"Shibeng, based on your knowledge of the Thorn Stone Forest, who do you think could be doing this?" Li Luo asked.

Shibeng was still jumpy. He leaned against the wall and answered cautiously, "No one would do something like that. Spreading the Abnormal Vein condition could end up affecting them too."

That made sense. The self-serving Mineral Race People were unlikely to do something that might harm themselves.

Fear wouldn’t allow them to, either.

Li Luo thought for a moment, then asked, "Could it have been the rare Mineral Race, trying to turn you all into rare minerals?"

"Unlikely. Some of their own people have been afflicted with the Abnormal Vein condition and turned into common minerals," Shibeng said after a moment’s thought, shaking his head.

"Then who has the ability to do it?" Li Luo was puzzled.

Hearing this question, Shibeng seemed to fall deep in thought. After a while, he finally answered, "Well, there is one race that could do it."

"Which one?"

"The Natural Gas Race."

Shibeng’s answer left Li Luo stunned.

Mo Ling was also completely shocked.

’The Natural Gas Race? There’s a race like that in the Thorn Stone Forest?’ He almost thought he had misheard.

But on second thought, it was perfectly logical.

If the stone pillars could produce solid minerals, then it stood to reason that gaseous minerals might coincidentally appear as well.

With such a completely random and bizarre phenomenon, nothing would be surprising.

Li Luo snapped back to her senses and asked Shibeng, "There’s natural gas? Does that mean you have oil here too?"

"We do."

Indeed, their understanding of the Thorn Stone Forest was still too superficial.

The mineral races they had encountered before were all solid mineral races, which had limited their thinking.

Who would have thought that a Natural Gas Race could actually be born from these stone pillars?

Shibeng explained, "They’re a reclusive race that doesn’t get involved in worldly disputes. They are very few in number, and their stone pillars are small and well-hidden. The hollows and fissures are not large, but very narrow."

"They don’t take part in our conflicts and are very friendly to the other Mineral Races. They spend all day holed up in the small fissures of their own pillars. You rarely see them."

Mo Ling’s thoughts began to form a clearer picture. If they were gaseous, they could indeed come into contact with the Abnormal Vein Patients without anyone noticing.

And they wouldn’t trigger any subsequent alarms.

’But if it really is them, why would they do it?’

"Have they ever contracted the Abnormal Vein condition?" Li Luo asked.

"Never heard of it. I’ve only ever heard of the Abnormal Vein condition occurring among the solid Mineral Races."

Shibeng’s answer made Mo Ling start to suspect that perhaps it really was them after all.

"There’s a porous rock layer belonging to the Natural Gas Race nearby. The path there is very narrow. If we continue toward the exit, we’ll pass by it."

’They’re right nearby?’ Mo Ling grew even more suspicious.

They had the means and opportunity. The only thing missing was a motive.

"Let’s go. We’ll check it out," Li Luo said to Shibeng.

But Shibeng was now a little scared and didn’t dare to move. He may not have had emotions, but he wasn’t an idiot.

After their conversation, he had already guessed that the Natural Gas Race was very likely the culprit behind the Abnormal Vein condition.

He agreed verbally, but his legs were trembling so much he couldn’t move.

Mo Ling found the sight of Shibeng quite amusing.

’A deserter, through and through. To think he could be this cowardly.’

He could just imagine how Shibeng had fled the battlefield.

While his comrades might have fought more fiercely out of fear, Shibeng was probably so scared he had already run far away from the battle.

Everyone acts completely differently when faced with fear.

"If you’re scared, you don’t have to go. Just tell us the way," Li Luo said, a little exasperated.

"I’ll go. Just... give me a minute. I’m a bit scared right now," Shibeng answered, trembling. He even patted his chest, trying to calm his fear.

Mo Ling suddenly felt that the frightened Shibeng was much more interesting than the cold-faced version from before.

But he also found it strange. ’If he’s that scared, he could just not go. Why is Shibeng still willing to guide them?’

’It seems my own understanding of fear is still a bit shallow.’

After a short while, Shibeng finally managed to compose himself and stopped shaking all over.

But the ripples still oscillating across his body’s surface betrayed him.

"I-I’m okay now. Let’s go." His face was still full of dread, and he stammered as he spoke.

Under Li Luo’s doubtful gaze, he walked directly to the front, his steps still a bit stiff.

Just then, a small stone fell from the cavern wall ahead.

Shibeng was so frightened that he scurried behind the Block to hide in a flash. Only after seeing it was just a loose stone did he emerge, a look of lingering fear on his face.

He walked to the front again.

It had to be said, though he walked stiffly, his running speed was truly fast.

However, after that little scare, Shibeng’s fear seemed to have lessened considerably, and his steps gradually became lighter.

Following Shibeng, they soon arrived at a passage whose walls were riddled with pores. The pores made the passage look as if it were about to collapse.

But in Mo Ling’s vision, the rock layer of this passage was clearly much denser than what he had seen before; it was extremely solid and tightly compressed on the inside.

Li Luo noticed this as well. She crouched down to examine the hard rock wall at the bottom of the cavern and asked Shibeng, who was up ahead, if they were almost there.

"Just a little further ahead, and we’ll be there."

The ripples on Shibeng’s body began to oscillate violently again, but he quickly managed to calm them down.

Continuing forward, they soon reached a circular clearing.

Shibeng pointed upward and said, "This is the stone pillar of the Natural Gas Race."

Mo Ling floated upward.

It was a huge, curved dome. The dense rock wall cleverly formed an arched structure, supporting the wide, open space below.

The rock wall was dotted with bottomless pores that extended inward from the surface, branching and crisscrossing, leading to unknown depths.

The largest of these pores were only about the size of an arm, completely impassable. The insides of some were very moist, but Mo Ling couldn’t tell if it was water.

’Does the Natural Gas Race live inside these?’

Just as Mo Ling was observing, a puddle of water suddenly flowed out from one of the pores. The puddle slid from the opening like a Slime.

Mo Ling quickly dodged out of the way. The puddle of water fell from the high dome to the ground below.

The sound of the flowing water also startled Shibeng. He quickly dodged to the edge of the clearing, watching the puddle.

Li Luo had wanted to approach for a closer look, but the water began to swell, and a figure shot up from the ground.

When it expanded to half a person’s height, the figure’s shape was vaguely discernible.

It seemed to imitate Li Luo’s form, becoming a female figure as its body gradually turned into a watery mist.

Continuing to grow, the figure finally reached the same height as Li Luo, and the watery mist around its body slowly thinned.

After it stopped expanding, the figure circled Li Luo a few times. A smoke-like phantom trailed behind it. Although it had a human form, its movements were not human at all; it was more like a ghost.

After curiously sizing up Li Luo, the ghost moved over to the Block, which had already descended to the ground, and began to circle it.

It even leaned in close to the Block. From Mo Ling’s perspective, it was like a cloud of mist rushing toward him—a very peculiar sensation.

Then, a faint whisper was heard, as soft and delicate as the wind rustling through leaves.

"Friend, are you a sacrifice?"