Chapter 176: Strange Old Lady

Out of breath!

"Really dead?" Qilin said regretfully, "I thought we could torture him with severe punishment to extract a confession!"

"Did the Princess blow this person up?" the monk gloated.

"What the hell are you doing! He deserved to die for trying to attack us!" Qilin glared at the monk, displeased.

That damn monk, a dog's mouth can't spit out ivory!

Gu Rongjin: "No, he wasn't blown up; he bit the poison in his mouth and died—he's a dead man."

Mu Yuanzhi: "Whether it was voluntary or forced is hard to say."

After all, who would voluntarily sew their own mouth shut?

She and Gu Rongjin searched the person's clothing, looking for any clues.

Gu Rongjin furrowed his brows in thought, not saying a word throughout, while the others stood behind watching.

"Nothing found." Mu Yuanzhi stood up.

Qilin thoughtfully handed her a handkerchief to wipe her hands.

"Rongjin, did you find anything?" Mu Yuanzhi asked the still-crouching Gu Rongjin.

Gu Rongjin: "Hard to say."

"What do you mean 'hard to say'?" Qilin crossed his arms.

Gu Rongjin remained silent, then stood and said, "Let's go; this place is not suitable for lingering."

The others agreed as well.

But the closer we get to the Black Sea ahead, the more dangerous it becomes, right?

Along the way, they hadn't seen a single living person; every household kept their doors shut, unknown whether nobody lived there or they simply didn't go out.

"Was it like this when you came before?" Mu Yuanzhi asked Gu Rongjin and the monk.

Gu Rongjin shook his head. "It used to be fairly prosperous."

The monk nodded: "It was quite prosperous; I never expected it to become a dead city now."

"Someone." The National Teacher suddenly spoke, gesturing for everyone to look ahead.

"Someone?" Qilin and Gu Rongjin exchanged a glance.

It's obvious they hadn't heard any footsteps; where did that person ahead come from?

"Is it a person?" Qilin instinctively stepped back.

The monk teased: "Most likely it's a ghost."

"Really?" Qilin swallowed.

We can deal with a person, but a ghost is impossible to handle!

"Ghosts don't appear in broad daylight, Master—stop scaring my disciple." Gu Rongjin said, "This old lady might just be wearing cloth shoes and walking slowly, which is why there are no footsteps."

He had seen such a trick before while on missions—people used as lookouts and messengers, specifically targeting those with exceptional hearing.

Just like them, they hadn't noticed this old lady.

"How do you know it's an old lady?" Mu Yuanzhi asked curiously.

"Just a guess—either an old lady or an old man; you're bound to hit one."

As soon as he finished speaking, they saw a hunched old man emerge from the shadows.

Mu Yuanzhi chuckled, "Looks like you can't even get a one-in-two chance right."

Gu Rongjin awkwardly touched his nose, defending himself: "Don't judge by his looks; he might actually look like a man."

"Who are you calling manly? I'm a standard beauty!" the newcomer snapped, waving her hand.

……

"She really is a woman…" Qilin stared, speechless.

Gu Rongjin raised his brows smugly: "See? As expected of me!"

"Hmph!" the old lady snorted, scanning Mu Yuanzhi and the others, her nose emitting a dismissive sound.

"What's this old lady getting all worked up about?" Qilin was speechless.

The monk: "It's all because Patron Gu lacks manners; there's nothing we can do."

"Can facts be called impolite?" Gu Rongjin was utterly speechless.

"Forget it, we don't have time to waste here—let's go." Mu Yuanzhi said.

As soon as they heard they wanted to leave, the old lady turned and shouted, "You're heading to the Black Sea?!"

She was extremely surprised, the wrinkles around her eyes creasing, making her eyes look smaller, yet those tiny eyes held great shock and a hint of fear.

"If you want to live, I advise you not to go!" the old lady said solemnly, "You must be those foreigners who came here for adventure after hearing the fame, right?"

She looked them over again, her eyes full of dissatisfaction: "You don't even value your own lives! The Black Sea is extremely dangerous—one slip and you could lose your life!"

Upon hearing that, Mu Yuanzhi turned back.

The old lady still thought they had taken her advice, her expression saying she meant well: "Lately, too many people have been seeking death; I don't even know how many have gone missing. You've even seen this town—there's not a soul in sight!"

"And you, old person, why aren't you leaving?" Mu Yuanzhi asked.

The old lady paused, then said, "I'm too old to walk; where could I possibly escape to?"

Gu Rongjin curiously asked, "Old person, could you tell us what dangers the Black Sea holds?"

The old lady snorted with her nose in the air, clearly unwilling to engage with the person who had just claimed to look like a man.

National Teacher: "Does the old person not know either?"

"How could she not know? There…!" The old lady started to say something excitedly but then stopped abruptly, stammering, "There, there are monsters! Terrifyingly huge, like demons!"

Mu Yuanzhi and the others exchanged a glance, gesturing for the old lady to look at the exposed "giant" lying on the ground ahead, and laughed, "You say these monsters are probably just as fake as that giant? We've already seen through it—you shouldn't be afraid either."

"What?!" the old lady exclaimed in shock, hurriedly following Mu Yuanzhi's gesture to look, "This this this this!"

The giant on the ground had clearly been 'cut' open, inside lay a pool of sacrificial blood and an unconscious ordinary person.

Mu Yuanzhi paid attention to the old woman's changing expression, discovering that the panic she displayed was not fear of the dead, but a guilty fluster.

She guessed correctly—this person indeed had a problem.

Just then she had almost been provoked by the National Teacher's goading tactic into revealing some secret, but luckily she snapped out of it.

"Let's go." Mu Yuanzhi said.

There's no need to keep wasting time here.

Gu Rongjin: "It seems this Black Sea is some unspeakable secret."

"Exactly, that's why they've tried every possible means to keep others away." Mu Yuanzhi nodded.

Qilin, not understanding, asked: "What secret?"

Gu Rongjin smiled enigmatically: "Then we must go visit it ourselves!"

Mu Yuanzhi: "From now on, nobody can be careless."

They still didn't know what awaited them.

She hadn't forgotten the great misfortune the National Teacher had divined.

This town wasn't large, but wasn't small either; it was nearly midnight before they set out.

"The Black Sea lies just ahead, with the forest beside it." Gu Rongjin said.

The night was dark; looking around, it was hard to see where the forest was, the seawater also black, blending with the night.

The formerly calm lake surface seemed to have some disturbance, the wave noise unusually loud.

Qilin swallowed: "There won't be any monsters in this sea, will there?"

Mu Yuanzhi: "Even if there were, it would be like that giant just now—an illusion."

No sooner had she spoken than a huge wave surged forward!