The First Order

When Ren Xiaosu listened in on Zhang Jinglin’s lessons on top of the school walls, he had once heard Zhang Jinglin sharing some strange stories, including some that talked about “disappearing cities.”

Sometimes, when Ren Xiaosu remembered Zhang Jinglin, he would feel that he wasn’t always a serious person. Whenever this teacher got tired of teaching, he would simply take a chair to the podium and sit down to share some interesting stories to fill the class time.

However, Ren Xiaosu felt that this was quite normal. After all, being the only teacher in town, it would be quite difficult for Zhang Jinglin to only talk about lessons all day.

In the past, Mr. Zhang had told of an ancient city in the wilderness during one of his story sessions. The ancient city had been prosperous for some time but suddenly started declining for some reason. Zhang Jinglin said that it seemed like demons started appearing after the decline of the ancient city.

At the time, Ren Xiaosu was tempted to say, “Like hell I’d believe that!” If he didn’t want to teach the lesson, so be it. Why did he have to make up topics like demons and the such? How could there really be demons in this world?

But Ren Xiaosu was a little convinced now.

In fact, Zhang Jinglin should not be too old and was probably only in his thirties. Ren Xiaosu had heard from Wang Fugui before that Zhang Jinglin came from a different place a long time ago. As for how long ago that was, no one could remember.

Ren Xiaosu would sometimes question whether Zhang Jinglin was a resident of the stronghold before he became a refugee. How else could he know so many things? Even though some of the things that he said could have been made up…

Now, when Xu Xianchu said that there was a mysterious city hidden within the Jing Mountains, Ren Xiaosu remembered what Zhang Jinglin had said. Then did that mean there were demons in the Jing Mountains?

Ren Xiaosu asked Xu Xianchu, “Did they talk about any other things?”

Xu Xianchu thought it over carefully and said, “I think Wang Congyang also found out from his sources right before we set off that this information about the Jing Mountains was not only exclusive to Stronghold 113. It seems that other teams are also on their way there.”

Ren Xiaosu thought that Xu Xianchu was going to reveal some secrets, but it turned out to only be this.

“Actually, be it the stronghold overseers or the corporations, they’re all very interested in the evolution of these supernatural beings.” Xu Xianchu said, “You all should also know about the newly built psychiatric hospital in the stronghold, right? The supernatural beings are being studied not only because the overseers want to learn how to defend against them, but also because they intend to make use of them.”

“Can you talk more about these supernatural beings?” Ren Xiaosu said, “As a supernatural being, you should be very concerned about this issue, right?”

“Supernatural beings…” Xu Xianchu pondered it before saying, “Actually, supernatural beings existed since a long time ago. It was just that everyone regarded them as legends in the past. There’s increased attention on them again these days because the supernatural beings have started appearing more frequently. There’s even an extremely secretive organization of supernatural beings that has appeared in some places.”

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. “They even have an organization now?”

The existence of such an organization would mean that the number of supernatural beings was not small.

“You guys might’ve already heard about the event where a supernatural being tried to assassinate a stronghold overseer sometime back, right?” Xu Xianchu said, “Wang Congyang told me that the supernatural being was from an organization called the ‘Saboteurs,’ or at least that’s what that supernatural being claimed.”

“Did he get caught?” Ren Xiaosu was curious.

“No.” Xu Xianchu shook his head. “He’s far more powerful than you can imagine. Nowadays, every major stronghold is targeting the supernatural beings. It seems that they’re still assessing the danger ratings of these people, but I’m not sure how they’re being evaluated.”

Ren Xiaosu muttered, “Why do they have to fight to the death? Can’t they just get along with one another?”

He said so because he could sympathize with the situation. As Ren Xiaosu was also a supernatural being, and having to suddenly face those large organizations, he felt a little uncomfortable. Yang Xiaojin glanced at him but did not say anything.

Xu Xianchu sighed and said, “I can’t return to the stronghold anymore. If the people in the stronghold learn that I’m a supernatural being, it’ll end tragically for me.”

Beside him, Liu Bu piped up, “Don’t worry, we won’t reveal your secret!”

Honestly speaking, Liu Bu was a little worried that he would get silenced by Xu Xianchu. As such, he hurriedly expressed his stance on the matter.

Xu Xianchu glanced at Liu Bu without saying a word. It could be seen that he still held to his principles and would not do something like silencing someone.

But who would believe Liu Bu’s assurance? It would be beyond idiotic to trust him.

Xu Xianchu gave Liu Bu the rare rebuttal. “Of everyone here, you’re the one who worries me the most!”

Ren Xiaosu asked, “Then you can go back if Liu Bu dies in an accident, right?”

Liu Bu was stunned. How could he curse him like that? Liu Bu wanted to scold Ren Xiaosu but did not have the guts to do so!

Xu Xianchu, who was standing off to the side, said with a sigh, “You’re also a supernatural being, right?”

Ren Xiaosu said, “Huh?”

Ren Xiaosu wondered whether he had given himself away somehow and that had Yang Xiaojin noticed that something was up.

Then Xu Xianchu said, “You must have awakened your powers to annoy people.”

Ren Xiaosu was speechless. But, Ren Xiaosu got a sudden inspiration. He said to the palace in his mind, “Palace, do I have a skill to annoy people? What’s my level of proficiency?”

The voice from the palace calmly answered, “Perfect.”

Ren Xiaosu was speechless.

It was actually perfect!

Ren Xiaosu had gasped in admiration at Yang Xiaojin when he found out that she had a perfect skill. But he did not expect himself to have one as well! But comparing his perfect skill with hers, what he had was bullshit! ‘Palace, are you serious?!’

When Ren Xiaosu thought of himself also having a perfect skill, his balls ached. But it was nonetheless a perfect skill, so he was still kind of happy.

Some people talked about how it wasn’t easy to perfect a skill in life… but who could have expected that he would accomplish it so early in life?

Xu Xianchu cast a glance at the three corpses outside the hollow and finally said, “Let’s go. Whatever it is that lies in the Jing Mountains, I’ll go and have a look at it myself.”

This was what supernatural beings desired. Everyone used to think that what was said in the legends were unrealistic, but once they started closing in on the legends themselves, they would develop a desire for the world at large.

It was the same for Xu Xianchu and Ren Xiaosu too.

Xu Xianchu said, “I don’t know if you guys have ever read a book called Journey to the West. I’ve seen it in a library at the stronghold. When I read in the book that someone could lift a cudgel weighing 13,500 catties, I found it unbelievable. But these days, I kinda wonder if the characters in the book could possibly exist in this world. The book said the cudgel was so powerful it could crush mountains.”

Ren Xiaosu pondered it and said, “I’ve never come across the book you just mentioned as the school in town doesn’t carry it. But I have an issue with it if you say that a cudgel weighing 13,500 catties can crush mountains. That works out to only be around six tons. The tractors at the factory outside town can already bear a load of ten tons. Even if they went over the limit by a little and carried two of those cudgels, it wouldn’t be an issue at all.”

Xu Xianchu took a deep breath before he turned around and walked towards the forest. He was about to head into the unknown Jing Mountains.