Golden Tree

Li sat by the campfire, the firelight shining on the girl's pale face, making her shiver slightly.

"We followed the plan to search for the missing team's signal and encountered no trouble along the way. It wasn't until lunch time that Ace said he heard a sound. I checked him and his pollution level did not change."

"So I suggested that he take a break and looked for some herbs nearby that could be used. But when I came back, Ace had disappeared. I searched for a long time but still couldn't find him. I had to reunite with everyone before dark."

Mason asked, "Did anything strange happen?"

Li thought for a moment and said, "We found a plant forest that we had never seen before on the road. Ace went in to investigate and told me that there was no danger. Then we left there."

"Where is that forest? How far away was it when he went missing?"

"It's in the south, some distance from where we went missing. The road is safe, and we didn't encounter any mineral creatures."

Now this is troublesome.

There were no enemies, and one person was missing before they went deep into the Golden Mountains. This was undoubtedly a huge blow to the morale of the whole team. Li sobbed, "If I had gone with him at the time, this wouldn't have happened. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry..."

"It's not your fault, Li." Ken let out a long breath and bowed to the two powerful bloodline members with a resolute expression: "Sorry, we can't abandon our companions. I want to go back and find Ace."

"Wait until daybreak and go to the missing place to have a look."

"Except for those who are treating blood vessels, the others will take turns to keep watch."

The three agreed on the order of night watch, Mason and Dan to watch the first and last nights, and the captain Ken to watch the middle night. Li, who was in a trance, wanted to help, and Ken whispered a few words to persuade her. The girl was more sensitive than usual because of her companion's disappearance, so she silently accepted the captain's kindness and went into the tent to rest.

Mason's night was peaceful. Just as the girl said, the ore monsters disappeared and it was incredibly safe. The moon in the kingdom of God was made of some precious mineral, and it cast a hazy light like a gossamer. When the moon rose to the top of the tree, he took over from Ken who had just woken up, and went into the two-person tent with Dan.

The captain checked the surrounding traps and the stone powder used for disguise to see if they were intact, then added fuel to the campfire, took out a pipe and started smoking silently.

Recounting the experiences of the old Taoist bloodline in the Kingdom of God, this night was quite peaceful. For some reason, Ken's heart was always filled with an lingering haze. It seemed that something was about to happen, making him a little uneasy.

White smoke rose slowly from the smoke fight, and sporadic flames flickered in the night. As Ken's thoughts spread, he suddenly heard a sound coming from the tent.

The Bloodline looked over sharply and saw Li coming out of the tent, and explained sheepishly.

"I need to take care of some personal matters."

"Go quickly and come back soon."

Ken agreed, not forgetting to keep an eye on the movements over there. The girl quickly returned to the campfire, sat beside him and warmed her hands by the fire. After hesitating for a while, she whispered, "Captain, will Ace be okay?"

Ken comforted her: "Ace is a native of the place and knows more about the dangers here. Even if he is tricked, he will definitely be able to think of a way to deal with it. We just need to find him quickly."

Li relaxed her brows, as if she was reassured by his advice. Ken smiled, but only he knew that he didn't have much hope in his heart. Even an S-level bloodline couldn't guarantee that he could get out of every accident, not to mention that their team's strength was only average.

With his mind full of thoughts, he ignored the girl approaching him. Li whispered "Captain". Ken raised his eyes subconsciously, and the next second, he felt a strong pain in his chest.

“Rei——!?”

The man's eyes widened in disbelief. Li's blood was very good at mixing medicines, and the poison took effect very quickly. He coughed up blood before he could warn his companions, and slowly fell down.

The girl pulled out the poisoned dagger, and blood soaked her sleeves. The expression on her face faded away, and she looked like a thin and empty silhouette in the firelight. She didn't stab the remaining people or pay attention to them. She stepped over her fallen companion and walked into the darkness with a stiff gait. During this process, the girl's skin gradually became dull and rough, revealing a hard stone texture.

"Wow, that's pretty brutal. How did you find that out, Aurelius?"

The figure of the blond nobleman flashed out of his tent and picked up the man on the ground. He thrust a bone knife out of his palm, cut off the rotten flesh at the wound, and poured a bottle of healing medicine into the man's mouth. The red-haired young man who came out with him leaned over to pick up the bottle of medicine on the ground and answered without raising his head.

"Intuition."

The first time Mason saw Li, he felt something was wrong. Although there were few mineral creatures at the entrance of the Golden Mountain Range, it did not mean that there was no danger. How did Li get here when she was separated from her companions?

Since the backstabbing incident of Amira, he has been more vigilant about such incidents. As expected, something went wrong with Rei without her realizing it.

Dan checked on the captain and announced with regret that someone would need to stay behind to look after the family. One of the two had to stay behind, so he naturally couldn't let the person he was accompanying be wronged. He could only watch helplessly as the other person's back disappeared into the night, lamenting his own bad luck.

As for worrying? Are you kidding? Would their ancestors be unable to solve this little problem?

They are Roland Agger!

The red-haired young man had no idea what the other party was thinking, and he focused on following Rei as she left. The gleaming soil was filled with heavy footprints, far heavier than a young girl should be, and they extended very quickly to where they came from.

Soon, he saw a faint golden glow in the distance. When he got closer, he realized that it was a golden forest, which looked as if it was made of gold. If a dragon saw it, it would be ecstatic.

By the way, where is the Bone Dragon now? I wonder if it can make it to the capital before the Twelve Round Table Trial.

Mason was distracted for a moment and walked into the golden forest.

The mineral creatures in the forest turned a blind eye to humans. She was like a faint shadow, drifting quietly through the darkness.

Likewise, no one noticed the red-haired young man following closely behind. He looked at the scene thoughtfully, with some predictions in his mind.

The further they walked, the more luxuriant the trees became. Li stopped and looked down. Ace gritted his teeth and was tied to the tree with scales all over his body. Dried blood pooled under him, and he was only able to hold on with the strong vitality of the bloodline.

When he saw the girl, he grunted a few times, anger and worry rising in his eyes. Li ignored this, her body almost completely turned into stone, and she walked deeper into the forest with stiff steps.

When she disappeared into the depths of the woods, Ace looked away in frustration. The mineral creatures were sneaking around again. Even though he couldn't see the monsters, he could feel their hostile gazes on him, and for some reason they didn't kill him.

Even so, the hypothermia and blood loss still made him dizzy. Am I going to die here? I wonder what happened to the captain and the others...

After thinking vaguely for an unknown period of time, Ace vaguely saw a figure falling in front of him. He blinked hard and realized that this was not an illusion.

The red-haired young man bent down and took out the cloth from his mouth, and cut the rope neatly. Ace didn't have time to be happy, and immediately grabbed the other's sleeve and begged: "Lord Oleus, please go and save Li, she is bewitched by the whispering voice!"

The story told by Ace is basically the same as what Mason heard, except that the protagonist is Li instead of him.

When they found this forest they had never seen before, they entered the forest together for safety reasons. Halfway through, Li said she heard a sound in her ears. Ace quickly took her out of the forest and found a safe place to rest nearby.

They guessed that there might be some big guys in the woods, which caused Li, who was more sensitive to pollution, to have an adverse reaction when approaching, so they decided to take a break. At this time, Li suddenly asked Ace to help pick some nearby herbs.

The latter did as he was told, and after returning, he helped Li put the herbs into the package. He did not notice that the girl behind him was moving towards him a little bit, and when Ace reacted, a poisoned dagger had already pierced his back, and he fell down immediately.

"The blood of the stone pig has a certain resistance to poison, so I was only unconscious for a short time. Regardless of the friendship between Li and I for many years, as a doctor, she knows me very well. If Li really took action, she would definitely not use that kind of poison."

Ace coughed softly, his face pale as he spoke. He looked at the young man in front of him for help, and said with great sincerity: "It's my fault for not noticing her abnormality immediately. If she continues, she will definitely die. Please help me save Li, I can pay you a reward."

"What can you offer me?"

"I know about the Mother of Ten Thousand Stones."

Ace smiled bitterly: "There are actually more ways to enter the Kingdom of God than just [Tickets] and contracts. Each Kingdom of God has the initial key. As long as the [Ticket] is developed, these keys will also be controlled and exiled to the Kingdom of God forever."

"My ancestors are the first generation keys to the Kingdom of God."

When the Kingdom of God was first discovered, people like Ace would not have been among the adventurers. The knowledge they possessed was enough to guide the exploration team to avoid many problems.

As the settlement developed, the danger of the kingdom of God gradually decreased, and these believers of the old gods were not allowed to return, and could only reproduce in the kingdom of the old gods. After losing their value, their descendants gradually became unknown.

Ace's bloodline was very mediocre. Thanks to his family education, he had a deeper understanding of the Kingdom of God, so he was well-reviewed among the bloodline members. This bloodline member also had some small guesses about what the upper echelons were looking for. He closed his mouth and looked at the red-haired young man expectantly. It was obvious that he wanted to put the chips to the end.

Mason asked, "Can you still stand up?"

Ace tried to get up, and after several attempts, he finally stood up with the help of the other party. The pain made him frown: "It's so painful, my lower back was pierced."

When going out, boys should protect their waists.

Mason touched the ring with sympathy, and under the effect of the contaminant, the wound on Ace's lower back healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The itching and pain of the tender flesh made his face twist, and he finally waited until the treatment was over.

"How do you feel?"

Ace took a breath and answered weakly, "It feels like a battle that lasted three days and three nights."

It doesn't matter, as long as he can take care of himself. After confirming that Ace has regained the ability to walk, Mason turned and walked in the direction where Li left. Ace followed him, and the deeper they went, the quieter it became.

He couldn't help but say, "I have been in the Kingdom of God for so long, and I have never seen such a quiet place."

"I have heard of a theory. A quiet place is either on the verge of extinction or because a more powerful being has appeared."

The former is a natural disaster, and the latter is a man-made disaster. Ace understood what he meant and pulled the corner of his mouth weakly: "Then I want to start praying from now on that nothing will happen. Do you think it's too late?"

Of course it's too late.

The golden tree stands not far away, with luxuriant and spreading branches and leaves.

A heavy, full fruit hangs on the branch, and the breeze whispers a faint, seductive whisper. It is the breath from a girl's soft lips, the fragrance of the flowers' sweet honey. The brightest star among the stars is just an embellishment of the fruit, so sweet that it makes your mouth water.

There are piles of bones under the tree, and the roots that arch out of the ground are inserted into them, sucking nutrients from flesh and blood, supporting the illusion of splendor.

The gray-black figure stood opposite the tree, and turned back little by little after hearing the sound. His once lively eyes seemed like stone beads embedded in his eye sockets, exuding a strong aura of death.

Facing the two uninvited people, Li stretched out her hand and grasped the void, and the growing stone turned into a giant axe. The sharp and huge axe blade formed a strong contrast with the petite body of the girl, making it unforgettable for those who saw it.

Mason had a strange expression on his face: "Ace, I remember that Li is not good at close combat."

Ace swallowed his saliva and was also shocked: "Yes, she is a pure healer."

A doctor who is not good at close combat is not a good priest. The ancients were right.

Amid Mason's strong desire to complain, Li ignored their suspicion and rushed over with an axe.

The golden fruit on the tree also moved with it, swaying and turning, revealing another side that looked like a human face. The corners of its mouth curled up, showing them a twisted smile.