Chapter 701: Running into a Ghost

In the blink of an eye, it was already dusk.

The sun moved downward inch by inch, its radiance dimming bit by bit, and night descended upon the grassland.

The grassland was vast and flat; waist-high thatch obscured all traces of living things. Once shadows shrouded the earth, it seemed to fall into a boundless hell, becoming utterly deathly still. Only the newly mutated Fierce Beasts roared from time to time at the moonless night sky.

Rustle...

With a faint sound, a patch of earth was flipped open, revealing a round hole from which two dirt-covered men crawled out.

"Pah—"

One of them spat fiercely but quietly, cursing, "Damn place, it suffocated me. I almost didn't make it until now."

The other man hurriedly said, "Keep your voice down, don't attract the Black-Foot Dogs."

Then he lowered his voice and grumbled, "I told you long ago, don't be so excessive when clearing the cave. Such a big place, such little time, so what if it was a bit filthy? Just endure it. But you lot, each one afraid of not currying favor with the Helmsman, wanting to scrape the ground three feet deep, chasing everything into a panic, driving away a perfectly good nest of bats. And look, you've exposed us, haven't you? If those lackeys hadn't chased us underground, forcing us to scatter and dig holes to hide on the surface, we could have at least slept in the cave. Why would we be in such a sorry state?"

The first man said, "What's the use of being a backseat driver now? What, trying to show off your skills? If you were so capable, why didn't you say so then? Why tell me now? You were just slow and didn't get a chance to grab anything. Besides, about the exposure—it was bound to happen anyway. It would happen sooner or later. With this flaw, it's more realistic for them to discover it themselves. Now they must think they have everything under control and are feeling smug. They'll be stunned when the Divine Envoy descends. Heh heh, that expression, just thinking about it is amusing."

The man behind sighed, "Indeed, that would certainly be amusing—who would have thought that the Divine Envoy descending this time would be such a powerful one?"

The first man said, "Saying it's the strongest is only the strongest we've seen. There will naturally be stronger ones in the future. Yueshenjie is too powerful, too vast, boundless and limitless, with experts as numerous as the stars in the sky—"

As he spoke, he looked up as if to gaze at the starry sky, yet it was cloudy today, and there was not a single star in the sky.

He continued to express his thoughts regardless: "The gap between the Human World and Yueshenjie is too great, so tiny that it's not even worth a grain of rice. I sometimes wonder, what kind of fools are resisting the Moon God? Opposing gods with mortal skin is like ants resisting a True Dragon; how ridiculous, don't you think? Isn't that right, Lao Zhang..."

As he spoke, he turned his head, only to see that the space behind him was empty.

The man's pupils shrank abruptly, and he looked up sharply, seeing only a pitch-black void. The grassland's cold wind hit his face, and the boundless darkness pressed down on him like a collapsing mountain.

"Lao Zhang? Lao Zhang?! Lao Zhang!!"

He had been carefully keeping his voice down before, but by the end, his scream of "Lao Zhang" had cracked.

Yet no matter how he shouted, Lao Zhang gave no response, as if he had been eaten by a monster. The man groped around in the Void, couldn't touch anyone, and suddenly turned and ran. Although he hadn't reached the point of screaming while running, he was panting like an ox.

Traveling across the vast grassland is a great test of pathfinding skills. The man might have been able to find his way in broad daylight, but at night, with dim light and a panicked heart, he lost his way after running a few steps, only caring about running forward blindly.

As he ran, he suddenly tripped over nothing, and with a *thud*, he fell face-first into the dirt.

He was even more terrified, shouting, "There's a ghost, a ghost wall! Ghost..."

Then he heard someone curse, "Ghost your head! You dog-begotten bastard, shut your mouth."

Someone dragged him out from the grass behind him. The man looked back and saw a familiar face, exclaiming in surprise, "Vice Helmsman... thank goodness, I've finally found you."

The Vice Helmsman frowned and said, "What are you shouting about? Weren't you guarding the west side with Lao Zhang? Who told you to run over here alone?"

The man said, "There's a ghost, there's a ghost..."

The Vice Helmsman said, "Did you run into a Phantom?"

The man said, "No, it was a real ghost, it swallowed Lao Zhang in one gulp..." He then recounted what had just happened, stuttering but with great emotion.

The Vice Helmsman pondered, "You didn't see anything, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone?"

Apparently, the Vice Helmsman had no experience with horror stories; hearing such a description, he also felt it was quite frightening, and hurriedly said, "You wait here, I'll go report to the Helmsman..."

The man said happily, "The Helmsman is here too? That's great!"

Just as the Vice Helmsman turned around, someone emerged from behind and whispered a few words in his ear. The Vice Helmsman's expression flickered; he nodded and said to the man who had run back, "Come here."

Hearing the Vice Helmsman's summons, the man naturally had no suspicions and hurried closer.

The Vice Helmsman said, "You..."

Suddenly, he drew his sword, ran the man through, and cursed, "You idiot! You jinx!"

How could the man have expected the Vice Helmsman to suddenly attack? Caught completely off guard, he fell to the ground with a thud, becoming a confused ghost.

The Vice Helmsman withdrew his sword and said to the messenger, "Run in different directions!"

The messenger didn't wait for the Vice Helmsman to finish speaking and turned to run. The Vice Helmsman did not hesitate either, running for his life in the opposite direction, back-to-back with him.

Their speed could not be called slow, and their decision could not be called indecisive, but it was too late.

A Sword Light flashed from the side, turning with a speed the Vice Helmsman could not react to at all, and hacked him to the ground.

He fell on the vast grassland just like that, as helpless as the cultist who had just died under his sword.

Someone walked out from the opposite side and came face-to-face with the Vice Helmsman; the two were actually acquaintances.

"Heh heh, the Helmsman has changed, but the Vice Helmsman hasn't. Li Dushan, are you still rolling in the gutter?"

Li Dushan's wound was not yet fatal; his eyes were splitting, and he gritted his teeth, "Che Lin, you bastard..." Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

Che Lin had anticipated this and said, "It doesn't matter, you want to commit suicide, right? Then go ahead. If you commit suicide, it means the two people from earlier were telling the truth, and that tongue was lying; that gives me a clear idea. You people are quite patient when setting up a scheme, but it's a pity that treating others like fools won't work. Your Demonic Cult is famous for not having enough brains, and you're playing at schemes? It's like children playing with fire; you'll end up wetting your pants."

Li Dushan said angrily, "Two idiots who can't accomplish anything but can ruin everything. So what if you know? We are the trend of the times; with your third-rate skills, can you really turn the world upside down?"

Hearing his tone, Che Lin realized he seemed unaware of the trump card that was the Sword Hero Tang Zhao. Perhaps because the woman who stole the sword was controlled in time and couldn't send the message back, they hadn't realized that a powerful figure from the Land Inspection Department had come to hold the fort.

However, it could also be a feint; that tongue had already told Alie once, who's to say he wasn't seizing an opportunity to do it again?

Don't believe it; prepare for the worst.

At this moment, another person was captured. Che Lin said, "Regardless of whether we have a way or not, in any case, none of you will be able to run. Your Helmsman won't be able to run either."

At this time, a white-clothed man who looked very young and had exquisite features was leaving.

His speed was very fast, faster than a fast horse, faster than any animal in the world. Because what he possessed was the speed of nature.

He was traveling by riding the wind.

When that subordinate who had "run into a ghost" came stumbling back and had just started to speak, the white-clothed man made a judgment in an instant:

There's a problem!

Regardless of whether this person was instigated by others to cause chaos, even if he wasn't, and even if what he said happened was the truth, what conclusion could be drawn?

Of course...

They had been discovered!

Those two idiots must have been discovered by the Land Inspection Department, and the one who went missing, no need to ask, must have been captured alive by the Land Inspection Department.

Since they could capture one, they could naturally capture a second; why wouldn't they capture him? A mere ordinary cultist—a backbone member of the Land Inspection Department could capture one with a single grab.

The answer is obvious: it was to let this idiot run back and lead the pursuers behind him straight to their base camp.

Logically, this idiot shouldn't have known where the base camp was, but he had such good luck that he actually managed to run back, and the pursuers from the Land Inspection Division arrived in the blink of an eye.

Realizing this, the man in white immediately called someone over and told him to notify the Vice Helmsman to kill this person at once, then not to return, but to flee separately from the Vice Helmsman.

As for himself, he spread his arms and flew up gracefully, a gust of wind supporting him from behind as he flew toward the west.

His posture in the air was so elegant, and his speed so fast, that he was like a banished Immortal, perfectly...

Slap!

A beam of light descended from the sky, like a crashing wave, slamming him fiercely into the ground.

He seemed to be wrapped in flames, with a layer of brilliance burning fiercely around him.

That light seemed illusory, yet it held him firmly, leaving him unable to move.

He blurted out, "How is this possible? This is Wind Speed."

Only to hear someone behind him say, "Is Wind Speed considered fast? Can it compare to the speed of light? Are you the new Helmsman of the Demon Sect?"

The man in white could not turn his body and let out a cold hum.

The person behind him said, "So, you are the key figure who planned the scheme against Town Guardian Che? Wind-Catching Sword? A good trick, startling everyone with your first move. And decisive enough, only your strength is a bit lacking."

The man in white said, "So it was Your Excellency who ruined our grand plan. You have ability, but to set yourself against our Sacred Moon Sect is, I fear, most unwise. You are young and have a boundless future; why not abandon darkness for light? Our Sacred Moon Sect is the orthodoxy of the Human World, gathering countless talents. When the Moon God descends, everyone will be heavily rewarded. Earthly riches are but a small matter; you could even ascend to the Immortal realm and enjoy eternal bliss..."

The person behind him suddenly interrupted, "Why do you say such things? You know it is futile, yet you still go on at such length. Could it be that you are stalling for time, waiting for something to happen?"

The corner of the man in white's mouth curled up slightly, and he said, "Oh? You noticed? But it is too late now. You can listen carefully; that is the call of the Divine Envoy..."

Before the words had faded, the grass on the prairie grew wildly; the grass that had been knee-high only a moment ago grew to over a person's height in an instant, and the prairie had almost become a forest of grass!

The man in white was instantly obscured by the green grass, as if trapped in a cage of steel bars made of grass, and he suddenly used all his strength to shout, "The Moon God descends! Only I am Moon Bright! Mortal, repent..."

After a few words, his voice stopped abruptly, and his pupils instantly lost their light.