32: Su Wanqing was consumed by rage, while Lin Fengzi was filled with murderous intent!

As time passed, the sun began to set in the west.

The atmosphere of the Mountain God Festival gradually reached its climax.

People began to spontaneously flock towards the back mountain of the town, where the most central bonfire party of the festival would be held.

Lin Yuan and Su Wanqing, one to the east and one to the west, followed far behind the Puppets.

They discovered a chilling pattern.

These Puppets, though seemingly moving aimlessly, always managed to slip away from the crowd unnoticed.

Some used the excuse of going to the restroom, some pretended to answer a call, while others simply ducked into deserted alleyways.

But their ultimate destination was surprisingly consistent.

The back mountain of the town.

However, they didn't take the main road used by tourists but instead turned into hidden forest paths.

In the evening.

Lin Yuan and Su Wanqing met outside a dense forest at the foot of the back mountain.

"How is it?" Su Wanqing asked in a low voice.

"All twelve I followed went in," Lin Yuan pointed to the seemingly deserted dense forest in front of them, "Not a single one is missing."

"It's the same on my side," Su Wanqing's expression was grave, "Eighteen of them, all entered this area from different directions."

The two exchanged glances.

They both saw the answer in each other's eyes.

This was the enemy's lair.

"Let's go."

There was no superfluous talk.

The two concealed themselves and silently infiltrated the dense forest.

The trees grew denser and denser, and the light became dimmer and dimmer.

The surroundings were eerily quiet; not even a bird's chirp or an insect's buzz could be heard.

A faint scent of sandalwood began to permeate the air.

They continued forward for about another ten minutes.

The scene before them suddenly opened up.

They had passed through the edge of the dense forest and arrived at a valley surrounded by circular cliffs.

The entrance to the valley was extremely hidden; had they not followed the Puppets, it would have been impossible to find this place.

And the sight within the valley made even Su Wanqing, who was used to grand scenes, gasp in cold air.

In the very center of the valley was an open-air altar built of black stone.

The altar's structure was intricate and ancient, covered with strange runes they couldn't understand.

And at the very heart of the altar stood a peculiar, pitch-black stone, at least three stories high.

At this moment.

On the altar, hundreds of people dressed in uniform black martial arts attire were sitting cross-legged.

They surrounded the black peculiar stone, chanting incantations, performing some kind of ritual.

And on the periphery of the altar, the Puppets that Lin Yuan and Su Wanqing had tracked all the way stood motionless.

They formed a neat circle, expressionless, with hollow eyes, as if they had lost their souls.

"They are from the Black Stone Sect."

Su Wanqing's voice carried a hint of chill.

She recognized the emblem on the black martial arts attire.

The Black Stone Sect, a reclusive ancient martial arts sect in Jiang City that had been passed down for several centuries.

In the Dragon Shield Bureau's archives, this sect had always been low-key and uncontentious, with a rating of only "needs attention," far from being a "threat."

But the scene before them completely overturned that archive.

"What are they doing?" Lin Yuan frowned, asking in a low voice.

Su Wanqing did not answer.

Because she didn't understand either.

Just then.

The ritual on the altar seemed to enter a critical stage.

The leading elder of the Black Stone Sect suddenly stood up, formed a strange hand seal with both hands, and shouted sharply:

"Mountain God's Offering, Spirit Absorption for Rejuvenation!"

As his voice fell.

"Buzz—!"

The black peculiar stone in the center of the altar let out a hum.

Immediately after.

A horrifying scene unfolded!

Streams of light gray energy were forcibly extracted from the crowns of the heads of the Puppets standing on the periphery!

"Ah..."

"Uh..."

The bodies of the Puppets began to tremble, and expressions of pain appeared on their faces.

Their bodies rapidly withered.

Their skin lost its luster, and their muscles atrophied.

In just a dozen seconds, they transformed from living people into mummified corpses!

And the gray energy extracted from them turned into streaks of light, drawn and completely converged into the black peculiar stone in the center!

As the energy flowed in, the luster on the surface of the black peculiar stone seemed to deepen even further.

"Gulp."

Lin Yuan swallowed with difficulty.

He finally understood what the so-called Mountain God Festival truly was.

This was not a sacrifice to a god!

This was clearly a human sacrifice!

Using the life energy of hundreds of tourists and local residents to "feed" this strange black stone!

And the missing D-rank agent, The Explorer... he had probably long become one of the "nutrients" for this stone.

Su Wanqing's body was trembling slightly.

Not out of fear.

But out of anger.

The rage in her chest almost consumed her reason.

She subconsciously tightened her grip on the weapon at her waist, wanting to rush out.

A hand, however, pressed on her shoulder.

It was Lin Yuan.

"Don't be impulsive."

His voice was very calm, terrifyingly calm.

"There are at least four C-ranks on the other side, and we don't know if there are any B-ranks."

"If the two of us rush out, it'll be suicide."

Su Wanqing gritted her teeth, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

"Then what do we do? Just watch them continue?"

"Of course not."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

He looked up, his gaze passing over the Black Stone Sect disciples, fixing intently on the black peculiar stone in the center of the valley that was devouring life energy.

On his face, instead of fear, a hint of craving appeared!

Inside that stone... if he could just... swallow it... a crazy thought uncontrollably surged in his mind.

Lin Yuan licked his somewhat dry lips and showed Beauty Su a smile.

"Beauty Su, do you remember the authority Director Zhou gave us?"

"On-site decision-making authority for Below A-rank incidents."

"Do you think... if I were to request a tactical missile right now to flatten this place, would it be within the scope of that authority?"