We Need To Talk
With the help of the staff, 【Yang Xiao】 packed his belongings and changed into clean clothes. At this moment, his head no longer hurt, and his condition had recovered quite well.
"The car arranged for me is almost here." 【Yang Xiao】 glanced at the time, turned his head, and asked 【Lu Xun】, "Are you still not leaving?"
"I have to wait for this guy to wake up." 【Lu Xun】 helplessly pointed at 【Wu Tongyuan】.
"I'm the one who dragged him into this, so I have to be responsible to the end, right?"
【Yang Xiao】 nodded slightly. He knew about the friendship between 【Lu Xun】 and 【Wu Tongyuan】. Having dragged someone into such a dangerous place and almost losing their life, 【Lu Xun】 must be feeling very apologetic.
"Then I'll leave first... This exploration took too long. There are still many things waiting for me to handle at the lab."
"Wait..."
【Lu Xun】 stopped 【Yang Xiao】. After hesitating for a moment, he still spoke up, "Are you very familiar with that 【Director Chen】?"
"I also just found out. The real 【Guide】, Chen Li, never entered 【Shennongjia】 at all. He was swapped out by someone."
"What? Then who was the person walking with us the whole way?"
"I don't know... But he is absolutely not an ordinary person." In his mind, 【Lu Xun】 recalled the scene where Chen Ling saved them from the numerous 【Calamity】 entities, adding, "The good news is that he doesn't seem to harbor any malice towards us... If it weren't for him, I fear the nine of us would have suffered casualties."
"I saw him talking to you the whole way, and he deliberately protected you, so I thought you two knew each other from the start..."
【Yang Xiao】 recalled carefully and found that it was indeed as 【Lu Xun】 said. The doubt in his eyes grew increasingly dense.
"But, it truly was my first time meeting him."
"Forget it. This exploration was too bizarre, and I have a feeling that this matter won't end so simply." 【Lu Xun】 looked solemnly into 【Yang Xiao】's eyes. "After you go back, you must maintain your vigilance."
"I understand."
【Yang Xiao】 bid farewell to 【Lu Xun】 and walked straight out of the base camp. During this time, 【Wang Xinye】 came over with a non-disclosure agreement and conveniently asked about Chen Ling. After all the procedures were properly handled, he personally sent him to the mountain road.
At this time, a black commercial vehicle had already been waiting by the roadside for a long time.
"Hello, may I ask if you are Dr. 【Yang Xiao】?"
As 【Yang Xiao】 walked up to the car, the driver wearing white gloves proactively got out to help him place his luggage in the trunk, asking at the same time.
"En."
"The destination is the airport, correct?"
"Right."
"Alright, please get in."
【Yang Xiao】 sat down in the back seat. His gaze passed through the window, looking at the distant, continuous 【Shennongjia】 mountain range. The hazy fog was still floating in the sky above it, covering the place with a mysterious veil... He was about to leave, and everything he experienced here felt exactly like a dream to him.
As the vehicle slowly started, the mountains outside the window constantly retreated behind them. The setting sun in the distance gradually sank into the earth. The dim mountain road was rugged and bumpy.
【Yang Xiao】 carefully recalled everything that happened during the exploration process. Every single detail, every single figure, as well as those bizarre monsters and the massive fragment towering in the deep crater...
By the time he recovered from his thoughts, the sky outside the window had turned completely pitch black. The vehicle drove out of the mountain road, heading west along a straight, narrow 【Path】.
【Yang Xiao】 looked at the gradually desolate and remote villages outside and froze slightly.
"Is this the road to the airport?"
Two beams of headlights tore through the pitch-black night, illuminating a corner of the quiet 【Path】 in the distance.
The driver, who was driving with utmost concentration, glanced at the bewildered 【Yang Xiao】 through the rearview mirror. The dim light from the dashboard barely illuminated a corner of his face... In the night, it looked deep and mysterious.
He raised his hand and lightly tore at his chin. A layer of skin fluttered away in the air, replaced by another young face.
Chen Ling spoke calmly:
"Dr. 【Yang Xiao】, we need to talk."
...
Under the night sky, a figure with both hands in his pockets slowly ascended a mountain peak.
At this moment, another figure was already standing tall at the top of the mountain peak. With sword-like brows and starry eyes, his gaze stared fixedly like a torch at a certain direction under the night sky.
"【Your Majesty】 failed to kill the 【Six of Hearts】?" Dr. Lou raised a brow.
"..." 【Ying Fu】 spoke in a deep voice, "We underestimated him... I didn't expect him to possess this level of power so early on."
"After all, he is the person chosen by the 【Red King】. For the 【Red King】 to dare hand the 【Lingbao】 over to him, he certainly had his reliances."
Dr. Lou's robes fluttered in the night wind. A sharp light flashed in his eyes.
"A 【Six of Hearts】 possessing a 【Lingbao】, an uninvited 【Ji Xuan】... These two guys are the biggest obstacles to 【Your Majesty】 executing the plan. However, the 【Six of Hearts】 currently lacks strength and poses no real threat. The biggest trouble is still that guy, 【Ji Xuan】."
"What about the 【Red King】 possessing the 【Primal Beginning】?"
"Him, ah..." Dr. Lou paused. "The 【Red King】 is indeed a fatal threat. But if he could truly make a move, he would have done so long ago when we were fighting over the 【Red Star Fragment】 just now..."
"You mean, he has no way to make a move?"
"The 【Red King】 is mysterious and powerful. No one can ever guess what he's thinking. But even if he makes a move, I'm not afraid of him." Dr. Lou smoothed his sleeves and said calmly, "Furthermore, don't we still have you, 【Your Majesty】?"
"We are still a fledgling in this era, our wings are not yet fully grown. We cannot deal with the 【Red King】 and 【Ji Xuan】 yet."
"It doesn't matter, we still have time." Dr. Lou's eyes narrowed slightly. "I will keep 【Ji Xuan】 in check. 【Your Majesty】, you must build up your forces as quickly as possible. As for the rest... you can leave it to your ministers to handle."
【Ying Fu】 cast a glance at him. Those deep, majestic eyes seemed able to pierce through his mind. He slowly spoke:
"Who do you want to kill?"
Seeing his intentions exposed, Dr. Lou didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed. Instead, he smiled, took out a list from his pocket, and handed it to 【Ying Fu】, saying, "For 【Your Majesty】 to rule the world, there are a few people who must be eliminated... Otherwise, they will inevitably become major threats in the future."
【Ying Fu】 took the list and gave it a cursory glance. The first three large characters to enter his vision were "【Wu Tongyuan】".
Ranked second was "【Su Zhiwei】".
【Ying Fu】 didn't say anything. He merely tossed the list casually behind him. From the dim shadows, a figure carrying a 【Hunting Rifle】 stepped forward silently and steadily caught the list.
It was a pair of rough hands. His sturdy leather boots were covered in mud, as if he had just rushed over from some extremely distant place. As he gripped the list in his hands, a pair of sharp eyes, resembling those of a wolf, slowly opened in the darkness.
【Fifth-Tier】, 【Path of the Soldier】, 【Sky Wolf】.