"Speak quickly if you have sothing to say," the woman said, a trace of impatience flashing in her eyes.
"Do you really think you’re starting a team?" the man suddenly laughed. "Jian An seems to know more than both of us, how about we join forces and share so information?"
"You keep things simple, hiring a squad for a so-called investigation, aren’t you afraid that soone will spot the flaw?" the woman coldly said.
"It’s just cannon fodder anyway, it doesn’t really matter," Shen Jing said with a smile, but his expression soon turned slightly somber. "That’s not the key point. Sohow, I always feel that guy who joined last is a bit strange."
"We’re just a temporary team, why bother about so much?" the woman said indifferently. "Everyone is here for the sa purpose. When the ti cos, it will be up to our own abilities."
"Easy for you to say, but I fear when the ti cos, it won’t be about ability but about tactics," Shen Jing said with a cold chuckle.
"I won’t join hands with anyone. You can leave," the woman said, utterly unmoved.
"Won’t you reconsider?" Shen Jing said, his expression unchanged, smiling.
"No need," the woman said lightly.
Shen Jing shrugged and could only turn to disappear into the darkness, vanishing in a few steps.
The woman withdrew her gaze and slowly walked towards the predetermined direction.
"You might consider exchanging information with this person," a man’s voice spoke up from her heart.
"I don’t need to," the woman’s eyes flashed fiercely, "That thing is destined to be mine, anyone who blocks my path will die."
"You’re quite decisive, but indeed, with that thing, it really..." the man’s voice trailed off in silence.
*********************
West.
"How did it go?"
Another woman was half-kneeling on the ground, clutching a handful of soil that she appeared to be examining.
Shen Jing slowly erged from the shadows, his expression calm, shaking his head slightly.
"She refused," he said.
The woman on the ground showed no sign of surprise. She stood up, her face as cold and lovely as a fairy under her red hooded cloak.
"What did Jade Clear School give her to make her so confident?" she asked.
Shen Jing just smiled.
"Our Shape-shifting Cave isn’t weak either. If it really cos to a fight, are we really afraid of her?" he asked.
"Don’t be overconfident," the woman said lightly.
"Understood," Shen Jing slightly bowed, his tone sowhat respectful.
"There’s also that last person who joined, as well as Jian An. No idea which power they’re from, they seem to hide deep secrets," the woman said softly.
"No matter where they’re from, with you personally taking action, there’s nothing..."
"Mind your words," the woman interrupted Shen Jing sharply.
"What about that team led by the son of the Ghost Mansion?" Shen Jing asked again.
"Ignore them. Although he’s the son of the Ghost Mansion and much stronger than his peers, his level is too low to affect the overall situation," the woman said, her eyes downcast and her face calm.
"It’s just uncertain how other directions are faring," she added.
"With so many squads coming from different directions, one of them is bound to succeed in entering, we just don’t know which one it will be," Shen Jing said in a low voice.
The woman remained silent.
*********************
Before long, team mbers scouting in various directions began to return one by one.
The area around the Rune Vehicle was now bathed in white light. It seed that the light emitted from the vehicle’s body was growing brighter.
When Lin Xin returned to the vehicle, almost everyone else had arrived ahead of him; only he was the slowest.
In fact, since he wasn’t the real Xia Haiji, he was naturally inexperienced in this aspect, and thus he naturally ended up last.
"Did sothing happen?" i Zi approached, concerned.
Lin Xin shook his head.
"Nothing, just a bit distracted, so I was a bit slow," he said.
i Zi looked at him worriedly, opened her mouth as if to say sothing, but ultimately didn’t ask further, clearly misunderstanding sothing.
"Now that we’ve confird this point, let’s proceed according to the Cross Star thod to the second point. With a total of five points, we can roughly map this area. No objections, right everyone?" Gu Lince said loudly.
"We’ll follow Captain Gu’s lead," Jian An said with a smile.
The others had no objections either.
The Rune Vehicle began to move slowly, heading towards the distance.
Over the next few days, whenever the Rune Vehicle stopped, the team mbers would disperse to investigate the surrounding area.
The black cake-like monsters, nad Black Pillars, were typically as tall as a person, with so even reaching over ten ters—almost as large as a building.
The Black Pillars were highly toxic, and also the most common creatures in this vast land.
There was also another type of creature resembling a beetle, with a single eye on its back, which was non-aggressive.
Beyond them, no other creatures were encountered.
The Rune Vehicle gradually explored more and more places.
But they encountered no troubles until the seventh day.
A strange temple appeared before everyone.
********************
On the grey mountain wall, a huge Buddha statue with a faint smile held one eye open, gazing at the endless hills ahead.
Click!
A flash of lightning crossed, illuminating the entire area.
The Rune Vehicle was parked in front of a massive black mountain that seed to have no edges, directly facing the towering Buddha statue, several tens of ters high.
The head of the Buddha statue was damaged, with a small part apparently smashed and fallen off.
Beneath it, in the center of the lotus pedestal, there was an opening of moderate size, serving as the temple entrance.
A chilling wind continued to blow around, producing a whistling sound.
The Rune Vehicle emitted a faint white light, enveloping an area of about ten ters around it, blocking the cold wind and shadows. However, compared to the Buddha statue, it looked as insignificant as a mouse to an elephant.
Aside from the Rune Vehicle, everything around was pitch black, with even the moonlight obscured by dark clouds. The farthest visible distance was only about twenty to thirty ters around. Beyond that was complete darkness.
The two squads seed to be completely surrounded by endless darkness, as if they could be swallowed up at any mont.
Gu Lince frowned as he looked at the huge Buddha statue in front of him, feeling an indescribable strangeness.
The Buddha statue, illuminated from below by the faint light of the Rune Vehicle, originally solemn, now had a hint of eeriness, making one shiver slightly.
"To think there’s such a place here," he whispered.
"I knew it wouldn’t be an easy mission," Chen Fan said with a bitter smile. "Just looking at this place, you know it’s not easy to ss with. Captain, are you sure we should go in?"
"We have no choice. Since we’ve taken on this mission, it’s best to finish it; otherwise, our squad’s reputation will suffer, making it difficult to get such assignnts in the future," Gu Lince shook his head and said.
"But I have a bad feeling about this," Chen Fan said softly.
Lin Xin looked up at the Buddha statue, feeling as though its giant single eye seed to be intentionally or unintentionally staring at their group.
"Haiji brother, you’re not quite yourself on this mission," i Zi whispered, coming closer, "Maybe you shouldn’t go inside."
"How can I not? Since it’s everyone’s mission, if I don’t go in, would it be fair to take a share of the Demon Talisman Seed reward?" Lin Xin flatly refused her kindness.
"But, Haiji brother, your condition right now..." i Zi looked worried.
"Don’t worry, I’m fine," Lin Xin smiled at her.
i Zi instantly blushed slightly, lowering her head, avoiding eye contact with him.
"This is for you, Haiji brother, be careful."
She quickly stuffed sothing into Lin Xin’s hand and then ran off.
Lin Xin had long noticed that this girl seed to like Xia Haiji, but Xia Haiji was interested in that woman nad Ming Qiao, making their relationships complicated and difficult to manage.
"Let’s go, let’s go inside,"
Gu Lince’s voice ca at this mont.
Lin Xin glanced around and followed the Rune Vehicle towards the temple entrance.
He faintly noticed that the other team in red robes seed not at all surprised, although they deliberately made expressions, their eyes could not lie.
"These people, it seems they already knew about this temple being here. Looks like things are getting interesting," he thought, prepared for what might co.
The group slowly approached the front of the Buddha’s lotus pedestal.
Ahead was a dark square doorway, half of which was already opened. Because the petal rocks of the lotus pedestal on both sides blocked the airflow, the ground at the entrance was covered with broken stones and thick dust.
This was a dead spot where the wind couldn’t carry the dust away.
Lin Xin looked at the item in his hand, a small, exquisitely made lantern, all white with a red character on it, "Soul."
"A Soul-Calming Lantern?"
He recognized this item, one of the more famous one-ti use magic artifacts with great power. It had the marvelous effect of releasing soul-disrupting waves, capable of blasting away all beings with hostile intentions around the user.
"This, it seems i Zi prepared this as one of her trump cards for herself, and she just gave it to , her affection really runs deep." Lin Xin put away the item, as anyone could see i Zi’s feelings for Xia Haiji. Unfortunately, he could never respond to them.
The Rune Vehicle was parked in the wind-blocking corner of the entrance, carefully tucked away by i Zi, turning back into Jin Chanchan’s small box.
"If I’m not mistaken, this should be a temple devoted to the Sagura Evil God. Going inside, we’re likely to encounter decayed samurai serving the evil god. Everyone be careful, these things could explode upon death,"
Jian An, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up to remind them.
"Decayed samurai..." Gu Lince’s eyes narrowed, "I’ll be careful."
Jian An grinned, his eyes drifting towards the other mbers of his team.
Shen Jing quietly followed behind the otherworldly woman, silent, only smiling.
The woman carrying the teor Hamr had an expressionless face, following behind Gu Lince.
"The item must be mine!" What Jian An truly cared about was the last person who ca in, wrapped up tightly, even wearing a black mask covering their face, without showing their eyes.
This team was originally ford temporarily; he just didn’t expect so many persons with unclear backgrounds to get involved so suddenly.
Yet among these people, the one he felt was the most dangerous was the last mysterious person to join. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote for it at Qidian (qidian), and to leave a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian to read.)
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