Chapter 626 - 389: Ruin Ready 2

Chapter 626: Chapter 389: Ruin Ready 2

"Mr. Han, please get in the car," Li Changxi said respectfully.

"Mm," Han Ning grunted, pulling open the rear door and getting in.

He tossed the bag he was carrying to the side, closed his eyes, and fell silent.

Sitting in the front, Li Changxi glanced in the rearview mirror and caught sight of Han Ning’s gaunt wrists and hands, which were inadvertently exposed and covered in bulging blue veins.

A chill ran down his spine. He had already classified Han Ning as one of those old monsters.

The SUV drove north, avoiding the highway. Instead, it followed the national road, winding its way up the rugged, serpentine mountain roads.

They went from a wide national road to a relatively narrow county road.

After five hours, the surrounding scenery had long since transformed into endless rolling mountains.

The sky gradually darkened.

As the car sped toward Ningzhou, a small mountain village came into view.

It was dinnertime, and wisps of smoke from cooking fires rose in the distance.

"Mr. Han, the entrance to the ruins only appears after 2 a.m. It’s still early, so let’s get something to eat before heading into the mountains."

Li Changxi stepped on the brake and made the suggestion.

"Alright."

Han Ning didn’t know the area, so he had no choice but to let Li Changxi make the arrangements.

With the Spiritual Contract between them, he wasn’t afraid of being double-crossed.

After parking the car and taking a closer look, they saw it was a small mountain village with a sparse population of only about a hundred households.

The village was in an extremely remote location, far from any busy transport routes.

As a result, there wasn’t even a single proper restaurant in the area.

But Li Changxi had clearly been here before. He found the best-maintained house, smoke curling up from its chimney, walked up to it, and knocked on the door. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Is anyone home?"

Before long, the wooden courtyard gate creaked open. A little girl, about four or five years old, peeked out from behind it.

The little girl stared at them with wide, bright eyes, her face full of vigilance.

"Little girl, are your parents home?"

"Mom, there are strangers here."

"Who is it?"

As the voice faded, a thin woman in her twenties walked out of the house.

She looked at the two strangely dressed men at her gate, equally wary. "Who are you?"

"Sister Zou, it’s me, Li Changxi. I was here a few days ago."

Li Changxi pulled down his face mask, revealing the face of an addict.

Han Ning had expected the woman to show a look of recognition upon seeing Li Changxi.

And then invite them in.

However...

After seeing Li Changxi’s face, her expression did a complete 180, as if she had become a different person.

She suddenly lunged at Li Changxi, looking utterly crazed.

"This is all your fault! Last time, you asked my husband to guide you into the mountains. Now you just walk away without a care, but he’s vanished without a trace!"

"What?"

Li Changxi was baffled by her words. "Your husband didn’t come back? I remember we sent him home before we reached the entrance. When did he go missing?"

"Three days ago," the woman said, agitated.

"Three days? But it’s been over a week since we hired him to go into the mountains, hasn’t it?" Li Changxi frowned.

"He... he did come back. But ever since he returned, he just hasn’t been right."

"He was listless all day long, with no motivation to even work."

"It was like something out of a TV show, as if he’d been bewitched by a fox spirit."

"At first, I just thought he was exhausted and didn’t think much of it."

"Until three days ago... I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and discovered he was suddenly gone."

"Have you called the police or asked the other villagers to search the mountains?" Han Ning inquired.

"I..." The woman glanced at Li Changxi. "The villagers searched for two days and two nights but couldn’t find any trace of him."

"Ahem... Mr. Han, her family’s line of business isn’t exactly legitimate."

"I see," Han Ning said, understanding now.

"Sister Zou, I’m going to take this distinguished guest to get some food first. We’ll be heading into the mountains later. If we happen to run into your husband, we’ll bring him back."

When he was calm and rational, Li Changxi was actually quite a reasonable person.

Soothed by Li Changxi’s gentle tone, the woman’s agitation subsided slightly. She gritted her teeth and said:

"Brother Li, I’ll have to ask you to do this for me. If there’s really no other way, I’ll have to call the police. A few years in jail is better than being a widow for the rest of my life."

"Mm."

Walking along the village path, Han Ning suddenly spoke. "That woman carries the faint scent of a Curse."

"Something must have happened to her husband."

"The area of influence of the ruins might have expanded. We need to hurry," Li Changxi analyzed.

Perhaps because this remote mountain village rarely saw outsiders, the two of them were turned away at the door three times before they finally succeeded in arranging a meal at a rather dilapidated-looking home.

The owner of the house was a very old woman who lived alone.

The house in the courtyard was run-down, and weeds grew wild in the corners. Given his past experiences, as Li Changxi stepped through the gate, his eyes couldn’t help but drift toward Han Ning, silently asking if there was anything unusual about the place.

A faint, barely visible fluorescent light flashed between Han Ning’s eyes. After confirming there was nothing out of the ordinary, he said:

"Nothing unusual."

Li Changxi nodded and stuffed a few hundred-yuan bills into the old woman’s hand, asking her to whip up the best meal she could.

DRIP... DRIP...

Before long, a summer rain began to fall from the leaden clouds without any warning. It started as a sparse drizzle, then grew heavier, gradually forming a thin curtain of water under the eaves that trapped the two men inside.

Han Ning stood under the eaves, taking in the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen. He gazed at the distant mountains, shrouded in a hazy white mist, and felt a sense of comfort wash over him as he took a deep, pleasant breath.

Suddenly, the faint sound of an argument reached his ears.

’Other outsiders in this remote little village?’

The two of them exchanged a look and, in unspoken agreement, stepped out of the courtyard into the curtain of rain.

The rain fell harder and harder. The already damp and muddy mountain path became even more treacherous, and after just a few steps, their pant legs were splattered with sticky, uncomfortable yellow mud.

"What, is your house a palace or something? I’m offering this much money and you won’t even let us take shelter from the rain?"

The thin woman who had rejected them earlier was standing in front of her gate, wearing a jacket and holding an umbrella to block the way.

Opposite her stood two men and a woman. The one in the lead was a tall young man in his twenties, wearing a technical jacket.

He carried a meter-long black sword sheath on his back, engraved with intricate silver cloud patterns.

In Han Ning’s words, it looked very expensive.

Since the trio had their backs partially turned to them, Han Ning couldn’t see the man’s face clearly. But judging from his arrogant tone and the magnificent sword sheath he carried, he must have come from an extraordinary background, which had also fostered his rebellious and untamed personality.

"Carrying a sword sheath in a modern city... you’re either a cosplayer, crazy, or an Extraordinary Being with exceptional skills."

Li Changxi’s eyes narrowed.

Beside the man with the sword sheath stood a bewitching woman with strange, silver curly hair.

She wore a red technical jacket, but it could hardly conceal her graceful and well-proportioned figure.

The third person was a sturdy man in his early thirties, dressed in a black trench coat, who stood to the side in silence.

When the two of them looked his way, the man seemed to sense it and immediately turned his head toward them, his brow furrowed.

"Sharp senses," Li Changxi said, his expression wary.

"He seems... familiar..." Han Ning’s expression was calm as he felt the trench-coated man’s gaze sweep over him.

His Profound Moon Spiritual Power was extremely acute. Whenever someone’s gaze swept over him, he could analyze who it was through the focused wisp of ’spirit’ in their look.

It was similar to a hound’s nose.

"I’ve seen that man in the black trench coat before, at the Blue Bay Bar."

"The Blue Bay Bar?" Li Changxi’s frown deepened. "Rumor has it that the owner of the black market behind the Blue Bay Bar is a member of the Black God Association. It’s very likely this group has also discovered traces of the ruins."

While the two were talking, the thin woman wiped the rain from her cheeks and said sincerely, "Sirs, I’m truly sorry, but please find somewhere else."

"You son of a..." The lead man’s face turned cold.

Seeing this, the bewitching woman’s cold expression changed in an instant. She put on a friendly smile and played the peacemaker. "Forget it. She’s not willing. Let’s just find another place."