George naturally understood his implication, and his complexion changed slightly as his pace quickened significantly.
Soon enough, the two arrived ahead of everyone else at the mouth of the valley where Rogel Camp is located; the group following behind wasn't actually far away and swiftly caught up.
Discovering that the pile of rubble and wood at the valley's entrance was the same as when they left, without any changes, George finally let out a sigh of relief.
But it was only temporary.
George hurriedly circled the left side of the rubble pile and found the large round log blocking the entrance among a pile of rotten wood.
The round log was over five meters in diameter and more than fifty meters long, made of the heaviest Golden Frost Tree.
Normally, it would take several people to pull it out together, but George has Earthripper Realm strength, so he can do it by himself.
However, seeing George was a bit struggling, Bruce went forward to help him pull it out together.
The other three people at the Earthripper Realm from Rogel Camp also joined in.
With five people at the Earthripper Realm, no matter how heavy that round log is, it would be nothing.
Thud…
The round log was pulled out straight and landed on the ground with a loud roar.
But as soon as the sound echoed, Bruce, George, and everyone else present instantly changed their expressions.
Because the end of the round log leading into the camp was shockingly hung with six bloody arms, with a large area of scattered flesh and blood froth beside them.
"Something's wrong, come with me quickly!"
This sentence was almost shouted by George, whose face was full of fright as he rushed into the entrance in a single bound.
Behind him, the twenty-eight Earthripper Realm and Axeheart Realm people from Rogel Camp, all changed their complexions drastically the same way and followed in.
Bruce's complexion also changed drastically, but he didn't rush in recklessly.
Instead, he first took out a piece of Solidified Fire Oil from his bosom and handed it to Charlie.
"Charlie, don't go inside. Use the Solidified Fire Oil to coat the outside of the entrance thoroughly, then hold onto what's left and stay here. No matter who comes out, greet them with it right in the face."
"Understood, Leader!"
"The rest of you, quickly come in with me."
After saying this, Bruce also charged in with Tony, Clark, and the other five.
In fact, upon seeing those six bloody arms, Bruce already had an idea in his mind about the tragic scene inside the camp.
But when he truly set foot into the interior of Rogel Camp.
His scalp couldn't help but tingle.
The ground was strewn with corpses…
Wherever he looked, there were bodies, and the ground at every step was smeared with blood.
The intense stench seemed to have gathered into a haze, drifting inside the valley.
Severed limbs were everywhere, with scattered pieces of flesh readily seen.
The bodies lying on the ground were not even whole.
Some had half their heads chopped off, others were severed at the waist into two halves, and some had their legs cut off and were still struggling on the ground…
These people varied in size, even including infants still suckling, but the infants' vitality was clearly not as tenacious as adults; they were either beaten into a heap of flesh or cut into pieces by sharp tools.
The entire valley was filled with weak cries and wails, yet nowhere was there a single intact living person on the ground.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
Terror, grief, anger, guilt, madness, disbelief…
A multitude of emotions mixed together, and George's piercing scream instantly broke through the valley, resounding through the clouds.
Bruce took a deep breath, looking at George and the others ahead, his eyes flashing with sympathy.
In George's long roar, others might not discern much.
But he only heard the thick suffering and despair.
Just like William, who had previously witnessed the campsite's slaughter with his own eyes.
"Leader Luo, please restrain your grief.The most urgent thing now is to see if anyone is still alive. There are only about five or six hundred people here, and there might be survivors inside. Also, that Wood Puppet Monster might not have left yet!"
Bruce stood for a moment and saw some people from Rogel Camp, already losing their minds, searching through the remains on the ground for their loved ones.
He hurriedly stepped forward and woke up George first.
It's not that he wasn't giving George time to process everything in front of him.
The key thing now is that there is something more important.
As he spoke to George, he extended his hand with a grave expression, pointing to the large wooden house at the innermost part.
Upon entering, he noticed the five large wooden houses inside the camp, four of which had already collapsed.
It was obvious they had been forcefully destroyed from the outside.
The one left standing was still relatively intact.
Upon hearing his words, George suddenly became clear-headed, giving Bruce a grateful look.
He immediately put away his sadness and shouted to those still searching on the ground, "Everyone get up, stop searching for now, and check the main house. There might be survivors over there."
The total population of Rogel Camp was over thirteen hundred.
The dismembered corpses and remains outside were appalling but far from reaching that number.
Others also reacted at this point.
Those who hadn't found their relatives yet showed hopeful expressions and followed George and Bruce, quickly approaching the direction of the main house.
The wooden house was quite large, with sides over fifty meters long, potentially accommodating hundreds of people inside without any issue.
Bruce looked at the wooden house, turned back to glance at the more than fifty people who had gathered behind him, and frowned deeply.
"Leader George, the situation inside is unclear, and the Wood Puppet Monster is incredibly cunning. I don't think we should all go in.
How about you, these three, and I go in first to check the situation, then notify the others?"
As he spoke, Bruce pointed at the three people following behind George.
George immediately understood.
Knowing that the Wood Puppet Monster was adept at impersonating others, he nodded and said, "Lucas, Jaden, Caleb, you come with me. Everyone else, wait outside first."
The three people Bruce pointed at were around the same age as George; they were the three Earthripper Realm experts George had brought back on this mission.
The five of them together approached the wooden house.
Although the main door of the house was not closed, it was pitch dark outside, and no one could see clearly.
They could only see the empty corridor through the faint campfire inside.
George turned to signal Lucas and the others.
Without hesitating, the three dashed forward and stepped into the wooden house.
Upon entering, Bruce immediately understood the internal structure.
The central area of the wooden house was a hall centered around a campfire, with small rooms partitioned by wooden boards on both sides.
The five had already reached the middle of the hall.
Seeing the dim campfire, they were all puzzled.
Lucas, who was at the front, turned back to George:
"There are signs of a struggle, but no smell of blood, and… no people?"
Scattered around the campfire were many pieces of coal stone.
Several chairs had broken in the hall, and there were clear signs of a struggle on the ground.
So how could there be no people, nor any sound at all?
Could they be in the side rooms?
Realizing this was the only possibility, George frowned slightly.
It wasn't that he ignored the small rooms on both sides of the wooden house.
Just after entering, he didn't consider those rooms because:
First, the horrific scene outside proved that the Wood Puppet Monster's ways of killing were extremely brutal; if there were people in those small rooms, they couldn't possibly be so quiet.
Second, all five of them were Earthripper Realm experts.
At such a close distance, they could detect even the smallest insect, let alone five or six hundred people.
Lastly, most of these rooms were open, with only a few closed.
The ones with open doors looked quite normal, with no bodies or smell of blood.
Out of habit, they naturally didn't suspect the closed rooms.
"Open them and see!"
After all, time meant lives. George dared not hesitate.
He quickly pointed to the first room, still letting Lucas open it.
Lucas nodded and walked toward the first closed door.
"Don't go in, run quickly!"
Just as he reached out to open the door, Bruce, standing beside George, suddenly shouted, his face changing drastically, stopping him.
Unlike the others, from the moment he entered the wooden house, Bruce focused his attention on the small rooms on both sides.
Those rooms seemed normal; the open rooms were indeed ordinary.
But it was this peculiarity that was most abnormal.
There was no sound outside Rogel Camp, bordered by two mountains.
It was impossible for five or six hundred people to grow wings and fly away.
Bruce had noted earlier that the ten rooms on either side made twenty in total.
Each was about four or five meters wide, accommodating thirty to forty people at most.
Only five rooms were open; the other fifteen were closed.
Fifteen rooms, each with thirty to forty people, matched the five to six hundred people.
No matter what tricks the Wood Puppet Monster used to cram people into those fifteen rooms undetected, this number corresponded exactly, and that was enough for Bruce to issue a warning.
As soon as he shouted "Run quickly," Bruce had already started dashing outside.
Although George hadn't understood the reason, Bruce's prior behavior had already earned his unconditional trust.
"Lucas, retreat!"
Without hesitating, he called out to Lucas, leading the other two Earthripper Realm experts in retreating alongside Bruce.
Originally intending to search the rooms, Lucas reacted quickly, swiftly retreating to follow George outside.
But unfortunately, he was too close to the room.
Crash…
The door he had been about to open was suddenly shattered by a massive force from within, and a transverse knife sliced through the wooden debris, its sharp blade cutting through the air directly toward the trailing Lucas.
Although Lucas was fleeing with all his heart, being so close made it impossible not to sense it.
Yet he was back to the blade, leaving him too little time to turn and defend.
The sound of the blade behind him made despair flash in Lucas's eyes.
Whoosh…clang…..
"Run quickly!"
It was Jaden.
Trailing behind George, Jaden drew his curved bow and aimed at the large blade, releasing an arrow.
His marksmanship was impressive, hitting the blade's flash that swung toward Lucas without missing.
At this point, Bruce was just two or three meters from the wooden door.
Seeing Lucas rescued, he sighed in relief, then looked up to see Charlie and others preparing to rush in.
Seeing Lucas rescued, he sighed in relief, then looked up to see Charlie and others preparing to rush in.
He quickly shouted, "Don't come in, all of you get out!"
Until now, he didn't know the specific situation inside the wooden house.
The more people there were coming in, the more complicated it would become.
Furthermore, they were only steps from the door, nearly outside.
However, as if fate played a cruel joke, Bruce's thoughts became a joke when the wooden house door suddenly slammed shut.
When they first came in, the wooden house door was wide open.
But at that moment, the wooden house seemed to come alive.
The door frames on both sides directly sealed the entrance right in front of Bruce's eyes.
"The Wood Puppet Monster, it manipulates wood, and now we're in trouble!"
Suddenly recalling the monster's name, Bruce's heart trembled.
"The wooden house is made of Golden Frost Tree; I can break through it!"
Hearing George from behind, Bruce relaxed slightly and quickly made way.
George wielded the sword, slashing directly at the closed door.
Crack…