Chapter 382

"This is..."

The secret agent Gong Jun's face immediately turned ugly.

He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said solemnly: "This matter is my mistake. This place is not suitable for staying long; let's leave immediately!"

"Sigh~ what's the rush?"

Li Yan shook his head slightly: "It will be dark soon. It's not easy to find a place to stay; let's rest for the night first and talk later."

Having said that, he took the first step toward the dilapidated temple.

After arriving in front of the temple, he looked at the couplet and laughed out loud.

The secret agent Gong Jun frowned: "Why is Li Shaoxia laughing?"

Li Yan pointed at the dilapidated couplet and said: "Near Xiangyang, I have also seen a Xu Shu temple. There it was written: 'Recommending Zhuge with a galloping horse, the three kingdoms spread for a thousand years. Promoting the wise and appointing the capable, unifying the mountains and rivers for ten thousand years.'"

"But here it is written: 'Singing and recommending oneself in Xinye, not saying a word upon arriving at Cao's camp.' It is indeed established by members of the Xu clan, who refused to borrow Zhuge's name."

Gong Jun's eye twitched, and he advised: "Li Shaoxia, now is not the time to talk about this. If you want to wait for the rabbit and surround and kill the enemy, it would be better for us to deploy in advance."

As expected of a secret agent from the Commandant's Office, he immediately thought of Li Yan's intention.

"No rush."

However, Li Yan only replied with one sentence and quickly entered the temple.

Others followed closely behind, only Wu Ba, following Lu San's order, carried the bruised and swollen macaque.

This shrine was not large; after several surrounding side rooms collapsed, only one main hall stood alone.

On the brick altar in the hall, the statue of the Han-clothed scholar had already lost its head and was covered in spiderwebs and dust.

The surrounding walls were mottled and moldy, the murals had long since peeled off, and only one area had been cleaned, with some straw placed there and a extinguished fire pile in the center.

Li Yan took a look, and his doubts were completely dispelled.

The straw pile was full of the scent of the secret agent nearby; he thought he had lived here for a long time, just that he didn't understand Mystic Sect secret arts, which was why he had been followed.

As for the others, they also moved quickly.

Sha Lifei gathered firewood, piled all the miscellaneous items in the dilapidated temple in the middle, and then jumped onto the roof beams, opening several holes to serve as shooting ports...

Lu San gave a whistle, and Rat One and Rat Two immediately darted out, darting out of the dilapidated temple. Not long after, squeaking sounds rang out in the dense forest...

Wang Daoxuan set out a group of Dharma artifacts, looking as if he were going to set up a simple Dharma altar, while the strong and sturdy Wu Ba guarded his side...

It seemed casual, but the entire team was orderly.

Gong Jun was secretly surprised in his heart; only then did he remember that the team before him was famous throughout Ezhou, and even the imperial court and the True Martial Palace had to pay a high price to hire them.

Thinking of this, he immediately straightened his attitude, cupped his hands respectfully, and said: "Li Shaoxia, what arrangements do you have? Just give the order!"

"No rush."

Li Yan smiled slightly, sat down, lit the campfire, and asked: "This time you came out to meet us, who knew about it?"

Gong Jun understood immediately and said in a low voice: "Li Shaoxia suspects that there is a traitor in the Commandant's Office?"

Seeing Li Yan nod in acknowledgment, he pondered for a moment and said: "Li Shaoxia's arrival in Nanzhang couldn't be hidden from others, but what exactly you were coming to do was a secret."

"On the Commandant's Office side, it was arranged by Battalion Commander Huang himself; others didn't know. After I received the order, I immediately hid my tracks and waited nearby..."

"On the True Martial Palace side, they are cooperating with the Baokang army in battle; only a few high-ranking military generals know..."

"It's impossible to determine which side leaked it."

Li Yan was not surprised. He looked at the sunset outside the temple and said in a deep voice: "This time we must cross the battlefield to enter Shennongjia, so we must act secretly. If we don't find the person, it will be a major hidden danger."

"Wait a moment to see who comes to attack, and then interrogate them after capturing them."

"If we can't ask anything, we will immediately hide our tracks and set off from the small mountain paths, without contacting anyone."

"As Li Shaoxia wishes."

Gong Jun nodded solemnly.

He knew that Li Yan had one more sentence he hadn't said.

If even this way, our tracks are still leaked, then he is the one with the problem!

Li Yan smiled slightly, said no more, walked out of the dilapidated temple, looked around, took out his Luo Pan, found five places, and inserted the "Five Directions Luo Feng Flags" one by one...

Unknowingly, the night grew deep.

Knowing that tonight would not be peaceful, everyone simply ate some dry rations, then took their weapons and sat by the campfire.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit dull, Li Yan asked: "Brother Gong, since the imperial court sent you to be our guide, you must be very familiar with Shennongjia. Could you tell us about it?"

Gong Jun nodded: "Li Shaoxia guessed correctly; I am indeed very familiar with Shennongjia."

"Shennongjia has an ancient history. Legend has it that Shennong tasted a hundred herbs here, and also built a wooden altar and flew to heaven on a crane, hence the name Shennongjia. It connects to Zhushan in the north, borders Badong in the south, connects to Baokang in the east, and connects to Wushan and Wuxi counties in the west."

"I am from Badong, a hunter for generations. I followed my father into Shennongjia since I was a child, and later, after being recommended by someone, I entered the Commandant's Office."

"There, ancient trees reach the sky, shading like a city; we locals call it the 'Wooden City.' Inside, ten thousand mountains are arranged in a circle, the climate is changeable, and sometimes one can experience wind, frost, rain, and snow in a single day."

"There are three common dangers inside."

"First is the 'ghost wall' (ghost-hitting-wall). After entering the forest, thick fog often rises, the Luo Pan fails, and people often fall into it and cannot get out until they die. Even experienced old hunters don't dare to go too deep..."

"Second are the wild beasts in the mountains. Wolves, tigers, leopards, and bears are nothing; there are also some strange beasts that one has never even heard of. Some animals inside have also turned white and often show spiritual strangeness..."

"Third are some mountain spirits and demons, which are very hostile to outsiders. They are the masters of the mountain forest; as long as you are discovered, they will harass you endlessly..."

"In recent years, only the Medicine Saint Li Shizhen, with the help of several Mystic Sect experts, has entered and exited safely several times."

"So that's how it is..."

Li Yan thought thoughtfully: "We are going to enter Shennongjia to find a fierce flood dragon. Are there any high mountain lakes inside?"

"Yes!"

Gong Jun said very affirmatively: "I once climbed a high mountain with my father and looked into the distance, seeing a large lake."

"My father said that place is called Nine Dragon Lake. Legend has it that when Xue Gang rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, he camped and trained soldiers by the lake, but the area around that place is all swamp, and if you are not careful, you will fall into it. I have never approached it either."

"Besides that, there are some secret large lakes that are sometimes hidden deep in the mountains and can only be seen under special weather..."

Listening to Gong Jun's account, Sha Lifei immediately felt a headache: "This money is not easy to earn. Passing through the land of chaotic armies is trouble, and entering Shennongjia is probably even more dangerous."

Li Yan shook his head: "It's fine. According to the treasure-stifler's news, the location of the trapped flood dragon he heard about is not far from Baokang County; we don't need to go too deep."

Gong Jun hurriedly said: "I do know a secret path that can avoid the war zone and enter Shennongjia from an uninhabited forest area..."

"Squeak squeak!"

Just as he was speaking, Rat One suddenly called out.

Lu San immediately gave a low reminder: "Someone is coming, and there are quite a few of them!"

"Everyone, be careful."

Li Yan gave a warning, then closed his eyes, flicked his little finger lightly, and immediately a straw-spirit paper doll flew out from the skin bag at his waist, silently disappearing into the night color.

The current straw-spirit paper doll was faster, like a white shadow, shuttling rapidly between the trees in the dense forest.

Borrowing its perspective, Li Yan also quickly saw the enemy.

It was a dense crowd of men, all disheveled, faces covered with black scarves, waists girded with sharp blades, holding bows and arrows, about sixty or seventy people, with no order in their movement. Mountain bandits?

Li Yan immediately frowned.

He guessed their identities at a glance.

The intelligence on their team must have already been leaked.

Sending these people, isn't it just sending them to their deaths?

Arriving outside the dense forest, the mountain bandits stopped immediately, and a thin man said to the leader: "Boss, this is the place!"

The person in the lead was a burly man, tall and strong, with his chest exposed, his stomach and chest covered in black hair, a fierce appearance, a full beard, and holding a long Miao saber.

He didn't notice Li Yan peeking in the dark at all, his sinister triangular eyes looking at the mountain forest, and he said in a low voice: "Did you find out clearly?"

"Absolutely no problem."

The thin man hurriedly said: "I am quite familiar with this area; only here is there the dilapidated temple those people mentioned!"

"Boss, let's kill our way in!"

A short, fat man nearby hurriedly chimed in.

!.

"Kill my ass!"

The leading man said coldly: "Five thousand taels of silver, is it that easy to take? Those people are probably not easy to deal with. Don't rush into the forest; be careful of falling into an ambush."

"Set fire, force them out, and shoot them to death with arrows!"

"Yes, Boss!"

The mountain bandits responded in unison, then took off the bows and arrows on their backs, wrapped them in cloth strips and fire oil, and prepared to set fire to the forest.

"Hmph!"

Inside the dilapidated temple, Li Yan immediately opened his eyes and told them what had happened: "Brother Lu, it's up to you. These people are just a cover; there must be someone hiding in the dark preparing to ambush us."

Lu San didn't waste words and directly patted his demon gourd.

Buzz!

Dense swarms of poisonous bees whistled out.

The demon gourd had long since been upgraded, especially since the poisonous bees had recently swallowed a large amount of "flood dragon gu," making their toxicity even more ferocious. Each one was as thick as a finger, pitch black all over, and even harder to see at night.

Accompanied by the buzzing sound of wings, those mountain bandits hadn't even reacted before they were crying for their parents and rolling on the ground.

These poisonous bees, with just a light sting, caused pain like a hot iron burning flesh and skin, and within a few breaths, they could raise a black-and-blue lump as big as a steamed bun.

With such fierce poison, even a man made of iron couldn't bear it.

Some mountain bandits were stung twice and fell directly to the ground foaming at the mouth, while most people jumped and hopped, fleeing toward the distance one after another.

Not long after, a large area of people fell to the ground, wailing continuously.

That mountain bandit leader had stepped into the Dark Jin and could be considered a good hand, but he couldn't withstand the stings of the poisonous bees either. His entire face swelled up, and knowing he had kicked an iron plate, he endured the intense pain and cupped his hands: "Spare our lives, great masters, we admit defeat!"

In the pitch-black dense forest, no one responded.

Buzz!

The swarm of poisonous bees left rapidly and returned to the demon gourd.

Seeing this, the mountain bandit leader endured the pain, gritted his teeth, and ran, not even caring about his subordinates groaning on the ground.

Pfft!

Just after running ten-plus meters away, his entire body stiffened, a huge blood hole appeared on his head, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

In the darkness, three people walked out slowly.

On the left was an old nun, dressed in a black cloth cotton robe, her face iron-blue and covered in age spots, emitting a thick corpse qi...

On the right was a dwarf, clearly a middle-aged man, but wearing a red bellyband, with a topknot, and rouge painted on his face, giggling and shaking his head......

The leader was a man in black, with a white cloth towel wrapped around his head, a red rope belt around his waist, and a long saber carried on his back.

"As expected, they are tough!"

The man in black said coldly: "This bounty is not easy to take. Corpse Granny, force them out!"

That old nun with an iron-blue face nodded slightly, finally taking out a black wooden fish from her waist, closing her eyes while knocking, and muttering incantations, her body twitching continuously.

Whoosh~

In an instant, a cold wind rose.

In the surrounding mountain forest, the leaves rustled, thick fog gradually rose, and one figure after another appeared. Judging by their clothing, they were ordinary commoners, but all had iron-blue faces and drooping heads.

Dong dong dong!

The sound of the wooden fish continued, and the thick fog spread rapidly.

The mountain bandits who were originally lying on the ground suddenly stiffened, then stood up straight, their faces dull, tiptoeing on their feet, and walked toward the dense forest...

"Three Ghosts of Wuchang!"

Inside the dilapidated temple, hearing Li Yan's account, Gong Jun gave a cry of alarm and said urgently: "They are the most famous evil cultivators in Wuchang."

"One is called Corpse Granny, skilled in controlling yin ghosts; one is called Huang Jilang, skilled in puppet arts; and the leader is called Long Kan, a Longyou swordsman and a Dark Jin expert!"

"They were famous monsters in Ezhou some years ago. After committing a bloody case in Hanyang, they were wanted by both the Commandant's Office and the Law Enforcement Hall and disappeared. I didn't expect them to come and join the fun this time."

"Perfect, kill them to collect the reward!"

Li Yan stood up immediately, took out the Cloud Thunder Divine Drum he hadn't used for a long time from his kit, and said: "They want to force us out; there must be an ambush outside. I will break their evil arts first."

"Brother Lu San, watch out for the puppets!"

Having said that, he hung the six Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins on the Cloud Thunder Divine Drum, stored his spirit, emitted the Cloud Thunder Sound, and tapped it lightly.

Boom!

A muffled thunderclap, and the drum sound spread outward.

He had already stepped into the Dark Jin, and with his three-story-building Daoist cultivation, controlling the Cloud Thunder Divine Drum allowed him to directly unleash its full power.

The drum sound was like thunder, as if wind and thunder had suddenly risen.

A violent wind whistled, rolling the fallen leaves on the ground, instantly sweeping through the dense forest. Wherever it passed, those mountain bandits who had been possessed fell to the ground one after another, and the black smoke on their bodies dissipated.

The yin ghosts that possessed them were directly scattered into nothingness.

Pfft!

That Corpse Granny's art was broken, and she spat out a mouthful of black blood, her body swaying.

"Hee hee hee... Old woman, you're no good."

The dwarf with the topknot nearby gave a strange laugh, then twisted his body, and a pale paper puppet jumped out from the bamboo basket on his back.

He took out a bamboo tube with a fuse from his bosom, lit it, and stuffed it into the puppet, a trace of excitement flashing in his eyes as he whistled.

Swish!

The puppet dragged the long fuse and rushed directly into the dense forest.

Corpse Granny nearby wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said coldly: "Look at how capable you are; in the end, you're just relying on external objects."

"External object or not, as long as it's useful!"

The swordsman in the lead revealed a trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

They had used this trick to trap and kill several experts, and it was precisely because of this that they had disregarded everything to take on this errand.

Boom!

Before the words had even faded, a loud explosion suddenly rang out in the dense forest, firelight and smoke filled the air, and branches and leaves flew wildly.

It was Li Yan who smelled the strange odor and directly shot and exploded the puppet.

In the dilapidated temple, Sha Lifei was amused.

"Alright then, playing this trick on us!"

(End of chapter)