Chapter 183: Sara's Song (VIII)

Although Qi Ning's handwriting is very soulful, it must be said that he is quite a reliable sidekick.

Xiao Lan and the others were struggling to find the converted forest when Qi Ning gave them a clue.

Xiao Lan put away the note left by Qi Ning: "It's not too late, let's get going early before anything happens."

Wang Taidi nods, "The closer you get to Sara the more dangerous it is, you can't leave him alone in there."

The three men were immediately ready to move and headed outside.

Suddenly, their movements came to a neat halt and they turned their heads at the same time.

A familiar head was seen once again at the window.

It was the long-necked fellow who had secretly spied on Xiao Lan from the window earlier, and now he stared at the chamber with the same malicious smile as before and said in a hoarse voice: "You ...... will all ...... die ......"

With that, he even opened his mouth and gnawed on the glass, making a clicking and gnawing sound.

No attention whatsoever to public hygiene or personal appearance.

Xiao Lan's brow furrows, why is this guy still here?

It seems it was being too gentle with him last time that gave him the courage to bounce on top of the socialites.

Before Xiao Lan can move, Luo is already rushing forward like a gust of wind.

He grabbed the long neck by the hair and pulled him indoors by the neck as well.

I wonder how long the guy's neck was, and even after ripping in a good chunk of it, he still couldn't see his body.

Luo wasn't trying to pull the whole thing over on him either.

Luo moves his long, craft-like fingers and, with a quick movement, ties his long neck into an artistic twist.

Of course, it's Luo's own kind of artistry.

Luo said to him with a graceful smile as if she were greeting an honoured guest, "Could you please be a little quieter?"

But behind this smile was a murderous aura that almost turned into substance.

"Cough ......" Longneck made an uncomfortable sound.

He suddenly felt as if these foreigners were different today, the ...... particularly vicious kind ......

He seemed to have picked the wrong time to come after them.

Then a black blade of bone poked coldly at the tip of his nose.

The knife emanated an aura that made him feel uneasy and made him not dare to move, as if he could feel the gates of heaven just by touching it.

Xiao Lan slid the blade up the bridge of the long neck's nose to the brow, "If you can't learn to be quiet, we may have to use a little rougher technique. Like burying you straight into the earth so you can never become one with Sara."

As the saying goes, the snake is beaten to the seventh inch.

For the townspeople who believe in Sara, a threat to their personal safety is far less effective than a threat to everything related to Sara.

Sure enough, the long-neck's eyes filled with fear when he heard, "I can never be one with Sara".

No, these damned foreigners, how could they do this?!!!

It seems to have heard his heart.

Wang Taidi fishes out a shovel from the storage space, which looks too ornate to be used for digging, but it is a shovel.

Wang Taidi takes the spatula and gently weighs it in his hand.

He grinned as he approached towards the side of the long neck.

At the same time, he couldn't stop glancing at the long neck twisted into a twist, as if he was considering where it would be better to bury him.

Xiao Lan asked with a smile, "So, can you please keep quiet now?"

Longneck's frightened eyes swept over the three men with smiling faces.

The dark interior, lit only by the light of the fire in the sky, made them look like evil spirits.

Longneck felt as if he was standing by the gates of hell.

He couldn't help but nod vigorously, his hair tossed like a rock artist.

Then he faded towards the window in a panic, twisting his neck into a twist on the way and accidentally hanging on to a bulge at the window, leaving him sweating in a hurry to disengage.

The long neck shrank back without daring to look back.

Boing boing, the stranger is so scary, he's just a weak and humble long neck.

He decided that after untying his neck he would give himself a slice and feel the warmth and care of Sara.

--

Leaving the hotel, the trio searched for the markings left by Qi Ning and made their way forward.

By this time it was dark, but the town was still not quiet.

Some townspeople not seen before appeared.

They were even more alienated in their limbs than those seen during the day, some of them could no longer even walk and could only slither across the ground like snakes.

They were also in a more unhinged state of mind than the townspeople during the day.

The men's eyes were fiercer and more aggressive, and anyone who walked past them was attacked, whether it was a stranger like Xiao Lan, one of their fellow townspeople, or just a dead branch.

These nocturnal townspeople rampage through the town at night like beasts that only know how to attack.

Even the other residents had to avoid these people.

Xiao Lan has just dodged an attack by a nocturnal townsman.

Sara's song has reappeared.

The townspeople's frenzied attacks fell on deaf ears as they closed their eyes with enraptured faces, seemingly lost in Sara's beautiful song.

This time, Xiao Lan felt a complete picture appearing before her eyes, still illogical, but moving like an old movie.

Xiao Lan's heart was in his mouth, and the voice was surprisingly sounding better and better to his ears.

It's still not quite fabulous, but it's really close to sing-along rhythmically!

Wang Taidi also looked stoned: "Why does it feel better and better?"

The two men exchanged glances, both with the same thought in mind.

If they continue like this, they will be in more and more danger.

Wang Taidi frowned: "Sara's Song appeared a while ago, why is it here again? Is there no pattern to this?"

Xiao Lan said, "If He gets excited and is ready to play a concert, we won't be dead."

Wang Taidi brainstormed that image with horror in his eyes: "Crap ......"

Xiao Lan looked around at the generally still townspeople, "We'd better get going or we'll really have to stay and call Him."

The trio moved forward a few more minutes faster.

--

Qi Ning's marker makes its way through the small town of Mo Na and into the remote and inhospitable no-man's land.

Finally it left the town straight away and pointed towards the forest outside.

Gradually they came to an area with different species of trees than those around the town.

The trees of the forest are dark and look as if they have withered away.

This is the kind of tree Xiao Lan has seen before, one that cannot be ignited by a mountain fire.

But here the trees are even more numerous, so thickly packed together that they look almost dark from a distance.

Wang Taidi said, "Is this the Forest of Conversion?"

Luo pointed to a marker stretching deeper into the forest not far away, "It looks like that's it, what we're looking for might be in here."

No sooner had the trio stepped into this black forest than everything around them fell silent.

All the sounds that could be heard on the road had disappeared, whether it was a distant mountain fire or the scattering of branches and leaves, or the sparse chirping of insects, there was nothing in this forest, only dead silence where it belonged.

Xiao Lan lands a leg kick with a slight crunch on the ground.

He removed his foot to see that it was a broken bone, already dry and brittle, that he had broken.

Combined with the frescoes and materials seen earlier, it is self-evident from whom these bones came.

But what Xiao Lan didn't expect was that corpses had already appeared even though he had only just stepped into the forest, so how many more would there be if he went further in?

The trio continued on through the converted forest.

The forest remained silent, except for the sound of their footsteps and the occasional trampling of dead branches and broken bones.

At one point, the marker for Qi Ning disappears, leaving them unsure where to go.

Suddenly, a childish song started.

"Mum is lying at the bottom of the well and Dad is hanging from a tree.

Mummy and Daddy are gone, who will play with me ......"

The child's clear voice with its eerie lyrics echoed through the dark woods.

Instead of bringing the slightest hint of cuteness, such a song adds a touch of eerie horror.

Xiao Lan and the others raised their guard and walked over more cautiously.

After skirting a dense patch of tree trunks, figures appeared ahead.

It's still an acquaintance -

The crazy, bearded man who was staying in the same hotel as them.

At the moment, the man has cut long wounds on his limbs with a sharp instrument.

The wound was deep, almost to the bone, and the muscle of the wound rolled over, from which a large amount of blood flowed, staining the ground nearby with a bloody colour.

He also found a twine to hang his neck from a tree.

At the moment his neck is twisted, but his body is motionless, clearly dead.

But he did have an exaggerated smile of ecstasy on his face.

The smile froze on his face like a mask, as if he was seeing the most exciting scene in the world.

The body just hangs eerily motionless in the woods, looking creepy and inexplicable.

Next to the body, a little girl is sitting alone on a tree stump.

She played with a branch as she hummed the nursery rhyme they had just heard, with no trace of fear.

"Mummy and Daddy are gone, who, comes, to, play, with, me ......" the little girl sang as she raised her head.

It was also an acquaintance of theirs, she was the daughter the bearded man had taken with him and had revealed to them the reason for her father's arrival in the small town of Mo Na.

Although the image was a bit creepy, Xiao Lan knelt down to talk to her: " Sister Xiao, what are you doing here?"

The little girl said, "Daddy is coming here."

Xiao Lan asked, "Did he bring you with him?"

The little girl shook her head, then nodded again.

Makes it hard to understand what she means.

Then the little girl said, "Daddy comes here, so I have to come here too."

At this moment, Xiao Lan suddenly had an odd feeling.

The expression seems a bit familiar ......

The little girl looked up at Xiao Lan with a rare trace of apprehension in her expression, "Brother, can you tell me a story, just one. Daddy hasn't told me a story for a long time since mommy was gone ......"

Her Little Xiao's hands were clenched tightly, as if she was afraid of rejection.

But the moment the little girl looked up, Xiao Lan saw her neck.

There was a deep strangulation mark on the thin neck, so strong that it seemed as if it was going to break the neck.

If it were a normal human being, it is unlikely that he would still be able to speak freely with such an injury.

All sorts of bizarre signs seemed to indicate that the little girl was dead.

Perhaps she died long ago, or someday, or ...... at the very beginning of her encounter with them.

Come to think of it, the bearded man never once looked at his daughter or said a word to her.

He was just immersed in his own world, oblivious to everything.

Although it could be explained by the fact that the bearded man was already mentally unbalanced.

But how is a child this young going to survive in this crazy town?

Could a small child really survive on the weird food at the hotel?

She always followed her dad, but he never paid any attention to her.

Was it because he couldn't see her at all?

And is the reason she followed her dad because ...... this is the one who killed her?

Xiao Lan met the little girl's eyes, which were clean and clear, with a vague expectation.

But for now, they need to get a grip ......

"So, do you want some candy?" A hand came up with a beautifully wrapped candy on it.

It was Luo, who came over and knelt down in front of the little girl and gave her a candy.

Luo often keeps a few treats on her person to feed her husband, although the chances of using them are slim.

The little girl's eyes lit up as she reached out and held the candy in her hand, "What a beautiful candy, can I, can I eat it?"

Luo smiled and said, "It's just for you."

The little girl smiled for the first time, a sweet smile, full of the cuteness that belongs to her age.

Xiao Lan sees the scene and exchanges a look with Wang Taidi behind him, who nods at him.

Xiao Lan then told the story to the little girl.

He has no romantic cells and tells the story of his experiences in the copy, which is more aptly described as a ghost story that can cure a child's night crying than a fairy tale for children.

But the little girl listens intently, as if Xiao Lan is the most powerful storyteller in the world.

After hearing the story, the little girl's eyes lit up: "It's so nice out there ...... with big boats ......"

With that she added a little frustrated, "I don't like it here ...... but I can't get away from it ......"

The little girl's head hung low and for a moment there was silence in the woods.

After a moment, the little girl lifted her arm and pointed in a direction.

She whispered, "Daddy wanted to go over there, he said he could be one with Sara when he went over there, but then he heard Sara's song when he came over here and then he couldn't help himself."

"Goodbye ......" said the little girl, and her figure disappeared.

A pretty candy falls from the air onto the ground covered with dead branches and rotting leaves.

As the body of Little Xiao disappears, the mark left by Qi Ning is revealed where she was sitting.

If they had chosen to ignore the little girl earlier, they would have missed the marker and probably spent a lot of time later searching for Qi Ning in this spooky forest.

Xiao Lan reached out and picked up a few dead leaves to cover the sweets.

He did not choose to take the candy away, as it was meant to be a gift for her.

Let it stay here with this lonely and poor Aunt Xiao.

--

Having found a new marker, the group continued to follow the trail left by Qi Ning.

Gradually the smell of putrefaction came into the air, the strong smell that only comes from meat when it is rotting.

And the further you go, the stronger the smell becomes, and there is no telling how many corpses are buried in this forest.

Some of the bodies that have been reduced to dead bones are just lying there in the forest, gradually buried by the falling leaves.

Suddenly there was the sound of a fight ahead.

Then a creature on all fours, somewhat resembling a humanoid, but without an inch on its body, rushed towards them.

It was covered in twisted skin, like a monster made of tree roots.

The humanoid monster had lost its mind, and when it saw someone blocking the way ahead, it did not hesitate to raise its sharp claws and attack them.

The first to bear the brunt was Xiao Lan.

Xiao Lan was also unfazed, raising his hand and swinging a club towards the monster's head.

Under Xiao Lan's powerful blow, the monster's head was dented and its entire body was knocked to the side.

But as if his body had some kind of resilience, he landed on the ground without losing his ability to move and was shaking as he tried to get up and attack again.

Xiao Lan was a little surprised and intended to switch knives and strike again.

At that moment, a silver stream of light flew from afar, drawing sharp lines in the air and sinking violently into the monster's head.

The silver light was thin but powerful, directly punching a hole the size of a fist into its skull.

The monster's limbs twitched for a moment, then stopped moving.

The scalpel is faintly visible through the hole in his head.

Xiao Lan looked in the direction of the silver light.

There came a figure, all in pitch black, with only snow-white hair, wearing a beak mask.

Isn't this the Qi Ning they were looking for?

Qi Ning walked slowly over, his voice still the usual with a few weaknesses of lack of breath and blood: "Sorry to have disturbed you with my prey."

Xiao Lan waved at him, "This is a familiar scene."

Xiao Lan also had a chance encounter with Qi Ning on a hunt at Madame Bella's estate, where much the same thing happened, but the two are now friends and Xiao Lan is far more capable than she was then.

Qi Ning laughed a few times, "Oh, it was almost two years ago too, and the memories really make me nostalgic."

Xiao Lan looked at him and there didn't seem to be any injuries, "Are you okay? What happened before that made you walk so fast?"

"It's okay." Qi Ning waved his hand and then spoke of what had happened earlier, "I had returned to the inn rather early and was waiting for you in my room. It was shortly after the most recent appearance of Sara's song that I heard Cen Wei's voice guiding me to the Forest of Conversion."

"Heh, it's interesting to know that you're using Cen Wei to trick me." Qi Ning's tone was a little sarcastic towards Sara, "You should have found a clue about the Forest of Conversion, I don't need to explain what it is, do I?"

Xiao Lan nodded, "The Forest of Conversion, the Wall of Sacrifice, we know all about it."

Qi Ning continued, "I felt that the voice was a clue and was going to wait for you guys to come along. But that voice was getting smaller and smaller, and I was afraid that I didn't know when it would appear next, so I followed the lead and came here first, leaving you guys a message in the process."

Wang Taidi gave him a thumbs up: "You're a solid little buddy."

It would have been nice if the level of calligraphy was a little more general.

Qi Ning nodded slightly, accepting the compliment.

Just then, Sara's song comes back on.

Xiao Lan's eyes were immediately flooded with images of what he had experienced, and he could not help but feel a tumble of emotions.

Wang Taidi reached up and covered her head, as if she felt a strong sense of vertigo.

Qi Ning's body, on the other hand, radiates a cold, murderous intent.

Several people in the room could not help but look towards him.

Qi Ning says calmly, "I read in one source that Sara's song also triggers a desire to kill, and the stronger the original thought the more it is amplified, even to the point of creating a sense of impatience."

Wang Taidi frowned, "Can't wait ...... is that why they're suddenly taking on my brother?"

Qi Ning says: "That would only happen if they had the intention to kill Wang Ke in the first place, and if someone doesn't want to do it in the first place, the chances of being triggered to do so are slim. Perhaps it was such a hasty move that gave Wang Ke a chance to survive."

Xiao Lan asks, "What about you?"

Qi Ning laughed lowly, "Heh heh heh ...... I'm fighting killing intent all the time, every minute and every second, don't worry, it's not directed at you."

Everyone understood that his killing intent was directed at the wanted criminals.

As long as there is a wanted man alive in the world, Qi Ning's desire to kill will never be quelled.

--

After meeting Qi Ning, Xiao Lan gave him the [Stone of Absolution] he had obtained earlier.

After that several people moved on.

By this time Qi Ning could no longer hear the call of the voice, leaving them without a purpose as they advanced.

One can only judge the location of the wall of sacrifice by luck and the traces that remain around them in the general direction pointed by the little girl.

There were still a number of post-alienation monsters attacking from various dark places on the way, all of which were dealt with individually by several people.

After another while, the forest ahead became different.

Although still dark and wooded, the trees in the area were hung with something a man high that looked like the cocoon of some creature.

Judging by the size of these cocoons, fitting an adult would not be a problem at all.

"What is this?" Wang Taidi wondered.

He stepped forward and cautiously reached out to touch it, then looked at his hand in confusion, "Something's moving in there."

Xiao Lan also observed these cocoons.

Some of them look very full and some slight movement can be detected inside, others look very calm, while others are dry or empty when opened from the middle.

At this point, the word - sacrifice - could not help but flash through the minds of the crowd.

Wang Taidi's hand trembled.

Perhaps the brother he had always wanted to see was among these cocoons!

Soon they'll be able to meet and leave this hellhole together!

Wang Taidi tries to keep himself calm: "I think ...... try to open one and see."

The rest of the men understood his feelings and did not express any objection, only that they each took out their weapons and took up a guarded posture.

After all, there is no telling what will come out yet.

The first to be opened was the one that Wang Taidi had sensed moving earlier.

When it opened, a humanoid object slid out of it.

But it probably didn't count as human, he was naked, half his face had disappeared into a ball of flesh, and his fingers and toes had grown together. He had lost consciousness and was just twitching on instinct.

However, this is not the case with Wang Ke.

Wang Taidi breathes a sigh of relief and walks to the next one.

This time the person who appeared looked to be in much better condition, a female, even with clothing remaining on her body.

Having had her cocoon opened, she breathed in the outside air as frantically as someone who had almost drowned, and made occasional choking coughs.

"Cough cough ...... cough ......" the woman finally caught her breath and she looked up at the few people around her, "You are also ...... players right, my name is Lan Qi, thank you."

Wang Taidi nodded, "Yes, we are players too. I'm a bit sorry to say this, but could you please tell us about these cocoons as soon as possible, we ...... want to find someone."

Lan Qi barely managed to brace himself to sit up, "Looking for someone ...... You guys have a lot of nerve ......"

"I don't know much about these cocoons ...... If they are judged to be a qualified sacrifice, they are sent here after they lose consciousness. Then slowly transformed in the cocoon, I can feel my consciousness getting weaker and weaker during this process ......."

Xiao Lan asks, "What are the criteria for judging a qualified offering?"

Lan Qi shook her head, "No ...... don't know, I was walking through the forest and suddenly lost consciousness, nothing special happened before or after."

Wang Taidi: "Do you know how long it takes to convert?"

Lan Qi thought for a moment, "Not sure ...... seems to be different for everyone, some even die during the transformation process, my consciousness has been fuzzy and I don't really know how long has passed."

Wang Taidi seemed a bit agitated: "So, do you know what will become of the transformed person? And where will they go?"

Lan Qi says: "I wouldn't know about that, I've just been locked in a cocoon, sorry ......"

The atmosphere instantly became a little tense.

It seems that the situation is not as positive as they had previously thought.

Wang Taidi opened several more cocoons in quick succession.

But the ones inside were either unconscious or empty, with no sign of Wang Ke at all.

Wang Taidi rubbed his curly hair with a little unease and continued on his way.

Suddenly, his footsteps stopped.

Just a short distance ahead, next to a cocoon that had been opened, a knife fell.

One, a long bloody blade.

This knife has stood in Wang Taidi's way countless times, defending him from all kinds of danger.

It was accompanied by a familiar back.

Now, however, the knife is still there and the man is nowhere to be seen.

Wang Taidi's breath hitched.

Incredulous, he rushed forward and tore the dried cocoon right open with both hands.

The cocoon split in two under his force and then found in it -

A pile of skeletons.

The skeletons are scattered in a pile as if they were a field of unclaimed clutter.

It is difficult to distinguish even a full human form.

Wang Taidi's eyes widened: "Impossible ...... Impossible ...... He's obviously still alive ...... "

His hand trembled as he pulled out the pendant that recorded Wang Ke's life and death. In the darkness of the forest, the pendant could be seen still glowing faintly, reflecting the irony of the skeleton in front of him.

Wang Taidi's eyes flushed and her lips quivered, "Did ...... you lie to me?"

Could it be that the pendant his brother had given himself did not show his life force at all and was just a trick to comfort him?

Did Wang Ke have it in mind to weave a false hope for his brother to keep him from despairing if something happened to him?

A feeling of despair and absurdity overcame Wang Taidi and almost crushed him.

He had worked so hard to become stronger, almost forgetting to squeeze his potential, just to save his brother.

But what was the point of it all if my brother had died long ago?

What's the point of him trying so hard?!!!

At this point, Qi Ning stepped forward and approached the open cocoon, examining the pile of bones.

After a few moments, he withdrew his hand and spoke in a rather calm tone, "Don't cry so quickly, if you extrapolate from the size of the shins, this man must be over 5'8", he can't be Wang Ke."

The conclusion from the doctor is professional, reliable and very trustworthy.

Wang Taidi's about-to-fall tears stop: "......"

Yes, his brother isn't that tall and wouldn't be 5'8" with three booster pads.