Chapter 135: Surgery in the Cave

Crimson Moon-level Grade-A alternating zones require the frequency crystals obtained monthly by quadrilateral model owners resonating with statues to open their entrances.
Those entering together not only need high strength but also rich experience; if they choose the wrong stable scenario, an unsolvable crisis may emerge for their own team, just like the team that stabilized the mountains ahead—their own fate unknown, the alternating zone disappearing from the city, appearing in the loss frequency place waiting for slow destruction.
“Sigh, I know, only top-tier experts get in.”
Lyu Zhi didn’t think such monsters could be killed by just anyone Someone like him, dreaming of taking advantage, wouldn’t even have a chance to be selected for entry.
Lyu Zhi crouched down, stroking the burly monster’s corpse: “What about this guy’s body? It looks pretty sturdy. Peeling the whole skin would be so impressive!”
Before the words left his mouth, a faint outline of a carriage cab appeared beside him. As the now-real carriage door opened, a few people with blank expressions walked out.
“How… should… we… handle… this.”
Yang Zicang observed these puppeteered members of the Desert Wagon Convoy. Wanting to test their intellect, he folded his arms and asked,
“Got any bright ideas?”
The puppets all turned stiffly toward one man, who appeared to be their former convoy captain.
This tall, gaunt man with a haggard face stared blankly at the dead monster on the ground for a long time.
“Chop… chop… chop it…”
Yang Zicang let out a sigh.
What was there to communicate with these puppets that had already lost all human consciousness? In a little while, they probably wouldn’t even know what species they were anymore.
Lyu Zhi felt a chill run down his spine as he watched them like walking corpses quickly hack the monster into two big chunks. With their haphazard chopping, whatever dignity or awesomeness the Forest Principal had was long gone.
“The door… is too small…” The puppets turned dully toward Yang Zicang.
“Figure it out yourselves.”
Thud, thud. A sickening series of cuts followed.
The savage beasts charging from the forest finally drew closer.
Yang Zicang nonchalantly turned his head to look at the charging long-haired gray wolf. Then, as if a master assigning a disciple to train, he said to Lyu Zhi,
“Go get some practice. Tell me when your Amplified Chrono runs dry.”
This time, Lyu Zhi quickly drew his sword and charged forward. The next second, he was already on the ground, with the wolves gripping his limbs and biting him relentlessly.
“Bro… I… can’t hold on anymore…”
Yang Zicang couldn’t bear to watch. He gave a gentle wave of his hand, and the long-awaited White Shadow Thought-Dragon immediately sprang into action.
Before more beasts could arrive, the two stepped onto the train and vanished into the wind.
……
Early the next morning, just as Yang Zicang woke up, he saw a large group of people approaching.
“Captain Zijian.”
Yuan Xuelin, at the head, walked over warmly and shook hands with Yang Zicang.
“The shed master said he was worried you lacked experience, so he asked me to bring a few more people to help you out.”
Pointing at the modified little cart path in the distance, he added:
“By the way, that’s the second batch of incense pellets over there, but not as much as last time. Don’t take offense, Captain Jia.”
Yang Zicang glanced at the cart covered with a tarp and chuckled:
“How could I take offense? I’m more than grateful. I didn’t expect Captain Yuan himself to come this time.”
“Haha, seems like Captain Yuan has been sent here for some field training.”
Zuo Feixian, holding a bowl, walked over from a nearby tent, slurping his meat soup while teasing.
Yuan Xuelin gave an awkward laugh.
“Yeah, I’m here to gain some experience alongside Brother Zijian. Protecting this place is a big achievement.”
This kid had a sharp tongue, but he couldn’t lose his temper.
“Well then, I’ll count on you for the next few months.”
Yang Zicang didn’t refuse. As more and more people were drawn here, they truly did need a more professional guard to maintain order.
Amid their banter, Xu Xiuchuan also came over with his bowl and patted Yuan Xuelin on the shoulder.
A person of such high standing was someone they never could have rubbed shoulders with before. Now, cozying up a little put these two losers in a smug mood—hey, they were people of status too.
With the help of the Wuyou Freight Team, the entire sales venue was orderly, with long queues even forming in areas that had previously seen frequent disturbances.
Aya led several newly arrived women in selling goods, while Shed Master Song and others acted as patrol guards. They continuously roamed the surroundings with Yuan Xuelin’s team, learning from the latter’s experience.
Not long after, the people sent by the Dugin Inn also arrived.
News also spread that the Dajiafang Freight Team was owned by the Dugin Inn’s board of directors. Those who had come to scout now had a clearer idea of Yang Zicang’s status: it turns out this kid had strong backing from both Wuyou and Dugin; no wonder he had been so low-key before.
……
In the cave, one could faintly hear the roar of beasts outside.
Zhou Liren curled up in the damp crack of a rock crevice, the edges of gravel at his lower back having long scraped blood trails into his skin. Yet this pain now was what kept him from fainting—because the person who had gone into the mountains with him was being dissected by the man in front of them.
The bandage-covered man standing beside the stone platform raised his hand to ask, “What piece is assembled wrong here…”
He held a tissue-thin piece of skin between his fingertips, examining it closely with his eyes.
“Ah—!”
The person on the operating table suddenly convulsed, knocking over the container of blue-green liquid, and then went completely still. The liquid in the small square box meandered down the stone platform, corroding its surface into a pale gray-white vapor.
Zhou Liren shrank in a corner with a grim expression, staring at the demon-like figure before him.
His teammates, everyone who had come into the mountains with him, had all died, and all around the cave were their mutilated corpses.
Was he next?
He couldn’t help but despair, thinking that he really shouldn’t have come into the mountains at this time.
He had already earned two or three millennia of temporal sequence by bringing incense pellets into the mountains during this period. Why did he still have to compete with those newcomers by venturing deep into these mountains…
Didn’t he know that the most dangerous things in this world were actually humans themselves?
A gathering this bustling was sure to attract something terrifying! And he had encountered it!
The stench of blood filled this underground cave.
But the upright figure seemed completely oblivious to these nauseating odors.
The man standing before the stone platform, which resembled an operating table, turned his head and coldly looked at the trembling Zhou Liren. In his hand, he held a long, sharp tool with a dark red glow—a scalpel.
“Come here.”
“Ah, no, please, spare me. I’m of no use to you, and besides, I’ve already told you the recipe for the incense pellets!”
But the man turned a deaf ear and took a step forward.
Suddenly, a pained groan came from the stone platform.
Zhou Liren’s eyes widened. “Lao Li is still alive!”
The man holding the scalpel, his body wrapped in bandages below the throat, paused for a moment. He turned to look at the stone platform, then turned back and continued with his surgery.
“I can live a little longer.” Zhou Liren’s panicked pupils became dull.
At this moment, he felt only endless regret.
He really regretted it, ever since he heard the broadcast announcement from the big client’s convoy that day; he had become impatient and even more furious.
The incense pellets that the woman in the broadcast claimed could safely enter the mountains were clearly provided by the person who bought the formula from him three hundred years ago!
Damn it, I sold the formula three hundred years ago, and he turned around and sold it two hundred years ago!
Zhou Liren thought of the two people he met that night… The people who bought the incense pellets never intended to use them to enter the mountains to hunt for treasure.
They were going to sell the incense pellets for entering the mountains!
Mass production and sale!
Those who had seen the scene in the shed area all said that the timing units they earned every day were counted in the tens of thousands.
Zhou Liren regretted it so much that his heart and liver ached, but he also thought that originally, the shed master had strictly ordered confidentiality for the incense pellets, so everyone could secretly get rich without revealing anything. In the end, he just couldn’t resist the temptation of “three hundred years”…
“No need to worry, the surgery has been successful. You shouldn’t die.”
Zhou Liren lifted his head and saw that the body on the stone platform was constantly making slight struggles, as if held firmly in place by an invisible force, leaving it only barely breathing with painful groans.
“You, huh heh… in… my… huhuh heh… my belly, did you… put… haw… what…”
“That person who obtained the formula is really lucky. He came and naturally understood that thing. Hmm, the bleeding has stopped. Your friend is coexisting with your heart, and the bones are fine. I’ve figured it out; only two organs can be replaced, or it will fail.”
Zhou Liren felt his whole body trembling.