When Deathstalker was about to climb into the window of Bruno's room, the sky suddenly lit up, as if someone had just switched on a giant light in the sky.
"Welcome back," Bruno greeted him.
"You're awake already?" Deathstalker asked.
Bruno shrugged. "I barely slept... waiting for you."
Deathstalker cringed. "Don't start acting like we're a couple," he said.
Bruno grinned but said nothing in response.
"Let's go to Viper's room. We need to make a plan," Deathstalker said.
"Sure," Bruno agreed.
Soon, the two men entered the other room, finding Lily staring out the window.
"Have the two guards left yet?" Deathstalker asked her.
"You're back!" Lily exclaimed excitedly.
"Have they?" Deathstalker urged.
"No. Not yet," Lily answered with a sour face.
"Good," Deathstalker said, then sat behind the desk. "On my way back here—"
"Where did you go?" Lily cut him off.
Deathstalker sighed. "It's none of your business," he replied coldly, then continued, "Like I said... on my way back here, I met a group of people..."
Deathstalker told them what the group talked about and how secretive they acted.
"We will split into two," Deathstalker explained his plan. "I will follow the two guards. You two," he pointed to Lily and Bruno, "go to sleep."
"What?"
"Why?"
"Your part will be to gather information from people about this phenomenon, especially those who run businesses or employ workers. And that job can only be done at night, when these creatures are active."
"Why don't we all go with you now?" Lily asked.
Deathstalker sighed. "If we do everything together, when will we have time to rest? Would we even be able to gather information effectively?" he countered. Lily didn't argue further.
"Besides, stalking people is harder to do in a group," Deathstalker added.
"I can gather information by myself," Lily said coldly.
"I know. But he can't," Deathstalker replied. "He needs to be with one of us."
"Useless," Lily murmured, glancing at Bruno with an annoyed look. Bruno lowered his eyes.
Deathstalker sighed again. "He has his role in the next step. I just need to talk to Sukraj first to make sure it's possible," he said.
"Why don't you elaborate your plan first, like King used to do?" Bruno asked.
"Because... I'm not King," Deathstalker answered, his eyes fixed on the window. "And I don't have time for it."
Deathstalker approached the window. "The two guards just left. I've got to go."
With that, he climbed out the window and left the two of them alone.
Following the two guards, Deathstalker moved stealthily, hiding behind buildings or tree-like pillars from time to time, making sure they didn't sense his presence.
Like Lily had said, the two guards were heading toward the urban boundaries. Despite having worked for hours, they seemed energized—just like the group Deathstalker encountered earlier.
Along the way, several groups of people joined them. Most were young workers. They didn't merge into one big group, but they were clearly heading in the same direction.
Once they reached the urban boundaries, they went straight to an uphill area. Here, the buildings and pillars were more sparse. Fortunately, the group was too engaged in conversation to pay attention to their surroundings. Another stroke of luck—no other creatures were around, so Deathstalker wouldn't lose them even from a distance.
Carefully, he followed about a quarter mile behind. Fifteen minutes later, he realized the group had stopped walking. Instead, they were queuing. Deathstalker hid behind a nearby pillar, watching as one by one, they entered what appeared to be a door—or perhaps a gate.
What caught his attention even more was a smaller group of people going to a post nearby. However, Deathstalker couldn't see clearly what was happening at the post; he was too far.
Without hesitation, he crept closer.
Two creatures were standing outside the post, while one was inside, facing an officer.
"Nǎlǐ lái nǐ cóng?" (Where do you come from?) the officer asked. The creature replied with a place name that Deathstalker didn't recognize.
"Shì shuí nǐ de tuījiàn rén?" (Who is your reference?) the officer continued. The creature answered again.
"Nǐ néng dǎ suì shítou, wājué, chǎnshēng rènéng huò zhìzào wùzhí ma?" (Can you break stone, dig, produce heat, or create substance?) the officer asked once more.
The creature nodded. "Wājué" (Digging).
The officer let out a short growl before telling the creature to place its palm on a stone. "Hǎo le" (That's good), the officer said as the stone turned red. "Xià yī-gè" (Next).
The creature left the post and queued up at the gate.
Deathstalker was about to leave when he noticed a small commotion near the gate. It wasn't a riot—just a disruption in the queue caused by a group exiting from inside the gate. Two of them wore masks—more like gas masks. That alone might've caused the stir; these creatures probably had never seen gas masks before.
The group was already a quarter mile away from the gate when the two individuals finally removed their masks.
They were human.
More importantly, Deathstalker recognized one of them.
Wang Ji Shu.