47: Chapter 47 Despair 47: Chapter 47 Despair The corpses of Wang Ming and the other three, along with the knife that hadn’t had a chance to be taken away, all proved that the Da Shi Camp previously must have encountered that Deceitful Monster.
Only finding four bodies doesn’t mean that only four people died in the Da Shi Camp.
After encountering the Deceitful Monster and suffering heavy losses, Shi Qing definitely went to the north, to Huang Zhao, Da Chuan, or even to request aid from the Rogel Camp.
That’s why they hadn’t seen anyone from the Da Shi Camp on this side of Redwood Ridge for a while.
But obviously, the request for aid didn’t go smoothly.
Only Shi Qing and another person returned, carrying only a bag of Crystal Fruit.
Given that the Deceitful Monster rarely shows itself directly and is cunning, it is very likely controlling the corpses from the Great Xia Logging Squad to attack Shi Qing and the others.
It must be so, because that would explain why Shi Qing showed such a look of despair when he was surrounded by us just now.
He must have seen the impostor Xia Ding and thought that the Great Xia Camp had already been destroyed.
Suddenly seeing Xia Hong and the eleven young members of the Logging Realm, Shi Qing probably thought we were all Deceitful Monsters, which is why he was so desperate.
But when Shi Dong revealed his identity, realizing that we were not Deceitful Monsters, Shi Qing’s despair immediately disappeared and turned to joy.
He even understood clearly that the Deceitful Monster could turn into others, further proving that Shi Qing had indeed had dealings with the Deceitful Monster.
Shi Qing’s performance just now was normal from start to finish.
He didn’t know us, so he mistook us for Deceitful Monsters.
But how did Shi Dong recognize us?
Awoken by Xia Chuan’s words, Xia Hong suddenly realized that Shi Dong’s behavior from start to finish was too normal, unlike Shi Qing, whose expressions changed repeatedly, which was exactly the most abnormal aspect.
More importantly, he voluntarily revealed his identity, obviously afraid of clashing with us and delaying his return to the camp with Shi Qing.
“The real Shi Dong is most likely dead, and the one Shi Qing brought back to the camp is probably a fake.”
While urgently chasing in the direction where Shi Qing and the other person left, Xia Hong became more convinced of the hypothesis in his mind.
Unfortunately, Shi Qing had been gone for a long time.
Despite leading the group in a frantic sprint, they still couldn’t catch up and hadn’t seen their backs even when they reached where they could barely see Tower Mountain, where the Da Shi Camp was located.
Xia Hong kept accelerating, his expression growing increasingly grave:
“I’m afraid the Da Shi Camp is doomed!”
At the base of Tower Mountain, Shi Qing and the other person went to the east side, skillfully found a vine, and quickly climbed to the top of the mountain using it.
The mountaintop was still covered in snow as when they left.
Shi Qing walked straight to the middle, brushing aside the snow on top.
Under the snow was a five-meter-wide square wooden board.
Below the board was the station of the Da Shi Camp.
Seeing no traces on the board, touching it and feeling a warm sensation, Shi Qing confirmed that nothing unusual had happened at the camp and immediately relaxed.
He paid no attention to Shi Dong, standing behind him, whose face showed a sinister smile the moment the board appeared.
Shi Qing directly opened the board and jumped down through the three-meter-wide hole, with Shi Dong following him and closing the board as they descended.
As soon as they landed, several people greeted them with joyful expressions.
“Leader, you’re finally back!”
“The camp’s Crystal Fruit is gone.
If you didn’t return, we were planning to organize people to go out tonight.”
“Why are there only two of you?”
“What about the other three?”
Hearing everyone’s words, Shi Qing’s face instantly showed a look of pain.
Just as he was about to tell everyone what happened at the Rogel Camp.
The Shi Dong behind him suddenly raised his hand and shot nearly invisible white thread at him.
The white thread, like a thin needle, directly pierced through his scapula, and then, as if alive, weaved throughout his body.
Almost instantly, Shi Qing was bound by the white thread.
Such a sudden change left Shi Qing unable even to speak, and his body became immobile, tilting directly to the ground.
“Leader, what’s wrong with you?”
“Shi Dong, what did you do?”
The few people who had just come up were completely confused, with some trying to help Shi Qing from the ground, while others questioned Shi Dong about what had happened.
“Heeh heeh heeh heeh……”
Shi Dong didn’t speak but suddenly lowered his head, letting out a rasping, grating laugh that resembled wood chips scraping, filled with a sinister delight.
This laugh was not only eerie but also terrifying, enough to make one’s skin crawl.
Hearing this familiar yet horrifying laugh, Shi Qing, still on the ground and not yet lifted, suddenly changed his expression drastically, quickly turning his head to look at Shi Dong.
“Thanks to you for bringing me over, or else, where would I find so many people?
Heeh heeh heeh heeh heeh……”
Shi Qing immediately realized that this Shi Dong was fake.
The fourth time, during Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu’s pursuit of Shi Dong, yes.
They all thought only Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu had been replaced, but actually, even Shi Dong had been replaced.
This Deceitful Monster acted out a bitter plot, deliberately setting up a scene where Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu chased Shi Dong, then controlled Shi Dong to blend in with them.
Doesn’t that mean that when they were in the roguel camp hall, discussing strategies to lure and encircle it, it had already understood everything clearly?
Pitifully, Luo Ming and the others are now still following Yang Ning and Li Hu, trying to lure out the Wooden Puppet Monster again.
It turns out the enemy had already infiltrated their ranks.
“Run, run, everyone, run!!!”
Shi Qing abruptly turned, shouting nearly red-faced and hysterically in the direction of the people in the campfire camp.
He didn’t know how the Wooden Puppet Monster controlled Shi Dong, but it was certain that he couldn’t move at all now.
With more than three hundred people in the camp, unless something unexpected happened, they were all doomed!
Run, run, all of you run together, perhaps there is a slim chance of survival.
Holding this thought in his heart, Shi Qing wanted to continue speaking, urging everyone to escape as soon as possible, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the white threads wrapped around him pierced through his lips, sewing his lips shut.
Only able to make muffled sounds, Shi Qing saw everyone in the camp still bewildered and clueless, his face instantly flushed red, his pupils filled with urgency and bloodshot.
But the “Shi Dong” had already moved.
In a sudden lunge, he punched the nearest person’s head.
The person hadn’t had time to speak, and his head was smashed like a watermelon, yellow and white substances splattering everywhere, creating a gruesome scene.
With a sinister face, “Shi Dong” grabbed two people trying to run away, fingers suddenly strengthening, nearly piercing into their necks.
These two people also didn’t have time to speak before they died, bleeding from all their orifices.
“Heeh heeh heeh heeh heeh……”
As the bloodshed began to spread, the smile on “Shi Dong’s” face grew even more wantonly twisted, as if slaughtering these lives was a great enjoyment for it.
In a blink of an eye, three lives were lost just like that.
Every other person initially bewildered around the campfire immediately understood that the person in front of them was not Shi Dong but a demon.
“Shi Dong’s gone mad.”
The terror of the crowd seemed to be the Deceitful Monster’s stimulant, and it rushed into the people, continuously and brutally claiming lives in a twisted manner.
Feeling punching to death was too slow, it even picked up a stone axe nearby.
Watching as family, friends, wives, children, everyone in the camp was wantonly massacred, lying on the ground, Shi Qing was driven to the brink of rage, his eyeballs almost bulging out.
Yet at this moment, he couldn’t even talk, let alone move.
There was nothing he could do.
Seeing his wife tragically die in the crowd, Shi Qing wept bitterly.
The immense pain gradually turned into deep despair.