The guards' hurried footsteps rushed toward the old palace, and Ji Hui and the other two who were still outside immediately put away the clues they had found and walked out.

As soon as they stepped out, the sound of clattering came from around the corner, nearly causing them to collide head-on.

Yan Ruoying's eyes flickered, and she found a narrow gap in the flower path outside the corridor, "Go that way."

Ji Hui threw ten flying knives at once, blocking the guards running towards them, and was the last to retreat into the path as the rearguard.

Yan Ruoying ran in the lead, tearing off the prickly flower vines and running forward instinctively. Then a sharp turn appeared, and she suddenly stopped, quickly hiding behind Pusheng.

Mu Zhi and her twin brothers came face to face with them, and the other party seemed very surprised, not expecting to encounter Ji Hui and his two companions on this path.

Ji Hui: "Oh no, if the three of them are here, then Zhou Qiyu and Li Huaizhen must be nearby too."

“They’ll definitely go after Shi Jinzhe and the other two. Let’s take care of these three before they come back.” Pu Sheng pulled out a stack of talismans and, under the watchful eyes of Yan Ruoying and Ji Hui, who were wondering, “Why have you suddenly become so good at fighting?”, he froze the three of them.

"Hurry, let's go!" Pu Sheng strode forward, the hem of his long robe flipping up.

But after taking only a few steps, the smell of blood reached his nose from behind. Pu Sheng quickly turned around and was relieved to see that his two teammates were alright.

However, he soon realized other problems.

He looked at Mu Zhi and the twin brothers and saw that a lot of blood was gushing from their chests.

Ji Hui sheathed his sword and, seeing the astonishment in his eyes, explained, "If you don't kill them, you'll be leaving yourself a hidden danger. Let's go."

Yan Ruoying wiped the blood off the muzzle of the specially made short gun, took the props from the twin brothers, and casually tossed one to Pusheng as she passed by.

Pu Sheng had no choice but to follow, but he kept saying, "My immobilization spell lasts a long time, enough for us to escape..."

“Pusheng, the battle between factions isn’t just about individual wins and losses,” Ji Hui said. “Have you ever thought about why your faction wins? Is it to add points to your world? Nobody gets up early in a game without a reason. These points must be useful. We can’t miss any opportunity to increase our chances of winning.”

Pu Sheng froze, turning to look at the three people lying in a pool of blood.

The battle between factions is not just about individual wins and losses.

He recalled the torrential rain before he entered the game; the entire town where he lived was flooded, and two litters of rabbits he fed every day drowned.

The worldwide torrential rains were too strange. Pu Sheng suddenly recalled that many years ago when he was seriously ill and hospitalized, he had also encountered a woman in the hospital who made him feel very strange.

At that time, she asked herself, "Little friend, do you want to be a great hero? I saved your life, can you help me once in the future?"

He nodded dumbly, and then he saw the woman place her hand on her heart.

She bent down and whispered to herself as if telling a secret, "Twenty-seven years from now, you will meet a beautiful woman who can turn into a snake. If all goes well, there should also be a young man who looks a bit like me. If you meet them, please remember not to let the woman petrify you, and don't stay too far away from the young man. If he gets into trouble, please help him, okay?"

After saying this, the woman wiped his sweat and muttered to herself, "Your fate is flawed. Let your parents send you to live in a Taoist temple."

After she left, Pusheng told his parents about it, and they said they were delirious from the fever and might have encountered human traffickers.

Miraculously, he recovered that very afternoon.

Later, he discovered that he had a strong talent for fortune telling and became a well-known fortune teller in the neighborhood.

It wasn't until he entered the game and discovered he had a two-character card called "Heavenly Secret" that Pu Sheng realized what that woman had given him back then.

The game couldn't detect this card, and he didn't know what help he was supposed to provide, so he spent his days calculating these things, trying to find clues.

Then, as Pu Sheng continued calculating, he realized that he would die if he didn't enter this game.

It's not about being killed by someone or dying from losing the game, but about the teammates he encounters in this game having to live; if they don't live, he will die.

Shekh, who can turn into a snake, and Shi Jinzhe, who bears a striking resemblance to a mysterious woman...

Pu Sheng stopped running. He had been pretending to be stupid and naive for several days, observing the two of them. He confirmed that although they had the indifference of players, there would be no major problems as long as they did not cross the line.

Nobody's perfect, and all of this is acceptable. I guess now is the time when I need his help.

Without hesitation, Pu Sheng turned around and ran back.

"You guys go first."

Yan Ruoying and Ji Hui asked in surprise, "Where are you going?"

He didn't answer, and hurried towards the ruined palace.

The guards who were searching were still there. Pu Sheng threw away the immobilization charms as if they were free, jumped over the ruins and ran into the maze, quickly finding the base of the black statue.

However, the place was deserted, as if no one had ever been there.

Pu Sheng walked around the black base twice. Shi Jinzhe and Shehe did not have the ability to teleport. If he had encountered Zhou Qiyu, he would not have been able to defeat the two of them. It was impossible for him not to have left any traces.

After much deliberation, Pu Sheng decided to head towards the teleportation array. Something must have moved the two of them, and coincidentally, the teleportation array in the palace had this function.

"Sigh, this is really worrying. How am I going to solve the problem of the life force needed to activate the formation?"

...

A white halo flashed, and the teleportation array disappeared behind Shi Jinzhe. He fell to the ground, ignoring himself and searching for Sheh first.

Ancient, primitive timbers support the tree canopy high, with green branches connecting to each other, creating a sea of ​​trees overhead.

Shi Jinzhe looked around and found that he was all alone. Shehe was not there, nor were Zhou Qiyu and Li Huaizhen, whom he had brought in.

He rotated his shoulders to ease the pain of the fall and used the links brought by [Order Reconstruction] to search for Qishekh.

The fine golden threads stretched straight out into the bushes, occasionally parting the trees to lead further in.

He walked from dawn till dusk, and there wasn't a soul in the entire forest, but many animals tried to approach him, approaching him in a very unfriendly manner, their hunger written in their predatory eyes.

Shi Jinzhe threw out his butterfly knife, driving away the brown bear blocking his path, and then continued walking without stopping for a moment.

As dawn broke, the golden thread finally trembled slightly.

Using a stick to probe the way, he pushed down the tall, dense bushes and peered inside, catching a glimpse of a small patch of pinkish-purple scales.

Ignoring his scratched face, Shi Jinzhe immediately passed through the bushes and then saw a pinkish-purple tail that shimmered with fine gold. It didn't have the same imposing presence as when it was an adult; this immature tail could only be described as powerful.

His gaze shifted upwards, landing on a figure with its back to him, its shoulders prominent, its back somewhat slender, lacking the maturity of an adult woman.

But he recognized that head of black curly hair.

Shi Jinzhe called Shehe's name twice, but she seemed not to hear him and did not respond.

Carefully circling around to the front of Shekh, Shi Jinzhe saw Shekh hiding behind a tree, clinging to the trunk with both hands, tilting his head and staring ahead, scrutinizing the woman not far away.

This scene...

Did he see Shekh's past?