Chapter 350: Death Sahara (29)

‘Is the small golden tokay gecko on Silver Moon Killer really the Lizard Duke?’

Wei Xun’s first move was to ask An Xuefeng privately. He hadn’t sensed any Abyss energy from the severed tail; whatever it was, it wasn’t an Abyss creature or any kind of demon. It felt like a perfectly ordinary, pretty little golden tokay gecko tail. And it wasn’t just him; the Stargazer nearby, An Xuefeng, and even Yin-Yang Butterfly, Lily, and David hadn’t shown any particular reaction.

Yet Baby Corn had said it was absolutely uniquely delicious, which meant there was something Wei Xun hadn’t picked up on. The last time Baby Corn called something delicious it had been a crystallized concentrate of pure Abyss energy, and the descriptors Baby Corn had loaded onto that hadn’t been as numerous as what it was stacking onto this tail.

‘High probability. Why?’

An Xuefeng was sharp and asked directly.

‘I’m wondering, if it really is the Lizard Duke’s, shouldn’t it at least qualify as some kind of high-grade Abyss creature? Shouldn’t the tail be harder to detach than this?’

Wei Xun turned David’s muttered puzzlement back to An Xuefeng. Hearing this, An Xuefeng understood, and a thread of amusement entered his voice:

‘Think of it this way, it can’t be called a complete Lizard Duke. Think of Bingbing.’

The Maine Coon Wei Xun kept was impossible to separate from the Puppeteer’s fragment, yet as long as the fragment didn’t awaken, it was entirely and genuinely just a small cat; even Yu Hehui who had been closely looking after it had noticed nothing off.

‘So, you’re saying this small golden tokay gecko is the Lizard Duke’s fragment?’

Wei Xun’s interest sparked immediately.

‘Something along those lines. Can’t say it’s definitive; there’s also a possibility of it being directly connected to the Lizard Duke rather than a fragment per se.’

An Xuefeng considered.

‘Otherwise, it couldn’t possibly trigger that strong a reaction from Silver Moon Killer; strong enough to pull him out of the nightmare directly.’

While the two of them were exchanging these quiet messages, the Stargazer also came over to verify timing.

After confirming that the Yu twins had woken at around a quarter past midnight, and that the Silver Moon Killer had been violently roused just slightly before or after that, Stargazer’s brow furrowed uncharacteristically, and David clicked his tongue.

“It wasn’t because they woke up that the Silver Moon Killer woke up.”

Chen Cheng, who had been listening quietly, had sharp thinking and immediately grasped why the Stargazer had asked this. The Yu twins and Zhu Yuande were the “historical figures” of this scene re-enactment, and the new arrivals corresponding to them had been drawn into the nightmare specifically to kill them. If the Yu twins and Zhu Yuande woke up and the targets disappeared, the new arrivals trapped in the nightmare would very likely wake on their own as well.

But the Silver Moon Killer had woken earlier than them, abruptly; the only explanation was the golden tokay gecko’s tail detaching.

“But Zhu Yuande didn’t fall into the nightmare.”

Noticing the Stargazer’s gaze on him, Chen Cheng was composed. He added:

“I didn’t find a corresponding person.”

At the same time the Infected was reporting quietly at Wei Xun’s side. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He had come back looking thoroughly beaten, covered in sand and with his clothes torn, seemingly in worse shape than David’s group, but the Infected was too sharp; there were almost no actual wounds on him, he only looked ragged.

“Lily, are you certain you saw five shadows in the nightmare?”

Wei Xun asked the medium. Zhu Yuande hadn’t fallen into the nightmare, and whoever corresponded to him might have something unusual going on as well.

“Five, but one was very faint. I, I couldn’t determine how long he had been inside the nightmare.”

Lily said quietly, her words made David raise his eyebrows.

“If that’s the case, that could easily be Silver Moon Killer; maybe he wasn’t deeply asleep to begin with.”

David said this and the Stargazer’s expression didn’t change; he had clearly thought the same. But for their purposes it didn’t carry much additional meaning. Taking the worst-case scenario, assuming the golden tokay gecko truly was the Lizard Duke’s fragment, tonight’s action had confirmed several things.

First, the Silver Moon Killer and the Lizard Duke had come in. Second, the Silver Moon Killer was lurking somewhere around the Red Sand settlement with unclear intentions. Third, they had made serious enemies of both of them.

Never mind what level of power the Lizard Duke could exert here; having provoked one of the top Tourist killers without getting a handle on his movements and leaving him to lurk in the dark was genuinely the worst possible outcome. The Infected’s lips pressed tight; Yin-Yang Butterfly’s brow was knotted. But Wei Xun noticed Stargazer and his group were quite calm about it.

‘The Stargazer can detect Silver Moon Killer when he lurks.’

An Xuefeng said quietly to Wei Xun, something “Bai Xiaosheng” should know.

‘The Stars and the moon have always had a subtle pull between them. This makes it very hard for the Silver Moon Killer to lurk effectively under the Stargazer’s eyes. Of course, the Silver Moon Killer can also detect the Stargazer at the same moment.’

They could detect each other, but the Silver Moon Killer, who specialized in lurking and disguise, came off worse.

‘The range of this sensing can’t be that large though.’

Wei Xun said quietly. By David’s account, the Silver Moon Killer had been lurking right outside the Red Sand settlement; from the chieftain’s tower to there was only about a quarter hour’s walk, yet the Stargazer hadn’t sensed the Silver Moon Killer lurking nearby.

‘The sensing has limits of course, but the Stargazer should have marked the Silver Moon Killer.’

An Xuefeng said with certainty.

‘Silver Moon, Once the Stargazer has observed and marked someone, he can find them on the star chart.’

“Silver Moon” was the core of Silver Moon Killer’s titles; all his title series were built around “Silver Moon,” which had essentially become synonymous with the man himself. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Once observed and marked by the Stargazer, there was nowhere to hide. Of course, within the Agency this kind of “mark” functioned like a title effect and could be removed.

So, the Stargazer had to observe and mark anew in person, but that was now done.

‘Which means Zhang Xingcang should be the person the Stargazer hates the most.’

Wei Xun said with a laugh. Watching Zhang Xingcang, the Dreamchaser dragon, and the Yu twins return after treatment, Wei Xun deliberately wheeled his chair aside to make room, giving Zhang Xingcang the seat next to the Stargazer with visible amusement, earning a wary glance from Stargazer.

Xingcang, hiding the stars; literally, the name felt like it was built to neutralize the Stargazer.

‘No.’

An Xuefeng performed seriousness, though the slightly amused lift in his voice at the end gave him away.

‘Stargazer hates your brother the most.’

Wei Xun: …

“Rest for a bit. We leave at five in the morning.”

Done with An Xuefeng, Wei Xun gave the brief order, his gaze falling on He Yunlai who was listening attentively. Medium Lily’s re-enactment ability was formidable, and when facing “historical figures” like Chen Cheng’s group it had been performing beyond its usual limits; she had seen He Yunlai go missing in the sandstorm around noon at the hottest point of day.

She hadn’t been able to determine when exactly He Yunlai had died; perhaps because historically, He Yunlai had been unconscious after being swept into the sandstorm. But Lily had seen that when the sandstorm cleared at eleven that night and Chen Cheng’s group, who had never given up searching for him, finally found him, He Yunlai had been drained of all moisture; a living person turned into a dried husk.

Tomorrow’s death date for He Yunlai hadn’t arrived yet, but the great sandstorm had come early. Based on He Yunlai’s historical death timing, the most dangerous period of the sandstorm was between noon and eleven at night.

An Xuefeng had confirmed the Star Borer Insect’s current hiding location was to the west of the Red Sand settlement; at a giant’s pace, running from the settlement to there would take about three hours.

Best to finish off the Insect and recover the butterfly fragment before noon.

Everyone responded in scattered acknowledgment, but though they were told to rest, nobody actually slept; even closing their eyes to recuperate felt too risky. The Yu twins and Zhu Yuande in particular were still badly shaken, afraid that if they closed their eyes they would fall back into the nightmare.

Wei Xun sat cradling a cup of date water, lost in thought, while the Phoenix bird stood on the wheelchair back and used its long beak to gently comb Wei Xun’s hair. The beak was warm with heat, like someone giving him a head massage; deeply comfortable.

Wei Xun had very healthy hair.

An Xuefeng thought this with a note of regret, and without showing it, slipped a few fallen hairs under his wing. But just then Wei Xun suddenly poked him.

An Xuefeng: ?!

Not in the physical sense; Wei Xun’s mind moved slightly, thinking the thought “poke An Xuefeng,” and An Xuefeng actually felt something poking him.

‘Is a moderate-depth bond this responsive already?’

Wei Xun mused privately.

‘Say, if I were kidnapped someday and the kidnapper cut off one of my fingers and sent it to you, could you find me through that finger?’

‘That situation is never going to happen.’

An Xuefeng, who had just been trying to quietly get away with his small theft, heard this and immediately said without any give. He clearly disliked this hypothetical; even for a moment a killing aura flickered through the Phoenix bird’s eyes, and the combing movement had been too large; he ended up pulling out a few of Wei Xun’s hairs with his beak.

But under Wei Xun’s persistent questioning, An Xuefeng eventually answered:

‘You wouldn’t need to send a finger, the moment you are hurt, I could find you immediately.’

‘What if the person kidnapped isn’t me, but part of a creature that’s my fragment? Like a cat, and the kidnapper takes the cat’s tail. Could you help me find it?’

Wei Xun had apparently developed a deep interest in this hypothetical kidnapper and continued.

‘Are you saying this about the golden tokay gecko’s severed tail?’

An Xuefeng immediately understood what Wei Xun was actually asking. He thought.

‘If my tail were taken… ahem, I mean, if it were the way you’re imagining, I should be able to sense the tail, but it wouldn’t be reliable.’

‘How would it become reliable?’

Wei Xun asked with feigned humility.

‘If we had a deep bond, I could definitely sense it.’

An Xuefeng said with certainty.

‘So Silver Moon Killer can definitely sense the golden tokay gecko’s severed tail?’

Wei Xun said with interest, but An Xuefeng immediately countered.

‘Who said the Silver Moon Killer and the Lizard Duke had a deep bond?’

‘Tour Guides who form deep bonds with their Tourists are very few. Especially someone as suspicious as the Lizard Duke.’

An Xuefeng said.

‘They do have a bond, but not a deep one. I don’t think so anyway.’

An Xuefeng said with a light laugh.

‘If it were a deep bond, the Silver Moon Killer absolutely would not have let the small tokay gecko’s tail be taken away, unless he genuinely didn’t feel it. Why do you think Stargazer’s group brought the golden tokay gecko’s tail back?’

‘They didn’t.’

Wei Xun said lightly.

‘My son brought it back for me.’

An Xuefeng: ?!

******

“Useless! All of you, useless!”

At this moment, in the Death Sahara, inside the black desert, the Lizard Duke was in a towering rage, so furious his scales had gone pale. The moment he had sensed that something seemed to have happened to Angel, his golden tokay gecko, had sent his consciousness into the avatar, and then felt something missing from the body, a profound humiliation came over him so intense the Lizard Duke wanted to kill something to vent it.

Especially the silver-turned-white wolf currently tearing frantically through the sand in the desert, the taciturn Silver Moon Killer, who when questioned had given three blows’ worth of stubbornness and only one grunt of “looking for it” before saying nothing more; he had been enraged enough on the spot that the Lizard Duke’s consciousness withdrew entirely.

“Tourists are useless!”

The furious Lizard Duke had startled the deeply sleeping mental illusion of Zhang Xingcang awake. The illusion was radiating killing intent and had just raised its fist to retaliate when it heard the Lizard Duke’s sweeping declaration. As the fist was coming in, the mental illusion of Zhang Xingcang gave him an unusually agreeable look.

“You’re right about that!”