Xiao Lan struggled to advance in the burning forest.

He distinguished the wind, went against the wind, and escaped in the direction where the fire was smaller.

The temperature of the flame is very high, and with Xiao Lan's current physical strength, she can feel the burning pain on her skin.

This situation is a bit counterintuitive.

Because after reaching the advanced level, it is difficult for ordinary fire to hurt players.

The only explanation is that these flames may not be ordinary fires, which are the flames that came to the world specially for advanced players, enough to burn them.

"Cough cough..." Xiao Lan's throat was uncomfortable due to the thick smoke accompanying the fire.

Suddenly he noticed a change not far away.

There was still a burning fire not far behind, but the fire became significantly smaller the further forward, and the temperature in the air also dropped.

Xiao Lan quickly moved in that direction.

There is no isolation zone ahead, and no water source, but the further the fire spreads in this direction, the harder it will be.

It was as if some unknown force was suppressing the burning of the flame, slowing its devouring speed until it was extinguished.

Because of the reduction of the fire, he could find that the forests here were all pitch-dark.

Not only does the trunk look dark and dry, but even the leaves are almost black in color.

Xiao Lan had never seen the species of these trees, and could not tell whether they were inherently difficult to burn or if they really had some kind of metaphysical power.

Going forward for a while, the fire has completely spread.

But the fire illuminated the sky as red as the afterglow of the setting sun.

There is still a burning smell in the air, and some ashes carried by the wind are still floating in the air, adding a bit of deadness to the dark forest.

Xiao Lan found a place to sit down and flipped through the only notebook beside him.

According to convention, since it is something related to the identity in the game, there must be important clues.

As soon as opened the note, many pieces of paper appeared on the top.

Xiao Lan picked it up and took a look:

Supermarket discount coupons, coffee free coupons, fast food restaurant special coupons, and bank reminders...

Even the car that just exploded was rented, no wonder it was empty inside, it turned out to be not his own car at all.

He smelled the familiar, poverty-stricken smell from these things.

Xiao Lan looked at the contents of the note.

Now he is a private detective.

This time, he was commissioned to investigate a disappearance 30 years ago.

At that time, his employer, Mr. B, commissioned many people to go to the small town of Mona to investigate related rumors.

But in the end, most of them did not come back, and the lucky ones who came back also became crazy, and committed suicide by bloody and cruel methods in the following years.

In the end, none of the people who went to investigate did not survive.

Later, other private investigators also heard about the danger of Mona Town, and naturally not many people were willing to accept his commission.

But the employer, Mr. B, did not give up. He was still curious about everything in the small town of Mona.

In the past 30 years, he has been releasing investigation commissions about the town of Mona, and the rewards are very generous. As long as he can get back some of the news, he can get his rewards.

Naturally, there are occasionally people who are not afraid of death willing to give it a try, but no one has been able to complete the commission, and the mortality rate remains high.

This is also one of the most dangerous tasks in professional private detective circles.

Not so long ago.

This poor private detective couldn't even pay the rent, and was constantly charged. In order not to be beaten to death by the creditors, he had to take the risk of taking Mr. B's entrustment.

In short, poor enough to die.

Xiao Lan: "..."

Why does this character setting fit him so well?

Is this the soul of the poor?

Suddenly, the pile of colorful discount coupons fell out of the notebook.

Xiao Lan didn't intend to take care of these things, but after thinking about it, he was ready to pick them up.

Although it is unlikely, but if it is of any use, it will not take up space anyway.

Just then, a hand reached out to help him pick up the pieces of paper scattered on the ground.

That hand looked slender and strong, and habitually wore black gloves. Even when picking up things, the movements were elegant and neat.

Xiao Lan raised her head and saw Luo's familiar handsome face without any accident.

He was used to the other party's elusiveness and accepted it well.

Luo deftly put away the things on the ground, smiled and reached out to Xiao Lan: "Here."

Xiao Lan took it and asked, "Your identity was also entrusted to investigate?"

Luo shook his head: "I am an entrepreneur who likes to explore. This time I heard the relevant rumors and drove myself to explore the town of Mona."

Saying that, he took out a tablet computer, which recorded a lot of information about the town of Mona.

Xiao Lan: "..."

Why Luo is a dead entrepreneur, and he is a dead poor detective.

Although they are all killed, there are subtle class distinctions among them.

It's like the difference between the latest top-end tablet and a worn-out notebook with a discount coupon.

Luo sat beside him, and the two of them looked at the information in their hands.

Xiao Lan wrote a lot of things related to the small town of Mona in his notes.

There's a photo inside that looks like it was taken in a hurry and the picture is a bit blurry.

But it can also be distinguished that these are two bloody corpses.

The notes say that the two died of cannibalism, but the strange thing is that they are both detectives commissioned by Mr. B, and they have no personal feud, and even can be regarded as friends.

How could such two people attack each other to death with such cruel means?

Xiao Lan continued to scroll back, and just like what Wang Teddy had revealed before, the notes also mentioned the singing in the town.

But the comments about this "singing" were polarized, with some people saying it was the most beautiful singing voice in the world, and some people saying it was just noise and disgusting.

In addition, the residents of the town basically have the performance of physical alienation.

The notes were excerpted from the words of the former detectives - "They looked like monsters, but they thought it was a symbol of piety."

The notes also mentioned that the residents of the town believed in Sarah.

This Sarah doesn't know what it is, no one knows what he looks like, and he doesn't have any teaching behavior, but he is fervently worshipped by the residents for no reason.

The notes also specifically mentioned that Sarah was suspected to be the source of the singing.

But for Xiao Lan, there is no need to doubt this. Because the name of the game field is called "Song of Sarah", not "Song of Ergouzi" or "Song of Iron Egg", the source of the song is of course Sarah.

At this moment, the system prompt sounded:

"Ding-dong-"

Then came an indescribable sound.

The voice had an odd tune, no age or gender, no sound quality, but a strange rhythm.

But to be honest, it really sucks.

Neighboring children are accompanied by dogs when they practice the piano at home, and their parents are still arguing, all of which are better than this.

The moment he heard this voice, Xiao Lan felt dizzy.

The world in front of me was in a trance, and the pictures saw separated into overlapping fragments and slowly reunited.

After the sound disappeared, it returned to normal.

"Sir." Luo reached out and supported Xiao Lan's shoulder, looking at him with concern.

Xiao Lan shook his head and threw out the strange feeling just now: "I'm fine, how about you?"

Luo looked at Xiao Lan's complexion, and when he saw that it was normal, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm fine, this sound didn't affect me in any way."

Xiao Lan: "Could this be Sarah's song?"

Luo: "I think it should be. If it is affected by the spirit, it can be considered quite dangerous to the player."

Xiao Lan pondered and said seriously: "His artistic level is worrying... Are you sure that there is no blood relationship between the two of you?"

Luo said solemnly: "No sir, as for my painting, it is an art that is out of technique. I don't think I'm on the same level as this guy named Sarah."

Xiao Lan thought for a while: "It's also... At least your paintings don't have a mental attack effect."

Ugly is ugly, but at least don't die.

Luo: "..."

At times like this, just keep smiling.

After all, lonely artists are not always understood by the world.

——

After reading the information, the two put away their things and moved on.

After walking along the forest for a while, a small town finally appeared ahead.

The entrance to the town reads - "Mona".

This is the source of everything recorded in the data, and it is also an important scene of Sarah's song.

Mona is a town that looks somewhat run down.

The houses in the town looked quite old, and there were no new buildings in the town.

There is hardly any green around, even the weeds are dry yellow, and the ground is full of uncleaned garbage, looking like it will fend for itself.

Because of the wildfire, the town looked very hot and the sky here looked red.

There is a choking smell in the air, and there are ashes from the burning.

You don’t need to monitor to know that the air quality is definitely not up to standard.

When Xiao Lan and Luo stepped into the town, the eyes of the surrounding residents swept over.

It was a gaze like a beast, and they all stared at the two outsiders, as if they would pounce on the next moment to besiege and eat.

As the information says, these people really look weird.

They all have varying degrees of disability, some are missing eyes or ears, some are missing a hand. Some don't even have legs.

In addition, their limbs are also different from ordinary people.

Some people have parts of their body that stick together, as if they were burnt and left untreated.

Others' exposed arms were so dry that they didn't look like they were alive, and they didn't look like they had muscle blood at all.

After seeing these residents, Xiao Lan instantly understood the sentence "They look like monsters" in the notebook.

This kind of appearance really doesn't look like a human being.

Not only their appearance, but their behavior is also very eccentric.

On the way forward, Xiao Lan saw more than one person self-harm.

In the slightest, he just hit the wall or hit himself with a stick, and in the serious case, he even cut off one of his fingers.

While the man was cutting off his own fingers, he kept staring at Xiao Lan with a crazy but happy smile on his face, as if he was cutting the flesh and blood of these outsiders.

The two walked slowly through the town.

Along the way, no matter where they went, the residents they passed looked at them with vigilant, beast-like eyes, and it was always creepy to be stared at by such eyes.

Occasionally, the murmurs of the residents can be heard.

Xiao Lan heard a lot of words such as "stranger", "get out", "kill them", "you can't compete for Sarah's attention".

Outside the small town of Mona is a raging fire, and inside is a desolate scene.

There are also many eccentric inhabitants, and almost overflowing malice.

This place is like a cage constructed in flames, specially built for the players who step into it.

"Xiao Lan, Fei Luo-"

Suddenly, Xiao Lan heard someone calling for the two of them in front of her.

He looked towards the source of the voice and found Wang Teddy and Qi Ning. Wang Teddy was standing in front of an abandoned building and waving to his side.

Several people finally converged.

Only then did Xiao Lan know that Qi Ning and Wang Teddy were in the only hotel in town as soon as they appeared in the game, so they also booked rooms for Xiao Lan and the two of them.

Xiao Lan couldn't help but feel sad.

It turned out that the identity that I had drawn was the most rubbish one.

Not only is he poor, but he has to escape from a car accident and a fire. It is very unfriendly. Even if no one helps him pay for the room, he may have to sleep on the street.

Of course, Luo would not allow such a thing to happen.

Qi Ning looked at the surrounding residents, and his tone was full of interest: "They look amazing, I really want to dissect them if I have time."

Xiao Lan: "Doctor Qi, your speech is very dangerous..."

Wang Teddy: "Sounds like a perverted scientist...the kind that would be dragged out by the whole town to make a barbecue."

"Hehehe, I'm just thinking about it, don't worry." Qi Ning said calmly.

But the mask covered his expression, and the dressing of the plague doctor made him look gloomy.

As a result, he still looks like a pervert who is keen on human anatomy.

Wang Teddy changed the subject: "You heard the song of Sarah when the system prompted you, right? How do you feel? I feel sick after listening to it."

Xiao Lan said: "I feel dizzy, and the picture in front of me is in a trance."

Luo directly copied the answer: "I'm similar to Xiao Lan's."

Qi Ning said: "I seem to hear Cen Wei's voice in it."

Xiao Lan frowned and asked, "Illusion?"

If it can really make people hallucinatory, the threat level of Sara's Song is probably even higher.

Qi Ning thought for a while: "It only appeared for a moment, but it should be like this."

He looked at Xiao Lan's worried expression, and added: "Don't worry, I know very well that he is no longer there, so there won't be any unrealistic expectations."

At this time, Wang Teddy joined the conversation between the two: "That... take the liberty to ask, who is Cen Wei?"

Xiao Lan was a little surprised that he didn't know about Cen Wei: "That's Qi Ning's boyfriend."

Wang Teddy: "Why do you all know it?"

Qi Ning said: "I took the initiative to tell Xiao Lan. I hope that Cen Wei can live in the memory of more people, and Wang Ke also knows about him."

Every single strand of Wang Teddy's curly hair is full of doubts: "When did it happen? Why didn't I know?"

Qi Ning's tone was calm: "I'm sorry, because you were too weak at the time and didn't look like you could live for a long time, so I thought it was useless to tell you at that time."

Wang Teddy: "..."

Former veteran rookie Wang felt offended.