The First Order

Throughout the journey, Ren Xiaosu had speculated that if anyone on the team were a supernatural being, then Yang Xiaojin would most likely be the one.

But to his surprise, it turned out to be Xu Xianchu, the most inconspicuous person in the team.

Regarding Yang Xiaojin, Ren Xiaosu had at least already learned some information about her and knew that she was dangerous. But Ren Xiaosu had never thought much of Xu Xianchu at all.

However, this was also because Xu Xianchu’s power was easy to hide. Although the gray shadow was extremely strong, Xu Xianchu was just an ordinary soldier. This left Ren Xiaosu unable to assess him.

What a pity! If only he had a Master Skill Duplication Scroll! He could immediately use it on Xu Xianchu!

If he were lucky enough to copy Xu Xianchu’s skill, Ren Xiaosu would have even more trump cards for the journey.

However, Ren Xiaosu had never seen a Master Skill Duplication Scroll since the palace was activated. He believed that it must be very rare for it to appear.

At this moment, Xu Xianchu let out a sigh and said, “I just wanted to bring everyone out of here. I wasn’t intending to hurt anyone.”

Ren Xiaosu observed from the side but could not tell whether Xu Xianchu was being sincere.

In fact, he did not have a bad impression of Xu Xianchu. Previously, when Liu Bu and the rest of the others ostracized him, Xu Xianchu did not join in in doing so. But of course, Ren Xiaosu did not have a good impression of him either.

If that contentious soldier had not pulled out his pistol just now, Xu Xianchu might not have made a move.

Ren Xiaosu turned around and looked at Yang Xiaojin. He saw that Yang Xiaojin had reverted to her previously calm state. It was as though she was not interested in supernatural beings at all.

“Aren’t you curious?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“I am,” Yang Xiaojin said calmly.

Ren Xiaosu was speechless. This curiosity she had was too perfunctory.

Suddenly, Xu Xianchu looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, “Aren’t you a doctor? Can you take a look at their injuries? Before joining the group, Wang Congyang told me about you, so you don’t have to pretend.”

“Uh-huh.” Ren Xiaosu simply stood up and went to the soldier who got stabbed and squatted down beside him. Then he turned to Xu Xianchu and said, “He’s quite badly hurt but there are no medical supplies in the wilderness.”

At this moment, the soldier asked with a pale face, “How long can I still live for?”

Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “Ten…”

“10 minutes?” The soldier was stunned.

Ren Xiaosu looked at him seriously and said, “Nine… eight… seven…”

The soldier got scared.

“I avoided kicking him in vulnerable spots and internal organs, so don’t scare him like this.” Xu Xianchu said, “I heard from Wang Congyang that you have an extremely effective medicine that is used to specially treat wounds. I don’t believe that you didn’t bring it out with you to the wilderness.”

Ren Xiaosu said unhappily, “My medicine is very expensive. Are you gonna pay for it? I’m only the guide, not your accompanying doctor. But if you want me to be that, you’ll have to pay me more.”

Needless to say, Ren Xiaosu really did have two vials of the black medicine with him.

Xu Xianchu was taken aback. “I lost my money along the way.”

He turned his gaze to the others and thought of telling everyone to pool their money together to save their teammate’s life. In reality, Xu Xianchu didn’t wish to kill anyone. He was only hoping to deter the others from doing anything wrong.

However, the others turned to look away as they were unwilling to help. Especially Luo Xinyu. This wounded soldier had kept looking at her with wicked intentions.

Seeing that no one was willing to fork out any money, Ren Xiaosu was about to tell them to forget it. However, a weak voice came from the ground beside Ren Xiaosu. “I brought money…”

Ren Xiaosu thought about how strong this person’s will to live was.

He asked, “Where did you keep the money? Is it in the left pocket or the right pocket? I have to tell you, I don’t know how to suture a wound, so it’ll entirely depend on fate if the wound heals after applying the medicine.”

The others were stunned. Would it work if you only applied the medicine but not suture the wound? Luo Xinyu said, “I have a sewing kit here, but I’ll faint at the sight of blood.”

“Let me do the sewing then,” Xu Xianchu said.

Ren Xiaosu had already taken out a stack of money from the soldier’s pocket. “I won’t overcharge you, so I’ll just take 1200 yuan.”

“Okay.” The soldier’s mood became much better when he realized that he did not have to die. Then he said to Ren Xiaosu, “Thank you.”

“Gratitude received from Wang Lei, +1!”

Ren Xiaosu’s eyes lit up as his gratitude tokens went up again. After Wang Lei’s thanks, his tokens finally reached 77. He was another step closer to unlocking the weapon.

The tension at the campsite eased up a little. Ren Xiaosu’s antics had made the atmosphere less tense, and everyone also realized that even though Xu Xianchu had injured someone decisively, he was actually not a ruthless and cruel person.

If Xu Xianchu were brutal, everyone would have to be careful of him. After all, it was very dangerous to have a supernatural being like him around them.

While suturing the wound for the soldier, Xu Xianchu said, “I don’t have to hide anything from you guys anymore. The people in the stronghold only found out that the ruins of a Pre-Cataclysm civilization existed in the Jing Mountains. They’re only sending our private troops out here to draw up a map and chart out routes to facilitate the exploration by the main troops later on. Actually, we didn’t even know what had happened out here before we came to this place.

“After I got here, I found that there was something wrong going on in the Jing Mountains. I was thinking that if the secret of the Jing Mountains could make the wild animals evolve, would it also prove to be useful to humans and help supernatural beings like us too? That’s why I insisted on us advancing.”

“Didn’t you say before that you already gave up on the mission?” Liu Bu asked.

“At the time, I felt that it was getting too dangerous. I decided to give up to not expose my identity as a supernatural being. I can just follow the main troops from the stronghold and come back here again later since that would be much safer,” Xu Xianchu answered.

Ren Xiaosu knew that Xu Xianchu had really thought about giving up on the mission.

After he said that, Xu Xianchu paused for a while before continuing, “But I can’t return to the stronghold anymore. You’ve all seen the stronghold’s treatment of the supernatural beings. If I were to go back, I would be more or less done for. So I’ll head into the depths of the Jing Mountains to explore it. If you want to go to Stronghold 112, we’ll split up here. I won’t stop you either.”

The depths of the Jing Mountains and Stronghold 112 were in two different directions. One was to the northeast while the other was to the northwest. Everyone was faced with two choices. One was to let Xu Xianchu depart from the team, while the other was to follow him.

No one at the campsite spoke. It was as though they were all waiting for the others to make a decision first.

“I’ll follow you.” Yang Xiaojin said calmly, “It’s too dangerous here. The surest way of getting out alive is by following a supernatural being like you.”

Ren Xiaosu went through his memory and realized this was the most that Yang Xiaojin had spoken throughout their journey.

But he felt that Yang Xiaojin was lying. Her original goal should be to get to the depths of the Jing Mountains as well!

Ren Xiaosu was getting more and more suspicious of Yang Xiaojin. He felt that she might also be a supernatural being.