Chapter 569, Polluted Zone 4 (Part 10)

If the speculation is correct.

The village chief bluntly told them that the gatekeeper was the old man's son!

"The young men in the village took their wives and children to work in big cities. When the dark apocalypse broke out, he went through countless hardships to return to his hometown, only to bring disaster to it..."

Yun Zhao said softly, "Or perhaps, in its mutated form, it wandered the world after losing its mind, and one day it accidentally wandered back to its hometown, only to find that its familiar home had become unrecognizable, giving birth to a strong obsession..."

The gatekeeper has frozen this world in time.

They don't allow outsiders into the village, fearing they might damage the crops and everything the village knows.

"Then we should not delay. We will split into four groups and search the mountains."

Fu Yan said, "If we find it, fire a signal flare immediately."

Dividing the troops into four groups means dispersing combat power and greatly increasing the risks.

The others had no objections.

The village is surrounded by mountains, and under the cover of darkness, countless writhing shadows on the mountains conceal a vast number of mutants.

"If we act together, who knows how long it will take to find the gatekeeper."

Xia Mingang glanced at Jiang Mu, then suddenly changed his attitude, eager to try, "Moreover, we are responsible for different areas, which can effectively prevent the gatekeepers from moving their positions in the mountains and forming an encirclement around them."

Yun Zhao thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "Okay."

The base leadership chose her as the team leader to prevent everyone from fighting alone.

But given the current situation, it's uncertain how long it would take to gather together for the search.

There is a potential hazard related to number six.

They must eliminate the gatekeepers and get out as soon as possible.

The five of them quickly assigned directions.

Fu Heng chose the north, Jiang Mu chose the east, Xia Mingang prepared to go to the south, and Xie Tu was responsible for the remaining west.

As for Yun Zhao, he naturally followed Xie Tu.

Given her physical condition, following the other three would only be a hindrance.

"I'm leaving now. Whether we find it or not, let's meet back here before dawn."

After saying those words, Fu Mo's figure vanished into the night in an instant.

Xia Mingang followed closely behind, heading in the opposite direction.

"He may be a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), but his work attitude is not bad," Jiang Mu commented, looking at Xia Mingang's retreating figure.

Xie Tu glanced at him and said, "He just wants to outdo you."

"It doesn't matter."

Jiang Mu gripped the twin swords in his hands, shrugged, and pointed the tips of the blades at the main entrance of the hall. "Are you sure you don't want to kill it first?"

Being able to see the spiritual entity, yet not being controlled by the gatekeeper, would pose a huge hidden danger if the contaminated area collapsed and it was allowed to roam freely.

"Let's verify whether what he said is true or false before we take action," Yun Zhao refused.

I don't know when to start.

She suddenly found it hard to bring herself to harm the mutants who still retained some semblance of reason.

Like Qi Ling, they retain human rationality and self-awareness; if you were to actually kill them, it would be no different from executing a normal person.

But she would never have acted like this before.

As her spiritual realm becomes more complete, she seems to be more and more like a living, breathing person.

"Then I'll listen to you."

Jiang Mu didn't dwell on it. Hearing her refusal, he waved to the two of them and stepped onto the path to the east alone.

Soon only Yun Zhao and Xie Tu remained in front of the earthen house.

Surrounded by dark mountains, the village seemed trapped in a deep, dark well, with dim yellow light shining through the cracks in the windows of each house, as faint as will-o'-the-wisps.

The wooden door to the main room was half-closed.

A sliver of dim light streamed through the crack in the door, like thick honey, or like a prying eye, silently watching the two people standing outside.

Yun Zhao stared at the dilapidated door for a long time, feeling an urge to go in and ask for clarification.

Time is of the essence.

Xie Tu gripped the long sword with one hand, pressed down on her shoulder, turned her around, and faced west. "Let's go, let's go up the mountain and search first."

The fact that mutants could identify the gatekeepers for them was already astonishing.

It said it didn't know the secret of the iron box, and that even if Yun Zhao rushed in to ask, it would be pointless.

Why not just ask the gatekeeper directly later?

As the ruler of this place, it obviously knows more than the village chief.

As Xie Tu pushed Yun Zhao forward, he suddenly asked, "The sighing sound in the bamboo forest... why is it sighing?"

They couldn't hear anything except the gatekeeper's voice.

But the village chief isn't the gatekeeper, so where did that sighing sound come from?

Why is it that only I can hear and see each time?

Yun Zhao thought of the will-o'-the-wisps in the No. 28 contaminated zone.

She actually had them on her forehead too, but they were transparent.

Even now, she still doesn't understand what transparency represents.

Xie Tu lit the path for her, "Perhaps it's an alien's ability?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Zhao turned to face him in disbelief.

He actually had the mind to joke!

Xie Tu didn't want her to overthink things, but he also didn't want to upset her, so he casually said, "I was wrong."

Yun Zhao: "..."

His quick and natural admission of his mistake left her speechless, unsure of what to say in response.

If Yun Jue weren't from Blue Star, her ability to see things that the Sentinels couldn't might truly be an innate skill.

The little bluebird hopped onto Xie Tu's head, its eyes wide as it bent down and stared at Xie Tu in shock.

Why did he say he was wrong?

[Lacking sincerity! Absolutely offensive!]

Yun Zhao didn't want to argue and continued walking forward.

The moon shone with an eerie grayish-white light. Just a few meters from the earthen house, the dirt road beneath our feet became rugged and uneven, with farmland on both sides.

Xie Tu followed at a leisurely pace, the light source in his hand steadily illuminating her feet.

The two walked along the ridge of the field, their footsteps sounding particularly clear in the silence.

The damp soil sank slightly underfoot, and the flashlight only illuminated a small area beneath our feet. Further ahead, darkness pressed down as if it were a physical force.

Four groups of people, from four directions, have officially begun their hunt for the gatekeeper.

*

There are only five minutes left.

The outside world was bright with daylight; it was morning.

Two reinforcement sentries were already prepared on the perimeter, waiting for an order to immediately go in and notify the 5S team to retreat.

Dawn Base.

The conference room was deathly silent, with only the faint hum of the projector's cooling fan.

The large screen had long been turned off, reflecting only the stiff figures of people sitting in front of the long table.

Chief Shen, a portly man, sat alone at the head of the table. He would occasionally look up at Minister Han and Minister Bai, his expression hesitant and as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Minister Shao, sitting at the end of the room, had his glasses reflecting the cold white light of the overhead lamp, and his gaze behind the lenses was dark and unfathomable.

The coffee on the table had long since gone cold, with a thin layer of oil condensing on the surface.

No one spoke.

The air seemed to be frozen by some invisible pressure, and even breathing became clearly audible.

Minister Duan calmly tidied the documents on his desk, waiting for the last minute to approach.

Seeing that no one spoke up, Minister Shao finally lost his temper. He looked up and surveyed everyone, "How long are you planning to keep this a secret?"

Upon hearing this, the base chief's hand trembled, and the pen rolled off the edge of the table and onto the floor. He quickly bent down to pick it up.

"What do you mean by that?" Minister Bai calmly retorted.

Minister Shao leaned back, too lazy to beat around the bush with these people who already knew the truth: "Yun Zhao is the Dark Guide, isn't he?"