Free Web NovelChapter 1553: Chapter 925: Stone Statue (Part 4)
Jiang Qingluan was momentarily stunned; she had just seen a hint of deep affection in Yang Xiao’s sly eyes.
Before she could figure it out, the woman from the Chamber of Commerce passing by her suddenly stopped, lowered her voice, and said with a mysterious, mission-filled tone, "Don’t worry, I will take good care of him."
After speaking, the Chamber of Commerce woman left, concealing her achievements and reputation, while the man from the Chamber of Commerce came, speaking in the same low, mysterious, and mission-driven tone, "I know what to do, he won’t get hurt."
After finishing, the man also proceeded resolutely, determined to catch up with Yang Xiao’s pace.
At that moment, Jiang Qingluan was confused, a question suddenly popping into her mind: wasn’t it their Yi Sect that hired them? Why were they protecting Yang Xiao, when he, a poor ghost, didn’t pay anything?
Although unsure of what happened, based on her understanding of Yang Xiao’s character, Jiang Qingluan guessed that this guy must have been talking nonsense again, managing to deceive the Chamber of Commerce duo with his silver tongue.
Thinking of this, Jiang Qingluan subconsciously recalled her master’s recent warnings to stay away from Yang Xiao. Her master sternly reminded her to be discerning when making friends and to stay away from those bad kids.
However, even though she saw through Yang Xiao, Jiang Qingluan did not plan to expose him. Despite Yang Xiao’s daily antics and flirtations, at critical moments, he was reliable.
As long as he promised something in a normal mindset, he would fulfill it. The fact that he was willing to accompany her into this Secret Realm spoke volumes, and deep down, Jiang Qingluan was full of gratitude towards him. freewebnσvel.cøm
They had barely started for less than half an hour when Nalan Shuo, leading the way, suddenly warned them. Behind a large boulder at the foot of the mountain, a stone statue appeared.
Nalan Shuo had everyone hide nearby while he went alone to investigate. After confirming that there was no problem, he signaled for Yang Xiao and the others to come over.
Once closer, Yang Xiao realized the strange nature of the stone statue; its craftsmanship was very detailed. It depicted a woman, eyes wide open, with an expression of terror.
"It’s the work of that Source Ghost. People attacked by it will eventually turn into a stone statue," Jiang Qingluan sighed. The last time their team entered the Secret Realm, they found several stone statues identical to this one.
"Isn’t it said that the Source Ghost won’t appear in the outer regions of the Secret Realm?" Staring at the statue, Number 4 felt uneasy. She had a very strange feeling, as if this figure was still alive.
"The Source Ghost can appear anywhere within the Secret Realm, though it is more likely to show up in the core area. I think the Source Ghost appeared here because of this person," Jiang Qingluan explained.
"It was attracted by this person," Nalan Shuo mused.
The Yi Sect, despite providing some materials about the Secret Realm, had yet to offer a clear analysis of the Source Ghost. They only knew some basic information, like the Source Ghost targeting the Angel Envoy with the strongest spiritual power among a group, and the best response was not to use spiritual power, not to engage with Magic Artifacts, and to pretend it didn’t exist.
However, although that was easy to say, it was much harder to do; after all, when faced with a Ghost attack, it’s tough for the Angel Envoys not to use their abilities to survive. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Moreover, the materials lacked the most crucial point - they still didn’t know what behaviors would attract the Source Ghost. They only possessed some basic countermeasures, which placed them in a passive position.
"Hmm?!" Suddenly, Jiang Qingluan seemed to sense something and quickly lifted her head to look ahead, where there was a patch of Dead Forest.
"What did you find?" asked the Chamber of Commerce woman, Number 4, nervously.
"Don’t talk!" Jiang Qingluan ignored her.
Everyone immediately held their breath. Yang Xiao instinctively wanted to use the Human Bone Staff to investigate, but as soon as he saw the woman whose body had turned into a stone statue, he hesitated again.
"There’s movement ahead, about 100 meters away," Jiang Qingluan said quickly.
"You can hear that far?" Even Number 3 was unsure now.
He didn’t distrust Jiang Qingluan, but something felt amiss; he worried that Jiang Qingluan might have been influenced by some eerie presence, leading them into danger.
"Not far ahead is a narrow pass with steep cliffs on both sides; we can’t bypass it," Nalan Shuo said, after checking the map and putting it away again, his expression very solemn.
"Let’s go have a look; if it’s a blessing, there’s no disaster; if it’s a disaster, it can’t be avoided. Don’t waste time standing here," Yang Xiao’s first reaction was that they might have run into those Japanese Apostle, but Jiang Qingluan’s reaction said otherwise.
This time Yang Xiao took the lead, Nalan Shuo stayed by Jiang Qingluan’s side, and the Chamber of Commerce duo guarded the rear. The group quickly traversed the Dead Forest, where the visibility was poor. Yang Xiao had already taken out the Soul-Capturing Mirror, ready to retreat into the Mirror World at any moment.
Of course, he would take everyone with him because they were teammates, after all.
Two minutes later, Yang Xiao’s group reached a clearing in the Dead Forest, and what lay before them was chilling. They saw many fragments of shattered stone, clearly capable of being pieced back together into a whole.
"Look!" The Chamber of Commerce woman pointed to a large stone fragment in the corner, its back still attached to a sizable chunk of bloody flesh.
In that instant, even Yang Xiao couldn’t help but take a sharp breath; he could already deduce what had happened here.
There had once been stone statues here too, but not long ago, those statues shattered, and something emerged from within them. What Jiang Qingluan heard was likely the sound of the statues breaking apart.
