My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 207: Why Is There One Star Missing?

Wen Yan had just completed the analysis report on the overlapping patterns of the current month, responsible for the overall analysis of four cities under Wu Mengying's jurisdiction. She needed to compile data from various locations, make both horizontal and vertical comparisons, and form research conclusions to report to the provincial branch. It was quite a workload.

After spending two whole days, she finally completed this task, so she was in a pretty good mood.

Glancing at the time, she walked towards the awakening room to check on the progress status of Li Rui and Wu Bing.

This was a diligent support team; over in the Northwest, they just tied people up and left them, purely slacking off.

She checked their engravings, confirmed they hadn't dissipated, and then felt their temperature and pulse to ensure there were no anomalies before turning to walk out the door. However, halfway through, she suddenly noticed something was off.

"Hmm? Two Black Stars?"

She quickly turned back, grabbed Li Rui's hand, and carefully counted the number of stars on the engraving. Indeed, there were eight white stars and two black stars.

But the issue was that the Secret Realm in the Demon Dragon Valley naturally came with three Black Stars.

"Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?"

She tilted her head and searched through her memory for a while, unable to recall any similar records.

"How did I end up with fewer Black Stars? Did I remember incorrectly, huh?"

.....

Not to mention Wen Yan, even Wu Bing and the two from the Cangyun Association found it a bit hard to understand what was happening in the Secret Realm.

Under the guidance of the Prophet, Li Rui accepted every optional mission he encountered along the way and completed them all.

Whether it was sitting down to discuss Dao with others, intimidating the rogue Snake Demon gang in the forest, chatting heart-to-heart with a deer demon orphaned since childhood, or competing in speed, strength, or who looked better, he achieved them perfectly, earning the willing cooperation of NPCs.

According to all the strategy guides combined, in the Ancient Forest, a maximum of nine NPCs could be recruited, but now he has managed to recruit eighteen underlings at the level of Elite Monsters, which would be of great help during the boss battle.

Even while counting the graveyard's Evil Spirit Squad as one, otherwise the number would be even higher.

Apart from that, the Snake Demon gang's ruffians became followers, and the patrol Dog Demons were befriended, with people either giving him subtle signal or nodding with a smile whenever he walked a few steps.

"The sun hasn't even set yet, and he's already rallied so many NPCs."

An Qing and others watched from a distance as Li Rui talked with the elders of the Human Race, not daring to disturb.

Although this Secret Realm didn't have a clear time limit, logic still prevailed. They came to the Ancient Forest as a group of four, mainly to determine the whereabouts of King Zhi, recruiting NPCs was just a method to increase their success rate.

If they delayed too long, and the sun had set without informing the soldiers outside the mountain gate, these Soldier Cultivators would rush down to start a battle to complete the mission to rescue the general's daughter.

Therefore, those who entered this Secret Realm were generally inclined to act quickly, avoiding unforeseen changes.

Li Rui spoke with the elder for a while, then came out and said to the three, "All of you go out together to bring those soldiers over, I'll prepare a bit more and then head to tackle the boss."

"Okay."

The three left together, feeling very assured about Li Rui. In this Ancient Forest, he could easily call out for his "good brothers," and as long as the boss wasn't triggered, there would be no danger.

Li Rui turned back to find the old man with gray hair, the person with the highest status among the Human Race in the Ancient Forest. Even the Demon Race usually relied on him to manage the Humans.

He remained someone who operated between the two groups, soothing the Demon Race to act more gently and stabilizing the Human Race to not exceed the tolerance of the Demon Race.

This role was much like a disciplinary committee member mediating between teachers and classmates during school days.

"Old gentleman, have you thought it through? This Ancient Forest is not a place suitable for people to stay. Don't you want to return to Liangting, to your homeland?" Li Rui coaxed gently.

The old man was very conflicted: "Young hero, it's not that I'm unwilling, but the Demon Race here is powerful, and King Zhi is even more cruel and bloodthirsty. If the escape succeeds, that's fine, but if it doesn't, we would all lose our lives."

Li Rui said, "Lose what lives, you guys have no cultivation, just rescue the wounded from the back, no need to go on the battlefield."

Because these Humans were captured as labor, they didn't need cultivation. Having cultivation would make them difficult to manage, so all that was left were ordinary people.

Hearing this, the old man was a bit stunned, "Battlefield? Isn't it an escape?"

Li Rui clicked his tongue: "Without slaughtering King Zhi, how do we escape?"

"Ah?!"

The old man shook his head and waved his hands, "Can't, can't, how can this work? King Zhi's strength is unfathomable, even the Soldier Cultivators in the army are no match for him. You, young one, how dare you mock me."

Li Rui said, "What mocking, I mean it."

"You, you." The old man only felt like he encountered a fool.

Li Rui smiled, "Don't worry, old gentleman, I'm not going to fight King Zhi alone. In this Ancient Forest, I've already assembled a group of skilled hands, and I need you mainly to support the morale."

The old man questioned, "Who did you find?"

Li Rui truthfully replied, "Zhi Yan by the south forest edge, Niu Qian by the riverside, Yue Ni by the Moon Pool....."

He grandly recounted all the NPCs he had recruited just now, including those like Zhi Yan who explicitly wanted to rebel, and those like Niu Qian who were not aware but promised to do something for him.

The old man listened and didn't believe a word, because all those mentioned were high-level experts, with some like Yue Ni being the backbone of the Rabbit Demon clan, who could never be traitors.

"Young lad, instead of boasting, you should first find out what characters these people are that you mentioned just now."

He smiled helplessly, "Anyway, off you go. Seeing we're both from the Human Race, I won't report you."

However, a few minutes later, he could no longer smile because all the people Li Rui had called suddenly appeared before him.

"...Young hero, are you serious?"

The old man was dumbfounded. After being stunned for a while, he pulled Li Rui aside and whispered, "But that Wild Boar Demon is ferocious. Even if all these people are gathered, victory seems unlikely unless....."

"Old gentleman, you may not know, I am entrusted by General Ning to come to the forest to rescue the general's daughter, and outside the mountain gate is a team of army Soldier Cultivators. Otherwise, how would I dare to make trouble in this place?"

Suddenly changing his attitude: "So it's the General's, I had sensed your extraordinary bearing before, in that case, great things can be achieved!"

Quickly following Li Rui's instructions, he summoned all Humans in the Ancient Forest. There were also many patrol Demons drawn by the commotion, but they intended to disperse the crowd upon seeing Li Rui standing on the stage, someone they recently called brother.

"Brothers and sisters, the Ancient Forest has suffered under Zhi Er for too long; the time for us to rise is here! Now, united and with talents from all around gathered together, we will charge out and for sure let that pig's head roll on the ground!"

"Kill Zhi Er, chop off the pig's head! Kill Zhi Er, chop off the pig's head!"

Led by the old man, the Humans who were captured began to make a commotion, while those recruited by Li Rui also shouted, along with some Demons who were drawn in and were hyped up watching the excitement.

Upon hearing such rebellious words, the patrol Dog Demon felt something was wrong. They wanted to stop it, but then saw Zhi Yan and Yue Ni appearing on their retreat path.

These two used to be close ministers to King Zhi, strong and skilled, but now joined the clear traitors, approaching with ill intent.

The handful of patrol Dog Demons gulped, cursing silently, knowing that they, mere seven or eight small Dog Demon, could not match these two mighty figures.

At this moment, the leading captain suddenly raised his hand.

"Kill Zhi Er! Chop off the pig's head!"