Chapter 120: Good Heavens!

In the desolate wilderness, shrouded by wind and snow, travel was virtually non-existent. This allowed Yang Fan to survey his surroundings clearly for nearly fifty meters in every direction.

Yet, despite his efforts, he could find no trace of the mysterious culprits. Standing in the cold, Yang Fan forced himself to remain calm. He knew that succumbing to anxiety would only make the task of locating them impossible. After a few minutes of deep breathing, he regained his composure and began to simulate the situation: if he possessed the ability to manipulate two buses and make them vanish into thin air without a sound, how would he do it?

He deduced that this must be a spatial ability. Only space manipulation could hide objects as large as buses. It was possible the culprit was a Space Mage, or perhaps they possessed a storage artifact similar to his own Painting of Beauties—though his, unlike this mystery, could not store living things.

If it were a mere artifact, it would be a trivial matter. But if it were true spatial power—the kind often described as "Space is King, Time is Emperor"—then he was facing a formidable adversary. Realizing this, Yang Fan felt an urgent need to uncover the truth. To know one's enemy is to ensure one is not caught off guard.

He proceeded with his logical deduction: if the spatial ability was not overwhelmingly powerful, it would require significant resources to maintain and would likely have a range of no more than three hundred meters. Given the terrain, filled only with trees, and the slow movement of the convoy, he considered the timeline. According to the intel gathered from Li Qiang, the buses were stolen within five hours of their scheduled rendezvous.

With the time now nearing 5:00 AM, they were only three to four hours away from the meeting point. The perpetrators would undoubtedly strike within the hour. Any discrepancies in the timeline could be attributed to rumors or the butterfly effect caused by his own intervention; as long as the event occurred, a few hours of variance mattered little.

Yang Fan devised a plan: he would attach a Burst Talisman to the rear of the bus, watch from a distance, and detonate it the moment the vehicle vanished. The explosion would reveal the culprits' position. While this risked the lives of those on board, he felt he had no choice for the sake of his own safety. He activated his invisibility skill and began to shadow the convoy, moving with a lightness that left barely a trace in the snow.

As he closed in on the bus, he spotted eight guards, mostly soldiers, standing watch at the rear. Seizing a moment, he darted forward and slapped the Burst Talisman onto the vehicle’s back. "Got it," he whispered.

Just as he prepared to retreat, a sudden, powerful suction force gripped him, as if he were being pulled by a team of oxen. Had he not reacted instantly, he would have been dragged away.

"This is bad," he thought. "They’re launching an ambush right at this moment. I can't act recklessly; I must get out of here, or I'll be in mortal danger."

He abandoned the idea of following the suction. The risk was too great. He clung firmly to the bus, realizing the pull was intensifying—it was the very mechanism used to whisk the buses away. He needed to reach the front of the convoy to be safe.

He gripped the railing, stabilizing himself against the immense force. His invisibility was fading, and he knew that if he were spotted, it might alter the convoy's path, potentially causing history to diverge and the crucial stone to never fall where it was destined. Everything hinged on this moment. He cursed himself for not thinking of this sooner, but there was no time for regret.

He moved forward step by step, feeling as though thousands of pounds of pressure were bearing down on him. After a dozen steps, he realized the suction was localized to the bus itself; the others around him showed no signs of distress. Why was he the only one affected? He swallowed his frustration and pushed on.

Even with his "Cloak of the Gods" skill increasing his speed by 30%, his progress was agonizingly slow. As his invisibility began to flicker and fade, he still hadn't reached the second bus. Suddenly, his form materialized right in front of one of the guards. The man, who had been glancing around idly, froze, his eyes widening in terror. "Oh, my god!" the guard shrieked.