Chapter 154: Seizing the Stone -2

Haotian Greenhouse, a name that naturally drew the attention of any Chinese who arrived there.
Years ago, upon hearing its name, many people eagerly asked around for details about this greenhouse. Learning that it had neither the harsh Timely Taxation nor the strict monthly requirement of surrendering Memory Loss Models, they traveled thousands of miles despite the dangers, flocking to join. Though not everyone succeeded in doing so, the population still grew, and now nearly ten thousand lived within its stone and wood houses, which were dark and mute in hue.
When Yang Zicang and his group arrived, they were surprised to find that the locals had already lit torches and moved the stones out to the square at the very center of the greenhouse.
Several small halos of light appeared high in the sky.
A man stepped forward and said to the emerging train:
“You’re from the Big Party Freight team, right?”
“Yes, that’s us.”
The shed leader patted the light orange rock beneath his hand and said emotionally, “Over the years, it has helped us a lot. Hmm, take it.”
Yang Zicang exchanged a glance with Luo Bin and others.
“Thank you.”
Luo Bin and Little Liu jumped off the train and carried the rock aboard.
The train started and headed towards the next shed area.
“That went pretty smoothly.”
“That’s three down. More than twenty to go. If only all of them went this smoothly.”
“I doubt it.”
Next, after smoothly recovering two more rocks, when they arrived at a medium-sized shed area, it was eerily quiet.
A gentle breeze swayed in the night. Yang Zicang frowned, looking at the empty shed area outside.
“No stone?”
The train circled the shed area but still couldn’t find it.
Yang Zicang reluctantly activated Silent Night and immediately discovered a basement beneath this shed area, where a group of people were hiding.
In the basement of the shed area.
Everyone was panicked under the psychic influence of Silent Night.
“Everyone, keep quiet. These weird things will leave soon.”
The man, who was clearly the leader of this shed area, spoke to the crowd.
As he said this, his gaze glanced toward the wall behind him. In the small cubicle behind the wall, a rock covered in black cloth was quietly stored.
Suddenly, the wall of this room twisted. An illusion appeared and then quickly solidified into a shape—a metal door.
Swoosh—
The door slid open, and Luo Bin stood with his hands on his hips, snickering,
“Heh heh heh, hiding here, huh.”
Zuo Feixian laughed heartily as he jumped off the vehicle, easily hoisting the stone block onto it.
Before leaving, Yang Zicang pondered for a moment, then jumped down to place a broken-prime engine beneath the black cloth on the floor of this sealed small room.
The disturbing, eerie atmosphere quietly dissipated, but the dozens of people in the basement dared not make a sound. They only felt as if a man-eating demon was searching for victims up above; the recent panic was the passing of that unknown presence.
“That was so scary, boo-hoo…”
“Don’t make a sound.”
“Wait for them to leave…”
After another two or three hours, everyone in hiding felt the air becoming a bit stale. When some could no longer endure it, they turned to the shed master and said:
“That strange feeling has long since disappeared; that terrifying thing must have left by now.”
The shed master turned to look at the person beside him:
“Did the divine stone say when those guys will come again?”
“Didn’t you refuse to hand it over?”
The shed master gritted his teeth and snapped angrily:
“Hand it over? Are you crazy? I just want to confirm how many times they’ll come.”
“I don’t know either. The divine stone isn’t alive—you can’t just talk to it whenever you want.”
After waiting a bit longer, the shed master couldn’t resist getting up. Slipping past the backs of several people, he made his way toward the small door of the alcove.
Clack—the wooden bolt was slid open.
Pushing open the little wooden door, the man took a glance inside—then stood frozen in place.
In the dim light, the towering black cloth had long since collapsed, with a crystal-clear small engine lying quietly atop it, emitting a hazy glow.
“Ah—”
A blood-curdling scream came from the basement.
……
Boom, boom, boom!
On the gravel square, men and horses were thrown into chaos.
“You big-shot client, you bunch of bandits!”
“Bastard!”
“Shut up, or we won’t go easy on you anymore.”
This group was furious and terrified, watching helplessly as the train turned into a phantom and charged toward the “shrine” area behind the shack area. There, tablet monuments and plaques stood, but the most critical divine stone had already been uprooted and knocked to the ground, about to become the other party’s prey.
“You’ll face divine punishment for this!”
“To hell with you.”
Luo Bin, exuding the air of a villain, shouldered the slightly smaller stone and deliberately walked toward the truck with his head held high.
YangZicang was about to take it when suddenly a graceful figure rushed over, her eyes sharp and calm.
She was a pretty girl of fourteen or fifteen, her figure wafting in motion, wielding two swords with a dignified, militant aura.
“Xiao Li!” The people behind, knocked to the ground by the White Shadow Thought-Dragon, exclaimed in alarm, “Don’t go, you’re no match for them.”
“Bad people deserve to die!”
The girl, vehement in her detestation of evil, raised her blades, which sliced through the air, carrying her small figure as she instantaneously appeared before YangZicang.
Clang! Yang Zicang flicked his finger, and the short sword in her hand was sent flying with tremendous force, landing inside the carriage.
“Ah!” the girl exclaimed, a look of shock replacing the righteous anger on her young face.
Yang Zicang wrapped one arm around the girl’s soft, slender waist, and with the other hand, he jolted her left wrist, disarming both short swords completely.
“You!” Xiaoli struggled slightly in his embrace, her soft body squirming.
The young man at the door let her go, tossing her outside. With a thump, she landed squarely on her bottom.
“Ouch.”
Yang Zicang looked at her and said calmly:
“Not a bad ability. Practice hard, and you’ll become very strong.”
She could teleport a short distance. Though not as far as the woman at headquarters back then, her ability lacked the immobilization side effect.
“Not bad at all. You’re called Xiaoli, right? Want to come with us?”
Luo Bin, who had come walking over while carrying a rock on his shoulders, immediately recognized how valuable such an ability was.
If Wuying’s invisibility ability was considered S-rank, then this ability was at least an A-rank model ability.
That was the rating he had given it based on the intelligence he had gathered. For context, Yang Zicang’s trajectory-altering ability had originally been rated a mere C-rank in his book, only later being adjusted up to B+.
Not that anyone else knew about this rating system, of course.
Xiaoli, who had been thrown onto the ground with a thump, immediately began to cry. “Uncle Yang.”
Yang Zicang almost said yes.
But then the person who had just arrived behind him called out, “Hey!”
Yang Zicang let out a sigh.
The crowd outside dared not approach the shrine.
“Let’s go, don’t waste time.”
The train sped into the wind, and the girl looked up as it disappeared into the distance.
Suddenly, a faintly glowing object shot rapidly from the fierce wind.
{For you. If you encounter danger, use it and you’ll leave this place, but the road ahead is uncertain—use it cautiously. This is my investment in a genius.}
Little Li hurriedly grabbed the hand of the young man who wanted to pull her up, and the two flashed several meters away. The coming object fell with a “clink” onto the ground where they had been.
“What is this?” The shed master Yang walked over and picked up the faintly glowing ancient coin.
[Lifespan Bank: 9999N.]
[I can use the additional 9999N.]
He stood there dumbfounded in an instant.
“Did that person give this to me?” Little Li got up, patted her backside, and walked over.
The shed master Yang came to his senses, struggled inwardly for a moment, then slowly handed the object to the girl: “Better not use it, or you might disappear.”
“Disappear? Is that dying?”
“I don’t know. All we know is that many people with good timing, or very powerful people, suddenly vanish without a trace. So be very careful—this is both a treasure and a poison.”
Little Li took the faintly glowing coin, her small nose scrunching up, her delicate brows furrowing.
“Big Party’s cargo team, Brother Yang, what’s his name?”
“What’s his name? Let me ask.” After waiting a few seconds, the shed leader Yang, who had contacted other shed leaders, said, “He’s called Jiazi Jian, and they say his real surname is also Yang. He’s really strong.”
“Oh, I figured as much. But he should be called Jiazi Cang, right?”
“What?”
“Look.” The girl pursed her lips, lifted the iron coin, and flipped it over.
Yang shed leader took a closer look and instantly froze again. Then, with a mix of amusement and frustration, he took the coin and examined it carefully.
On the round coin, around the square hole, four bold and archaic characters were inscribed: Wuhua Tianbao (Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Riches).
Turning it over, it read: Zicang Yuannian (The First Year of Zicang).
Inside the carriage, Zuo Feixian sat groggily, leaning against these rocks.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I feel like my heart’s racing, like I’ve taken some morphine.”
“…” Little Liu hesitated over whether to correct the guy’s choice of words.
“My hand—no, the Spirit of the Divine Stone—warns me that the next shed zone we’re heading to won’t cooperate with us either. And the people there are strong, with some hiding psychic abilities.”
Psychic abilities. So he’s not the only lucky one.
“Looks like a fight is inevitable.”
……
In the Hinge Town hall, the place was packed, and people whispered about the anomalies on the Derailing Grounds.
In the room from which junior reporters broadcast footage, most of the town’s officials had gathered.
“He’s collecting those stones. How many has he gathered?”
“Seven, I think.”
“That fast?”
“The Nightmare Express’s speed has increased by three or four times, and it’s still climbing.”
“Deputy Mayor, is that mysterious rock collecting its own body? Won’t Yang Zicang release a demon?”
The employees stared at the screen with cold sweat dripping—now most of the screens showed the train with faint tracer-like trails.
With seven stones loaded, the train could no longer remain fully hidden, its outline now blurred and faint.
The energy radiating from these rocks was affecting Young Ma Chao’s telekinetic state, making him seem more ghostlike, tainted by an aura of decay and desolation.
From above, the young reporters saw the train leaving faint traces across the barren land, like an arrow shot by a demon.
Squeezing the back of the employee’s chair, Zhu Yin said, “Something big must be happening. As usual, it’s better if we don’t interfere in the Lost Frequency Zone.”
“They’re heading for the Black Dragon Mountain settlement, right? That shelter master is no ordinary person. Yang Zicang will surely have trouble.”
“Sigh, if those divine stones really contain demons, even stopping there would be a good thing.”
“Let’s just watch and wait for now,” said Old Man imagery disciple, Mi Tianlu, commenting from the side.
Everyone was watching this sudden operation unfold.