Chapter 136
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Lou Yan looked towards the mountaintop.
Dark clouds covered the top, and the originally lush green forest appeared in a deep black color.
The cold rain hit Lou Yan’s face, sliding down his brows.
According to Xia Wu, all the leaders of the cultists, except for Wen Yian, had gathered here.
As for why Wen Yian wasn’t here, Lou Yan knew the reason. Since Duan Zege ‘guided’ Wen Yian, she had been diligently searching for the ‘water ghost,’ wanting to prove her worth to Lou Yan. So she left early and returned late every day, busy with her work.
Moreover, Wen Yian joined as a member of the cultists, so the other leaders of the cultists probably wanted to use her as an undercover agent, so they wouldn’t assign her any other tasks.
Lou Yan didn’t know if Wen Yian knew about all the cultists gathering in Chengjiang city. But regardless of whether Wen Yian knew or not, now was a good opportunity for her to play a role.
On the way to Xiaoqing Mountain, Lou Yan had already sent a message to Wen Yian, asking her to come to Xiaoqing Mountain to help.
He didn’t say what help, but Wen Yian, being smart, would surely understand the meaning in his words. Yes, Lou Yan was forcing Wen Yian to make a choice.
Either Wen Yian helped Lou Yan to capture all these cultists in one go, or she waited to be killed by them after the surgical thread in her brain was activated.
If she wanted to protect herself wisely, not participating in this battle was impossible.
And if Wen Yian decided to come over, then with her talent for sneaking into darkness, she should have reached the top of Xiaoqing Mountain by now.
With so many undercover agents arranged by the cultists in the Anomaly Control Bureau, did they ever think that Lou Yan had also arranged an undercover agent among their cultists?
A barely visible smile appeared at the corner of Lou Yan’s mouth.
Wen Yian, don’t let me down this time.
“Let’s split into teams and go up from different directions.”
Lou Yan made the final decision, dividing everyone into four teams based on their strength, compatibility, and adaptability of talents, each team consisting of 4-6 people.
Five snipers went up the mountain ahead of time with their equipment—they needed to find the best angles for sniping.
Lou Yan didn’t participate in the grouping because his strength was too strong, and he could only fully utilize his strength when acting alone.
After dividing the teams, Lou Yan looked at Duan Zege, “Use your tarot cards to calculate which team should go which direction?”
Duan Zege smiled, took out the tarot cards from his pocket, and skillfully divined for a moment. Soon, he determined which team should go in which direction.
Mashan asked suspiciously, “Hey, is your calculation reliable?”
Duan Zege put the tarot cards back into his pocket and said kindly, “Of course, this is my talent. The road divined for you will definitely be the most suitable for you. Although there may be dangers and even deaths or complete annihilation… there will be a glimmer of hope among them. As long as you grasp this glimmer of hope, you will have a chance of winning. If you choose not to take this road, then there may not even be this glimmer of hope.”
From Duan Zege’s words, everyone present could hear how dangerous this operation was. It was so dangerous that everyone here might die.
“…”
“Ah? Is it… so dangerous?”
The talented individuals looked at each other, inevitably showing panic and fear on their faces.
Some people deep down had already begun to regret coming to Xiaoqing Mountain.
But… they touched the paper burial clothes hidden inside their clothes, and felt the two spirit recovery needles in their pockets, took a deep breath, and bravely decided to go up.
Not only for their own benefit, but also for the city of Chengjiang and the relatives and friends in the city of Chengjiang behind them.
They knew why they had come here even though they knew it was dangerous, didn’t they?
Luo Yanhong wiped her eyes, carried a kitchen blade in her left hand, and touched the handgun she had never used before with her right hand, leading the way forward, “Let’s go! Our children are still in the city of Chengjiang!”
“D*mn it,” Ma Shan gritted his teeth and followed his twin brother, “Let’s go, I don’t believe it, we can’t deal with a dozen cultists with so many of us!”
“Cultists are also human, much easier to deal with than anomalies. We can’t beat anomalies, but we can’t beat humans?” Ma Hai skillfully rolled up his sleeves, blood boiling, “What’s everyone afraid of, we all have guns, right? Just shoot with bullets. Killing one counts as one, let the cultists know how formidable we are!”
People all have some courage, especially those who have lived through years of war-torn land.
Usually, it’s nothing, but when it comes to facing it, when it comes to having to fight, these twenty-two talented individuals surprisingly didn’t have anyone decide to retreat.
From the vegetable-selling aunt Luo Yanhong who was forty-six to the seventeen-year-old female student Shi Xiao, even the gloomy “invisible man” Kong Ping, all gritted their teeth and stepped into the woods.
After everyone had left, there were only five people left: Lou Yan, Li Sanxin, Duan Zege, Lu Haoxiu, and Ye Buyan.
Lou Yan directly asked Duan Zege, “Which road is the most dangerous?”
Duan Zege looked deeply at Lou Yan and pointed to the uphill road in front of him, “It’s this one.”
Lou Yan directly grabbed Xia Wu, whispered to Li Sanxin and the others, “Let’s go,” and briskly walked into the woods with Xia Wu, disappearing from the sight of everyone.
The remaining four people were the last group, and also the group with the fewest members. Duan Zege walked up to Li Sanxin, smiled at Li Sanxin, then smiled at Lu Haoxiu and Ye Buyan. The smiles made the three of them have goosebumps.
Li Sanxin rolled his eyes and said, “Speak if you have something to say, don’t beat around the bush.”
“Oh, sorry, I’m just a little excited,” Duan Zege said with a smile, hands in his pockets, “This is our first time forming a team of four. Honestly, I think our team is stronger than the others. Lou Yan chose the most dangerous road, so why not leave the second most dangerous road to us?”
Li Sanxin smirked, “I’m fine with that.”
Lu Haoxiu and Ye Buyan looked at each other and said in unison, “Me too!”
***
Duan Zege’s chosen path for the team was very steep, and it became even more difficult to walk in the rainy environment.
Li Sanxin and Ye Buyan had special physical strength and didn’t feel much fatigue. Lu Haoxiu was young and had a good body, and he didn’t feel tired either. Surprisingly, Duan Zege, the lazy man who hated sitting down when he could lie down at home, also had good physical strength. He didn’t even change his breathing until he reached halfway up the mountain.
The higher they climbed, the darker it became. The sound of rain mixed with the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, eerie and chilling.
There was sweat or rainwater on Lu Haoxiu’s forehead, unclear which one. He wiped his face and was about to look up to see how far they still had to go when he heard Duan Zege suddenly say, “There’s someone.”
Lu Haoxiu was startled and immediately followed Duan Zege’s gaze, only to see a woman with snakes crawling all over her head emerging from the woods on the left.
This woman had slightly dark skin and a very thin figure. Snakes moved slowly on her head like hair, but the most terrifying thing was her face.
Her features were still there, but her face had begun to resemble that of a snake’s head, with elongated eyes, vertical pupils, protruding features, and even fine scales on her skin! When she noticed several people looking at her, the woman grinned, turned around, and walked back into the woods.
“She should be Snake-head Ye Lan,” Duan Zege reacted quickly, immediately pulling Li Sanxin next to him to catch up. “Quick, we can’t let her get away!”
Li Sanxin complained about his slow speed, grabbed him, and followed. In the blink of an eye, they entered the woods.
Lu Haoxiu and Ye Buyan followed suit, but when they tried to enter the woods, they were blocked by an invisible wall.
“Ah, what is this?”
Lu Haoxiu bumped into it, his forehead turned red. He rubbed his forehead, tears in his eyes, reached out and touched the invisible wall, his eyes full of surprise and confusion: “A, a ghost wall? Duan-ge! Sanxin-ge!”
But Li Sanxin and Duan Zege inside the invisible wall seemed to have heard nothing, their figures disappearing quickly from the eyes of the two.
Ye Buyan’s expression was solemn. He carefully felt the invisible wall, top to bottom, even tried to dig a hole from the mud, but found no way to pass through.
Lu Haoxiu bumped into it head-on, his forehead turning red as he rubbed it tearfully and reached out to touch the air wall. His puppy eyes were filled with surprise and confusion: “Ghost, ghost wall? Brother Duan! Brother Sanxin!”
But Li Sanxin and Duan Zegu inside the air wall seemed as if they hadn’t heard anything, their figures quickly disappearing from the sight of the two.
Ye Buyan’s expression was grave as he carefully felt the air wall, from top to bottom, even trying to dig a hole from the ground, but he couldn’t find any way to pass through.
Lu Haoxiu exerted all his strength to punch the air wall, only to hurt himself while the air wall remained unaffected. He blew on his red fist, anxiously looking at the other side of the air wall, and pitifully asked, “Ye Buyan, have you found a way to get through?”
Ye Buyan shook his head, “No.”
Lu Haoxiu took a deep breath and muttered to himself.
“Don’t panic, don’t panic, Lu Haoxiu, calm down. Brother Lou said, when encountering such things, one must stay calm.”
He slowly calmed down, looked around, his eyes brightened, and like a monkey, he found a tall tree and climbed up it lightly. The tree was more than three meters tall, but when Lu Haoxiu reached the top, he still touched the invisible wall with his hand.
He disappointedly jumped down from the tree. His fluffy black hair fell down like a deflated balloon, looking like a puppy without bones, full of worry. Ye Buyan saw his reaction and didn’t know how to comfort him. Frowning, he clumsily asked, pretending not to know, “Can you touch it even though it’s so high?”
“Yes,” Lu Haoxiu walked back and forth in front of the invisible wall, suddenly stopping his steps, “Yezi, I have an idea!”
Ye Buyan: “….Please don’t call me Yezi, what idea?”
“Okay, Little Ye,” Lu Haoxiu asked excitedly, “Little Ye, you said you fused with a ‘paper ghost’ anomaly before. Can you instantly turn into the thickness of paper and pass through a very small opening?”
Ye Buyan was too lazy to argue with him about his address, and nodded slightly reservedly, “As long as there is a gap, I can pass through.”
“YES!” Lu Haoxiu exclaimed excitedly, “I should have a way to get you through the invisible wall. After you pass through, will the invisible wall disappear?”
“Possibly,” Ye Buyan said, “Even if the invisible wall doesn’t disappear, I’ll try to find a way inside the wall while you try to find a way outside. With the two of us working together inside and outside, the probability of breaking the invisible wall is higher than before. Do you have a way to get me in?”
Lu Haoxiu nodded solemnly, “I should have.”
With that, Lu Haoxiu turned his head and placed his hand on the invisible wall, focusing on a plastic bag buried under the muddy tree at the bottom of the invisible wall.
Lu Haoxiu muttered to himself, “Little Ye, there will be a black hole in the palm of my hand later. If this white plastic bag appears in the black hole, take the opportunity to turn into the size of a scroll and pass through the hole in my hand.”
Ye Buyan followed his gaze and saw a plastic bag. Unable to resist his curiosity, he walked to Lu Haoxiu’s side and nodded slightly, “Okay.”
Lu Haoxiu looked at the plastic bag, silently thinking in his mind.
White plastic bag, white plastic bag under the tree roots, white plastic bag covered in mud…
The more accurate the description, the more likely such things would be “taken” by him.
[Spiritual Power: 15/20]
[Void Grab] came into effect, and a black hole indeed appeared in Lu Haoxiu’s palm.
The two high school students stared nervously at the black hole, and a corner of the white plastic bag inside the black hole appeared, covered in mud.
Success!
It’s now!
Ye Buyan and Lu Haoxiu had excellent tacit understanding. At the first sight of the plastic bag, Ye Buyan’s body quickly shrank and curled up, darting like an arrow into the black hole.
The next moment, the black hole disappeared, and the white plastic bag appeared outside the invisible wall, while Ye Buyan successfully appeared inside the invisible wall.
A look of pleasant surprise appeared on Lu Haoxiu’s face, and Ye Buyan also looked back at him in astonishment. Walking quickly to the edge of the invisible wall, Ye Buyan tentatively reached out his hand and touched it, still feeling the invisible wall.
Ye Buyan frowned slightly, focusing his mind on exploring the invisible wall from the inside. However, as soon as he squatted down, Lu Haoxiu started pounding the invisible wall like crazy, shouting repeatedly, “Ye Buyan! Ye Buyan! Look behind you, Ye Buyan!”
Ye Buyan looked up and saw Lu Haoxiu staring at him with a terrified and angry expression. A bad feeling arose in Ye Buyan’s heart. When he turned his head, he saw a little girl standing five meters away, holding a rabbit doll in her arms and wearing white pajamas.
The little girl’s feet were bare, less than one meter tall. Her hair was all white, her complexion pale, and her eyes were pupil-less, emitting a strange grayish-white color.
She looked at Ye Buyan, touched the right arm of the rabbit doll, and suddenly folded its right arm.
“Ah!”
Ye Buyan’s right arm also suddenly folded backward like the doll’s arm, breaking off at a strange angle from his shoulder and swinging down to his waist. Ye Buyan cried out in pain, the sudden agony almost making him faint. He clutched his arm, cold sweat dripping from his forehead as he stared at the little girl.
Lu Haoxiu exclaimed, “Ye Buyan!!!”
The little girl hugged the rabbit doll tightly and showed a faint smile at Ye Buyan and Lu Haoxiu.
“I’m Dark Female… Let’s play a game, shall we?”
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