Pathfinder

Translator: Cinder Translations

--------

"Oh?" Chen Ran raised an eyebrow.

Su Xiaoxiao didn't seem interested in getting into a confrontation with Chen Ran, and directly said, "We are siblings, raised together. If he's in danger, I can feel it."

Chen Ran thought for a moment, then looked into the dense forest. After a short pause, he turned back and chuckled softly, "So Miss Su wants to break the contract?"

The moment those words left his lips, Su Xiaoxiao's trembling body froze. She could clearly feel the chilling aura behind the words "break the contract."

It was like a sword, pointing directly at her forehead.

"No," Su Xiaoxiao quickly replied. She calmed herself, and her tone was no longer so urgent.

She withdrew her gaze, looked at Chen Ran, and said, "No matter what happens to my brother now, it's already too late for me to go back. If we can find the clues on the stone tablet, my brother might still have a chance of survival."

Chen Ran nodded in approval, smiling, "Miss Su is indeed clever!"

"Alright," Su Xiaoxiao turned and continued deeper into the forest, "Let's hurry up. We haven't found any trace of those two people along the way. They might have already found the stone tablet."

Chen Ran took his hand out of his pocket and smiled, following her, "I'll follow Miss Su's lead."

About half an hour later, relying on Su Xiaoxiao's memory, they finally found the strange white stone tablet. Chen Ran crouched down, hiding behind a dense bush.

Su Xiaoxiao stood about two to three meters beside him, hiding behind a tree, only her face visible as she kept her eyes fixed on the area around the stone tablet.

They waited quietly for their prey to appear.

Chen Ran's cold eyes slowly scanned the area around the stone tablet. It was indeed as Su Xiaoxiao had described—there the stone tablet stood quietly in the center.

It was surrounded by piles of dry bones.

And around the stone tablet, there were countless tombs.

Some of the tombs had scattered weapons, mostly spears and harpoons, cold weapons typical of warriors.

It was all so strange.

But even stranger was the location itself. This place was deep within the forest, and while they couldn't be sure of the exact distance from the edge, it was clearly far.

Why go to such trouble to bring people here and bury them?

Moreover, the soil here was a weird dark red, as if it had been soaked in blood. When they grabbed a handful and held it to their noses, the smell was nauseating.

Chen Ran narrowed his eyes slightly.

Clearly, the people from Black Stone Town had lied to them. This place couldn't have been revealed by a flood as they claimed.

The area around the stone tablet was flat, a completely open space with no vegetation. It could almost be said that nothing grew here.

A flood that relied on terrain wouldn't have been able to do this, and it definitely wouldn't have had the power to reach this place.

Everything here seemed... man-made.

Chen Ran slowly smiled, this was getting more interesting.

Su Xiaoxiao's voice came from behind, filled with urgency and anxiety, "Why haven't those two appeared yet?" She was so worried about her brother that she had lost her composure.

Chen Ran's gaze swept across the dark red soil and the edge of the forest, before he looked up at the sky.

The sky remained unchanged, but too much time had passed.

After a while, he slowly turned his gaze back to Su Xiaoxiao, who was still looking around, unaware of his attention.

After some time—

"Miss Su," Chen Ran suddenly spoke, "I think..." He smiled and said, "Those two have probably already been here."

"Been here? Where?" Su Xiaoxiao widened her eyes.

Chen Ran extended his hand and pointed at the white stone tablet in the center of the open space. "If I'm not mistaken, they're already on it."

"You mean they're dead?"

Chen Ran didn't respond directly. A strange light flickered in his eyes, but when Su Xiaoxiao's gaze met his, the light quickly disappeared.

"I think so," Chen Ran exhaled, turning his head to look at the dead stillness of the stone tablet and tombs. He lowered his voice, saying, "Based on the clues I've gathered, the stone tablet shouldn't be this quiet."

Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, then nodded, "You're right. When I came last time, it wasn't this quiet. Now, it feels like the stone tablet is full, resting."

"Exactly," Chen Ran shrugged, stepping out from the forest first, "So, Miss Su, please hurry," his voice carried over with a slight distortion, "Don't forget, it's getting dark."

This sentence struck a chord with Su Xiaoxiao. Once it got dark, not only would she not know what would happen to her brother, but even she might not survive and walk out of the forest.

She gritted her teeth and followed him, stepping out of the forest and walking towards the stone tablet.

As they passed tomb after tomb, she tried not to look, not to think about them, but couldn't suppress the strange and chaotic images and lines flashing in her mind.

It was like a needle, stabbing into her head, forcibly implanting something.

The distance between them and the stone tablet grew shorter, and Chen Ran slowed his pace, matching Su Xiaoxiao's speed. His gentle eyes gradually began to take on other colors.

---

"Doctor," the Fatty squatted, holding a broken branch with green leaves to shield himself, his small eyes peeking through the gaps. He whispered, "They've moved."

Jiang Cheng, hiding behind a moss-covered boulder, watched Su Xiaoxiao and Chen Ran approach the stone tablet step by step, continuing to observe without revealing himself.

The Fatty swallowed and turned his head, "Doctor," he lowered his voice, but couldn't hide his excitement, "You're amazing! How did you know they wouldn't wait for us and would go check the stone tablet themselves?"

In the Fatty's eyes, this wasn't a wise move, it was like sending two fragile bodies into danger.

But it seemed the doctor wasn't surprised. He didn't even look at the Fatty and simply replied, "It's almost dark. They can't wait any longer."

The Fatty thought for a moment and responded, "Well, if it were me, I'd wait until dark. At least that way, if something happens, we can all go together. But these two just walked straight in, if something goes wrong, isn't that suicide?"

Jiang Cheng casually said, "Not necessarily."

The Fatty froze for a moment, then looked at the doctor, blinking, "Do they have some sort of hidden trump card? Something that can save them?"

Before he finished speaking, the Fatty seemed to think of something and became excited. "Do they have that kind of life-saving white paper?"

Jiang Cheng shifted his gaze, casting a sidelong look at the Fatty, and after a moment, said, "Whether they have white paper or not, I don't know. But the one who is sending themselves to die isn't the two of them, just that silly woman."

"You think we're the only ones out here testing the waters?" Jiang Cheng continued.

(End of the Chapter)

---

Read (NS) ahead on (pa treon . com / CinderTL) – Chapter 294.

Early access starts at $1. Your support keeps this going!

$1 for this novel, or two novels for just $5, RDC/FF/MF Tiers. ;)

Translated 4 Series, 1.65K+ Chapters and 2.01M+ Words.