The First Order

“Wait.” Luo Lan was stunned when he heard Ren Xiaosu’s reply. “Didn’t they say they had captured the No. 001 Experimental? When did it become Liuyuan?”

Ren Xiaosu gave him a look. “Keep this a secret. It’s because I’m guessing that Liuyuan might be the No. 001 Experimental. As for why I guessed so, I can’t tell you the reason before I’m sure of it.” Then Ren Xiaosu looked at Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi immediately looked unhappy. “I’m also very tight-lipped, alright? Don’t worry, you and your maid saved our lives in Stronghold 61. I, Zhou Qi, know what I have to do.”

When he said that, Ren Xiaosu felt the tension around them easing.

He quickly changed the subject. “That’s why I’m going to save Liuyuan this time. Actually, there’s no need for y’all to put yourselves in danger with me. It will be enough with these people paving the way.”

“That won’t do.” Luo Lan said righteously, “The Pyro Company has gone too far. How could they actually abduct cute little Liuyuan? I won’t take this lying down. We’re gonna have to turn the entire Sacred Mountains upside down!”

Ren Xiaosu looked out into the night and wondered how Liuyuan was doing now. If the Pyro Company had really captured Liuyuan, he would probably really turn this entire place upside down.

“Future Commander, what are you thinking about?” the Great Hoodwinker asked.

“I was thinking that it would be great if we can successfully find Yan Liuyuan. When the time comes, I want to bring him back to the Northwest and lead a good life there. We won’t have to get involved in the affairs of the Central Plains anymore,” Ren Xiaosu said with a sigh. These were his heartfelt words. He wanted nothing more than to have some peace.

However, when the Great Hoodwinker heard this, his eyes lit up. “Future Commander, are you serious?”

Ren Xiaosu was surprised to see the Great Hoodwinker getting up and going towards the outside of the campsite. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to send out a signal to notify our troops from the Northwest to come and flatten the Sacred Mountains and help Future Commander find your younger brother!” The Great Hoodwinker said firmly.

Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Alright, alright, why are you still trying to make an impression at a time like this? By the time Fortress 178’s troops arrive, what time would it be?”

“Hehe, I’m just expressing Fortress 178’s stand on their behalf,” the Great Hoodwinker said with a smile.

The night passed peacefully, but the next morning, Ren Xiaosu was awoken by someone screaming in the campsite.

When he came out of his tent, he was surprised to see a woman standing at the entrance of someone’s tent. She was pointing at a statue on the grass patch and exclaiming, “Quick, come and see! Why is there another statue in front of this tent? Didn’t the shrine get smashed yesterday?”

Ren Xiaosu went closer to have a look and asked Luo Lan, “You were the one who smashed the shrine yesterday. Do you still remember it?”

“Yes.” Luo Lan nodded and said, “At that time, I only kicked over the shrine from the outside, but the statue in it was not damaged. However, a lot of bugs started crawling out after the shrine collapsed, so no one really checked out the statue in detail after that.”

“Is this the statue from yesterday?” Cheng Yu squatted in front of the statue and examined it carefully. “I think it really is. Look, there’s some freshly broken off edges on its body. It was probably caused by Luo Lan when he knocked down the shrine yesterday. But why has this statue appeared here?”

Cheng Yu turned around and looked at the tent behind him. At this moment, the tent flap was closed with a zipper, but even with such a big commotion outside, it did not wake the person in it?

He reached out to pull down the tent flap, and his expression suddenly changed and he couldn’t help but take two steps back.

He saw the person in the tent had died at some point in time. There were two lines of blood and tears on his face that looked almost exactly the same as the person who died yesterday. What was different today was that the unknown bugs were still crawling back and forth between the victim’s eyes and nostrils. It also looked like there was something wriggling under the skin of this person’s face.

Cheng Yu turned around and looked at the statue in bewilderment. The statue seemed like it was smiling at the deceased in the tent. It was extremely eerie!

No one knew why this statue had followed them to the campsite. After all, they were several kilometers away from the shrine.

This time, everyone was getting anxious. No one could explain what was going on.

After knocking down the shrine yesterday, everyone had felt a sense of relief. But now, they realized they had underestimated the situation.

When the woman who discovered the statue in the morning saw the deceased in the tent, she covered her mouth and started crying. It was obvious this man and woman knew each from before. Judging from the woman’s pained expression, they were most likely a couple.

Off to the side, Song Qiao said, “This person also tried to touch the shrine yesterday, but he wasn’t as fast as the other guy. Could it be that this statue is looking to kill anyone who disrespected it?”

Luo Lan sneered, “Then it should have come to look for me first. I’ve already destroyed its shrine, so why didn’t it come and seek revenge on me? Don’t always try to link everything to mysticism. In my opinion, there might still be spies from the Pyro Company in our group. There’s someone trying to make us live in fear every day to wear us out!”

What Luo Lan said was not without logic. Once a person lived in a state of fear for long enough, they would even lose their ability to think normally. In the end, they would just end up as fish on the chopping block.

“But didn’t those bugs get burnt to death yesterday? Where did these bugs come from? Besides, look, there’s also insect repellent scattered around his tent. Are these bugs actually not afraid of the insect repellent?” Cheng Yu wondered.

“It’s pointless to think about that now.” Luo Lan sneered, “I’ll smash this statue right here. Let’s see who else can use it to play tricks on us.”

Then Luo Lan picked up a huge rock and threw it at the statue. With a loud crash, the rock and the statue shattered.

But someone exclaimed, “Look, there’s a skeleton hidden inside the statue!”

Luo Lan squatted to have a look at it. That person was right. There was indeed a white skeleton underneath the statue that was also smashed to pieces.

“Seems like this statue was made with a human. I think there were people who did this on purpose. The child’s skeleton inside the statue is a ‘sacrifice’ that was used as a medium for the so-called gods.” Wang Yun said nearby, “I read it in a book once, but that was really long ago, so I can’t remember the details exactly.”

Luo Lan sneered, “You can’t remember? Or do you not want to say it?”

Wang Yun clearly had a photographic memory. Since he had mentioned the usage of such a strange practice, how could he not know about its origins?

While everyone was discussing, Luo Lan looked at Ren Xiaosu, who was frowning at the side. “What’s wrong? Did you discover something?”

“No.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “I’m just worried that since someone could move a stone statue into the campsite without anyone noticing, that person would have the ability to kill anyone silently as well.”

Ren Xiaosu was most concerned that even he did not know how the statue had gotten into the campsite.