Chapter 26: The Person in the Fog

Before nightfall, everyone searched their assigned areas but found nothing.

Now the sunset hung low, its color like blood.

Because the fortress walls were tall and blocked the sunlight, the interior was even darker.

The sixteen gathered again, their expressions all grim.

“We have two choices now,” Xu Saifeng said, glancing at the sunset. “One is to stay here until we fully investigate and uncover the truth—but it’s dangerous.”

“The second is to leave immediately and report what happened here to the County Magistrate.”

Someone immediately said: “I choose to leave. Something’s wrong here. Staying longer is dangerous—I feel someone is watching us from the dark.”

But someone else said: “We haven’t figured out why the soldiers died or why the True Lord vanished! If we just go back like this, the County Magistrate will think we’re idle and useless!”

“But it’s better than being dead. What happened here is strange—even the True Lord disappeared.”

“The True Lord may not be dead. I think we must investigate further. Otherwise, we can’t explain ourselves when we return. Do you really think Huang County Magistrate is easygoing?”

Then they began arguing, the dispute growing louder.

After listening to their bickering for a while, Li Lin suddenly spoke: “Let’s leave this place first, find somewhere safer to spend the night, and return to investigate at dawn. Why must we choose only between fleeing or staying?”

Everyone turned to look at Li Lin; their expressions seemed strange, almost twisted and strained.

Xu Saifeng slapped her own face twice, then said: “We old hands were all blinded just now—ashamed. This place is truly unnatural. Li Xunshou is right—we leave now, and decide what to do tomorrow.”

With that, the sixteen mounted their horses and rode out of the city before the sun fully set.

“I know a cave nearby—let’s spend the night there.”

After saying this, Xu Saifeng led the way ahead.

After riding a while, someone suddenly shouted: “Look at Bobai Town—it’s wrong.”

Everyone turned back and saw the entire military town shrouded in black mist under the blood-red afterglow.

It looked deeply ominous.

There had been no such thing during the day when sunlight still shone.

Xu Saifeng involuntarily hissed: “Grief has condensed into mist, visible to the naked eye—it can bewitch the mind! That place is a trap. No wonder none of us thought to leave—we only argued, wasting time. If we’d waited longer, we’d never have escaped.”

Bai Bofan asked curiously: “What happens if you stay inside that mist? How do you counter it?”

“Either you’ve cultivated spirit-soul arts, or your yang energy is strong enough to resist its effects.”

Everyone suddenly understood.

Old Hou laughed: “No wonder Li Xunshou warned us!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Everyone in Yulin County knew Li Lin was still a virgin.

Someone then asked: “Is Bai Xunshou still a virgin too?”

Bai Bofan looked embarrassed.

At thirteen, he had tried sexual relations with his maid.

Seeing his expression, they laughed even louder.

Amid laughter and chatter, Xu Saifeng led them to a high slope, where a cave indeed lay, its entrance fronted by a flat patch of mud. From here, they could see Bobai Military Town in the distance.

At this moment, the white jade tablets at everyone’s waists began glowing faintly red—indicating a Gui was nearby.

Xu Saifeng took seven yellow triangular soul-summoning banners from her saddlebag, planted them in a circle around the mud patch starting from the cave entrance, then returned to the cave mouth.

Bai Bofan asked his uncle curiously: “What kind of array is this?”

Bai Liwei shook his head—he didn’t know.

“It’s a family-secret array—I won’t say its name,” Xu Saifeng smiled. “Its purpose is to gather nearby yin energy and create the illusion of a tomb… enough to make the wild Gui believe this place is a grave, and that we are the lost spirits within it, so they won’t bother us.”

Everyone looked and saw the red glow on their white jade tablets had vanished.

“This array is powerful—if used outside villages and counties, wouldn’t it save countless lives?” someone said.

Xu Saifeng laughed: “It can fool Gui for a while, not forever. Besides… how large is a single tomb? How large is a county or a city? Can you even compare them?”

That made sense—everyone understood.

They tied up their horses, lit a fire inside the cave, and waited until the poisonous insects were driven out by smoke before entering to rest.

After Xu Saifeng arranged the night-watch shifts, everyone silently ate their dried rations.

Since Li Lin wasn’t on watch, he hugged the thin “Deceive Gui Cloak” blanket, sat against the muddy wall of the cave, and closed his eyes to rest.

Logically, this location was ideal, and with Xu Saifeng’s array in place, it should have been safe.

But an accident still came.

In the late night, every night-watchman’s white jade tablet flashed brilliant red light at the same moment.

All the Spirit Hunters woke up—except Bai Bofan.

He was still snoring loudly.

Bai Liwei strode over and slapped him hard on the head, waking him.

“What’s going on? What happened?!”

Bai Bofan shook his head, dazed and half-asleep.

The Spirit Hunters ignored him, grabbed their weapons, and stepped outside the cave.

Outside, nothing was visible—but the dense, whispering murmurs were unmistakable.

Xu Saifeng noticed two of her soul-summoning banners were missing; her face darkened.

“Who’s on watch now…” His words had barely left his mouth when he saw a Spirit Hunter collapsed at the cave entrance, blood gurgling from his throat.

The other night-watchman was gone.

Without hesitation, Xu Saifeng pulled two more soul-summoning banners from her saddlebag and replanted them.

The red glow on everyone’s white jade tablets gradually faded and vanished.

“Shi Xunshou had his throat slit—he’s beyond saving,” Zhou Liwei pulled his nephew back, distancing himself from the others. “The missing one is Old Hou.”

At that moment, every Spirit Hunter instinctively stepped away from the others.

Though Old Hou was the most likely culprit, who could guarantee none of the remaining were his accomplices?

Xu Saifeng’s face was grim. As team leader, this failure was his responsibility. Even if they completed the mission and returned to Yulin County, he would be blamed for negligence.

This would reduce his future “Respectful Stipend.”

Xu Saifeng took a deep breath: “Gentlemen, it seems we must find the traitor among us.”

“How?” someone asked.

Xu Saifeng’s face darkened: “Soul-searching technique. What do you all think?”

(End of Chapter)