Chapter 26: The Fog's Pawn

Before nightfall, everyone had searched the area under their responsibility, yet found nothing.

Now the setting sun slanted downward, its color like blood.

Because the fortress walls were high, blocking the sunlight, the interior of the fortress was even dimmer.

The sixteen gathered once more, their expressions all grave at this moment.

"There are two choices now," Xu Saifeng said, glancing at the setting sun. "One is that we stay here until we have completely investigated the matter before leaving, but that is very dangerous."

"The second is that we leave immediately, return, and simply explain to the County Magistrate what happened here."

Someone immediately said, "I choose to leave. What happened here is not right; staying longer is dangerous. I have a feeling someone in the darkness is staring at us."

But another said, "The reason for the military garrison soldiers' deaths, why Taowu Zhenjun disappeared—none of this has been clarified! If we return like this, the County Magistrate will likely think we are merely occupying our posts without doing our duty!"

"But that is better than dying, right? What happened here is very eerie; even Taowu Zhenjun has disappeared."

"Taowu Zhenjun is not necessarily dead. I think we still need to clarify this; otherwise, it will be hard to explain upon our return. Do you truly think County Magistrate Huang is easy to deal with?"

Thus, the crowd began to argue, with signs that the argument was escalating.

After listening to their quarrel for a while, Li Lin suddenly spoke up: "Let us leave here first, go to a safer place to spend the night, and return to investigate when it is day. Why must we choose between fleeing and staying?"

Everyone turned to look at Li Lin, their expressions seeming somewhat strange, as if twisted and struggling.

Xu Saifeng slapped his own cheeks with both hands, then said, "We old hands were just blinded in our minds; how shameful. This place is indeed not right. Li Xunshou is right; let us leave first and decide what to do tomorrow."

Having said this, the sixteen rode out of the city while the sun had not yet fully set.

"I know there is a cave nearby; let us spend the night there."

After Xu Saifeng finished speaking, he took the lead ahead.

After the group had ridden for a while, someone suddenly shouted, "Look at Bobai Town; something is very wrong."

Everyone turned back and discovered that the entire military town, bathed in the blood-red setting sun, was covered by a layer of black mist.

It looked extremely ominous.

Clearly, this thing was not present when there was sunlight during the day.

Xu Saifeng instinctively hissed, "Resentful qi has condensed into a mist, visible to the naked eye, capable of bewildering the mind! That place is a trap. No wonder none of us thought to leave, only thinking to argue. If we delay any longer, we truly will have no way to leave."

Bai Bufan asked curiously, "What happens if one stays in that kind of mist, and how does one deal with it?"

"Either one has cultivated a Spirit-Soul Method, or one possesses sufficient Yang energy; either is enough to resist the influence of such mist."

Everyone suddenly realized.

Old Hou laughed, "No wonder Li Xunshou could remind us!"

Everyone burst into loud laughter.

The fact that Li Lin was still a virgin was known to all Soul Hunters in Yulin County.

At this moment, someone asked, "Bai Xunshou should also still be a virgin, right?"

Bai Bufan showed an expression of shame.

When he was thirteen, he had already tried the act of man and woman with his own maid.

Seeing his appearance, the crowd laughed even louder.

Amidst the laughter and joy, Xu Saifeng led the group to a high slope. There was indeed a cave here, and a flat patch of mud in front of the cave entrance. Standing here, one could still see the distant Bobai Military Town.

At this moment, the white jade pendants at everyone's waists had begun to glow with a faint red light, indicating that a Ghost was already nearby.

Xu Saifeng took seven yellow triangular Soul-Calling Banners from his saddlebag. Starting from the cave entrance, he planted them in a circle around the muddy ground, then returned to the cave entrance.

Bai Bufan curiously asked his own uncle, "What formation is this?"

Bai Liwei shook his head; he did not know either.

"This is a family heirloom formation; I will not mention its name," Xu Saifeng said with a smile. "Its function is to gather the Yin energy nearby, creating the illusion of a tomb... at least making the Wild Ghosts believe this is a tomb, that we are the lonely souls and wandering ghosts from a great grave, so they will not come to trouble us."

Everyone looked and saw that the red light on the white jade pendants at their waists had indeed vanished.

"Then this formation is very powerful. If used outside a village or county, could it not save countless lives?" someone said.

Xu Saifeng laughed, "It can deceive a Ghost for a time, but not for a lifetime. Moreover... how large is the range of a single tomb? How large is the range of a county, or a city? How can the two be compared?"

That was true; everyone understood.

Everyone tied up their horses, lit a fire inside the cave, and waited until some poisonous insects were smoked out by the smoke before the Soul Hunters entered to rest.

After Xu Saifeng arranged the rotation order for night watch, everyone silently began to eat their dry rations.

Since it was not Li Lin's turn to stand watch, he held the 'Ghost-Shielding Robe', this thin blanket, sat inside the cave, leaned against the mud wall, and closed his eyes to rest.

By all rights, this location was excellent, and with the formation arranged by Xu Saifeng, it should have been very safe.

But an accident still descended.

In the second half of the night, the white jade pendants of all the night watchmen emitted a dazzling red light at the same time.

All the Soul Hunters were startled awake, except for Bai Bufan.

He was still snoring loudly in deep sleep.

Bai Liwei took two strides over and directly slapped the top of his head, waking him up.

"What is wrong? What happened!"

Bai Bufan shook his head, his eyes heavy with sleep.

The Soul Hunters ignored him, each grabbing their weapons and walking out of the cave.

Outside the cave, there was nothing, but that dense, whispering murmur was already very obvious.

Xu Saifeng saw that two of the Soul-Calling Banners he had planted were missing; his face immediately turned very ugly.

"Who is on watch now..." His words had barely fallen when he discovered a Soul Hunter lying at the cave entrance, blood gurgling from his neck.

And the other person responsible for the watch was gone.

Xu Saifeng said nothing more, took two more Soul-Calling Banners from his saddlebag, and replanted them.

The red light on the white jade pendants at everyone's waists gradually weakened and vanished.

"Li Xunshou had his throat cut; he's beyond saving." Zhou Liwei pulled his nephew backward, separating from the other Soul Hunters: "The one missing is Old Hou."

At that moment, all the Soul Hunters instinctively increased the distance between themselves and the others.

Although the vanished Old Hou was most likely the culprit, who could guarantee that among the remaining people there were no accomplices of his?

Xu Saifeng's face looked extremely grim; as the leader of this mission, now that this incident had occurred, even if the mission was completed and they returned to Yulin County, the charge of failing in his supervisory duties was one he could not escape.

This would affect the 'Respect Salary' he could receive in the future, which might become less.

Xu Saifeng took a deep breath: "Everyone, it seems we must first find the traitor among us."

"How do we find him?" someone asked.

Xu Saifeng said with a gloomy face: "The Soul-Seeking Method. What do all of you think?"

(End of this chapter)