Chapter 72.2

Editor: Kat

Proofreader: Junyans

On the tour to northern Tibet, the tourists were happy and set up their tents at the camping site next to the ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom.

Yin Baitao set up the fire and boiled a large pot of dehydrated vegetables and cooked beef they had bought from Tibetans in Wenbunan Village. There was another pot of boiling water, and Fang Yuhang broke the compressed biscuits into the pot.

Soon, the steaming beef stew with vegetables and the salty and fragrant compressed biscuit porridge were cooked. The tourists, who had woken up around six o’clock and walked the mountain road for more than two hours without having a real breakfast, were hungry in the morning.

They sat around the fire, each holding a lunch box in their hands. In addition to their tired expressions, everyone had a smile on their face. They chatted while eating, as if this was their first official meeting.

Eating was something that could bring people’s relationship closer, especially in the vast highlands. When everyone sat together, they could feel that their relationship had gotten even closer. Most of the people were panting while eating, their faces turned red, and there were several small oxygen cylinders next to them.

But apart from being really out of breath, all the tourists were trying to get used to the altitude sickness. Even if the dark green cloak that Wei Xun brought back had a Tour Guide’s Brooch wrapped in it, it was placed far away so the area of effect wouldn’t encompass them all.

“The ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom occupy half of the mountain and are so large that the brooch can only cover a small part of them.”

Jiang Hongguang suggested that everyone get used to the altitude sickness as soon as possible. Later, Wei Xun would sit in the center wearing the brooch, while they would explore the ruins in groups of three. Once they found out someone’s state was bad, they would immediately send them to Wei Xun.

“Although we have to stay at the ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom for three days, it does not mean that we must explore the ruins every day.”

Holding the hot compressed biscuit porridge, the experienced tourists started talking, and the one who spoke was Qin Xinrong from the other family of three.

He was the one who had wanted to set a trap for Wei Xun, telling Wei Xun that he should go to Wenbunan Village to borrow a motorcycle. Now, he had been completely convinced of Wei Xun’s strength. Thinking of what he had done before, he quickly sought to repair the situation. He told everything he knew to Wei Xun, Fei Lezhi, and the other newcomers, and taught them about the many unspoken rules that only veteran tourists knew.

To be precise, they were the secret techniques of the “salted fish” veteran tourists.

“The most important thing in the tour is not to complete the scenic spots, but to protect yourself by completing the task.”

Qin Xinrong took off half of his jacket and pulled up his left sleeve. Everyone saw the terrifying scars on his arm. The newly grown flesh was uneven and still dented, as if it had been bitten by some fierce beast.

“The tour guide doesn’t care about the life and death of the tourists… Maybe those newcomer tour guides have a little conscience, but it depends on luck. You see, you’re also newcomers, but you’ve met a tour guide like IV-1.”

Qin Xinrong shivered due to the chill he felt. He put on his clothes and said with a shrug, “If you die during the tour, you’re really dead. Even on a Safe-level tour, many tourists will encounter accidents. Those points, props, and titles are really good, but I’m afraid that if I had to risk my life for it, I wouldn’t live to see the day I use them.”

“Of course, Leader Wei certainly won’t have to worry about that,” Qin Xinrong flattered.

He received a smile from Wei Xun, cheered up inwardly, and revealed some more information in detail. Fei Lezhi, Yin Baitao, and Xu Yang were listening very carefully, and they didn’t feel any unjust feelings even when Qin Xinrong treated Wei Xun differently from them.

After all, Wei Xun was really strong!

None of them were arrogant people without self awareness. They definitely couldn’t experience a tour like Wei Xun did. With Wei Xun’s strength, he would definitely rise to experience a higher level tour quickly, and it was very likely that they would not be together next time.

The knowledge and skills taught by Qin Xinrong were very important to Fei Lezhi and the others. Wei Xun was also very happy to listen. Around Wei Xun’s hand that was holding the lunch box was the greedy ferret cub that was inching forward, who was greedy for the beef in the lunch box.

Wei Xun took a piece of cooked beef and fed it to the ferret, and then took some shredded beef and threw it on the ground for the little black dog to eat.

This “little black dog” had been discovered by Xu Yang’s guide dog, Duoduo. Duoduo had constantly been barking toward a rock crevice. No one knew how long this little thing had been stuck in the rock crevice, and some of the black fur on its body had fallen off, as if he had a skin disease. It looked ugly and strange.

And it was pitifully skinny. It was not much bigger than the palm of a person’s hand, and it was bony. To the tourists, it looked like it was dying.

It was just that the tourists were unable to protect themselves, and no one dared to leave the scenic spot without permission to send the puppy to the Tibetans at the foot of the mountain. The tourists could only be ruthless. They left it a neck warmer to keep warm, and ham and biscuit crumbs for it to eat.

However, this pup was not afraid of humans. When the tourists saw it again, they found that the pup was trembling as it followed them to their campsite, walking unsteadily, and was so frightened by the snow leopard guarding Wei Xun that it fell to the ground and played dead.

Seeing that it was really pitiful, no one drove the little black dog out again. Yin Baitao also fed it a few pieces of shredded beef and boiled biscuits. However, this puppy didn’t eat anything. He just circled around Wei Xun, his tail wagging happily, and he only ate the food that Wei Xun fed him.

“[A Wild Beast’s Psyche] is really useful,” Fei Lezhi said enviously.

He also liked cats and dogs, but unfortunately he wasn’t fated to have a good relationship with pets. Whenever he saw a stray cat on the road, the stray cat would hiss at him. From this, one could tell that he had no experience of coming into contacts with pets.

Seeing that Wei Xun now had a dog at his feet, a ferret on his hand, and a snow leopard basking in the sun on the rock mountain behind him, Fei Lezhi felt that Wei Xun led a wonderful life that only gods could experience!

Wei Xun smiled without saying a word, watching the black dog swallow the soiled beef shreds with difficulty. Wei Xun nudged it with the toes of his shoes, thinking that it was too ugly and dirty, and it was so close that it hindered his sight.

This son of a bitch was, of course, IV-1. When Wei Xun had gone to put the Tour Guide’s Cloak and Tour Guide’s Brooch in the distance, he’d let IV-1 hide in the crevice of the rock to transfer it there, and then let him be “inadvertently” discovered by Xu Yang’s guide dog, Duoduo. This way, he could successfully bring him back to the campsite.

After activating IV-1’s mutation state, Wei Xun had established a stronger connection with him. However, this connection was different from the connection Wei Xun had with Xiaojin and the maggots.

If Xiaojin and the maggot were said to be the servants of Wei Xun, once they got stronger, they could repay Wei Xun, and when Wei Xun became stronger, they could also gain strength along with him. However, IV-1 could only be regarded as a slave.

Wei Xun could squeeze everything out from IV-1 and obtain energy from his body, but Wei Xun getting stronger would not bring IV-1 any benefit unless Wei Xun took the initiative to give alms. This showed the cruelty among the abyss demons.

Wei Xun activated IV-1’s mutation form, and he took control of him. If he wanted IV-1 to die, IV-1 would die. If he wanted IV-1 to live, IV-1 would live. Everything about IV-1 was put in plain sight to Wei Xun, and there was no privacy at all for IV-1.

Including the task he received from Slaughterer Alliance, and the prop that the Slaughterer Alliance had given him that could block the livestream.

[Name: Old TV]

[Quality: Special]

[Effect: Causes your esteemed self’s livestream room to be packed with static, like an old TV with poor signal!]

[Remarks: Old refrigerators, old TVs, and old air conditioners bought at a low price——Sob, sob, the old TV set is working, so when will the old refrigerators and old air conditioners start working!]

‘He asked me to block the livestream at the opportune time and look for one thing.’

Dog IV-1 and Wei Xun spoke using their consciousness. IV-1’s tone was full of fear and disgust as he said, ‘It was a crystalline corpse, said to be enshrined in a Little Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring, deep in the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom.’

A Little Tagzig Olmo Lung Ring in the depths of the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom? That should be what Wei Xun had seen on the human skin map, where the nine 卍 of Xikang Temple were located. The human skin thangka that suppressed the devil should also be here.

‘Who asked you to come, tell me everything.’

Wei Xun didn’t allow him to resist, and the current Dog IV-1 couldn’t put up any resistance at all. No one knew if he would regret his decision later. Although his life had been saved, it was not in his own hands. He couldn’t even decide his own death now.

However, Wei Xun did not trust IV-1.

His submission stemmed from fear and power, not loyalty. If a strong man seized Xiaojin or the maggots from Wei Xun, they would die the moment they were seized. This was because they were already subordinated to Wei Xun.

However, it wasn’t the case for IV-1. Wei Xun was not sure if this was because he was a tour guide, which made him special, but Wei Xun vaguely understood that if someone stronger than him wanted to take away the control he had over IV-1, IV-1 would really be taken away, and he might even charge over to try to kill Wei Xun.

For example, the bigwig tour guide from the Slaughterer Alliance who gave IV-1 orders.

If they seized control of IV-1, he would similarly be unable to defy the other party, and would reveal Wei Xun’s secret.

Wei Xun never felt that he was invincible, and to some extent he was extremely cautious.

Therefore, he wouldn’t let IV-1 survive this tour, but before IV-1 died, he had to squeeze all the value out from IV-1 and make good use of it.

It wasn’t as if IV-1 didn’t know about all this, but he was just Wei Xun’s dog now. He could only follow Wei Xun’s orders completely—whether it was to block the livestream, “stick close to the human beings,” or “follow us to the campsite.” IV-1 had no choice. He was too weak even though his mutation state had been activated by Wei Xun, and he truly looked like a skinny little dog, with no bone-white demonic fire on its limbs.

However, the most unbearable thing for IV-1 was that he couldn’t defy the characteristics of the demonic dog. He wanted to wag his tail when he saw Wei Xun!

He was an extreme sadist! How could he become someone’s dog!

Bark, bark!

“When the descendant of the eagle flutist comes, clarify with him about which direction we should explore, and then we can go to explore the ruins.”

Qin Xinrong said, “We have a total of four scenic spots: the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom, Xiaolin Temple, Siling Lake, and Changtang Nature Reserve, but looking at the itinerary, only the first three scenic spots were mentioned by the Travel Services’ introduction of the tour.”

Xu Zishi, who was sitting next to Qin Xinrong, used the tsampa to scoop up the last bit of soup in his bowl. The food in the lunch box had been wiped clean, and the lunch box was clean as if it had been washed. Since they were in the highlands, they were short of water, so they had to use it sparingly. One could only imagine doing things like washing dishes in the highlands, because it was basically impossible to do so.

“That is to say, the first three are the important scenic spots, and the last scenic spot, Changtang Nature Reserve, is likely to be the place where the Travel Services will pick us up,” Xu Zishi said.

He was a simple and honest man with few words, but his simpleness and honesty was different from Yu Hean. He had the shrewd look of a businessman in his eyes as he asked, “Are the true ruins of the Silver Palace in Garuda Valley, the capital of Xiangxiong Kingdom, or on the banks of the snowy mountain’s holy lake?

“What secret has been hidden by the Xiaolin Temple, where the monks of the Bon religion used to practice a mysterious art?

“Is the original Yungdrung Bon Scripture written with blood from an eagle’s mouth really lost in the ghostly lake?

“These are the three sentences from the introduction to this tour, which point us to the general direction of the tour, which is the goal of ‘exploration.'”

Yin Baitao tried to tease out the meaning behind these words, “That is to say, in the first scenic spot of the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom, we are going to explore whether it is the Silver Palace of Garuda Valley?”

“But the ruins of the Silver Palace are on the top of Mount Kailash,” Xu Yang shook his head and refuted, “Although the ruins on Qiangzong Mountain are also the ruins of the capital of the Xiangxiong Kingdom, it can’t be the Silver Palace of Garuda Valley. It can only be the capital of Xiangxiong bar ba, which is Tangra Xiangxiong.”

“Yo, it seems that this little brother knows a lot.”

Xu Zishi squinted as he smiled and accepted the praise without hesitation, “Yes, you’re right, but——how can this be proven?”

Fei Lezhi didn’t understand. “This, this is Qianzong Mountain, so shouldn’t the ruins above it be Tangra Xiangxiong, and the Kailash’s side, hiss——”

“That would also mean that the ruins we are about to explore are ‘Tangra Xiangxiong,’ and not the Silver Palace of Garuda Valley.”

Xu Yang was smart and responded very quickly. It was clear that he understood the key points of the tour. The Travel Services were looking for evidence, which was why they had asked the tourists to explore the ruins. Even if Baidu Encyclopedia and various materials stated that the ruins on this mountain were the capital of Xiangxiong bar ba, they had to find proof in these ruins.

For example, everyone knew that one plus one equals two, but the Travel Services wanted the tourists to find evidence to prove that one plus one equals two.

After all, Qianzong Mountain had experienced many earthquakes, and the Ruins of Xiangxiong Kingdom had been severely damaged. Ordinary people couldn’t discover the ruins here. Only they, the tourists from the International Thriller Travel Services, could do it.