The First Order

Last night, it was Ren Xiaosu and the Great Hoodwinker who were keeping watch. In the first half of the night, Ren Xiaosu was very sure the statue had not appeared in the campsite yet. He found the Great Hoodwinker and asked, “You didn’t hear anything during the second half of the night?”

“I really did not.” The Great Hoodwinker shook his head. “Even though I joke around a lot, I’m still very careful when I’m outside. I couldn’t possibly be unaware if someone had carried such a huge statue into the campsite. To be honest, I didn’t even see anyone moving around last night.”

“Where were you keeping watch?” Ren Xiaosu asked.

“Over there.” The Great Hoodwinker pointed to the three o’clock of their campfire.

Ren Xiaosu walked over to the campfire and sat down. He realized the position where the Great Hoodwinker was keeping watch was great. He could almost see the entire campsite from here. However, there happened to be another person’s tent standing between this position and the tent where the incident happened.

“Forget it, there’s no point in getting to the bottom of this now.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said, “I’ve never believed in demons and gods before, and I believe that everyone here except for the Great Hoodwinker does not believe in them either. So let’s assume that this was done by a person. In that case, we have to consider the murder motive.”

The Great Hoodwinker said helplessly from nearby, “I don’t believe in demons and gods either.”

Yang Xiaojin glanced at him and said, “A fortune teller like you is claiming you don’t believe in the divine?”

“Isn’t that just bluffing?” the Great Hoodwinker explained awkwardly.

“Let’s talk about the murder motive first.” Ren Xiaosu changed the subject and said, “Did any of you pay any attention to the deceased previously?”

“I noticed him before.” Yang Xiaojin said, “He was with the woman who discovered the statue. I saw them exchanging looks with each other before, and there were three others with them as well.”

“Can you make a guess as to which organization those people belong to?” Ren Xiaosu felt the person’s death might also have something to do with the conflicts between the organizations outside the Sacred Mountains.

Luo Lan whispered, “Those people maintained their cover really well. Also, there should be a lot of experts hidden among the people sent by the consortiums this time. They’re probably hiding their identities for now in order not to attract any trouble, so there’s no way to determine which organizations they belong to. Besides, the organizations are not the only ones in the underworld. In every black market, there’s always one or two low profile but powerful teams. They don’t serve the consortiums nor involve themselves with the matters between the organizations. They only work on obtaining intelligence or taking missions, then get paid for their work done. Today, they can help the Zhou Consortium kill the Wang Consortium’s people, and tomorrow, they can help the Wang Consortium kill the Kong Consortium’s people. However, those people generally prefer taking on neutral missions. For example, a lot of them are interested in this current mission we’re on.”

“Wouldn’t this mission offend the Pyro Company? How is it neutral?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.

“Some of them are here not because they’re after the No. 001 Experimental. They only came here to map out the territory of the Sacred Mountains to sell for money. Also, they can take advantage of any situation along the way by following the other organizations. That was why a lot of people in the black market were very interested in coming on the expedition,” Luo Lan explained. “These people have no intention of competing with the consortiums for the prize. They’re just here to pick some exotic flowers and plants and draw up a map before they go back.”

“Then I’m afraid that the deceased is not one of those people,” Ren Xiaosu said firmly. “I suspect that someone in our group was responsible for the situation last night. There must be some conflict of interest between them, but we just don’t know what it’s about, that’s all. Y’all should keep an eye on the dead man’s partner for the next two days and see who she’s watching keenly.”

If someone lost their partner, it would make them lose their minds, especially if it was a woman.

Some men with aloof personalities might be able to act as though nothing had happened, but that woman had clearly lost control of herself in the morning. Whoever she kept her eye on for the next two days would probably be the most suspicious person responsible for this incident.

On the same morning, the woman requested the superhuman with fire powers from before to help her cremate her lover. This delayed the group for the entire morning, but no one said anything about it.

They continued on their journey in the afternoon. As it was still winter, the days were much shorter, so they did not actually manage to cover much ground.

When they set up camp again at night, Ren Xiaosu and the others gathered around and started whispering among themselves.

Luo Lan said, “I discovered the woman kept staring viciously at that young man with a photographic memory while we were traveling in the afternoon.”

“So it’s true that when you lose your sense of rationality, you’ll get easily figured out.” Ren Xiaosu sighed. At this moment, he was a little grateful to Yang Xiaojin. Back when he found out Yan Liuyuan might have been captured, he was probably just as irrational as that woman. Fortunately, Yang Xiaojin had reminded him.

“Does anyone know that young man?” Luo Lan said, “I’ve seen the people around him serving him like they’re his subordinates. That guy is really like a member of the consortiums. Moreover, I can see that they’re all very efficient when they’re packing up. They’re likely to be the soldiers of some consortium.”

Next to them, the Great Hoodwinker suddenly laughed, “What a coincidence. I happen to know who he is. That man’s name is Wang Yun, and he’s the director of the Kong Consortium’s 2nd Military Intelligence Division. He’s really capable to have become the director of an intelligence division at such a young age.”

“I’ve heard of Wang Yun before. He’s a supernatural being, but I’m not sure what kind of power he has.” Luo Lan nodded and looked at Ren Xiaosu. “Do you think he was the one responsible for what happened last night?”

“It’s difficult to say.” Ren Xiaosu said, “First of all, since that woman has started suspecting Wang Yun, Wang Yun must have a motive to kill that person. Do y’all know much about the Kong Consortium? Does Wang Yun have any enemies?”

“I’m not sure if he has any enemies, but I do know that Kong Erdong, the director of the Kong Consortium’s intelligence agency, was killed in an accident some time ago.” The Great Hoodwinker said, “When I saw Wang Yun here, it made me quite curious. He’s clearly one of the most favored candidates for the role of the intelligence agency’s director, so what’s he doing out here?”

“Then it makes sense.” Zhou Qi said with a smile, “Who knows, the person who died might have been sent by Wang Yun’s competitor to stir up trouble for him on the way. But as he was discovered, Wang Yun made a move on him first.”

“Hehe, I knew it! I knew there were no such things as demons and gods in this world,” Luo Lan said.

Wang Yun had regained his energy. He sat by the campfire with a grim expression as he watched his subordinates clearing the grass.

Yesterday, no one cared when Ren Xiaosu said they should clear the grass before sleeping. But today, everyone actually spent over an hour tidying up their campsite as they were afraid that they would get killed by the poisonous bugs in the middle of the night.

Ren Xiaosu was sizing up Wang Yun from afar. Meanwhile, Wang Yun, having apparently sensed Ren Xiaosu’s gaze, looked up at him, greeting him with a smile.

Ren Xiaosu said to the Great Hoodwinker, “You get some rest tonight as well. I’ll keep watch for the entire night.”

“That’s not such a good idea, is it?” The Great Hoodwinker said, “Can you last the day tomorrow?”

“I can handle it.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Don’t worry, I’m much more energetic than all y’all. Also, I’m more confident at keeping watch since we’ve just entered the Sacred Mountains. Y’all will still get your chance to keep watch after I’ve figured out the actual situation here in the Sacred Mountains.”