“Alchemical Artifact?”
Niu Sangen felt a wave of unease. He had already sensed something was amiss within the school, and now with this malicious incident, he felt a crisis closing in on him.
“Um, could you let go of me?” a voice came from his hand.
Hearing this, he glanced at the pale-faced staff member, his eyes darkened, and he slowly released his hand, lowering his head and asking in a deep voice: “Is the situation inside very bad now? Can we use a surveillance sprite to investigate the specific situation?”
As the teacher responsible for practical training, it was up to him to inquire about such matters. If the situation was indeed urgent, he would need to arrange a special meeting with the school’s higher-ups.
“Very bad!”
The staff member paused for a moment, exhaled, and his face turned slightly flushed. Looking at the tall teacher with great seriousness, he said almost without interruption, “Although only one student died in the training area, our staff has received reports of three to four team members going missing.”
“Three to four?! Why are you only saying this now?”
Upon hearing this, Niu Sangen’s pupils contracted slightly, and his expression shifted rapidly. He took out his phone and immediately contacted the school leadership. This training session was truly problematic.
No more delays!
The staff member just lowered his head and remained silent. He knew this was negligence on his part, and this was a major accident that could potentially affect him as well.
After about three to four minutes of phone conversation, Niu Sangen’s expression was extremely serious. He covered half of his face with one hand and said into the phone in a low voice: “Principal, I will convey your instructions. Please notify the director separately…”
As the words fell, the atmosphere instantly became tense, and the staff member eagerly awaited the other’s actions.
“Jiang Hai High School’s intention is to terminate the training immediately. If any Jiang Hai High School students die, our school will file a lawsuit immediately.”
After hanging up the phone, he patted the staff member on the back, urging him, “You take me to the training entrance now.”
“Please follow me. Those of us who entered later need to go through the back door. Teachers from two other schools have already gathered there.”
The staff member nodded, not daring to delay further. With this accident, the best course of action was to cut losses promptly.
The two of them walked through the spectator stands and then arrived at a staff passage around the corner. The narrow passage was dark, with only lights at the far end flickering, making the entire path look quite eerie and terrifying.
“Tap tap…”
The footsteps of the two echoed throughout the passage, like the beat of small drums. Suddenly, Niu Sangen stopped, raising his hand to stop the staff member, and asked in a low voice: “Do you smell that? … ”
“Smell… what?”
The staff member subconsciously asked, but then he froze, because he could indeed smell it. His expression suddenly changed, and he widened his eyes, looking at Niu Sangen beside him, and whispered: “It’s the smell of rust.”
“Something happened! Hurry up and call the local Dragon Hunters and an ambulance.”
Flames erupted from Niu Sangen, almost engulfing him in scarlet flames. His face transformed into a bull’s shape due to his transformation, his muscles became robust, and without hesitation, he charged forward into the passage.
He was an Initial Stage Battle King, so he could sense several weak auras ahead.
“Were we attacked?”
Passing through the white light, he arrived at the front gate, only to see it splattered with blood. Several figures lay on the ground, and one of them could be faintly recognized as the female director from Tian Yi High School.
Without any further ado, he quickly used a generic low-level Healing Arts to treat the individuals. Almost everyone was severely injured; if the attacker hadn’t held back, they would have been finished.
“This is…”
At the same time, his gaze also fell upon the carved White Crow emblem on the front gate of the training area. White doves circled a red cross.
“Red Clothes – White Crow?!”
His bull-like eyes widened in shock. As a former Dragon Hunter from Fuzhou, Niu Sangen was naturally familiar with this emblem. If White Crow was truly responsible, the implications would be enormous and might even trigger a comprehensive crackdown plan by the Dragon Hunters Alliance headquarters, as the shocking case they committed back then was still deeply etched in the memories of Fuzhou’s veteran Dragon Hunters.
“He… he went in.”
The figure from Tian Yi High School propped herself up with her hand, blood trickling from her lips. She leaned against a chair, then adjusted her broken glasses, pointing towards the gate and whispering: “That teacher from Bai Niao Yi Gao is a Member of the Ancient God Sect.”
“Wawu–”
Upon hearing this, Niu Sangen turned towards the training gate. Suddenly, the alarm in the entire room blared, and a string of intelligent electronic sounds emanated from the Bluetooth speaker:
“Warning, warning!!”
“The data link to the passage and the main gate has been cut! There is an intruder!”
…
In the vast clearing in the forest, withered yellow leaves covered the loamy ground thickly, resembling a rough carpet underfoot in winter.
In the clearing at this moment, three freshmen with dirt and dust covering their faces were huddled back-to-back in a small circle, their gazes grimly scanning their surroundings. Beside them, the male student who called himself “Mr. Fat” still had his hands in his pockets, looking rather nonchalant.
“Mr. Fat, why hasn’t Ah Chuan come back yet?”
Someone asked. The male student with glasses had gone to relieve himself earlier and hadn’t returned yet. In a place like the Red Name Zone, where monsters were dense, problems could easily arise even with buff enhancements.
Hearing this, Mr. Fat also stopped, turned his head, and glanced at them with his slightly bloodshot eyes, saying impatiently: “I’ve told you several times, he told me he had an upset stomach and told us to go ahead.”
“Then Mr. Fat… what are we going to do next?”
Intimidated by Mr. Fat’s tone, the male student quickly fell silent. He could feel that Mr. Fat seemed a bit off, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
“Go north and rendezvous with Shenzi in the central area of the four regions.”
Mr. Fat continued to walk forward, his shoes crunching on the leaves, creating a subtle sound. Under the shade of the trees, the atmosphere felt somewhat gloomy.
“Okay.”
The male student replied and was about to continue walking when several “Pfft!!” sounds of flapping wings could be heard. It seemed like a flock of carrion crows was passing overhead, and occasionally a few drops of red blood dripped down.
“Ahhh!!”
The only girl in the group suddenly cried out. The freckled girl wearing glasses trembled, pointing at what had fallen from the sky, and kept backing away: “This is a watch, the one Ah Chuan was wearing.”
Everyone heard this and looked down at the ground. Seeing the bloody electronic watch, the male student froze. He then looked at the back of the person who hadn’t turned around, and a chill inexplicably spread through him…
In this area with scattered tree branches, there were no surveillance sprites. If something truly happened, none of them combined would be a match for this Mr. Fat.
But he still managed to ask with difficulty: “Mr. Fat, are you sure Ah Chuan really told us to go ahead?”
“…”
Mr. Fat didn’t reply, nor did he turn his head. Instead, a white light flashed in his hand, revealing a wolf-toothed club with a metallic sheen.
Blood slowly began to consume his entire eye, revealing a cruel glint, but it quickly receded, as if suppressed by something…
This action caused the students to retreat a few steps. They exchanged glances, and fear could be seen in each other’s eyes. The girl also quietly shut her mouth, and they all quietly fumbled for their weapons.
“Of course, he couldn’t tell you, because he did it himself.”
Just as the atmosphere became rigid, a female voice suddenly rang out. They all turned to look and found a girl in a school uniform standing there, with a faint smile.
Beside her stood another figure, who had lost one hand, with a large hole in the chest of their uniform, and their clothes covered in blood…
“Ah Chuan!?”
Everyone looked at the figure with the severed hand, their eyes filled with shock. Then they turned to the girl, feeling as if they had woken from a dream.
The owner of the figure responded very softly, sounding very weak: “I’m fine, this classmate saved me.”
“Ah Chuan?”
Upon hearing this, Mr. Fat frowned and turned his head, only to meet the gaze of the person wearing the broken glasses. He instinctively took a step back, stumbled, and almost fell to the ground, “How are you still alive? I remember your chest…”
“Because of the scroll you set up, I met him by chance.”
Breaking his words with a smile, the Blood Clan Girl lightly adjusted her glasses frame. The Shiyu Order in her school uniform pocket grew warm, and an inexplicable aura surged around her.
With her own power, as long as her internal organs were not too severely damaged, healing these low-level students was still quite easy.
The girl drew out the Loquat Branch tied to her waist, crossed her arms, and asked the former with a scrutinizing gaze, “Who taught you this ritual of live sacrifice? This is a specialty of the Ancient God Sect.”
“Live sacrifice! Ancient God Sect?!”
The faces of the students in the field turned pale. These words, when put together, could form a horror story. The “Ancient God Sect,” a villain that only appeared in textbooks, was now appearing in real life.
“Scroll, you’ve activated the scroll?”
Mr. Fat’s face changed, his large fingers clenched tightly. The scarlet color re-occupied his eyes, and a gust of wind surged around the wolf-toothed club. He said in a low voice: “You’d better put the scroll back, or I’ll kill you all.”
It wasn’t so much the amplified desires from the side effects that gave him the courage to speak, but rather that Su Jiu’s school uniform gave him some courage.
“You can’t do that. Why don’t you tell me who told you to do this?”
Su Jiu looked calmly at the red-eyed Mr. Fat, choosing not to suppress him immediately. This was a rare clue, and she needed this person to lead her to the real target –
The Ferryman who was impersonating White Crow.
