Book 5 Chapter 13 – Guiding Lanterns

　　"Let's stick to the original plan and keep going. We don't need these though. You can take care of them." Li Yiming pointed at the three spiderbots.

　　Eyegla.s.ses nodded and grabbed the remote controller from Shen Jianming. The spiderbots were made to walk into the woods and he returned without them a little while later.

　　'Take care? Does he mean to dispose of them?' Lin Lu frowned, but refrained from asking questions.

　　"I'll lead the way. Let Eyegla.s.ses stay at the rear. Keep a tight formation, we need to stay as close as possible. Chen Quan, I'll leave the directions to you." Li Yiming left Liu Meng in the middle of the column and led the way into the forest.

　　Contrary to outward appearances, Li Yiming was not as calm as he seemed. Eyegla.s.ses and Liu Meng were unaware that Bai Ze was not only his summon, but also his soul summon. Even when Bai Ze had been forced into a deep sleep by Heaven's Punishment, Li Yiming could still feel her presence within him. However, now, there was nothing. Li Yiming felt an indescribable loneliness, even with Eyegla.s.ses and Liu Meng being right beside him.

　　The team continued their journey. Night fell at the exact same time as the previous day, and the team paused briefly to wait for the moon to show up once again; it was nearly impossible to search for a suitable location to set up camp in the complete darkness. Dead silence reigned as the entire team waited quietly. They opted to only keep one flashlight open, since even Li Yiming did not know how long they would be trapped in this mysterious realm, and he was confident in Eyegla.s.ses' night vision for alerting them about any oncoming danger.

　　Li Yiming was keeping track of time, and, after about half an hour, the woods were illuminated by a cascade of silvery moonlight once again.

　　"Let's go." Lin Lu ordered out of habit and let out a sigh upon remembering that she was no longer the head of the team. She looked at Li Yiming to try to convey a silent apology, only to find the latter staring at the front. In fact, the entire team had their attention absorbed by a sight right in front of them. It was some kind of hollow stone pedestal, about half a meter high, in which a small flame burned.

　　"A Guiding Lantern?" Chen Quan mumbled. It was a rather ordinary object used for lighting up roads in ancient times, and they were not a rare sight in temples or abbeys. However, to see such a lantern on a mountain where no one has supposedly ever set foot, not to mention the fact that it was lit up.

　　"You can all see it?" Li Yiming knew from the expressions of the rest of his team that this time, he was not alone in seeing the object.

　　"What's that? A road light?" Zhang Shanjun asked hesitantly. He was finally able to believe in Li Yiming's stories about the people in the woods.

　　"Let's go have a look." Li Yiming nodded at the rest of the team and signaled at Liu Meng to be careful.

　　Lin Lu and her two subordinates approached the stone structure with their weapons drawn. Chen Quan, however, lit up a candle that he took out of his pocket and put it down on the ground. This was the second time Li Yiming had seen him do something like that. He initially thought that it was meant to provide light, but he was obviously mistaken. Although the candle flame looked nothing out of the ordinary, it produced a thick pillar of smoke that shot up the sky like a signal flare, carrying with it a rather unpleasant odor.