Chapter 47

The corpses of Wang Ming's group of four, and that blade that there wasn't time to take away, all proved that the Great Stone camp must have encountered that monster before.

Finding only four corpses did not mean that the Great Stone camp had only lost four people.

After encountering the monster and suffering heavy losses, Shi Qing must have gone to Huang Zhao, Da Chuan, or even Luo Ge's camp in the north to seek help.

That was why they hadn't seen anyone from the Great Stone camp here in Red Wood Ridge during this time.

But the request for help clearly did not go smoothly; only Shi Qing and the other returned, and they only brought back one bag of crystal fruits.

According to the cunning nature of that monster, which rarely showed itself in person, it was highly likely that it controlled the corpses of the Great Xia woodcutting team to attack Shi Qing and the others.

It must be like this, because this would explain why Shi Qing showed such a desperate expression when he was surrounded by them just now.

He must have seen the fake Xia Ding and believed that the Great Xia camp had already been wiped out.

Suddenly seeing eleven such young Woodcutting Realm cultivators like Xia Hong and the others, Shi Qing probably thought they were all monsters, which was why he was so desperate.

And when Shi Dong called out his identity, realizing that this group of people were not monsters, the despair on Shi Qing's face immediately vanished and turned to joy.

The fact that he was even clear that monsters could transform into other people further corroborated that Shi Qing had indeed already dealt with the monster.

Shi Qing's performance just now was normal from beginning to end.

He didn't recognize him, so he mistakenly took them for monsters.

But how did Shi Dong recognize him?

Awakened by Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong suddenly realized that Shi Dong's performance from start to finish had been too normal, not at all like Shi Qing's constantly changing expressions, and precisely this was the biggest abnormality.

More importantly, he had also taken the initiative to call out his identity, clearly fearing that a conflict would arise with them and delay his return to the camp with Shi Qing.

"The real Shi Dong is likely already dead; the one Shi Qing brought back to the camp should be a fake."

While rushing in the direction Shi Qing and the other had left, Xia Hong's guess in his mind became increasingly firm.

Unfortunately, Shi Qing had been gone for a long time. Even though he led the group in a frantic sprint, he still couldn't catch up, and even after chasing until he could see Tashan, where the Great Stone camp was located, from afar, he still hadn't seen their backs.

Xia Hong constantly quickened his pace, the expression on his face becoming increasingly solemn:

"The Great Stone camp is likely going to suffer!"

………………

Below Tashan, Shi Qing and the other walked to the east side, found the rattan with ease, and then quickly climbed to the top of the mountain along the rattan.

The mountaintop was still covered in snow just as it was when they left. Shi Qing walked straight to the middle position and pushed aside the snow on top.

Under the snow was a square wooden board five meters wide.

And beneath the wooden board was the Great Stone camp's settlement.

Seeing that there were no marks on the wooden board, and reaching out to touch it and feeling a trace of warmth, confirming that no abnormal situation had occurred in the camp, Shi Qing's heart immediately relaxed.

He did not notice at all that Shi Dong, standing behind him, revealed a sinister, faint smile the moment the wooden board appeared.

Shi Qing opened the wooden board directly and jumped down from the three-meter-wide opening. Shi Dong followed him down, and at the same time, closed the wooden board behind him.

As soon as the two landed, several people greeted them with joyful expressions.

"Leader, you've finally returned!"

"The camp's crystal fruits are gone. If you hadn't returned, we were planning to organize people to go out tonight."

"Why are there only the two of you?"

"Where are the other three?"

Hearing the crowd's words, a look of pain immediately appeared on Shi Qing's face.

Just as he was about to tell everyone what had happened at Luo Ge's camp.

Swish...

Shi Dong, standing behind him, suddenly raised his hand and shot a nearly transparent white thread at him.

That white thread pierced directly through his shoulder blade like a thin needle, and then, as if it had a life of its own, passed through various parts of his body.

Almost in an instant, Shi Qing was bound by the white thread.

With such a sudden change, Shi Qing didn't even have time to open his mouth to speak before his body was unable to move, and he fell sideways toward the ground.

"Leader, what's wrong with you?"

"Shi Dong, what did you do?"

The few people who had just come to greet them were even more confused; some went to help Shi Qing on the ground, while others asked Shi Dong what was going on.

"Cackle, cackle, cackle..."

Shi Dong did not speak, only lowering his head suddenly, and then emitted a triumphant laugh that sounded like wood shavings rubbing together—hoarse and ear-piercing.

This laughter was not only chilling but also ferocious, making one's hair stand on end.

Hearing this familiar yet terrifying laughter, Shi Qing, who had fallen to the ground and had not yet been helped up, suddenly changed color and turned his head violently to look at Shi Dong.

"Thanks to you for bringing me here, otherwise, where would I find so many people? Cackle, cackle, cackle..."

Shi Qing realized in an instant that this Shi Dong was a fake.

The fourth time, the time Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu were hunting down Shi Dong—that was it.

They all thought only Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu had been swapped, but in fact, even Shi Dong had been swapped at that time.

This monster had actually performed a bitter-meat trick, deliberately creating a scene where Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu were hunting down Shi Dong, and then controlled Shi Dong to mix in by his side.

Doesn't that mean that everything they had discussed in the Luo Ge camp hall about how to lure and encircle it had been understood by it clearly and thoroughly?

Poor Luo Ming and the others were still following Yang Ning and Li Hu, wanting to lure this Wood Puppet Monster out again.

It turned out the enemy had already infiltrated their ranks.

It's over, it's all over!

"Run, run, everyone, run away quickly!!!"

Shi Qing turned his head abruptly, his face nearly turning crimson, and shouted this sentence hysterically toward the direction of the crowd at the campfire.

He didn't know what means the Wood Puppet Monster used to control Shi Dong, but he was certain that he himself was now unable to even move.

With over three hundred people in the camp, it was certain that they would all die!

Run, run, everyone run together; maybe there's still a glimmer of hope.

Shi Qing held this thought in his heart and wanted to continue speaking to urge everyone to flee for their lives, but as soon as he opened his mouth, those white threads binding him instantly pierced his lips, sewing his mouth shut.

"Woo, woo, woo, woo..."

Shi Qing, who could only make whimpering sounds, saw that everyone in the camp was still confused and at a loss, his face instantly turning red, his pupils filled with blood from anxiety.

But that "Shi Dong" had already moved at this moment.

With a forward dash, his fist struck the head of the nearest person.

Before that person could even speak, their head was smashed like a watermelon, yellow and white matter splattering everywhere, the scene being extremely bloody.

And this was not over.

"Shi Dong" had a ferocious face, grabbing two people who wanted to flee with both hands, his ten fingers suddenly exerting force, plunging almost to the roots into the necks of the two.

These two also didn't have time to speak, bleeding from their seven orifices and falling to the ground dead.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh..."

The bloody scent gradually permeated, and the smile on "Shi Dong's" face became increasingly wanton and twisted, as if personally destroying these lives was a great enjoyment for it.

In the blink of an eye, three lives were gone just like that.

All the other people by the campfire who were originally confused and at a loss now understood that the person in front of them was not Shi Dong at all, but a devil.

"Ah..."

"Shi Dong has gone crazy."

"Run, run..."

"Leader, help!"

…………

The crowd's fear was like a stimulant to the monster; it rushed into the crowd, harvesting lives in an extremely brutal and twisted way, and even thinking that killing with fists was too slow, it picked up a stone axe from the side.

Watching his relatives, friends, wife, children, and everyone in the camp being slaughtered for no reason, Shi Qing, lying on the ground, was angry to the extreme, his eyeballs almost popping out.

But at this moment, let alone moving, he couldn't even speak.

He couldn't do anything.

Seeing his wife die tragically in the crowd, Shi Qing's tears flowed like rain.

The immense pain gradually turned into deep despair.

(End of chapter)