand the potential threat of the monster?
But if they didn't stand in those positions again, the door wouldn't open, leaving them in a difficult situation.
Dai Xiaomei walked over and held Zhou Niannian's hand, clearly wanting to say something, but her language was unintelligible to everyone, only making unintelligible sounds.
"Wuwuwu a a ya ya." (It's okay, let's try again. If we see that monster again, we'll fight it together.)
Realizing that she couldn't communicate with Zhou Niannian, Dai Xiaomei became anxious.
If they didn't complete this task, they wouldn't be able to leave.
But clearly, Zhou Niannian was now afraid to stand in that position again, and her hand was tightly gripping Jiang Fan's sleeve, refusing to let go.
Seeing how flustered Zhou Niannian was, and how her body was constantly trembling, Jiang Fan felt helpless.
Although in such a small environment, the most likely way to pass the test was through these five corners.
However, to complete this task, all five people had to cooperate; it would be useless if only the other four tried.
Furthermore, with Zhou Niannian being so terrified now, it was clearly impossible to make her stand in that position and continue the project.
Jiang Fan knew that only after Zhou Niannian calmed down and they negotiated could this project possibly be completed. Moreover, Jiang Fan didn't want to force anyone to do something they were unwilling to do.
"How about this, since we can't complete this project right now, why don't we all stick together and rest for a while? Let's all recover our spirits."
Jiang Fan's words were clearly the right approach.
After he spoke, Zhou Niannian on the side nodded frantically. She would agree to anything as long as she didn't have to stand in that spot.
The others nodded helplessly upon hearing this.
Clearly, they all wanted to leave.
The cramped space, the dim environment, and the bone-chilling atmosphere made them not want to stay any longer.
But seeing Zhou Niannian's current state, it seemed unlikely they could complete it for now.