Chapter 238

The few people on the field who didn’t know the truth felt their hearts sink upon hearing that answer. Officer Zhou said the Old Ancestor’s true body had already been buried, and while digging it up and destroying it wouldn’t be difficult, doing so within a minute was absolutely impossible.

Were they just going to watch the enemy’s scheme succeed?

Just as everyone was feeling despair, a familiar, teasing voice, clearly transmitted through a loudspeaker, sounded from afar: “Did you think you were very clever hiding your true body on that stone? Haven’t you heard the saying ‘cleverness can backfire’?”

If the Old Ancestor’s true body were really in the tomb, Jiang Tianming and the others would have had to accept defeat, and Su Bei wouldn’t have interfered. But to hide the true body on a Life Stone, so within easy reach, Su Bei really couldn’t help but remind them.

After saying that, he thought for a moment and added: “Officer Zhou, if you don’t want to die, get as far away from the village as possible and come back during the day.”

He then expended Mental Energy to use his ability, adjusting his Major Destiny Pointer from the lower half of his Destiny Compass to the “Exit” point on the upper half. The deaths of the other villagers weren’t a pity, but looking solely at this matter, Officer Zhou was indeed innocent.

He had done nothing wrong; in fact, after discovering the murders, he proactively sought help from the Ability Government, despite the villagers’ obstruction. This allowed them to find the Life Stone in time and prevented the Old Ancestor’s scheme from succeeding.

He hadn’t helped Officer Zhou change his destiny before because he was afraid the situation might reverse and he might not be a good person himself. But now that all the truth had come to light, without this concern, Su Bei truly wanted to save him.

No matter how realistic it played out in the comic, Su Bei was not essentially someone who would stand by and do nothing, especially when it required no personal cost. To save an innocent life with a simple gesture, why not? Moreover, the other party was a police officer, the same profession as his mother. Su Bei naturally held a good impression of this profession.

And saving Officer Zhou was easy. Although he was from Longevity Town, he hadn’t stayed there for too long this month. Therefore, when the array took effect, he wouldn’t be within its range and wouldn’t be affected. As long as Su Bei adjusted the pointer’s position, Officer Zhou would no longer be in danger of entering the array.

However, Su Bei was never the type to silently save people and do good deeds without leaving a name. Since he could let the other person know he saved him, why not speak up? Aren’t mouths meant for speaking? That’s why he specifically spoke to tell the officer to run far away.

Jiang Tianming reacted the fastest. After Su Bei finished speaking, he only paused for a second before shouting “Run!” to Officer Zhou and quickly picking up the Life Stone, covering the entire stone with his [Ability Immunity].

No matter how the Old Ancestor managed to place his true body on the Life Stone, it definitely involved abilities. So whether it was visible or not didn’t matter; he just needed to “disinfect” the entire Life Stone to solve the problem once and for all.

Although the voice was somewhat distorted by the loudspeaker, Jiang Tianming immediately recognized it as Su Bei’s. He didn’t know why Su Bei, who should have gone to buy cinnabar, was here, but the information he provided couldn’t be wrong.

Sure enough, after he covered the stone with his ability, the Old Ancestor let out an even more mournful scream than before: “Ah! How am I disappearing! You aren’t—”

Before he could finish speaking, he vanished completely into thin air as his ability faded.

“Did it succeed?” Jiang Tianming asked uncertainly, looking at the villagers. However, they didn’t return to normal with the Old Ancestor’s death; instead, they all collapsed, faintly glowing red.

Before losing consciousness, the Village Chief used his last ounce of strength to tell everyone in an increasingly weak voice: “I… I feel my strength… being drained…”

Seeing this scene, who among those present didn’t understand that the Old Ancestor’s array must have already succeeded? But he was clearly dead! Li Shu asked in a puzzled voice, “Su Bei, did you give us false information?”

He naturally also recognized that the voice just now belonged to Su Bei.

“You can slander me, but not my information.” Su Bei slowly walked out from the nearby woods. “The Old Ancestor is indeed dead, and he didn’t lie. As long as the beneficiary of the array dies, the array loses its target and naturally becomes useless.”

“Then this is…”

Before Li Shu could finish, Jiang Tianming understood his meaning: “You mean there’s still someone in this village who can use the Life Extension Array?”

“The Zhou family’s second daughter!” Ling You immediately exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise.

Everyone followed her gaze and saw a girl in light blue pajamas slowly walking out of the village. That person was Zhou Min, the Zhou family’s second daughter.

Zhou Min’s face was filled with bewilderment and helplessness. As soon as she walked out of the village, she saw everyone collapsed on the ground. She immediately shrunk back, wary and scared, and questioned loudly: “What’s going on here?”

At this moment, her complexion was rosy, and her voice was full of vigor, completely devoid of her previous sickly feeling.

Su Bei shrugged and cupped his hands in greeting to the confused Zhou Min: “Congratulations on obtaining the life force of the entire village. Even a terminal illness will probably be cured without treatment.”

After speaking, he swaggered back. “I’m going back to sleep. Call me when you need me to make arrays.”

Sleeping until dawn, no one disturbed Su Bei. He pushed open the door feeling refreshed and was immediately greeted by Driver Wang, Officer Zhou, and Jiang Tianming, who had heavy dark circles under his eyes.

As soon as he came out, Officer Zhou quickly stepped forward to thank him: “Thank you, Student Su, for your reminder yesterday. I can’t repay such a great kindness. If you need anything in the future, just call me directly. I’ll do my best to help.”

When Su Bei said those words yesterday, he was completely confused, but he still ran as instructed. It wasn’t until he returned at dawn that he discovered everyone in the village, except Zhou Min, was dead!

Officer Zhou was a smart man. He immediately realized that Su Bei telling him to leave was probably to save him. After learning about Su Bei’s ability, he was even more certain of his conjecture. Su Bei must have seen his destined death, which prompted him to intervene.

“Got it.” Su Bei nodded casually. He had Officer Zhou’s number in his phone, and if he needed the officer’s help in the future, he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to ask. After all, Su Bei knew he had genuinely saved the officer’s life.

He stretched and asked his three companions, in a good mood: “Didn’t you sleep well?”

The three of them gazed at him resentfully. Li Shu feigned friendliness: “After so many people died last night, how heartless would one have to be to sleep well?”

Though he had to admit he hadn’t slept well for that reason at all – what did the lives and deaths of strangers have to do with him? If it weren’t for accompanying Jiang Tianming, he probably would have been asleep long ago. But that didn’t stop Li Shu from using this to accuse Su Bei. After all, it’s about actions, not intentions.

“I didn’t kill them.” Su Bei, of course, wouldn’t be morally coerced; he had no morals.

Rubbing his temples, which felt tight from staying up all night, Jiang Tianming calmly asked: “But you knew, right? You knew that the Zhou family’s second daughter would survive in the end?”

Last night, after Su Bei left, he recalled Su Bei’s earlier comment about Zhou Min being “interesting.” That ominous premonition came true; Su Bei’s “interesting” indeed wasn’t a good thing.

Su Bei nodded honestly: “Destiny is inherently unavoidable.”

Unless he paid a price.

If he paid nothing, even if he took Zhou Min away, someone else would accidentally be in a dying state and receive the life force of the entire village. And at that time, Zhou Min would certainly die from the failed treatment of her terminal illness.

Although Jiang Tianming wasn’t entirely clear on this point, being influenced by Feng Lan and Su Bei, he knew that changing others’ destinies always came at a price, let alone the lives of an entire village.

Therefore, he had no intention of blaming Su Bei. Su Bei helping was a kindness, not helping was his duty. Moreover, truthfully, every single one of the villagers here, except Officer Zhou, didn’t deserve pity for their deaths.

And Officer Zhou had even been saved by Su Bei.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but ask curiously: “You actually saved Officer Zhou?”

In his mind, Su Bei wasn’t such a kind-hearted person.

“Because if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to watch this good show.” Su Bei said lazily, having no intention of hiding it, answering in front of Officer Zhou.

So that was it; that answer certainly fit Su Bei’s personality. After satisfying his curiosity, Jiang Tianming turned to ask about another matter: “Weren’t you going to buy cinnabar yesterday? Why were you in the village?”

“Because this good show was missing an audience,” Su Bei said, his gaze not on anyone present, but thinking of the only living person in the village who wasn’t there. “A qualified audience member.”

A qualified audience member needed one characteristic: to be able to discern everything after the performance. Otherwise, wouldn’t the actors be too lonely?

Without giving others a chance to ask more, Su Bei’s gaze fell back on them: “Are you making the arrays now?”

Driver Wang, who had been unclear about what happened last night, finally had a chance to speak: “I went to the morning market today and brought back the cinnabar. I just got back not long ago. Since there were exactly four of us, one array each, we didn’t call you.”

Driver Wang had an ability, so the arrays he made wouldn’t be any worse than the others’. These past few days, he had also realized Su Bei had a lazy nature, so when he said this, he wasn’t worried that Su Bei would think he was stealing credit.

As he expected, Su Bei wasn’t angry at all; instead, he said with satisfaction: “Then you all continue working, I’m going to run… uh…”

Suddenly, his expression changed: “There’s no time! Master Wang, give me your materials and blueprints. Start driving now; we’ll make the arrays as we go.”

Just as he activated his ability, Su Bei saw that every single one of them had their luck plummeted to the far right. This indicated that something unlucky was definitely about to happen, something that would affect everyone.

What could this be? He knew without thinking; it must be related to the Life Stone.

As mentioned before, because the Old Ancestor’s death time was uncertain, the duration of the aura concealment array he had originally set up was also uncertain, but it would expire within these two days.

He had originally thought they could make it in time, but now it seemed that, as expected of the protagonist group, misfortunes never missed them.

The second Su Bei finished speaking, the “Manga Consciousness” notification sound echoed in his ear. A new chapter of the comic had updated.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Tianming’s previously relaxed brow furrowed instantly. He immediately stood up to pack his things, while not forgetting to ask about the situation.

The others were the same. Officer Zhou asked nervously: “Do I have to go with you too? What about Zhou Min?”

Earlier, before Su Bei got up, he had already learned about yesterday’s events from Jiang Tianming, and naturally knew that Zhou Min had luckily profited from the situation, not only surviving the array but also becoming its greatest beneficiary.

“The two of you can stay here,” Su Bei said, glancing at Officer Zhou’s still normal luck, then explained to the others, “The Old Ancestor’s aura seal won’t last until we finish making the array, so its aura will inevitably leak, attracting Nightmare Beasts.”

Therefore, they had to start moving now. Once the Life Stone’s aura leaked, even if they quickly sealed it with an array, many Nightmare Beasts would still arrive in time. The closer they were to the academy, the less danger they would face.

Fortunately, they hadn’t brought much with them, so there was no need to pack. Everyone quickly arrived at the village entrance to get into the car. What was somewhat surprising was Zhou Min sitting on a large stone at the village entrance, gazing into the void. She seemed to be thinking about something, or perhaps just simply spacing out.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her head. Seeing everyone walking towards the village entrance, she paused for a moment: “Are you leaving? Then what… what about what happened to me?”

“There will be special personnel to handle it later,” Jiang Tianming replied. “If we can make it back safely.”

Once in the car, Driver Wang started the engine and drove at full throttle, heading straight for the academy along the main road. The others seized the time in the car to draw arrays, aiming to make the Life Stone leak as little aura as possible.

Incidentally, he was also responsible for calling the academy and the government to explain the situation. Previously, they wanted to secretly transport the Life Stone back, but now that exposure was inevitable, there was naturally no need to be secretive anymore; seeking support from powerful Ability users was the real priority.

One should know that the journey from the academy to the mountain village was not short, a full four-hour drive. Although they didn’t know when the Life Stone’s aura would leak, the Minor Destiny Pointer’s timeliness certainly wouldn’t be for long. Surviving several hours under the siege of Nightmare Beasts was impossible for them.

Driving and making calls at the same time was quite dangerous, but the four of them needed to seize the time to make arrays, so only Driver Wang could do this.

“Do you think the Zhou family’s second daughter knew about the Old Ancestor’s plan? I always felt she acted too calmly last night,” Jiang Tianming asked without lifting his head, his hands still moving, while the driver was on the phone.

Normally, everyone should have been asleep in the middle of the night, making it difficult to notice family members suddenly collapsing and losing their breath. Even if discovered by chance, the average person’s reaction would be to hide in a safe place, scared. Not to precisely come to the location of the incident to check the situation as she did.

However, because even if she knew, it didn’t constitute a crime, Jiang Tianming didn’t delve deeper at the time; he was just a little curious afterward.

Upon hearing this, Li Shu looked up and said uncertainly, “There’s no reason she would know, right?”

The Old Ancestor’s plan was only made when he realized he couldn’t achieve longevity and was nearing death from old age. To enjoy the lives of all the villagers by himself, he couldn’t possibly tell anyone about it.

“Su Bei, Ling You, what do you think?” Jiang Tianming didn’t argue with him; instead, he sought public opinion.

Su Bei’s answer was the same as his: “She knew.”

Earlier, after understanding why Zhou Min was able to survive, he had harbored such suspicions and even probed her a bit. The questions he asked about the Old Ancestor at the time were merely a diversion. What Su Bei was truly evaluating was Zhou Min’s attitude towards the Old Ancestor.

And Zhou Min clearly had an evasive attitude, which spoke volumes.

It was now two to one, but Li Shu wasn’t convinced. He smiled and looked at the girl in the team who hadn’t spoken yet: “Ling You, what do you think?”

Ling You raised her eyes, stopped what she was doing, and answered clearly: “I’ve finished drawing the array.”

The other three: “…”

Everyone immediately shut up and sped up their movements.

As they spoke, Driver Wang finished the first call: “The person who answered me said they would immediately report it upwards and told us to keep in touch at all times. Should I call your academy’s teacher now?”

“Yes, our homeroom teacher’s phone number is 13xxxxxxxxx.” Jiang Tianming expertly rattled off a string of numbers. Among all the S-class students, probably only he, Zhao Xiaoyu, and the class monitor would remember the teacher’s contact information.

However, just as Driver Wang dialed the number and before the call connected, Su Bei’s expression suddenly became solemn, and he warned everyone: “They’re here!”

His released Mental Energy sensed several Nightmare Beasts approaching from afar. Clearly, the Old Ancestor’s concealment time had ended, and the Nightmare Beasts, sensing the Life Stone’s aura, were swarming over.

It was an expected outcome. Everyone remained silent, their eyes filled with a determination to face death fearlessly. In this situation, they couldn’t back down; even if they handed over the Life Stone, the Nightmare Beasts still wouldn’t let them off.

“You two figure out how to deal with them. We’ll continue making the arrays,” Su Bei said, looking at the array in his hand that was still a little bit unfinished.

Don’t think that just because the Nightmare Beasts have already arrived, concealing the Life Stone’s aura will be useless. As long as there are no advanced Nightmare Beasts among them, those farther away won’t know their location immediately.

If they could seal off the aura before advanced Nightmare Beasts arrived, they might only need to deal with the few Nightmare Beasts that had sensed the Life Stone’s aura. But if the Life Stone’s aura continued to leak, Nightmare Beasts would continuously surge in. Once advanced Nightmare Beasts were attracted, they would have no way out.

“You two hurry up, we’ll hold them off.” Jiang Tianming clearly knew this and immediately agreed. He then looked at the driver, “Master Wang, keep driving, just make sure to drive steadily.”

They both had to fight on the car roof; fighting inside the car would inevitably be constrained and easily affect Su Bei and the other person who needed to concentrate on drawing. One must know that making these arrays was not easy; the pattern itself was extremely complex, and making even one mistake would require starting over, which is why it took so long.

As for why Jiang Tianming and Ling You could draw so quickly, Jiang Tianming had observed the array carefully for a long time to study it, so he was relatively familiar with it. Ling You, on the other hand, had stronger concentration than others, and not being distracted by external things naturally made her draw faster.

“Don’t worry, my ability is [Smooth Driving]! I’ll definitely drive this car steadily! You’ll feel like you’re walking on flat ground even standing on top!” Driver Wang assured them confidently. But the beads of sweat on his temples showed that he was also under immense pressure.

Receiving his reply, Jiang Tianming and Ling You took the Life Stone, which was in their storage space, to the car roof. Carrying it on them would effectively attract the Nightmare Beasts’ attention and prevent them from attacking other places.

The overbearing nature of the Life Stone was that even when hidden in a storage space, its aura still couldn’t be concealed. Less than two seconds after they climbed up, a monkey-like Nightmare Beast darted out from the trees, screaming and clawing at Jiang Tianming.

This was just a low-level Nightmare Beast; dealing with it wasn’t difficult. Even on the car roof, thanks to the driver’s genuinely smooth driving, Jiang Tianming and Ling You handled it with relative ease.

However, in just a short minute, the Nightmare Beasts more than tripled. They were overwhelmed by one after another, making them wonder if all the Nightmare Beasts within several hundred kilometers had been attracted.

Ling You played a huge role at this point, or rather, the [Plague] ability was meant to show its true effect in situations like this. It only needed one virus, and Nightmare Beasts of the same type would successively die.

Jiang Tianming’s [Frost Mage] ability was also very suitable for the current situation. With a “Hailstorm Formation” centered on himself, Nightmare Beasts that approached him would be smashed to death.

As the car drove forward, it left behind a dense carpet of Nightmare Beast corpses. Looking out from the car window, they couldn’t even see the sky, only wave after wave of Nightmare Beasts.

Low-level Nightmare Beasts weren’t high quality, but they certainly came in quantity. If it weren’t for this encounter, they never knew there were so many low-level Nightmare Beasts in this vicinity.

But even though they dealt with them easily, this wasn’t a long-term solution. Aside from anything else, Mental Energy alone couldn’t endure.

Li Shu finished drawing the array first and immediately joined the battle. He didn’t need to go on the car roof; he only needed to cast an [Illusion] over the entire car from inside, automatically dragging Nightmare Beasts that approached it into an illusion.

To conserve Mental Energy, the illusion he created wasn’t aggressive, but it could make the Nightmare Beasts fight each other. This indeed eliminated many Nightmare Beasts. However, as more Nightmare Beasts fell into the [Illusion], his Mental Energy consumption gradually increased, even with conscious conservation.

Finishing the last stroke, Su Bei saw his companion’s face, pale as paper, and called out: “It’s done. Give me the materials, I’ll complete the array.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tianming’s eyes lit up with joy. He and Ling You teamed up to clear out the Nightmare Beasts in front of the window. Su Bei seized the opportunity to open the window and catch the Life Stone, then quickly placed it in the center of the four arrays Li Shu had already laid out.

The next second, the four arrays simultaneously emitted a dazzling white light, which then vanished without a trace.

The array had been successfully cast, and the Life Stone’s aura had been concealed. Now, as long as they eliminated all the Nightmare Beasts that had been attracted by the previously leaked aura, they could leave safely.

Su Bei interlaced his fingers and stretched them, then said dramatically to the two on the car roof: “You two, stand back, don’t get in my way—I’m about to make my move.”