Chapter 138: The Disappearance of the Runes

"Yingzhou, you actually found the place where these survivors were being held!" Xindi walked toward Yingzhou with a look of joy on his face, but after entering the camp, the tragic scene inside several of the cages made the smile on Xindi's face vanish, and his expression gradually turned grim.

"When these Beast Race retreated, they wanted to wipe out all the survivors here. I still arrived a bit too late; otherwise, the survivors in these few cages wouldn't have died. These damn beasts!" Yingzhou's voice was not very loud, but the surrounding Human Alliance soldiers heard it very clearly, and even some survivors in the cages not far away heard Yingzhou's words.

"But at least you still saved the remaining people here and didn't let these Orcs slaughter all our compatriots." Xindi said in a calm tone, then changed the subject, "You previously said that the survivors who had Runes attached to them could not leave the cages yet; I will have the soldiers inspect the survivors in the cages. Only a small portion of the Beast Race escaped, and wanting to completely wipe them out is not very realistic."

After hearing this, Yingzhou nodded, "Understood. Now, the priority is to resolve this matter of the survivors being branded with Runes."

After the Human Alliance soldiers had checked all the survivors held in these cages, they returned to report to Xindi.

"Chief, we did not find any traces of Rune branding on these survivors."

Upon hearing this, Xindi said in a serious tone, "You must check carefully."

This soldier looked embarrassed and said, "Chief, we have all checked—a full-body check—no one has any Beast Race Runes on them."

After hearing this news, Yingzhou lowered his head to ponder for a moment, then spoke, "Look in the cages to see if there are any survivors who can communicate?"

"Yes, there are some survivors who can communicate normally."

The group arrived inside a cage, and Yingzhou coughed lightly, "Ahem, I have a question I would like to ask you all. If anyone knows or can communicate, please tell us clearly what you know."

Among the survivors, several young men and women raised their hands.

"Please ask, we will definitely tell you everything we know."

Yingzhou walked to these people's side, squatted down, and revealed a gentle smile on his face; however, to others, the sight of a tall, burly man covered in Orc blood squatting down to force a smile at you was somewhat hair-raising.

"When were you captured by the Beast Race?"

"I was captured half a month ago and was transferred here two days ago."

"I was originally imprisoned here; I've been captured for over 20 days."

"I was captured 10 days ago and was also transferred here two days ago."

After listening to these people's words, Yingzhou looked at this young woman who had been captured here from the start and asked in a softened tone.

"When you were captured, did any Beast Race Priest brand any strange Runes on your body?"

The young woman looked at the burly man covered in Blood Bath before her, swallowed, and said with a trembling voice.

"Yes, it seems their Priest branded a mark on my body."

After hearing this, Yingzhou already had some guesses in his heart, and he asked in a somewhat urgent tone.

"Then do you know where that mark is? Can I see the location where it was branded at the time?"

The young woman was stunned for a few seconds and said timidly, "Didn't someone just look earlier?"

"I need to confirm one thing. I hope you can cooperate; this concerns the lives of the survivors here."

Yingzhou realized he had spoken a bit too urgently just now, and after adjusting his tone, he said solemnly.

"O... okay."

The young woman turned her back, unfastened her clothes, revealing her scarred back, and said, "At that time... it was on my back... it branded a mark."

Yingzhou checked carefully but did not feel any similar Rune power.

"You can put your clothes back on. Have you felt anything unusual on your back today?"

Yingzhou let the young woman put her clothes back on and said slowly.

"Anything unusual?" The young woman turned around, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Today, a feeling of intense heat suddenly came from my back, but it disappeared very quickly. I don't know if this counts as the unusual feeling you mentioned?"

After hearing the young woman's words, Yingzhou did not answer her question.

After about a minute, Yingzhou finally spoke.

"I want you to help me with an experiment. Of course, you can also choose to refuse, because this experiment involves your life, and I cannot guarantee your safety. I can give you five minutes to consider; think it over..."

"No need, I agree." The young woman interrupted Yingzhou, a glimmer of light flashing in her eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, "My fate here was originally to wait for death or become a body without a soul. You led the soldiers to save us today; my life was saved by you, so I should cooperate with your experiment."

Seeing this young woman agree to his experiment decisively, Yingzhou stopped being overly polite, nodded, and said.

"What is your name?"

"Gu Nan."

"Alright, Gu Nan, then come out with me, walk out of the cage." Yingzhou watched as the young woman slowly stood up, her body still swaying a bit, but he chose not to help her; a woman who could say those words just now would surely walk out of this cage on her own.

Seeing Yingzhou's actions, Xindi and the others, though not knowing what Yingzhou wanted to do, knew he hadn't done anything dangerous before, so they all cleared a path, watching Yingzhou and the young woman walk out of the cage.

When Gu Nan stepped out of the cage, taking the first step, the second step... her pace was no longer as unsteady as before; although it looked like she might fall at any moment, her state seemed to have improved.

"How do you feel? Is there any unusual feeling in your body?"

Yingzhou followed beside Gu Nan and asked.

"No, I feel like I haven't walked outside so easily for a long time. Right now, I feel very good."

Gu Nan looked back at the tall, burly man beside her, pulled a smile at the corner of her mouth, and said.

When Yingzhou let Gu Nan walk about 500 meters away from the camp where the survivors were held, he discovered that this survivor was not aging rapidly or dying as he had imagined.

Afterward, Yingzhou followed this method and experimented with a few more survivors, and there were no problems.

Finally, Yingzhou found Xindi and said.

"It should be that the escaped Beast Race Priest is dead, so the Rune it cast on the survivors has become ineffective. You can release these survivors in batches."

"Hmm, since the situation you mentioned didn't happen, let's release these survivors in batches." Xindi ordered the soldiers beside him.