Chapter 92: 99, 100 Coming from a Thousand Miles Away, A Single Farewell, Pits Everywhere Breeding Ghost Seeds (Big Chapter, Please

Even in the dry winter season, the cold tide still surged.

The frigid current swirled around a pale-faced woman in green; looking closely, that figure was nearly transparent, or rather, it was not a body at all, but a bizarre, "condensed" Ghost.

This Ghost drifted down the river, as if it already understood what had transpired.

She had come from a thousand miles away, reaching the great river outside Hanping Prefecture in almost the time it takes for a wave to crash.

There were many corpses on the riverbank.

One by one, they suddenly stiffened, simultaneously turning their heads to look eerily toward the direction of the Prefecture City.

They walked quickly, only to encounter the "Manifestation Water" checkpoint at the city gate.

The ghost servants were wiped out, yet one by one, they still let out screams before "dying."

"Song Cheng, an old friend invites you to meet~~"

"Song Cheng, an old friend invites you to meet~~"

The same strange cries rang out from various places, hair-raising and filled with a chilling aura.

Such a bizarre event, involving a big figure like Song Cheng, meant the guards on duty at the city gate dared not take it lightly; they hurriedly dispatched men to ride at full speed to the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall to report to the External Affairs Envoy on duty this month.

When this External Affairs Envoy heard it, he also knew the matter was not simple, so he went without stopping to the An Mansion to visit Song Cheng.

When the message was relayed, Song Cheng was on the martial arts practice field, casually guiding the martial artists in the mansion, including Zhao Hua. He had always held high hopes for his third younger brother, so these days, whenever they finished training, he would use his fingers to clear the force in Zhao Hua's back.

The Pill from Zhushan Temple, combined with Song Cheng's guidance and "cheat-like assistance," made Zhao Hua's cultivation speed very fast; having been in the Prefecture City for over half a year, his Jin Realm had finally stepped from Great Accomplishment to Completion, and he was now practicing the strength surrounding the "Water Bird Strength" while contemplating the Form Realm.

Although it was only one strength at Completion, it was still quite good.

At this moment, when a servant came to report that the External Affairs Envoy from the Mountain River Martial Arts Hall was visiting, Song Cheng instinctively realized something had happened.

He waved his hand and said, "I'll be there immediately."

Then he patted Zhao Hua on the shoulder and said, "Come with me."

The two went to the main hall.

The External Affairs Envoy recounted the strange incident that occurred at the East Gate.

Song Cheng was lost in thought and said, "I will go take a look."

The External Affairs Envoy did not say anything like, "Uncle Master Song, beware of a trap"; although Song Cheng was young, his status in their hearts was not low.

So he only asked, "If you need this nephew to arrange men, just give the order."

Song Cheng nodded and said, "Thanks, but it is not necessary for now."

In fact, just a moment ago, he already had a premonition, because his eyes were itching, and a call from the east was giving him a kind of "telepathic" rapport.

The External Affairs Envoy did not say more, cupped his hands in farewell, and left, leaving only Song Cheng and Zhao Hua in the main hall.

Zhao Hua might not know about the matter of "Yun E," but he was one of the only three people who knew that "a special connection might exist between Song Cheng and the female Ghost of Tanghe Village," and this time, he was also one of the only three who truly knew "what exactly Wang Tianchuan and Gao Lin had gone to do."

At this moment, as soon as he heard it, he understood in his heart.

So he said softly, "Big Brother, is it done?"

Song Cheng took half of the "Skull Double Fish Pendant" from his bosom, tossed it to Zhao Hua, and said, "Take a look."

The other half was in the hands of Wang Tianchuan and Gao Lin.

Zhao Hua held the jade pendant, attempting to connect to the other side.

But the other side had not given a response, as if they had not noticed, or perhaps it was inconvenient to respond.

Zhao Hua frowned and continued to wait.

Finally, the jade pendant in his hand shook, and the skull fish mouth spat out mist; the mist looked like distorted, hazy moonlight, floating in mid-air to form a circle the size of a human face, and the scene on the other side of the circle appeared.

He saw Gao Lin, Wang Tianchuan, and a crowd of laborers huddled together, as if they were running toward somewhere.

Wang Tianchuan held the "Skull Double Fish Pendant" high and shouted, "It's done, it's done!"

Zhao Hua asked indifferently, "What is done?"

Wang Tianchuan laughed, "Of course, the river channel to Tanghe has been dug through. Now that the mission is complete, of course we have to come back. A Ghost Tide might be coming outside; we all feel something is wrong, so it's better to come back. Right?"

Behind him, someone else was shouting, "Master, Master, we've all heard it; the An Family now has a big business and a big name in the Prefecture City! We have performed a meritorious service!"

"Yes, yes, yes! You can't treat us unfairly!" another person scrambled to shout.

Zhao Hua rolled his eyes, swept a glance at the large group of people behind Wang Tianchuan and Gao Lin, and smiled gently, "I won't treat you unfairly! Of course I won't! Everyone come back together; the mansion is not what it used to be, and for everyone who comes, there will be a heavy reward."

Gao Lin waved his hand and said, "Why aren't you thanking Master Zhao yet?"

The group behind them was grinning and shouting happily, "Thank you, Master Zhao."

Others were shouting, "Master Zhao, how much is the reward?"

Still others were shouting, "Master Zhao, don't worry, we definitely won't talk nonsense outside."

"Talk nonsense about what? There's a heavy reward, what else is there to say, hahahaha."

Zhao Hua smiled, "Then let's leave it at that; come back early, and I will arrange fine food and wine to welcome you home. You are all people who have performed great service for our mansion."

As he said this, the moonlight rising from the jade pendant had dimmed, and the skull fish mouth slowly returned to its original state.

The "Skull Double Fish Pendant" needed to absorb moonlight, and the time for each use was limited.

Zhao Hua put down the jade pendant, looked at Song Cheng, and said, "Big Brother, it seems that's it."

Song Cheng said, "Alright then, I will go to the east of the city to walk around and meet an old friend."

Zhao Hua did not say anything more and watched as Song Cheng left by carriage.

He looked at the "Skull Double Fish Pendant" in his hand that had not been taken back, squeezed it gently, then lowered his head and brows, pondered for a moment, and also called his coachman, but headed toward Zhushan Temple to look for his sister-in-law.

On Song Cheng's side, the one driving the carriage was Ling'er.

When out and about, Master Song always used Ling'er; while Young Miss An used Ying'er.

The husband and wife each used one.

However, the east and west districts of the city were quite far apart, and by the time Song Cheng arrived at the city gate, it was already evening.

Outside the city, the eerie white mist was like a pale giant hesitating in the wilderness, splitting and merging; seeing such a scene, Song Cheng did not rashly leave the city.

Although he felt that Yun E was just outside the city.

Yet so much time had passed, and many things had happened in between, so he could not be certain what kind of existence Yun E was now.

Therefore, he had the government office on the west side of the city arrange a residence for him, and then let Ling'er serve him as he went to sleep.

On the other side, Zhao Hua had just arrived below Zhushan Temple, but he was not in a hurry to go up the mountain, instead waiting quietly.

The next morning, at the first light of dawn.

Zhao Hua began to climb the mountain, and after reporting his arrival, he met Tong Niangzi.

"Huazi, why have you come?" Tong Niangzi only felt that these past few days had been exhausting, but upon closer thought, where was it just a few days? It was clearly that not a single day had passed without exhaustion since she took over Zhushan Temple.

Zhao Hua smiled and said: "In the midst of a busy schedule, I am disturbing you, Sister-in-law, but there are truly some urgent matters."

"What is the matter?" Tong Niangzi asked.

Zhao Hua hesitated for a moment and said: "Sister-in-law, I need to do things outside, and I need people who can completely execute my orders, but there are some things that are not convenient to tell others. Therefore, I want to ask you for a few Medicine Men to help me do some things."

Tong Niangzi smiled and said: "Did you take a fancy to some girl? Your elder brother and I will go propose marriage for you! Every family has to give us some face."

Zhao Hua scratched his head and smiled: "That is not it."

Tong Niangzi's smile suddenly vanished, and she asked suspiciously and vigilantly: "Huazi, you aren't planning on doing anything shameful and wicked, are you?"

Zhao Hua hurriedly waved his hands, then swore solemnly: "If I, Zhao Hua, do anything that lets down my brother and sister-in-law, may I be struck by lightning, may my descendants be cut off, and may I die a violent death."

He was about to continue, but Tong Niangzi said: "Enough."

The two words fell like thunder striking the ground, possessing quite a bit of majesty.

The master of Zhushan Temple was no longer the little doctor from the medical clinic of that day, and even less the little burden who followed Song Cheng to the county town.

In this world, Song Cheng was not the only one growing.

Everyone was.

Trying to fool Tong Niangzi? Not a chance.

Tong Niangzi said: "Huazi, you have already sworn the oath, won't you tell your sister-in-law what exactly you want to do?"

Zhao Hua sighed softly, then leaned in and whispered gloomily. When he finished speaking, he spread his hands and said: "Sister-in-law, you see, it is not that I do not want to say, but that it is not good to say it. This kind of dirty work is not suitable for Big Brother to do, so I will do it. I am used to doing it."

Tong Niangzi was stunned, suddenly realized, and muttered: "The eldest young master of An Mansion, the Old Master, the First Madam..."

Zhao Hua smiled bitterly: "Sister-in-law, that was a trap set by Sister-in-law An. But then again, if the tiger has no intention to hurt people, how would it step into that trap? If An Zhangsheng did not think about colluding with bandits again and attempting to kidnap Sister-in-law An, how would he have given others a handle against him? Furthermore, the Old Master, the First Madam... sigh. That situation does not allow for soft-heartedness. If you hold a blade and do not strike at the opponent, you have to strike at your own people."

Tong Niangzi was silent for a long time, clapped her hands, summoned two Form Realm Medicine Men, and instructed: "From now on, follow him and obey his orders."

Zhushan Temple either did not make Medicine Men now, or they were all of the Form Realm.

The Medicine Men respectfully accepted the order and then stood behind Zhao Hua.

Zhao Hua was about to take his leave, but Tong Niangzi said: "Huazi, forgive others when you can; if you can leave a glimmer of life, then... then..."

She hesitated, and finally sighed deeply: "You decide for yourself. First, do not let anything go wrong; second, be as kind to others as possible."

Zhao Hua bowed and said: "Sister-in-law, rest assured, I will not kill the wrong people."

Immediately, he led the two Medicine Men away.

The morning light broke, and golden celestial light descended.

Between heaven and earth, some misty, ethereal gray fog began to appear.

The fog was as thin as transparent gauze, and it was unknown what it was brewing.

Last year, the Ghost Tide broke out in early March, but now it was only early February. In the East City, as soon as the city gates opened, the sound of many wheelbarrows "creaking" could be heard. Many people were pushing wheelbarrows loaded with bundles of firewood, beautiful flowers newly picked from the wild, or even charcoal that had been burned, and so on, rushing into the city.

Song Cheng walked alone toward the East City Gate.

When he smelled the fragrance of flowers, he felt around in his bosom, took out a few copper coins, handed them to the old flower seller, and said: "Old man, I will buy a bouquet."

The old flower seller did not recognize this Song the Second for a moment; after all, most people were immersed in their own circles, rushing about for their own lives, so how would they notice a big shot walking on the street?

The old man's eyes were not very good, so he recognized him even less. At this time, he stopped his wheelbarrow and asked: "What flowers does the guest want? There are plum blossoms, peach blossoms, daffodils, and February Red as well."

"'Weeping dew and crying red, what is it like? When they bloom, they happen to coincide with the cuckoo's cry.' Song Cheng muttered, then said, "February Red, then."

The old man said "Alright," then wrapped the cuckoo flowers, which were still stained with dew, in patterned paper and handed them to Song Cheng.

Song Cheng held the flowers and stepped out.

It was not until the sound of the city guards respectfully calling out "Song the Second" came from the city gate in the distance that the old man turned his head in surprise.

In his aged eyes, the guards were bowing to see him off, and he was stunned to discover that it was actually "Song the Second."

"The Second Master is actually so young." The old man muttered, feeling a strange sense of goodwill toward the youth in his heart. After all, in this day and age, he had never seen a big shot carry copper coins with him to buy flowers.

People who like flowers are, after all, people who love life.

To be able to love life, one should have a pair of clean eyes.

It is a pity that the Second Master is blind.

The old man sighed softly, then pushed his wheelbarrow forward again.

Song Cheng was blind.

After he walked out of the city gate, the ink-colored white of the sky still rushed toward him like a wild, angry tide.

He walked and walked and walked, until he reached the bank of a great river, and saw blood-red information appearing in the river from afar.

【Strength:??】

【Favorability: 100】

He quickened his pace.

A pale forest, thin mist, and no one else.

The youth stood on the riverbank.

The river water did not part, and no earth-shattering movement occurred, but a huge, transparent, twisted, pale woman emerged from the bottom of the water and hovered in the air. Her form was countless times larger than Song Cheng's, truly like a giant and an ant.

But the "giant" lowered her body, bent her waist, and looked at the ant.

Yet the "giant" seemed unable to speak, and could not speak.

Song Cheng removed the black cloth wrapped around his eyes, revealing the pale pupils beneath, along with a black dot the size of a sesame seed.

The two seemed to share a profound tacit understanding.

Song Cheng raised his hand and handed over the rhododendron he was holding.

The "giant" also raised a hand, gently pressing both palms against the youth's eyes; as those fingers moved, the "sesame-sized pupil" was slowly rotated and smoothed out like a drop of ink on rice paper by a brush, transforming into a beautiful, appropriately sized pupil.

And the youth's vision was also rapidly recovering.

Closing his eyes, it was still the black-and-white world seen by the Heart Eye.

But opening them, the world regained its color.

Yellow earth, black rock, white water, gray mountains, the new green and red by the mountainside, the withered old vines and decaying wood—everything was reflected in the youth's eyes.

On this day, she returned from a thousand miles away, only to gift him a pair of eyes, and then speak a silent farewell.

On this day, she understood cause and effect, yet humans and Ghosts walk different paths; how could she linger in the human world for him?

"Yun E."

Song Cheng called out.

She did not reply.

Instead, after gifting the youth her pupils, she turned and left.

However, she took the rhododendron the youth had gifted her; a touch of brilliance appeared amidst the cold, putrid evil tide, as if rouge had been applied to a pale cheek.

The dead have departed, yet the flower is still newborn.

Yun E followed the river, rushing toward the distance.

Song Cheng's interface underwent a change:

【Ghost Tower Contemplation Method】

Eighth Floor Strange Art: Black Heaven (Mutated) (0/0)

The eighth floor of that contemplation space, originally a dim Tower, suddenly gained a sense of heaviness, even viscosity.

Song Cheng sat by the riverbank, his gaze fixed on a fish in the great river, and then he activated the "Strange Art."

In an instant, the fish began to swim about like a headless fly.

But calling it swimming about was inaccurate, because rather than swimming, the fish looked more like it was struggling; the fish tail slapped "patta patta," and the fish body twisted in agony, as if a drowning person were helplessly crying for help.

But, how could a fish drown?

It was, of course, not drowning in water, but drowning in darkness.

Although Song Cheng's eyes had recovered, the pain of "blindness unable to see light" had been branded onto the eighth floor of the Ghost Tower, and now, with the added Yin Qi from Yun E, it allowed him to not only make the target blind but also make them feel the agony of drowning.

It could be said that Song Cheng's mutated Strange Art had already been imbued with Yun E's power.

And his eyes were now completely linked to Yun E.

Henceforth, if Yun E grew strong, he would rise along with her.

If Yun E grew weak, he might even become a blind man once again.

After clarifying these things, Song Cheng sat by the riverbank for a while longer, watched the distant scenery for a while, and daydreamed to adapt to these eyes.

No matter how fast the world moved, his rhythm was always unhurried.

He even leaned back on the grass by the riverbank and closed his eyes for a short nap before getting up and dusting off his robes.

"Time to go back."

"I wonder when the Ghost Tide will come this year."

"What changes will there be?"

Song Cheng muttered; he walked a few steps, seemed to sense something, and inexplicably paused, turning his head to look at a spot where there was clearly nothing in the air, yet a stream of data and favorability rapidly approached.

The font appeared in a faint red, with the label Ghost Servant.

【Strength: 140~140】

【Favorability: 0】

He focused his mind to look again, but still saw nothing, only perceiving a sharp, blade-like killing intent sweeping through the air.

Song Cheng frowned, because the "140" data had basically stepped into the realm of the Qi Realm; this was just that the Ghost Servant had not mastered any skills and could only rely on its own base strength.

But he had never seen a Qi Realm Ghost Servant before.

Just as he was thinking this, the next instant, a dangerous blade edge suddenly appeared from the void; the air shattered like a silver screen, pierced through by that buzzing, sharp edge. A terrifying force instantly transformed into silver light, stabbing toward Song Cheng's neck at high speed. "What kind of ghost thing is this?"

Song Cheng's entire body's internal energy surged instantly; an inner layer, an outer layer, dark colors emerged like a god or Buddha, and clouds swirled as if in the heavens.

Looking at him as a whole, it appeared as if he were covered in a hard, white-patterned, black-bottomed tortoise shell.

He brought two fingers of his right hand together and caught the silver light, striking after it had already begun.

"Come out!"

He yanked his fingers with great force.

A strange thing was pulled directly out of the air, the rushing airflow sounding like boiling seawater.

What was this? It was a monster composed of flesh and blades, a strange humanoid with four blades mounted on its limbs.

It had no hands or feet.

Its hands and feet were blades that came from who knows where.

Those blades were not pure, nor did they flash; they were coated with horrifying grave soil and white wax, as if they were artifacts just dug out from some ancient tomb.

And what Song Cheng had caught was merely the tip of one blade.

The strange humanoid's legs kicked up violently, and two blade lights wrapped in cold, Yin energy slashed toward Song Cheng again.

Clang! Clang!

The blades struck the hard shell, as if someone were whipping iron armor with white paper.

Song Cheng lifted this ghost thing with his right hand, examining it with curiosity.

And that ghost thing was attacking frantically.

However, every attack seemed like a child tickling an adult wearing iron armor.

"How is it invisible?" Song Cheng was very curious.

As for this ghost thing, he had been surprised at first, but now he had sorted it out.

Su Huxian had said, "Ghost servants with reason and intelligence are not scary at all; once they lose their reason and fall into chaos, the true terror begins to descend."

So, even though many, many people had died this year, the Ghost Tide had not yet come because it was brewing this kind of "higher-level" ghost servant?

Then that invisible power... it should belong to the power of trickery, right? Clang, clang, clang! Clang, clang, clang! The four-bladed ghost servant suddenly used its "ultimate move," its entire body twisting, moving as nimbly as a giant windmill; the blades turned into a meat grinder, the surrounding soil was as if struck by a gale, and the ground was sliced into fish-scale patterns inch by inch.

But these blade lights, when they struck Song Cheng, still had no effect at all.

Layers of protective Qi, with force surging from within his body, casually neutralized these strikes.

But, Song Cheng looked down and discovered that his belt was about to be sliced open.

Consequently, Song Cheng stopped observing, grabbed the ghost servant's hands, snapped them off with two "crack" sounds, then broke its two legs, pulled off the remaining hands, and seeing it wasn't quite dead yet, he clenched his fist and smashed it down onto its head with one punch.

Boom! The head exploded.

Ghost servant, dead!

Song Cheng examined the composition of this body.

This was a mixture of "flesh and blood, grave soil, white wax, and blade edges."

His eyeballs moved, he turned and left directly, then quickly circled to a nearby forest, looked toward the place where the ghost servant's remains were, waited for a long while, and after waiting for no one to approach and seeing no further abnormalities from the ghost servant, he returned again.

Thinking it might be useful to Zhushan Temple, Song Cheng directly tore off his outer robe, packed these things up, took the opportunity to retie his belt, and then, carrying the large bundle, began to return to the city.

However, his mood was quite heavy.

Two points.

One,

An invisible Qi Realm ghost servant is enough to kill the "North Land Blade King," at least in theory.

This means that this assassination was "weighed."

Some existence weighed his surface strength and then sent a ghost servant capable of killing him to assassinate him. And this existence also knew he was leaving the city today.

It didn't kill him this time; will there be a next time? If it can't kill him, will it think about targeting Tong Niangzi or An Jie first?

As for it being a coincidence?

Song Cheng didn't really believe it.

"No way, no way, I've been so low-key, and someone still wants to kill me? Or is this just a decapitation strategy of an intelligent ghost servant?"

Two, this was the first time he had seen two types of "Spirit Element" inside a ghost servant—grave soil and white wax.

And before, there had always been only one.

What did this mean?

That night, "Husband, she really did come." Young Miss stroked the youth's eyes gently and said softly, "So beautiful."

Song Cheng said: "She didn't stay. Perhaps humans and ghosts are on different paths, and we can no longer convey thoughts to each other.

I hope she is well.

I always feel that Yun E did not purely turn into an evil ghost.

Deep in her heart, besides resentment and destruction, there must still exist other things.

Moreover, my eyes still originate from her power.

If she becomes stronger, I will also become stronger."

"It is a pity; if Yun E could sit down and talk with us, perhaps we could also help her." Young Miss sighed softly, while slowly rubbing her lower abdomen.

Although her lower abdomen was not yet obviously bulging, a small life was gestating within it.

Song Cheng habitually turned slightly to the side again, pressing against her lower abdomen, feeling the throbbing of that life, as if listening to a verdant new sprout breaking through the soil.

"Tomorrow, I will take you to Zhushan Temple."

Song Cheng said suddenly.

Young Miss was stunned for a moment, then smiled submissively: "Okay, before you always said I was busy, now it's Jia Er who is busy to the point of madness. It would be good for us to gather at her temple."

Song Cheng wanted to tell her about the "Qi Realm four-bladed ghost servant" he encountered today, but stopped when the words reached his lips.

A pregnant woman needs peace of mind and rest.

He would just solve this kind of external threat himself.

If it were anything else, it would be fine, but this ghost thing could actually turn invisible.

He really started to worry.

Therefore, from today on, he would take his wives with him to be on the safe side.

The next day.

The carriage stopped at Zhushan Temple.

Song Cheng supported Young Miss as they ascended Zhushan, going into the temple, with Ying'er and Ling'er following behind.

Perhaps out of habit, he still wrapped the black cloth over his eyes.

Soon, the disciples of Zhushan Temple invited the two to rest in the inner chamber for half an incense stick's time before Tong Niangzi ran over in a rush, possessing a kind of beauty like an "escaped princess who hasn't been caught."

"Husband! An Jiejie!"

Tong Niangzi was quite pleasantly surprised, "Why did you come?"

Song Cheng said: "Not only did we come, we are going to stay here with you."

Tong Niangzi happily ordered people to arrange rooms.

After she returned from being busy for a while, Song Cheng pulled her over and asked: "Are you happy living this kind of life?"

Tong Niangzi spat and said: "I want to help you. You can't be Song the Second of the Mountain and River Martial Arts Hall and the North Land Blade King of Hanping Prefecture, while I'm just a little village girl waiting to die, right? I... want to follow in your footsteps and not be left too far behind by you."

Song Cheng also did not expect such an answer, and he said, "Actually, I don't care."

Tong Niangzi said, "But I care."

The two gazed at each other.

In Tong Niangzi's eyes, there was also persistence and a stubborn streak.

Song Cheng looked left and right, and seeing that Young Miss, Ying'er, and Ling'er were all absent, he then softly recounted the events he encountered yesterday and also voiced his own worries.

"Someone made a move against you?" Tong Niangzi was stunned for a moment, then said, "I will investigate. The Mountain and River Martial Hall and White Camel Manor will both investigate along with me."

Song Cheng nodded and said, "I hope it was just a Ghost."

Having said that, he opened the bundle he had brought along and displayed the four-bladed Ghost corpse inside.

Tong Niangzi looked at the corpse solemnly and said, "I will have the people at the Medicine Pavilion take a look."

Life in Zhushan was very leisurely, and more than ten days passed quickly.

The three major powers of Hanping Prefecture secretly searched Hanping Prefecture from top to bottom, yet they did not find a single person or matter related to "Song Cheng encountering a four-bladed Ghost assassin" from back then.

Never mind them, even Song Cheng himself had long since had his Soul leave his body and wandered all over the Prefecture City for quite a while.

But he was always low-key in his daily life and kind to others, so there wasn't a single person in the entire Prefecture City whose favorability toward him was below 60.

'Could it really just be a Ghost?'

"This is a Ghost?!"

The iron cavalry paused, looking at a deep pit wreathed in gray mist.

Inside it were clearly corpses buried in a chaotic heap.

The great war in the North Land lasted a long time, and there were extremely many dead; how could there be just a few places that could be burned clean whenever one wanted? And the corpses in this pit were clearly thrown in casually at some unknown time.

At this moment, they lay in a jumble, and between the flesh and flesh, it seemed as if some strange thing was connecting and fusing them, even bringing the nearby stone and metal together, looking like a bizarre web of flesh and blood.

As they observed, a hair-raising sound came from the deep pit, as if many small spiders were crawling back and forth.

"Fire!"

The Enforcement Elder of White Camel Manor, with his white beard trembling, shouted sternly, "Burn it all."

The iron cavalry traveled light, but they still carried fire arrows and kerosene because "Ghosts fear fire."

After giving the order, the Elder looked at the maid whose body was occupied by Su Huxian, and seeing no reaction from her, he said, "Hurry up!"

Sss— sss— sss!!

Kerosene was poured into the pit; after a barrel was poured, it was ignited by a fire arrow.

Many armored soldiers successively found firewood from the surroundings and threw it in.

A great fire in the pit!

However, the white smoke rising up grew increasingly faint. Seeing this, the Enforcement Elder was about to order more kerosene to be poured, but he was stopped by Su Huxian.

"Let's continue on our way."

"Lady Huxian?"

"There should be many pits like this." Su Huxian's voice was calm, as if she were accustomed to it.

She looked down at the deep pit, memories flashing in her eyes—that was an era of despair, an era of catastrophe. She had confessed many things to Little Song, including the Daoist story she had made up.

However, in that Daoist story, there was one thing she hadn't lied about.

That was... the Su Family had indeed fled from the outside.

And the original continent had indeed been destroyed by the Ghost Tide.

Now, pits like this were not even worth calling "puddles" on that continent about to be destroyed.

If her guess was correct, in the vast North Land now, in the slaughtered county towns, there must be... many such pits, right?

The end of the world was coming.

The catastrophe was coming.

"Don't worry about it, let's go!"

The Fox Immortal urged again.

The Enforcement Elder then nodded.

The thousand riders continued north. They did not carry much grain, and now, after the search, most of it had been consumed; if they continued like this, they would have to kill their horses.

And not long after the iron cavalry left, the deep pit ignited by the flames seemed to have been doused with ice water, instantly extinguishing with a "sss" sound, and inside... the strange rustling sound continued to come.

"Big brother, spare my life."

"Big brother..."

"Who are you people? We have no grudges or enmity."

"I'm telling you, we are people from the An Family of Hanping Prefecture. Have you heard of the North Land Blade King?"

A group of people collapsed on the ground, wailing; some begged for mercy, others cursed angrily.

But no matter what they did, the two men in black just watched them coldly. If anyone tried to jump up, the men in black would quickly step forward and beat them to the ground.

At this time, one man in black said coldly, "If you want to live, confess: what did you go do for the An Family?"

The crowd was silent for a moment.

The man in black said again, "To prevent you from colluding and lying, I will pull you away one by one and have you explain clearly.

Think it over; only your life is your own. There is no need to risk your life for the An Family or your master.

Isn't it better to be alive?

You only have one chance, grasp it yourself."

Immediately, the two men in black began to divide the work; one watched the scene, while the other pulled people one by one behind a small grove to interrogate them.

This group of people was naturally Wang Tianchuan, Gao Lin, and the laborers who had returned with them, hoping to gain some credit.

But they hadn't expected that before they even reached Hanping Prefecture, and before the good life had even begun, they would encounter bandits.

These two bandits were extremely strong; even Wang Tianchuan and Gao Lin, who were in the Jin Realm, were knocked flat by them with a single blow each.

Behind the small grove.

The myriad states of sentient beings.

"I'll confess, I'll confess! The An Family made us dig a channel connecting to the Tanghe. I just knew the An Family had no good intentions. Spare my life, masters!"

"I saw gray smoke rising from the Tanghe side; there must be a Ghost that escaped. After all, I had heard about ghosts before. I—I had no choice. Those two from the An Family were supervisors; if I didn't do it, they would have killed me."

"The An Family, it's the An Family playing tricks!"

After turn after turn, it was finally Wang Tianchuan's turn.

Wang Tianchuan glanced at Gao Lin, who had just been brought back from the small grove.

Gao Lin wore a bitter smile and shook his head.

Wang Tianchuan actually already understood for the most part.

Soon, he was brought behind the grove, and facing the interrogation, he said directly: "Bullshit! It's all bullshit! We just wanted to slack off, so we veered over there to make a run for it! Haven't you ever seen people running away because they couldn't dig the Yunhe? We just heard the An Family had become wealthy and wanted to run back to live a good life with our old masters! What about it? Is that not allowed?"

The man in black said sinisterly: "Think carefully before you speak; many of your people have already confessed."

Wang Tianchuan said: "Confessed to what?"

The man in black said: "Digging through the Tanghe to release the evil Ghost."

Wang Tianchuan said: "Bullshit, it's all bullshit! That was just made up to save our own lives!"

Soon, the man in black brought over the previous few laborers for a confrontation.

The laborers pointed at Wang Tianchuan, one by one, stern and severe.

Wang Tianchuan struggled to refute them.

At this point, the two men in black exchanged a glance, suddenly drew the long blades at their waists, and began to slash rapidly.

However, the two of them did not kill Wang Tianchuan and Gao Lin, who "refused to reveal a single bit of information about the An Family even in death," but rather those who had confessed.

After a bout of indiscriminate killing, those who had confessed were all decapitated.

Not far away, a carriage finally emerged leisurely.

Zhao Hua looked at the two with a smile and said: "Brother Wang, Brother Gao, those who are not one's own people are ultimately unreliable."

"Don't bring so many people back next time; handle it yourselves, understand?"

"Please, let's go home."

(End of this chapter)