Chapter 491

Chapter 491: Chapter 488: "The Dark Demon King Feng QiqiThe young boy pressed against the wooden board, covering his mouth and emitting muffled whimpers.

The light from the crevice fell on the young boy’s face, he saw the wooden door broken down by the elders, his father spattered with blood, and the blood belonging to his mother smeared on the wooden boards that blocked his view.

It seeped through the crevice and fell into his contracted pupils, piercing his whole body with trembling.

Separated by a wall, he watched as his parents were taken away.

He kept his eyes open but dared not make any sound.

The light through that crack shone directly into his eyes, he pressed against the board, his eyes unblinking, as if to etch the scene deeply into his mind.

In his eyes was profound hatred.

Moments later, everything returned to silence.

His strength drained, he collapsed into the dirt like sludge, his heart sinking into an ice lake of sorrow.

Suddenly, he felt an abnormal sensation surge through his body, a black line climbing up his arm as his vision began to blur.

...This was bad.

The curse on his body, which had been increasingly difficult to suppress in the previous days, now seemed about to erupt completely.

At that moment, he saw a round brightness shining on his face.

Not far away, in the tunnel, a person was standing; he couldn’t see their face, only the halo on their wrist.

...How is there someone else down in the tunnel?

His thoughts were entangled like a mess, he couldn’t think too much, he stretched out his hand, desperately reaching towards the person.

"I... I am the son of an elder, I am familiar with the First Tribe’s routes. Now, during the natural disaster period, the First Tribe has been sealed off, but I can take you there, I have a Hidden Guard, and I know where my parents’ Soul Stones are hidden..." he said.

He didn’t know who this person was, nor did he know if they wanted to go to the First Tribe.

But he was simply showcasing his value as best as he could before dying, on the off chance that the person in front of him really had an item that could suppress the curse, perhaps they could save him.

And at that moment, that person actually stopped in their tracks.

He seemed to be saved.

When the young boy woke up, he found himself lying on the floor, surrounded by the smell of blood.

He rose somewhat blankly, finding the black lines on his arm gone, the person truly helped him suppress the curse.

He noticed there was also a blood-colored array on the ground, the stench of blood emanating from it.

"Good thing you woke up quickly." He heard a voice from behind him.

He turned around and saw Su Ming’an sitting on the bed.

"You saved me." he said.

Su Ming’an nodded.

Just a moment ago, as the young boy cried out for help, he heard the new Main Quest.

The quest description was simple, but the rewards were very generous. His Perfect Progress was still stuck at 15% to this day, and adding 20% would push it forward significantly.

Moreover, following the main quest, he would definitely not deviate from the plotline. Since the system had issued him this task, as long as he completed it, Xiber should not die.

Just to be sure, Su Ming’an put on Wang Han’s Human Skin Mask and changed his face.

Before the young boy woke up, he not only used the props to suppress the Curse but also had a Flash of Genius, taking out the Feather Pen he had obtained from the Fifth World.

He had never used this prop before, because neither White Sand Paradise nor Pulaya had anyone especially in need of changing their qualifications. White Sand Paradise didn’t require it, and Pulaya had equivalent Laws.

But now, this item had a use. He had just thrown the unconscious young boy into the Array for experimentation, unsure of the outcome.

He looked at the taskbar and noticed that the young boy in front of him suddenly knelt down.

"...Are you the Bai Shen, sir?" the young boy’s voice trembled.

"Hm?" Su Ming’an was slightly startled.

"Our qualifications come from the Curse within us and cannot be changed by human means..." The young boy’s voice was excited: "—Only an all-powerful Deity can change one’s qualifications! You are the Bai Shen, right?"

Su Ming’an subconsciously glanced at his shoulder.

At that moment, he suddenly discovered that the Raven on his shoulder was gone. It had been too dark in the tunnel before, and the bird had almost no weight, so he did not know when it had left.

"You are the Bai Shen, aren’t you?" The young boy looked up, his eyes shining like stars: "May I ask you for something?"

"What?" Su Ming’an asked directly.

"All you have to say is that the succession ceremony in a few days won’t require children to be thrown into the lava as a sacrifice to the gods." He said: "You wouldn’t need such backward rituals, would you? I would like you to please save us... otherwise, my sister and I, one of us will definitely be thrown into the lava and burned to death in these few days..."

Su Ming’an realized that this child was quite astute, different from the inflexible people of Qiongdi. When faced with a possible encounter with the Bai Shen, his first reaction wasn’t to kneel and kowtow with gratitude, but rather to ask the Bai Shen to save his sister.

"Unfortunately, I am not the Bai Shen," Su Ming’an said.

His method of changing qualifications could only fool children. The elders of the First Tribe would certainly see that he was not the Bai Shen, and with just this trick, he couldn’t pretend to be the Bai Shen.

"Is that so..." The young boy seemed a bit disappointed.

He took out the Soul Stone that his parents had hidden, picked up the cloak that his mother had just finished sewing, and draped it over himself.

"Now it’s the time of calamity, and the First Tribe has been locked down," he said. "But I know a back passage. You want to go to the First Tribe, don’t you?"

"Okay," Su Ming’an remembered his mission: "I can give you a hand and save your sister."

"Really?" Feng Qiqi’s little face lit up with excitement: "Then may I... first gather some friends? I want to rescue my parents, and just the two of us won’t be enough."

"How long do you need?"

"Just ten minutes, they live nearby," Feng Qiqi said.

...Just ten minutes?

Su Ming’an was puzzled. What kind of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals was he going to summon that could gather so quickly?

However, there was strength in numbers. If he had more people to cause a disturbance in the First Tribe and muddle the waters, it would be easier for him to see Xiber.

To prevent the child from playing any tricks, Su Ming’an followed him all the way.

He wanted to see what formidable characters Feng Qiqi would summon, daring to infiltrate the heavily-guarded First Tribe to rescue people.

Were they helpers left by his parents? Or guards faithful to their family? Or perhaps... elders from other Tribes who also wanted to defect?

Ten minutes later.

Su Ming’an saw an army of children.

They were boisterous, one after another, huddling together like a cluster of black beans.

Su Ming’an looked down at the group of children’s crowns and just felt a headache.

"Line up, everyone! Don’t crowd! Don’t make noise! We’re here to rescue people!" Feng Qiqi stood at the front of the queue like a king of children.

His eyes glaring, lips pouting, he looked quite commanding. Under his direction, the little ones quieted down.

In Qiongdi, children were very sensible.

In fact, under normal circumstances, the harsher the living conditions, the more sensible the children become, because those who weren’t sensible had died.

"What is this..." Su Ming’an watched the children speechlessly.

Counting Feng Qiqi himself, there were seven children in total.

"It’s fine, they’re all orphans, my parents have been raising them until now," Feng Qiqi said. "We have our plan, let’s hurry and set off now."

With that, he led the group of children, charging into the tunnel with a momentum resembling a preschool train.

Su Ming’an didn’t stop them but followed behind.

The group of children seemed boisterous but moved very quietly. They each held a weapon with a sharpened edge; it was unclear whether they were prepared for their blades to be stained with blood.

"Are you a foreigner?" Along the way, Feng Qiqi came up ahead of him.

"Yeah," Su Ming’an said.

"A foreigner, huh..." Feng Qiqi said. "Foreigners are good people, with kind hearts. I like you guys. My teacher is also a foreigner."

"Your teacher... is Teacher Fang?" Su Ming’an said.

"Yes." Feng Qiqi turned back. "You know Teacher Fang as well? She is my teacher."

"That’s quite a coincidence," Su Ming’an said.

Teacher Fang was responsible for educating young children within the First Tribe, so it wasn’t strange that Feng Qiqi had been taught by her.

In his conversation with Feng Qiqi, Su Ming’an found out that Feng Qiqi was not as simple as he seemed. The child was very good at winning people’s favor.

Despite his parents being taken away right before his eyes, he was able to adjust his emotions quickly and chat with Su Ming’an with laughter and familiarity, making it difficult to dislike him.

Perhaps because they hadn’t seen a foreigner in a long time, the group of children loved to show off, stuffing things like candy and bread to Su Ming’an.

During this time, the children also discovered a buried array, which had dimmed and its use was unknown. Next to the array, Feng Qiqi found an egg and gave it to Su Ming’an.

"Here’s something extra for your meal," Feng Qiqi said.

"..." Su Ming’an silently accepted the egg.

Even if it was just an ordinary egg, he decided to hold on to it in case it was a clue.

Upon turning a corner, Su Ming’an glanced at the wall covered in bloody writing.

"That was written by my sister," Feng Qiqi noticed his gaze. "She likes to come here and doodle. I don’t know what she’s writing."

...So the person who had written all that was Feng Qiqi’s sister.

Su Ming’an knew that the main quest required him to rescue someone significant, and these two must also be key to the plot.

He wondered why Feng Qiqi’s sister would write so much cryptic, repetitive text.

After some time of marching, Feng Qiqi stopped in front of a wooden board.

"This is a hidden passage our family dug, only known to us," Feng Qiqi said. "Once we get up there, I must immediately go to rescue my parents and my sister."

"Have you thought out your plan?" Su Ming’an said.

He didn’t know why the child was so confident, as the First Tribe was heavily guarded, yet he thought he could save his parents with just a group of children.

"Don’t look down on me, I may be young but my strength is formidable. There are friends of my parents in the First Tribe, I can be the bridge to connect with them," Feng Qiqi said. "Plus, I am familiar with the small paths of the First Tribe—we won’t be discovered!"

As he spoke, he was the first to lift the wooden board.

He was discovered.

A patrolling guard happened to spot Feng Qiqi pushing open the wooden board.

"Come on! I’m not afraid of you! It’s time for me to play my role!" Feng Qiqi, however, was not panicked and drew a knife, slashing towards the guard.

The guard, seeing this, held up his long spear and swept it across Feng Qiqi’s belly.

"Bang!"

Feng Qiqi was hit by the spear and heavily smashed against the stone wall.

Su Ming’an silently watched this scene.

...So your role is to get killed in a second.

He was just thinking about taking out the guard when he saw a blade edge fly by, aimed with extreme precision at the guard’s neck.

Before the guard could even shout, his head flew off.

Blood exploded, splattering on the faces of several children who stepped forward, their weapons piercing the guard’s belly with a very strong instinct for finishing moves.

Feng Qiqi, who had produced that blade edge, stood up and rubbed his somewhat painful back.

"It hurts just so-so," he said. "It can hardly trouble me."

As he spoke, he kicked away the guard’s head and raised the knife in his hand:

"—Humans, perish! Darker than pitch black, more painful than pain, more fearsome than death! We ’Seven Great Demon Kings’ have descended—I, Feng Qiqi, the foremost amongst the ’Darkness of the Abyss’, the reaper of lives, the contract king exiled to Qiongdi—shall deliver unto you the judgment that falls into hell!"

"Clap clap clap!" Beside him, six children echoed him, applauding in unison.

The guard’s head rolled on the ground, reaching their feet and was kicked away.

Su Ming’an: "Uh."

Su Ming’an: "...What do you plan to do next?"

The death of the guard here would definitely be noticed, even in the dense black mist of night, people with Soul Stones would quickly arrive here.

"I’m going to start fires all around the tribe to set the outskirts ablaze," Feng Qiqi lifted a torch. "As long as the First Tribe is in chaos, the guards won’t bother with us."

He was quite proud of this plan, seemingly very confident.

Su Ming’an sighed, "Most of the buildings here are wooden; once ignited, it’s hard to control the flames. If we can’t find where your parents are, we will be in trouble."

"Uh, what should we do then..." Feng Qiqi immediately looked worried.

Even though he seemed calm, he was still too young after all.

This frustrated expression made him somewhat cute on his good-looking young face, making the live comments exclaim, "I can!"

"Enough, where’s your sister?" Su Ming’an didn’t intend to watch the kid’s show any longer.

He planned to rescue Feng Qiqi’s sister first, and then find Xiber. No matter whether Xiber still had her divine wisdom or not, he had to see her condition.

He should be outside the city now; he could vaguely make out the stone fortress at the farthest end. The black mist was too thick, and he couldn’t see clearly.

"Uh, it’s that stone fortress..." Feng Qiqi pointed toward the center.

"The Stone Fortress?" Su Ming’an confirmed again: "You’re saying your sister is in that Stone Fortress?"

"Yes, her room is on the third layer of the Stone Fortress, mine too," Feng Qiqi said. "She should still be sleeping right now; we just have to sneak in and take her out."

Su Ming’an frowned slightly.

The Stone Fortress had already been occupied by Xiber, who transformed it into sludge. Feng Qiqi had not been with the First Tribe for the past few days, so he probably didn’t know the situation.

If Feng Qiqi’s sister was indeed in that Stone Fortress, she might have already been contaminated by Xiber.

"You all wait here in this room, don’t run around, wait for me to come back," Su Ming’an said, slowly merging into the shadow.