“These herbal teas must also be tainted.”

While pondering the background and support of the mysterious organization, Su Zhou had an idea. He turned back and rummaged through his backpack.

Opening his water bottle, he couldn't detect any peculiar smell, but there was no doubt that something was wrong.

Their Soul Calming Incantation wasn't absolute. Aside from himself, some people with stronger minds could probably resist it, at least not to the point of falling into such a deep sleep that they wouldn't wake up after being jostled around on the road.

But if the tea they drank earlier also contained sleep-inducing ingredients, it would almost guarantee that any ordinary person would fall for it, making it nearly foolproof. Su Zhou was now thankful that he hadn't been thirsty at the time and hadn't touched the herbal tea in his water bottle at all. Otherwise, he would probably still be a helpless pig being slaughtered.

“Damn, there's no signal here. Tsk, if they can prepare all this, they definitely have accomplices in the local government. Calling the police probably won't do any good. I can only contact the embassy.”

“Wait.”

Just as Su Zhou was about to take his friend, who was sleeping soundly after drinking a pot of sleep-inducing herbal tea, and leave, his ears twitched, and his brow furrowed as if he had heard something.

Then, Su Zhou lowered his head, his gaze sweeping over himself and Shao Qiming with a complex expression, and sighed helplessly, “No way? They're here so soon…”

Taking a deep look at his close friend, who was frowning as if trapped in a nightmare, Su Zhou immediately opened the car window and darted out like a cat, silently. Without hesitation, he sprinted away, transforming into a dark shadow, disappearing into the forest.

Like in a martial arts movie, Su Zhou, with his certain anti-reconnaissance skills, didn't leave any traces. He only stepped on the gravel on the road, not touching a single plant. After running a distance, Su Zhou pushed off the ground with his feet, leaping up like a cat and hiding in a large tree with an extremely dense canopy.

After a series of maneuvers, Su Zhou was confident that unless it was the most professional investigator, it would be impossible to see through his whereabouts.

He used the corner of his eye to observe the movements in the distance, while his ears perked up, listening for any information in the silent forest.

Soon, in the distance, the buzzing sound of engines could be heard.

Several military green modified vehicles, better suited for mountain travel, drove from the direction of the Kachin Mountains and arrived at the open space.

*Crack.* The cars stopped, and eight strong, sturdy men in blue-green combat uniforms got out. Su Zhou could see that the people who got out of the cars were all of Asian descent, and the leader was a middle-aged Indian man. He and two burly men guarding him walked towards the bus, their expressions unreadable.

“The parking position is wrong.”

Even from a distance, Su Zhou could still hear some fragments of sound. The Indian man was speaking English, and his accent was very pure, unlike most Indians.

Not only that, but his aura was also very heavy and terrifying, with a ghostly aura. Even just observing him from the corner of his eye made Su Zhou feel a slight pang of fear.

“Gong Ang didn't come down to meet us either. That's very strange.”

In the distance, the Indian man stopped, looked up at the bus in front of him, and said, “There's the aura of death.”

“Someone died.”

The forest was silent, so the sound was relatively clear. The Indian leader could be seen tilting his head slightly, and one of the other seven men walked out, smashed a car window, and jumped in.

Soon, the car door opened, and the man who had gone up came down with a grim expression and said to the Indian man, “Mr. Sukla, the situation is not good.”

“Gong Ang's neck was twisted. He used a secret technique before he died, but it seemed useless. Mao Ba also died thoroughly, his neck was broken by a kick… very brutal.”

“…It seems we've encountered an unexpected character. I said, those who come for the 'Double-Headed Serpent' can't just be tourists, there will be trouble.”

“Double-Headed Serpent?”

Hearing this, Su Zhou, who was holding his breath and lurking, felt a slight movement in his heart. This was precisely the target that he and Shao Qiming had come for together. But now it seemed that this target was deliberately released by this organization as a means to attract a large number of tourists.

“Is it to find more opportunities?”

Su Zhou didn't have time to think too much, because after a moment, the Indian man called Sukla waved his hand and ordered, pointing at one person and saying, “You, go drive the car in another direction, and then come back with the observation team.”

“The five of you, go carry the offerings in the car down and send them to the cave. The Void Transaction Ritual urgently needs fresh intelligent creatures. The leader has urged us three times. The correct constellation is about to arrive, and there can be no delay.”

“Yes.”

Everyone responded loudly, followed the instructions, and began to work quickly.

It could be seen that one unconscious person after another was being carried out and placed neatly in the trunk of the modified car, stacked together like cargo.

Shao Qiming was also among them, sleeping very soundly. Fortunately, the strong man noticed that his body was not in good condition, so he placed him on the top layer of the pile of people.

“Sir, do we not need to pursue the unexpected character?”

One of the two burly guards who was left by Sukla's side and didn't go to carry people asked. He turned his head as if surveying the surroundings.

Hearing this, Su Zhou's heart tightened. Although he was hiding extremely well, if the other party really had special secret methods for reconnaissance, it might not be possible to hide it—one or two would be fine, but there was no way he could win against eight strong adult men head-on.

“Go. But if you don't find any obvious traces within five minutes, don't continue. Let the observation team encircle and suppress him. With 'Secret Serpent' around, he won't be able to escape.”

Hearing Sukla's order, the strong man nodded slightly. He narrowed his eyes and then ran in the direction Su Zhou had left.

It could be seen that although this strong man looked burly, his steps were light and his movements were swift. He soon disappeared into the mountains and forests.

He almost found Su Zhou's escape route, but was off by one or two o'clock.

Before long, everyone on the bus had been moved away, and the bus also drove back towards the original road, preparing to go in the opposite direction to divert attention. The Indian man and the other guard waited in place for a while, until the guard who had been tracking returned from the forest.

Without saying a word, the guard silently shook his head. Seeing this, Sukla didn't take it to heart, and the three of them drove away together, heading into the depths of the mountains and forests.

And in a tree not far away, Su Zhou, who was lucky enough not to be discovered, narrowed his eyes.

The Indian man named Sukla was unusually cautious and never alone, making it impossible to find an opportunity to forcefully attack and interrogate him for information… and judging by his height of at least six foot three and his strong body, even if his strength was much greater than the average person, he might not be able to suppress the other party in a short period of time and would definitely be surrounded and captured by other members of the mysterious organization who were alerted.

“This is terrible, Qiming has been captured… what offerings, transactions, and rituals… damn it!”

Biting his teeth, Su Zhou felt a little anxious. Watching his friend being taken away, this feeling could not be described in words.

Taking a few more deep breaths and calming down, Su Zhou looked into the distance, in the direction the modified vehicles had left.

If it were an ordinary person, they definitely wouldn't be able to see the movements hidden by the dense branches and leaves, but Su Zhou, who could even distinguish between ghosts and monsters, could see very clearly. Not far from this forest, around a small mountain, there was an inconspicuous small cave, and camouflage similar to here.

There, people were carrying unconscious people into the cave.

“There are members of this organization in the tourist town, and I can't be sure if there are any of their members in the police… the 'observation team' and 'Secret Serpent' they mentioned definitely have a high chance of being able to discover my whereabouts, maybe it's the black ghostly snake shadow I saw in the village.”

“Otherwise, these people wouldn't have let go of the best opportunity to track me so easily.”

Su Zhou's eyes flickered, and he frowned and muttered to himself, “The possibility of me leaving this forest alone is extremely small, even if there is a chance, it will be fraught with difficulties, a one in ten chance of survival… the other party has mysterious powers, there's no way I, an ordinary high school student, can…”

“The hell with it! Why look for reasons!”

I just want to save my friend!

Pushing all his concerns aside, clenching his fists, the seventeen-year-old high school student who could only sleep five hours a day because of ‘studying hard’ finally, under the pressure of ‘transcendence’ and the ‘unknown’, made up his mind with the unique impulsiveness of young people, “How dare they attack me, attack my friend?”

On Su Zhou's face, a mix of excitement and anger appeared, a manic and ferocious smile.

—You will die! The mysterious organization will also die!

In the next instant, a rustling sound rang out, like the wind blowing through the branches, and a figure landed on the ground, then flickered between the trees.

This shadow was silent, like an illusion, but it was faster than the wind, and just like that, he followed the tracks of the vehicles carrying people.