"Are you alright?" Li Ang glanced at Wanli Fengdao, who was covered in wounds, and asked casually.

"I'm fine." Little Brother Dao shook his head. Gripping his sword-wielding right hand, he set his dislocated shoulder back in place with a CRACK. "Just encountered a bit of trouble..."

Earlier in the dense forest, he had been attacked by over a dozen floating corpses. After struggling to slay several, reinforcements arrived. Miss Chai descended from the sky, clad in Qinge Armor. Wielding a Bronze Sickle, she sliced through them as easily as cutting vegetables, and the two worked in tandem to obliterate the remaining floating corpses.

Thinking of this, Wanli Fengdao couldn't help but stealthily glance at the silent Red White Plate from the corner of his eye. So strong... Strength, agility, reaction speed, impact resistance, Self-healing Ability... Every one of these attributes surpassed those of most players I've previously encountered. And this armor is merely a vassal of Li Rising! When I first met him in Guhan Temple, he was a few levels beneath me, but now...

Wanli Fengdao shook his head, casting aside his chaotic thoughts, and asked Li Ang, "What's our next move?"

"Take him over there. Let's see if Brother Xing can be awakened."

Li Ang tugged the iron chain. With all the floating corpses dead, the Water Nightmare had also suffered severe damage. It trembled all over, its eyes rolling back, looking as if it could die at any moment.

Unfortunately, such a pitiful sight couldn't rouse an ounce of sympathy from Li Ang. He dragged the chain at an unhurried pace towards the tree hollow, occasionally turning back to scornfully order the Water Nightmare to keep up, utterly disregarding the fact that the latter was convulsing uncontrollably.

The group dragged their captive to the tree hollow. Li Ang held the chain in one hand and gripped the Water Nightmare's neck with the other, forcing it to look at Xing Hechou, who lay unconscious inside.

Li Ang asked indifferently, "How can we wake him up?"

"..."

The Water Nightmare stood there, neck stiff, tears and mucus streaming down its face, silent.

"I'm talking to you!" Without hesitation, Li Ang slapped it across the face. "Still looking? Huh? You think I won't rip your skull off?" he said savagely.

Facing the brutal threat, the Water Nightmare, bound like a rice dumpling, wept silently. Shuffling its feet, it slowly bowed, hovering over Xing Hechou before opening its mouth and exhaling a plume of white smoke.

"Quite bold." Li Ang commented with a hint of praise as he watched the white smoke drift into Xing Hechou's nostrils. He held the Bronze Scythe, received from Miss Chai, with its blade resting on the Water Nightmare's neck, poised to decapitate it at the slightest provocation.

"It's done." The skinless Water Nightmare slowly straightened up and backed out of the tree hollow, looking gaunt and extremely drained.

Xing Hechou, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly took a harsh, rasping breath. His chest heaved, and his eyes opened, staring fixedly at the ceiling of the tree hollow.

"What... what happened to me?" With some effort, Xing Hechou propped himself up, clutching his forehead. He then looked towards the few people outside the tree hollow. "Brother Feng Dao, and Miss Liu, what are you doing here?"

Li Ang whispered to Wanli Fengdao, "Ask him a few questions only the two of you would know."

Wanli Fengdao understood this was to ensure the Water Nightmare hadn't played any tricks. He asked a few personal questions and had Xing Hechou display his player ID. After confirming his identity, Wanli Fengdao breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the robust man up from the ground. "Welcome back."

Xing Hechou nodded and looked at the brightly dressed Li Ang and the Qinge Armor. "And these two are...?"

"Old acquaintances. Li Rising, and his... partner," Liu Wu Dai interjected, offering the introduction. She could tell from Li Ang's demeanor that the kid was concocting some ridiculously over-the-top lines for his self-introduction, and it was better to save time.

"Brother Li." Xing Hechou's eyes lit up. "I didn't expect you to come as well."

"How could I miss such an exciting event?" Li Ang chuckled. In the real world, he'd had quite a few interactions with Xing Hechou through the chat system of the "killing field" games. He hadn't notified him before entering the Shengnan King's Dream, but unexpectedly, they had met after all.

Forming a team with Special Affairs Bureau agents always feels a bit inconvenient...

Li Ang waved his hand, directing Miss Chai to take the Water Nightmare and play elsewhere.

Feeling neglected, Miss Chai pouted, a bit sullen. She muttered something about "always being left out of discussions" and then amused herself by swinging the Water Nightmare, who was bound in chains like a zongzi, back and forth. This snapped nearby trees one after another and, incidentally, caused the Water Nightmare to let out bursts of terrified, pained cries.

"Anyway," Li Ang turned back to Xing Hechou. "Brother Xing, could you tell us what the Special Affairs Bureau knows about the King of Shengnan?"

Liu Wu Dai and Wanli Fengdao perked up their ears. Their security clearance wasn't high enough to access internal information. However, as one of the Captains of the Yin City Mobile Special Response Team, Xing Hechou was undoubtedly an insider.

After a moment's hesitation, Xing Hechou nodded. "All of you are reliable individuals trusted by the Special Affairs Bureau, so sharing some information should be fine. Whether you decide to leave the Shengnan King's Dream after hearing this, or continue deeper, I won't stop you. Of course, if you're willing to cooperate with the Special Affairs Bureau and assist us with our plan, that would be even better."

A plan... It sounds like the Special Affairs Bureau has some sort of scheme in place, Li Ang thought. He nodded calmly, and Liu Wu Dai and Wanli Fengdao also silently agreed—they trusted Xing Hechou wouldn't lie about such a matter.

"Then, I'll tell you." Xing Hechou took a deep breath, his brows furrowed, and he said gravely, "The matter of the King of Shengnan originates from an earlier event: the escapees from the Demon Prison, which occurred after the Mirage Dragon left."

Li Ang was surprised. "Those two events are related?"

"Yes." Xing Hechou said solemnly, "I believe you've all received some intelligence. The Demon Prison, which held countless demons, developed a degree of sentience. After the Mirage Dragon, its jailer, departed, the prison moved west on its own. It is now lurking near the Kunlun Mountain range, lying dormant for the time being."

Li Ang and the others were silent. To prevent any unforeseen incidents with the Demon Prison, the authorities had immediately initiated a large-scale evacuation of residential areas near Kunlun Mountain, relocating the local populace. They also designated a vast no-fly zone at the foot of the mountains. On satellite maps, that region had become pitch black, impossible to survey.

Internationally, there was a very peculiar collective silence on the matter. Player forums were abuzz with rumors that officials had established a highly classified military base in the area.

Li Ang and Liu Wu Dai, having personally experienced the Mirage Dragon incident, knew much of the inside story. Wanli Fengdao, however, was hearing such news for the first time. His expression changed subtly, and he felt a tinge of regret. It seems I've been swept into some serious secrets.

"The speculation on the forums about the military base and the no-fly zone is correct," Xing Hechou said, spreading his hands. "We've sealed off the area where the Demon Prison is located. We've also built a research center on its perimeter to monitor, explore, and study the nature of the Demon Prison."

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