Mark

"What's wrong?" Carter noticed Lai Er's unusual behavior.

"N-nothing…" Lai Er instinctively shook his head, trying to suppress the emotion in his heart.

But… it wasn't very successful.

Seeing Lai Er's suddenly pale face, Carter frowned slightly. "If something's on your mind, you can just say it. There's no need to hide it."

"It's really nothing," Lai Er forced a smile. "It's just that the scene just now made me a little uncomfortable."

As if afraid Carter would notice something was wrong, Lai Er added:

"Physically speaking."

Carter, of course, couldn't believe such a lie.

What kind of scene hadn't a Black Merchant seen? Carter knew that when they were dealing in human trafficking, they sold people and brains separately. Wasn't that much more stimulating than the scene they were witnessing now?

There had to be a hidden reason, and it definitely wasn't a small matter, especially since Lai Er was lying while wearing the necklace.

What could be the reason?

Carter glanced again at the tentacle that had just spat out the bones but couldn't figure out the reason for the moment.

Meanwhile, Lai Er, despite still trying to appear calm, couldn't stop his hands from trembling under his sleeves.

Because he remembered that terrible thing – this was the No Man's Land.

Then the person that tentacle just ate…

Lai Er didn't dare to think further. The moment he did, cold sweat started pouring out uncontrollably.

"I'm feeling a bit unwell," Lai Er said to Carter. "Could you let me rest for a bit?"

Carter looked into Lai Er's eyes.

This was not part of his plan. What he wanted now was to cut the Gordian knot, to make Lai Er swear allegiance to the Master as quickly as possible, and then…

"Agree to it," Diana's voice suddenly echoed in Carter's mind. "See what he wants to do."

Having received the order, Carter naturally nodded to Lai Er. "You can look around nearby, as long as you don't reveal your identity. I'll wait for you here."

Lai Er instinctively said thank you, then turned and left in a daze.

But he didn't know where he was going or what he was going to do. His mind was blank.

He was sure that the bones he had just seen belonged to humans. This meant that this "Obedience of Heavenly Voice" ate people.

So, who did it eat? Living people or corpses? If it was living people, then what kind of people? Where were they from?

Although Lai Er desperately wanted to comfort himself, thinking that those eaten might not be living people, but corpses. After all, with such a massive body, if it really fed on living people, how many people would it consume? It was unimaginable…

No, it wasn't unimaginable.

His experience as a Black Merchant surged to the forefront of his mind. He recalled the prison he had seen that night, and the young faces within that prison.

He had personally witnessed the darkness that ordinary people couldn't imagine. He had seen the dirty deeds done by the Orthodox Church, by the high and mighty Fathers and Knights… No, not just seen, but participated in them himself.

It was precisely because of this that Lai Er was in such agony now, unable to think about it in detail, and even lacking the courage to ask Carter directly, only able to constantly reassure himself in his heart.

It's okay, his village was forgotten. Carter had said so himself – those villages that couldn't be found.

So they must be fine. And wasn't Ha Luo always delivering things to his village on his behalf? If anything had happened, Ha Luo would definitely have told him.

Such wishful thinking allowed Lai Er's tense nerves to relax a little.

But at that moment, a familiar voice that hadn't been heard for a long time sounded in his mind.

"Go south."

Lai Er was startled, almost crying out.

"V-Visas-sama?!"

Lai Er instinctively glanced at the necklace on his chest.

It was still intact, not damaged.

Lai Er felt confused.

If that was the case, why could he hear Visas-sama's voice? Didn't Carter say that this necklace could…

Lai Er's pupils suddenly constricted.

Carter had only said that the necklace could block Tongue-sensei.

Which meant…

Lai Er's lips felt dry. "Visas-sama, I…"

"If you want to apologize for having the thought of betraying me, there's no need," Bai Wei said calmly. "Betrayal and loyalty are both uninteresting to me. They are merely dances performed with masks. What I want to see more is the true face beneath the mask."

"I… I don't understand."

"Walk south for about two hours," Bai Wei said. "You will understand."

"What place is that?"

"An insignificant small village."

Lai Er's eyes widened instantly. He guessed Bai Wei's intention but couldn't be sure.

"Visas-sama..." He still held onto a sliver of hope in his heart. "What kind of place is that?"

"You already have the answer in your heart, why ask more?" Bai Wei said. "I've already told you the location. How you choose to act is your own decision."

Lai Er opened his mouth.

The fear from before surged back into his heart.

Ten minutes later.

Carter watched Lai Er sprint away from the gathering point, his retreating back heading south. He asked in his mind, "Master, are you just going to let him leave like this?"

"Of course not," Diana said. "Send people to follow him, but don't show yourselves. Just follow and see what he intends to do."

With the necklace as a marker, tracking Lai Er wasn't difficult. Carter was just a bit confused, "But your deal with him hasn't been finalized. Is it really okay to let him leave like this?"

"He's already seen the Obedience of Heavenly Voice, so half of the deal is complete," Diana said calmly. "Next, it depends on whether he truly wants to keep this life."

Diana knew she was the one least likely to panic. As long as she herself didn't leave Contract Land and held onto the Obedience of Heavenly Voice, even if her identity was exposed, it wouldn't be too bad.

Contract Land could seal even Visas's massive body. Would it be afraid of a few insignificant Corpse Pieces?

She believed Tongue-sensei would retrieve them. However, before that, she also wanted to know what Lai Er was planning and why his demeanor had suddenly changed.

"What's to the south?" Diana asked.

Carter recalled and said, "A village that was once lost."

Diana understood.

The village that was once lost. The word "once" was used.

Because it had now been found.

A village near the gathering point?

Diana guessed something and then slightly curved her lips. "This seems a bit interesting."

She paused and issued an instruction.

"Catch up to him, now."

"Why do you have to leave?"

"Didn't you hear what that person said? There's a big world outside!"

"He's lying to you!"

"How could he be lying to me? Have any of us ever seen an Outsider like that?"

"Even if he's not lying to you, even if what he said is true, so what?"

"What do you mean 'so what'? Isn't this enough? Why do we have to stay in this small place, breathing in yellow sand every day?"

"Our ancestors have always lived this way."

"Is it right just because our ancestors lived this way? Did you see that guy? He's younger than my father, but he looks younger than me! Did you forget what he said? In the outside world, people can live to be fifty! In this place, I'll be dead in ten years. I don't want to die like this!"

"But you have children..."

"So what? No one can stop me! No one can stop me!"

"Waa waa waa (baby's cry)..."

The mature-looking young man threw off his wife's hand, ignored his wailing infant son in the cradle, pushed open the door, and strode forward.

The merchant in the black cloak glanced at him.

"Oh, have you decided?"

"I've decided. Take me with you!" the young man said through gritted teeth. "Let's go now!"

"You certainly have courage," the merchant said with a smile. "I hope you can maintain that courage outside as well."

"Of course!"

"Then come with me."

The young man followed the merchant. The cries of his wife and child, the sighs of his parents, and the strange looks from the villagers continued to torment him.

So he suddenly turned back and roared at it all.

"You all wait for me! I'll be back soon, and I'll prove you all wrong, every single one of you!"

Then he walked into the swirling yellow sand, forever etching the village's silhouette within the sand into his heart.

Looking at the silhouette in the yellow sand, Lai Er's hands trembled.

This confirmed for Bai Wei that he had found the right place.

Bai Wei had never been to Contract Land, but based on the image of the village in Lai Er's memory, combined with his Left Eye's gaze penetrating the vast yellow sand, he found it.

He didn't rush Lai Er, because returning here meant the outcome was already decided.

Lai Er stood in the yellow sand like a sculpture for a long time. Finally, just as he was about to be buried by the sand, he lifted his trembling legs and walked step by step towards the place called "hometown."

Five years ago, he didn't know what hometown meant because he had never left it.

It wasn't until he left the No Man's Land and went out into the world that he understood the meaning of hometown.

For the past five years, he had imagined countless scenes of returning home, but he never thought it would be like this.

The fog was thick, so when he saw the outline of the village in the fog, it meant he was very, very close.

But it was this extremely short distance that he walked for a very, very long time, so long that he couldn't remember.

Was it minutes, hours, or... years?

When the village was no longer just an outline in his eyes, when the yellow sand no longer blocked his vision, Lai Er's knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground.

Because he saw it.

The village was empty, like a silent tombstone.

But it explained everything.

"As expected," Diana, who had followed Carter closely, saw this scene. "It's really like this."

This scene didn't need much explanation to understand. Lai Er was from this village.

"To think he's from the No Man's Land," Carter said. "And he even went out to become a Black Merchant."

But it wasn't that strange. Black Merchants were always scouting for suitable people in the No Man's Land to expand their teams. However, due to cognitive limitations, not many people could be taken out, so Carter and Diana hadn't thought of it at first.

Now that they knew Lai Er's identity, all his previous perplexing behavior could be explained.

"How interesting. Tongue-sensei chose someone like this to work for him. Is it a coincidence or a calculation?" Diana chuckled. "Is he sure this person won't be used by us?"

Diana paused, and her tone carried a hint of contemplation.

"But how could he know so much about the No Man's Land?"

Carter listened quietly, not interrupting Diana's thoughts.

Until Diana asked, "What happened to this village?"

Just as Carter was about to answer, he saw Lai Er in the distance suddenly get up and run into the village like a mad dog.

Lai Er refused to accept fate. Otherwise, he wouldn't have abandoned his wife and children five years ago and left his hometown.

It was the same now. Even if his family was truly gone, he had to know how they disappeared. He wanted to see them alive or their bodies dead.

After all... what if?

What if they weren't dead? What if they had escaped?

Just like five years ago, when everyone thought Ha Luo was a liar, only Lai Er held a sliver of hope in his heart.

What if he wasn't?

So now he ran into the village, wanting to see for himself.

The village was empty and looked like it had been abandoned for some time, which naturally made Lai Er's heart sink.

But he forced himself not to think too much and returned to his house in the shortest time possible.

There was no one in the house either. All he saw was a mess.

An unmade, dusty bed, food that had rotted beyond recognition, and shards of bottles and jars on the ground.

This filled Lai Er with despair.

Because all of this indicated that the people in the house had not left normally but had been taken away suddenly.

Where could they have been taken?

It was self-evident.

Lai Er gritted his teeth tightly, still not giving up. He wanted to call out his son's name, but when he opened his mouth, he froze.

Because he had left before he could even name his son.

So he could only call out to his wife and parents, but there was no response.

He searched the entire house, but found nothing except two children's clothes.

Finally, he sat on the ground in despair, his eyes red as he looked at the clothes in his hands.

Judging by the clothes, this was already a grown boy.

But...

Lai Er recalled the scene he had just seen at Obedience of Heavenly Voice, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably, his teeth almost grinding to dust.

Why him, why...

Just then, Bai Wei spoke again, "There's something on the door frame."

Something on the door frame?

Lai Er subconsciously raised his head and looked at the doorframe.

He saw a carved mark.

The mark looked somewhat familiar.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Lai Er suddenly remembered.

That was... the Black Merchant's mark!