Despair

The bodies of Wang Ming and the other three, along with the knife they didn't have time to take, all proved that Big Stone Camp had definitely encountered that Grotesque before reaching their current location.

Discovering only four bodies didn't mean only four people had died at Big Stone Camp.

After encountering the Grotesque and suffering heavy losses, Shi Qing must have gone to Huang Zhao and Da Chuan in the north, or even to Rogue Camp, to seek reinforcements.

That's why they hadn't seen anyone from Big Stone Camp around Redwood Ridge during this period.

But the request for help clearly hadn't gone smoothly; only Shi Qing and one other person returned, and they only brought back a bag of Crystal Fruit.

Given the Grotesque's cunning nature, rarely showing itself personally, it was highly likely that it had controlled the corpses of the Great Xia Lumber Team to attack Shi Qing and the others.

This had to be it, because if so, it would explain why Shi Qing had looked so despairing when he was surrounded by them just now.

He must have seen the imposter Xia Ding and believed the Great Xia Camp had been annihilated.

Suddenly seeing Xia Hong and eleven other young Lumbering Realm cultivators, Shi Qing probably thought they were all Grotesques, hence his despair.

But when Shi Dong revealed his identity and Shi Qing realized none of them were Grotesques, the despair on Shi Qing's face immediately vanished, replaced by joy.

The fact that he knew Grotesques could impersonate people further confirmed that Shi Qing had indeed dealt with Grotesques before.

Shi Qing's performance from beginning to end had been perfectly normal.

He didn't recognize them, so he mistook them for Grotesques.

But how did Shi Dong recognize him?

Awakened by Xia Chuan's words, Xia Hong suddenly realized that Shi Dong's behavior throughout had been too normal, unlike Shi Qing's constantly changing expressions. And precisely, this was the biggest abnormality.

More importantly, he had even spoken up first, revealing his identity, clearly fearing a conflict with them that would delay his and Shi Qing's return to camp.

The real Shi Dong is probably dead. The one Shi Qing brought back to camp is likely a fake.

As he rushed towards the direction Shi Qing and the other had left, Xia Hong's suspicions grew stronger.

Unfortunately, Shi Qing had already left a long time ago. Even though he and his group were moving at full speed, they couldn't catch up. They chased until they could see Tower Mountain, where Big Stone Camp was located, from a distance, but still couldn't see the two figures.

Xia Hong quickened his pace, his expression becoming increasingly grave:

"Big Stone Camp is probably in trouble!"

At the foot of Tower Mountain, Shi Qing and the other man walked to the east side, skillfully found the vines, and quickly climbed to the summit.

The summit was still covered in snow, just as it had been when they left. Shi Qing walked directly to the center and cleared away the snow.

Beneath the snow was a square wooden board, five meters wide.

And beneath the wooden board was the Big Stone Camp's encampment.

Seeing no marks on the wooden board and feeling a warmth when he touched it, confirming that nothing unusual had happened at the camp, Shi Qing immediately relaxed.

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

Shi Qing directly opened the wooden board and jumped down through the three-meter-wide opening. Shi Dong followed him down, casually closing the wooden board behind them.

As soon as the two landed, several people rushed forward with joy.

"Leader, you're finally back!"

"We're out of Crystal Fruit at the camp. If you hadn't returned soon, we were planning to organize a sortie tonight."

"Why are there only two of you?"

"Where are the other three?"

Hearing their words, Shi Qing's face contorted in pain.

Just as he was about to tell everyone what had happened at Rogue Camp.

Whoosh...

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

The white thread, like a fine needle, pierced directly through his shoulder blade, then, as if alive, coursed through various parts of his body.

In an instant, Shi Qing was completely bound by the white thread.

Such a sudden turn of events left Shi Qing no time to even speak before his body became immobile, and he fell diagonally to the ground.

"Leader, what's wrong?"

"Shi Dong, what did you do?"

The people who had rushed forward were utterly bewildered. Some went to help Shi Qing on the ground, while others questioned Shi Dong about what was happening.

"Hehehehe..."

Shi Dong didn't speak. He just lowered his head and let out a smug laugh that sounded like the friction of wood shavings, hoarse and piercing.

This laughter was not only eerie but also ferocious, sending chills down one's spine.

Hearing this familiar and terrifying laughter, Shi Qing, who had fallen to the ground and hadn't been helped up yet, suddenly changed his expression and looked back at Shi Dong sharply.

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

Shi Qing instantly realized that this Shi Dong was a fake.

The fourth time, when Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu were chasing Shi Dong, that's right.

They all thought only Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu were swapped out, but in fact, Shi Dong was also swapped out at the same time.

This Grotesque actually staged a bitter stratagem, deliberately creating a scene where Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu were chasing Shi Dong, and then controlling Shi Dong to infiltrate its side.

Doesn't that mean that all the content they discussed in the Rogue Camp hall about how to lure and encircle it was fully understood by it, clearly and thoroughly?

Pity that Luo Ming and the others are still following Yang Ning and Li Hu, trying to lure this Wood Puppet Grotesque out again.

It turns out the enemy had already infiltrated from within.

It's over, it's all over!

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

Shi Qing suddenly turned his head, facing the direction of the bonfire camp crowd, his face almost flushed red, and he shouted this hysterically.

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

The more than three hundred people in the camp, if nothing unexpected happened, would all die!

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

With this thought in mind, Shi Qing wanted to continue speaking, urging everyone to flee quickly, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the white threads that were binding him instantly pierced his lips, sewing his mouth shut.

"Wuwuwuwu..."

Only able to make muffled sounds, Shi Qing saw that everyone in the camp was still confused and clueless. His face instantly turned red, his pupils filling with blood from anxiety.

But that "Shi Dong" had already moved.

He charged forward, his fist hitting the head of the nearest person directly.

Before that person could even speak, their head was crushed like a watermelon, splashing yellow and white matter everywhere, a gruesome scene.

And this wasn't the end.

With a ferocious expression, "Shi Dong" simultaneously grabbed two other people who were trying to escape. His fingers suddenly gathered strength, plunging into their necks almost to the root.

These two also didn't have time to speak, blood pouring from their seven orifices, and they fell to the ground dead.

"Jie jie jie jie jie..."

The bloody scent gradually spread, and the smile on "Shi Dong's" face became even more unrestrained and twisted. It seemed that taking these lives with his own hands was a great pleasure for it.

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

Everyone else by the campfire, who had been confused and clueless, now understood that the person before them was not Shi Dong at all, but a devil.

"Ah..."

"Shi Dong has gone mad."

"Run, run..."

"Leader, help!"

The fear of the crowd was like a stimulant for the Grotesque. It charged into the crowd, and in an extremely brutal and twisted manner, it continuously reaped lives. It even felt that killing with its fists was too slow, so it picked up a Stone Axe from the side.

Watching his relatives, friends, wife, children, everyone in the camp, being slaughtered for no reason and falling to the ground, Shi Qing's anger reached its peak, his eyes almost bulging out.

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

He could do nothing.

Seeing his wife die tragically in the crowd, Shi Qing wept tears of blood.

Immense pain gradually turned into deep despair.