The good news came so suddenly that it took Shi Jin a long time to calm down.

He handed the bracelet to the girl's father and pressed for more information on the progress, "I have another question. How much do you know about those stone statues in District 24?"

The father asked, "You mean those black and white stones?"

"right."

"I'm not too sure about that. It's been there for a long time. Anyway, it was there when I was a child."

The statue was knocked down at the last minute, so it must have been at least several decades ago.

Have you ever met the Queen? Can you tell me about her?

“No…” the girl’s father confessed honestly, “The Queen hasn’t appeared in public for a long time; she has been on the throne for many years.”

"How many years exactly?"

"...I don't know, the Queen ruled when my father was alive."

"Okay, sorry to bother you."

Shi Jinzhe and Shehe didn't want to waste time. With a wave of their hands, Yan Ruoying, Ji Hui, and Pusheng emerged from the bushes and walked back to the main road one by one, leaving the family stunned.

On the way to the Goren family, he said, "The Queen lived a long life; she may have absorbed all the life force of the common people."

Shekh didn't quite agree: "If that were the case, it's impossible that no intelligent people would have noticed this. Over time, the people would definitely rebel. However, when we mention the Queen, these people don't show any resentment or bitterness; they are very calm."

"The lost life force was not used by the Queen, but was used for another purpose, one that benefits everyone."

"So her longevity is another reason."

The two reflected on their journey and concluded that the Queen was different from ordinary people; she possessed extraordinary abilities.

This power most likely comes from the faith that she forbids.

Sheh controlled the guards of the Goren family to the point of unconsciousness, and entered the third floor of the East Building without any hindrance.

As soon as he entered, Gao Lun, who was half-petrified, turned his eyes to look at him.

Pu Sheng almost cried out in surprise, "My God, how did you petrify him?"

"Otherwise?" Shekh retorted.

If she wasn't petrified, how did she and Shi Jinzhe manage to return the way they came yesterday without disturbing Gao Lun?

Staring at Gao Lun, whose only remaining part of his body, his eyes and nose, was still movable, Pu Sheng held his chin in his hand and kept stroking it back and forth, hissing as he spoke.

Shi Jinzhe noticed Pu Sheng's anxiety, "You don't want her to use petrification?"

"Ah...? No, no~" Pu Sheng quickly denied, saying that he was just afraid that someone would come in and cause an accident.

"When we entered the city the day before yesterday, you didn't want her to use petrification, so you made your move ahead of time, right?"

"No, no, I'm just afraid you all think I'm weak, so I want to show off my skills."

Shi Jinzhe stared at Pusheng, who looked at the sky and the ground but not at him; his methods of concealment were too clumsy.

Pu Sheng's hands, clasped behind his back, quickly formed a knot as he racked his brains for a way to distract Shi Jinzhe.

Suddenly, he jolted awake and exclaimed dramatically, "Gor Lun can't move? Then who ordered the guards to search for people this morning?"

"A city-wide search, not even sparing such a remote little room, who do you think could be the Queen?" Shekh exposed his amateur acting skills. "Do you think a wealthy businessman can command the guards?"

The guard is controlled by people from the Third District, a country with a progressively lower social hierarchy, and only the Queen can do this.

Ji Hui immediately sensed something was wrong. "Then we've been discovered?"

Shi Jinzhe: "It's not necessarily us. There's also Zhou Qiyu's camp in the capital city, and they will also arouse suspicion."

“There are other city factions as well.” Shekh pinched his collar; it was a special garment distributed by Shi Jinzhe, the same style as that of the natives.

“We disguised ourselves when we entered the city, but they didn’t. The Queen’s spies can monitor other cities at any time through the message tower. It’s possible that some factions have been discovered.”

[All factions in area code SE7652 have been wiped out; Snowflake City quest progress has been terminated.]

“…”

What she said came true; Shekh never imagined she would have such a jinx.

“The entire faction was wiped out…” Ji Hui exhaled. “Each region in the regional competition has high-level players. We’ve only been in the city for a short time, and the high-level players from Snowflake City have already been wiped out. Suddenly, the pressure on me has increased.”

"How could they all be wiped out?" Yan Ruoying couldn't understand it either.

"It's a signal tower."

Shi Jinzhe's tone became unconsciously serious. "Aside from the mysterious Tower of Faith and the Queen whom we don't know much about, the common people in this instance are easy to deal with. Besides, Snowflake City only has this one faction, so they have no competition and must be rushing straight to the Tower of Faith to speed up the progress."

Shekh: "We need to hurry and ask him questions before we go into the secret passage to the tower."

Shi Jinzhe looked over and felt that it was a little strange to hear Shehe say this idiom. Snakes say to beat the grass to scare the snake. What could scare her would have to be a magic needle to suppress the sea.

This scene…

Shi Jinzhe couldn't control his distraction, but luckily everything suddenly went black.

Sheikh covered his eyes. "Control yourself."

"You restrained yourself." Shi Jinzhe took her hand and held it in his own.

Before Shekh could undo Goren's petrification, he got down to business and warned Pusheng, "I know you have your own secrets, and I hope you won't jeopardize the faction, otherwise I will keep you here forever."

Pu Sheng scratched his eyebrows and replied dryly, "I really am a good person, you should believe me."

“If they don’t believe you, you’re as good as dead right now,” Ji Hui comforted him. “You’re not injured or crippled, don’t think too much about it.”

Pu Sheng thanked him for his heartfelt comfort and reflected that his acting skills were indeed not very good.

Beside the luxurious bed, with the curtains half-drawn, Shekh began to dispel Goren's petrification.

"It's a good thing you said you didn't order anyone to enter this bedroom, otherwise no one would have found you for a whole day and night. You only got what you deserved."

"..."

Gao Lun looked weak, and his stiff neck was finally able to turn, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

Seeing that he was self-aware, Shi Jinzhe pretended to be a nice guy and said, "Just answer my questions. We can discuss things. If you agree, just nod."

Gao Lun hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.

What do you want to ask?

Shekh took out the fragments of the statues he had found earlier. "How much do you know about these two statues, one black and one white?"

She stared intently at Gao Lun, successfully capturing the moment his pupils dilated upon seeing the fragments of the stone statue.

Very good, Gao Lun knows this very well.