Chapter 99: Are You Not a Traitor?!
Gu Qiqi usually has very good sleep. Unless there are special circumstances, she guarantees at least nine hours of sleep each night, and if she has time at noon, she might add another hour. This habit aligns closely with her dual self, Gu Xiliu.
However, tonight, she slept very restlessly.
No, perhaps it should be said that she was injured, cried a lot, and then fainted from exhaustion.
Her small body curled up on a pile of hay, twitching slightly from time to time, her eyelids trembling incessantly, and her pale face glistening with beads of sweat.
In her dazed state, she felt as if she were seriously ill, feeling light-headed as if being blown away by the wind, while her head felt heavy, like it was burdened by a heavy leaden yoke.
In that half-dreaming state, her consciousness flickered and the scenes from a few hours ago uncontrollably surfaced in front of her eyes, endless and tormenting, gnawing at her soul like a malevolent spirit, refusing to relent.
————
As usual, before raiding that Miracle Cult camp, the system made detailed and meticulous plans.
The assault was orderly, and the cavalry assembled from villagers was divided into nine groups, charging from different directions every fifteen seconds to ensure the intensity and continuity of the impact.
The objective was clear: to steal items without killing anyone. Once they breached the camp, they would take as many useful items as possible in the quickest way possible, without any attachment.
Even the timing and weather factors were considered; it was deliberately chosen during the transition from sunset to total darkness, based on scientific evidence indicating that this time is one of the most lethargic periods for most people.
The reason for not choosing the deep night was that if there were people in the camp taking turns resting or on lookout, they would become more alert at this hour. Moreover, many spirit patterns and urban legends would gain a certain strength at midnight.
Gu Qiqi, as usual, completed the task diligently as instructed by the system.
This task was actually not difficult.
Although the camp to be raided this time was significantly larger than the previous ones, its defenses were unexpectedly weak, with none of those strange individuals shouting “Long Live Miracles!” and performing a series of almost impossible feats.
Furthermore, subduing the guards and searching for valuable and useful items inside the camp went very smoothly. In less than five minutes, Gu Qiqi collected a considerable amount of alchemical materials, dozens of barrels of clean water, and some dry rations, stuffing them into the Bamboo Slips Illusion.
Very easy.
It was almost like a buffet after paying; just grab what you want!
Then…
She found a treasure chest in that seemingly insignificant camp.
It was a golden chest, intricately engraved with a large number of complex and ornate patterns, inlaid with four different colored gemstones. Just from the lavishness of the chest, one could guess that what it contained was definitely not ordinary, not to mention the faint spirit energy fluctuation emanating from it.
That chest absolutely contained treasures!
Gu Qiqi was not like Lu Xianbei. Upon seeing such a treasure chest, she would not suspect it was some underworld entity like a treasure chest monster. Instead, she rushed straight up to it and took a bite.
Pure gold, with a row of bite marks left behind.
However, when she impatiently opened the treasure chest under the system’s urging, she found four strange items: a shriveled eyeball, a toe bone, a heart filled with holes, and a decayed, blackened mass of organ that was unidentifiable.
All useless things, merely “scrap,” resembling dried meat. Who would wrap such items in a treasure chest? Gu Qiqi’s first reaction was disdain.
Before her clever little mind could formulate a second reaction, a moment of daze washed over her, and strange voices echoed in her ears.
It seemed like she heard someone singing.
The singing was unclear, hummed in some ancient language, fuzzy and distant, filled with sorrow and melancholy, somewhat like the pastoral songs she heard while in the Gobi, sung intermittently by herders accompanied by camel bell sounds. But unlike pastoral songs, this did not bring her peace; rather, it invoked a sense of coldness.
It was a coldness like that of a battlefield after a great war.
Accompanied by the singing, she saw terrifying scenes, as if hallucinating.
The sky was filled with dark clouds, lightning pouring down from the crevices, igniting the dried grass on the desolate plains, with everything burying in thunder and fire, leaving only ruins and corpses as far as the eye could see.
It was a disaster, the final disaster.
Like a giant period, it fell heavily upon the world.
It seemed the end was nearing, everything was to be destroyed, d*ath lurking like a specter, closely chasing after all beings, hidden in their shadows, pressing on relentlessly, sucking their marrow.
The earth was shrouded in a breath of despair and decay.
Is this what the system calls the destruction of the world? Gu Qiqi thought.
She had always known that the destruction of the world was a terrifying event, so she had to do her utmost to help the system prevent it, yet she had never had any intuitive feelings about it.
But this time, she finally experienced a glimmer of that feeling.
Then, as the singing abruptly stopped, she saw a figure.
A person dressed in monk-like white robes, enveloped in pure golden light.
That person walked from the horizon’s edge, sweeping past barren mountains, charred plains, bl**d-stained lakes and rivers, and forests filled with corpses… Wherever they passed, mountains turned to gold, plains revived with life, lakes transformed into fine wine, and the corpses hanging on the forest treetops turned into bountiful fruits.
Hell miraculously transformed into a paradise!
Then…
That person appeared before her.
She instinctively reached out her hand, wanting to touch that person’s toes like the most devout believer. Just then, the system’s roar echoed in her ears.
“b*stard! Stay away from Gu Qiqi!”
The earth trembled, letting out a thunderous sound, with more and more fissures appearing on the ground, deep abysses opening up, and then a shadow leaped out from the depths.
The shadow seemed to be a fish.
An ugly, hideous monkfish, its excessively large fins spread wide like wings, blocking out the sun.
The monkfish spiraled in mid-air, opened its massive mouth, and gulped the person down before descending into the abyss.
Accompanied by a muted explosion noise.
Gu Qiqi received a mission.
[Mission Description: Gu Qiqi, escape quickly!
Mission: Escape, escape no matter what, as far as possible, do not look back!]
When Gu Qiqi opened her eyes again and took in her surroundings, she felt a moment of confusion.
Over twenty villagers who had rushed into the camp with her lay sprawled on the scorched earth, breathless, their bodies undergoing varying degrees and forms of mutation.
Some were covered in the wool of cattle and sheep, some were impaled with weapons, some had their mouths stuffed with straw, and others had swollen bodies with skin oozing a fragrant liquid…
The opened treasure chest radiated brilliant and tempting light.
Under the cover of that light, the mutations of the villagers’ bodies intensified.
Gu Qiqi stared blankly for a few seconds before suddenly losing feeling in her hands.
She looked down at her hands, her pupils shaking.
She clearly saw her fair palms gradually becoming rough, exhibiting plant-like patterns.
“System, system, what is happening?”
Gu Qiqi instinctively asked, as she always did.
In her mind, questioning the system was always correct; it knew everything.
However, she did not receive a response like usual.
Not even the familiar prompt sound of “Poor signal, disconnected” rang out.
Then, she recalled the task she had just received, gritted her teeth, and began to run wildly, crying as she went.
She did not look back.
Run, according to the task, run as far as possible…
But system, how far do I have to run to complete the mission?
Gu Qiqi could feel that the system was still beside her, but each call received no response.
That feeling of energy depletion, entering a state of dormancy.
But.
When would it recharge and wake up again?
Would it wake up?
Gu Qiqi thought, finally collapsing from exhaustion onto the dry sandy ground.
————
When Lu Xianbei drove the truck across the vast desert for over an hour and finally arrived at the Siye Society base near Hole Ridge, it was already 2 AM.
As soon as she entered, the whole base was filled with a tense atmosphere.
The road on the Gobi Desert looked flat and endless but was not as easy to navigate as imagined. Coupled with Lu Xianbei’s erratic driving, by the time she reached her destination, the truck was nearly out of control, resembling a wild steel beast.
So, although she entered the Hole Ridge base through the front door, she crashed right in, smashing a large hole in the cave wall directly opposite the entrance before stopping.
With a loud “boom,” dust filled the air!
Following this, a dozen spiritual ability users stationed at the Hole Ridge base, who were dispatched to support Yumen Pass, surged out and surrounded her, their spell formulas and spirit energy items ready to unleash.
Lu Xianbei crawled out of the twisted wreck of the truck, and as she scanned the scene, she stood there in shock.
The figures emerging from the dust had no spiritual energy fluctuation level lower than B, with most hovering around A level.
After all, sending weaklings to Yumen Pass would only create chaos.
Having never seen such a scene before, she felt her legs tremble, thinking she would d*e before finishing her mission. Without getting the chance to leverage her identity as “Lu Qingyi,” the situation was already compromised, and she might get captured.
However, she quickly realized that the actions of those Siye Society operatives were actually normal.
It was not their fault for being on high alert.
Although they had experienced many storms in their own city, none had encountered a runaway truck.
Moreover, during this time, “Calamity” had been leading desert bandits, raiding various Siye Society camps, and it was not unlikely that someone would emulate “Calamity” and form a truck bandit group.
Rather than rushing in to subdue her immediately, they likely considered that she was alone and did not pose an immediate threat.
The Siye Society operatives were also stunned.
After all, a beautiful girl in traditional attire crawling out of a battered truck set a rather unique tone.
In the suffocating silence, Lu Xianbei adjusted her emotions slightly, straightened her back, and silently pulled out the Gray Owl Badge, holding it up in front of her as she climbed down from the wrecked truck and shouted, “Everyone, calm down! Misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding; I’m one of you, one of you!”
“I’m from Dachunyang Palace, named Lu Qingyi. Oh, by the way, I brought you a gift.”
While speaking, she rummaged through the cargo compartment of the truck and found a lump of meat paste.
That was the sheep she accidentally sent to another world on her way.
She didn’t know whose herd it belonged to; it was between the Gobi at night, perhaps lost after straying from the group.
Then, a few sullen spiritual ability users subdued her.
After all, they should have subdued her themselves.
The reason they hadn’t immediately beaten her was that they weren’t too familiar with her yet.
Who crashes a truck into their own people?
You must not be a traitor?!
————
When Lu Xianbei arrived at the Hole Ridge base, Nanling Yaohua was not present.
Inquiring the spiritual ability users at the base, nobody could tell her where Nanling Yaohua had gone.
Although she had identified herself and had the authentic Gray Owl Badge in hand, everyone still left her in an idle cave for temporary supervision.
Firstly, her entrance method was too shocking, and everyone had yet to accept this new colleague.
Secondly, verifying the authenticity of her identity would take some time.
Half an hour later.
Once Lu Xianbei’s identity verification was confirmed, and the Siye Society operative supervising her went back to sleep, Nanling Yaohua finally appeared before her.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of bells clashing on her anklet, a figure in white floated in, draped in a small bl**d-stained sheepskin cloak, holding a longsword in one hand and the sheep that had been sent to another world in the other.
Lu Xianbei stared blankly at the familiar yet unfamiliar face, momentarily lost in thought.
Seeing you after some time, that face had lost some innocence and recklessness, gaining a bit of weariness and strength, making one feel a little heartbroken.
And this change made it feel like it had been a long time since they last met, as if it belonged to a past life.
Feelings suddenly became complex.
“Are you the new operative?”
As she spoke, Nanling Yaohua smiled briefly at Lu Xianbei, but she was too exhausted; the corners of her mouth turned down before she fully smiled.
“Ah, yes, yes, yes, Lu Qingyi. Nice to meet you,” Lu Xianbei came back to herself and replied.
“Lu…” Nanling Yaohua paused for a moment, sizing up Lu Xianbei, then suddenly tossed the lump of meat paste in front of her with a clang, “Hmm, okay, I got it. By the way, Lu, please remember to compensate for the sheep from Uncle Ma’s family later, okay?”
“It’s not easy to raise sheep.”
Lu Xianbei glanced at the lump of meat paste by her feet, her eyelid twitching.
Wait, recognizing a stray sheep from which family is already bizarre enough. Now this thing has been turned into something resembling ancient gods; how did she figure it out?
