Bringing the Whole Family Along

"Sister Ren?"

"Sister An Ran?"

Sitting in front of the crater created by the rocket artillery, Ren Anran followed Ren Wuyang in repeatedly reciting over the communicator, her voice gradually fading until she finally stopped moving.

Song Sijia was bored out of her mind, so she gave Wang Zimo and the others some instructions before running back.

She looked at Ren Anran, who remained silent, and couldn't help but sigh.

Seeing that Ren Anran did not respond, Song Sijia called out again.

"Take a break if you get tired of reading. We're not broadcasting professionals; talking for too long at once can easily cause hoarseness. Look at my throat, it's already very dry and hoarse. Wang Ziming's voice is completely hoarse, but that kid's a bit dazed..."

After rambling on for a while, and when Ren Anran still didn't react, Song Sijia couldn't help but wave her hand in front of Ren Anran's eyes.

Ren Anran's empty and unchanging gaze startled Song Sijia. When Song Sijia touched Ren Anran Ren Anran's hand and then her face, there was no reaction whatsoever, and Song Sijia couldn't help but feel a jolt of fear.

"Oh no, oh no, Sister Ren is in trouble too!"

Song Sijia screamed.

The explosion zone where they were located was in the heart of a thorny area, a place rarely visited by people.

Song Sijia glanced at Zhang Xuezhou, who was unconscious in the distance, and then at Ren Anran, who showed no reaction when touched. She couldn't help but feel a bit horrified.

After shouting, Song Sijia frantically dialed a number.

"What's up?"

Ning Que, searching for the bronze tortoise statue in the crater, was the first to leap out and approach, followed closely by Jin Shixue.

Wang Ziming and the others glanced at Song Sijia a few times. They didn't stop craning their necks and reciting the "Grave Sutra," but instead took small steps to approach her, also wanting to see what was going on.

Why did Committee Member Ren suddenly lose consciousness as well?

Jin Shixue touched Ren Anran's wrist.

Ren Anran's wrist was extremely strong, and her pulse was still strong, but Ren Anran, with her eyes open, was unconscious and did not respond to the diagnosis brought by the crowd.

"Her situation is almost exactly the same as Zhou Ge's," Song Sijia exclaimed in horror. "Did they commit suicide together?"

"This shouldn't be death," Jin Shixue frowned. "It seems they've sealed off their thoughts and consciousness!"

"It could also be a relocation!"

Ning Que frowned and replied.

He looked at Ren Anran, pondering the unusual thing about Ren Anran's recitation with him.

Ning Que appeared to be searching for the bronze tortoise at the bottom of a crater, but his hearing was excellent. He could clearly hear what Ren Anran was reciting and also noticed the discrepancies between Ren Anran's recitation and his own.

He aspired to climb the social ladder, but Ning Que wasn't like those foolish kids like Wang Zimo, who would believe everything they were told.

Ning Que has his own judgment and his own choices.

He felt that things were a bit strange and that he needed to find the bronze tortoise again before he could try reciting the "Tomb Classic" at close range.

But his perception is one thing, finding the bronze tortoise is another.

Ning Que searched back and forth in the shell crater but did not find the bronze tortoise.

He thought the bronze tortoise was in the crater, but he couldn't find it, and there was no one available to dig it up.

The matter was stuck here, but Ning Que wasn't in a hurry. Only when Ren Anran showed unusual behavior did Ning Que begin to ponder deeply with a furrowed brow.

"A pair of discerning eyes, a pair of discerning eyes..."

Ning Que gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with conflicting emotions.

He was certain that Ren Anran's recitation of the last paragraph did not involve the "Insightful Eye" at all, and it was also different from what he was reciting.

Zhang Xuezhou needed one thing, Ren Anran changed another aspect of him, and what Ren Anran achieved was yet another.

Ning Que pondered the matter repeatedly, only to find that the difference was enormous.

The only thing he was certain of at the moment was that Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't betray him, and Ren Anran wouldn't harm him either. And since this involved a major operation in Western Capital City, there must be a party that needed to be targeted.

In this complex situation, he needs to find his place.

"Why are there white spots of light? Is my health really that bad? I feel dizzy after just one night without sleep?"

Before Ning Que could figure it out, Jin Shixue, who was checking Ren Anran's condition, covered his head, looking quite pained.

"Insight? Light spot?"

Ning Que's mind jolted, and he finally pieced together some of the information in his mind.

"Mr. Jin, did the recitation trigger some changes, allowing you to see any unusual phenomena?"

Ning Que patted Jin Shixue, who was diagnosing Ren Anran's sudden discomfort by clutching his head. He felt that Jin Shixue was likely the first among them to achieve the ability to recite, but Zhang Xuezhou's sudden unconsciousness made it impossible to judge, and Jin Shixue was unaware of it himself.

"Mr. Jin?"

Ning Que's heart skipped a beat, sensing that his guess might be somewhat true.

He patted Jin Shixue on the shoulder, and Jin Shixue was almost knocked down by the pat, as if all his strength had been drained. Jin Shixue was not able to recover for a while, let alone respond.

"I feel a little dizzy, I need to lie down!"

Amidst the whispers, Jin Shixue did not fall into a coma like Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran, but remained conscious and showed no other negative reactions.

"There's definitely something wrong with those light spots. Jin Shixue probably gained insight through recitation, but without follow-up guidance, he's just confused!"

If Ren Anran hadn't fallen into a coma, and Jin Shixue hadn't achieved his 'Insightful Eye', Ning Que felt reassured.

But right now, he felt uneasy, and the feeling that he had been slow at every step kept resurfacing in his mind.

He was previously targeted by Ren Anran, which prevented him from being selected as a candidate member of the committee. He was then targeted by Jin Shixue, which also deprived him of the 'keen eye' to meet Zhang Xuezhou's needs.

He kept missing his chance, and couldn't help but mutter to himself, trying to catch the last bus.

He did not choose the version that Ren Anran suggested for modification, but instead repeated the same version as Ren Anran.

"May this pearl aid Zhang Xuezhou, and from now on, vanquish Huang Daoxian!"

As he muttered incantations, Ning Que felt a sudden heat in his palm, and the world before him abruptly turned into black and white.

Amidst the roar, the strange phenomena he had witnessed in the past when he held a dead man's head reappeared.

A five-clawed black dragon roared madly, as if bound by endless chains, repeatedly trying to take flight but failing to ascend.

Enveloped in endless darkness, the black dragon repeatedly tried to plunge into the white world, only to be pulled back firmly each time.

"I am not reconciled! I could have won! Why was I always just a little short? I'll always be just a little short in this lifetime!"

The black dragon's roar turned into resentment, its low, muffled voice like a final murmur.

Just as Ning Que thought what he was seeing would subside as before, he heard a murmur echoing in his mind.

"I offer this sacrifice beneath the zodiac, this sacred vessel. You, carrying my conviction, shall vanquish the zodiac, even if it means death, tear it apart!"

Before Ning Que could make a decision, he felt countless black scales appear on his body, and an endless pain of his body being stretched and deformed surged into his heart.

Pain brings resistance to consciousness and paralysis to thought.

Ning Que felt as if his body had entered a blacksmith's furnace and was being forged.

"You have a family with you?"

As the low chanting came, Ning Que felt the forging process speed up considerably, and his body seemed to be rapidly taking shape.

Before Ning Que could react, he felt his body being rapidly manufactured on an assembly line and then quickly pushed out.

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of his foot landing echoed through the darkness. Before Ning Que could adjust, he let out a strange roar and plunged headlong into the endless darkness.

A pain as if razor blades were slicing through his flesh surged forth. Ning Que saw countless swirling, petal-shaped blades appear before his eyes, each one relentlessly slicing away at his flesh.