23: Chapter 23 The End of the Traitor

At daybreak, Chen Mo and Old Li left that service area.

The van followed behind the truck, the two vehicles driving one after the other on the gray road.

The fog had dispersed, visibility was good, and they could drive at eighty kilometers per hour.

Chen Mo drove the van, his eyes fixed on the truck ahead.

Old Li said he would take him to Trading Post No. 1 to find Old Zhou and get clear answers about the church.

This road didn't look right.

It wasn't the road to the Trading Post.

He picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Old Li, where are we going?"

The voice of Old Li came through the walkie-talkie: "Taking a shortcut, it can save two hours."

Chen Mo was silent for a second.

Pupil of the Sequence scanned the surroundings.

In the fields on both sides of the road, those sculptures were becoming more numerous.

Not just a few scattered ones, but a dense expanse, like some kind of massive graveyard.

"Have you taken this road before?" he asked.

"I have," Old Li said. "Don't worry, I know it well."

Chen Mo didn't speak again.

But he picked up the cleaver from the passenger seat and placed it within reach.

After driving for another twenty minutes, the truck ahead suddenly slowed down.

Chen Mo followed suit and slowed down.

The voice of Old Li came through the walkie-talkie: "There's something ahead."

Chen Mo looked ahead—

In the middle of the road, a large overturned truck blocked the entire road surface.

Cargo was scattered around the truck, along with some... corpses.

Not the corpses of Ghost Shadows, but of humans.

Chen Mo's Pupil of the Sequence scanned over them.

In his golden vision, faint lines were wrapped around those corpses; they hadn't been dead long, and the Ghost Shadows hadn't come to collect them yet.

"We have to go around," Old Li said. "Follow me."

The truck turned around, drove off the road, and into the fields.

The van followed.

The fields were uneven, but both vehicles had high chassis, so they could barely manage.

After driving about a kilometer, an abandoned village appeared ahead.

Old Li parked and got out.

Chen Mo also got out.

"If we go through this village, we can loop back to the road," Old Li said, pointing ahead. "We have to walk; the cars won't fit, the paths are too narrow."

Chen Mo looked at the village.

The houses were old-fashioned brick and tile buildings; some had collapsed, while others were still standing.

The streets were very narrow; indeed, a car couldn't pass.

"Park the cars here?" he asked.

"Park here," Old Li said. "Don't worry, no one will steal them."

Chen Mo nodded.

The two of them shouldered their backpacks, gripped their weapons, and walked into the village.

The village was very quiet.

Unnaturally quiet.

Chen Mo kept his Pupil of the Sequence active, his golden vision scanning every house and every alley.

No Ghost Shadows.

But there was an indescribable feeling, as if being watched by something.

"Old Li," he whispered. "This place isn't right."

Old Li looked back at him.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't say," Chen Mo said. "But be careful."

Old Li nodded.

The two continued walking forward.

After walking for about five minutes, a crossroads appeared ahead.

Old Li stopped.

"Turn left," he said. "That road on the left leads to the road."

Chen Mo looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"I've been here," Old Li said. "Over a decade ago."

Over a decade ago.

Chen Mo didn't speak.

But he began to calculate in his mind—

Old Li said he was among the first batch of Chosen One, surviving until now. Over a decade—what did that mean in the Ghost Realm?

"Let's go," Old Li had already turned left.

Chen Mo followed.

The road on the left was narrower than before, flanked by two-story brick buildings with dark, hollow windows that looked like pairs of eyes.

After walking a few steps, Chen Mo suddenly stopped.

In his Pupil of the Sequence, on the second floor of the building ahead, there was a mass of golden lines.

Very dense.

Moving.

"There's something," he whispered.

Old Li also stopped.

"What Rank?"

"I can't tell," Chen Mo said. "But it's very dense."

The two stared at the building.

The mass of lines was moving, shifting from the second floor to the first, then from the first floor to the doorway.

Then the door opened.

Something walked out.

It was humanoid, wearing tattered clothes, its face covered by hair.

It walked very slowly, each step heavy, as if dragging something.

Chen Mo's Pupil of the Sequence focused.

【Target: E-Class Ghost Shadow "Dragger"】

【Status: Wandering】

【Weakness: Head】

Old Li had already drawn his gun.

"Take it out?"

Chen Mo nodded.

The two charged out simultaneously.

Chen Mo activated Infiltrator, his body disappearing into the air.

The thing paused for a moment; it couldn't see Chen Mo anymore.

In that split second, Old Li fired.

The bullet hit the thing in the head.

Its body swayed, but it didn't fall.

Chen Mo appeared behind it, his cleaver slashing at the same spot.

The blade cut in.

The thing let out a shriek and fell to the ground.

Golden threads surged out.

【Kill: E-Class Ghost Shadow "Dragger"】

【Obtained: sequence fragment × 5】

【Current fragments: 137】

Chen Mo pulled out the cleaver and looked at Old Li.

Old Li was staring at the thing's corpse, his expression somewhat strange.

"What's wrong?"

Old Li didn't speak.

He walked over, squatted down, and brushed aside the hair on the thing's face.

It was a woman's face.

A young woman, perhaps only in her twenties.

Old Li's hands were trembling.

"I knew her," he said.

Chen Mo paused.

"She is..."

"Someone from the Old Driver Alliance," Old Li stood up. "One of the batch that went missing back then."

He turned to look at Chen Mo.

"Do you know what this means?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

"It means she wasn't killed by a Ghost Shadow," Old Li said. "She was transformed. Transformed by the will of the ghost realm."

A thought flashed rapidly through Chen Mo's mind.

Transformed.

Half-human, half-Ghost Shadow.

That "best friend" Old Li had mentioned before had been transformed.

"How many people have been transformed?" he asked.

Old Li was silent for a long time.

"I don't know," he said. "But certainly not just her."

He turned and continued walking forward.

Chen Mo followed.

For the rest of the way, neither of them spoke.

Passing through the village, they indeed returned to the road.

Both vehicles were still there, not stolen.

Old Li got into the truck, and Chen Mo got into the van.

The voice of Old Li came through the walkie-talkie.

"Chen Mo."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Chen Mo paused.

"What for?"

"Thank you for not asking just now," Old Li said. "That woman... I was the one who personally sent her into that place."

He paused.

"I thought she could come out alive."

Only the static of the walkie-talkie remained.

Chen Mo held the walkie-talkie, silent for a long time.

Then he spoke.

"Let's continue on our way."

Old Li's voice came through.

"Alright."

Both vehicles started up and drove toward the end of the road.

Ahead, Trading Post No. 1 was getting closer and closer.