Chapter 699: The Trio Arrives (2/2, Autumn Subscription)

Chu Dou was a post-heaven first-rate realm expert, barely years away from reaching the Xiantian Realm—how could he have died so silently?

What strength must the entity that killed him possess!

Yet compared to fear, their first thought was not fear—but revenge!

Emotions surged; everyone grew wildly agitated.

"How did Chu Dou die? Was it the 【Curse of the Gu】? Or a yiguai? Or did he have some preexisting illness?"

His companion's question made Feng Yao even more agitated, but he couldn't determine Chu Dou's cause of death—until someone in the squad suddenly pointed toward the city wall.

"Just now, when Chu Dou was shooing away those children, he seemed to pause, look up at the city wall, then collapse."

The city wall?

Feng Yao and the other guards looked up at the wall—but saw only a bare, smooth expanse, utterly unremarkable. —Those little hands had already vanished into the wall before the guards' gaze even reached them.

Now, of course, they could detect nothing.

But when Feng Yao lowered his gaze back to the corpse, his pupils suddenly contracted.

He thought he… saw Chu Dou's corpse, its belly moving.

"Step back!"

With a low roar, Feng Yao drew his sword and slashed straight across the corpse's abdomen.

With a splash, Chu Dou's belly split open—but no blood spilled out, nor any intestines or organs.

What was exposed inside… were hands.

Dozens of tiny hands, tangled like intestines, crammed and writhing inside the belly, devouring everything they could reach; each hand bore grotesque mouths, gnawing and consuming—the guard's internal organs, blood, bones—all already devoured clean, leaving only an empty shell!

Ssshh—

Feng Yao sucked in a sharp breath; the surrounding guards staggered backward, hearts trembling with terror.

"A yiguai!"

"He was killed by a yiguai!"

"What kind of yiguai dares appear in daylight!"

Yiguai weren't absent in daylight—they simply preferred not to move then.

As if sensing the sunlight, the tiny hands inside the corpse simultaneously froze.

So many hands, pressed together, halting all at once like a frozen image—yet the silence felt terrifyingly oppressive.

Gurglegurglegurgle…

A strange sound rose from each tiny hand.

Slowly, slits split open on their arms; one by one, black eyes opened on the skin, oozing black blood, silently staring at the surrounding guards.

"Wait—wait! This yiguai is the 【Nuomian Gui】 the Heaven Alliance leader warned us about!"

"No, no good! It's that thing!"

"Run! Return at once and report to the Heaven Trade Alliance and the Government—【Nuomian Gui】 has appeared! Request reinforcements!"

If this were an ordinary yiguai, they'd have already charged in, hacking it to pieces to avenge their brother.

But this one—this was no ordinary threat. Even the Heaven Trade Alliance leader had issued a notice: if encountered, report immediately—not eliminate.

Fully aware of this yiguai's power, Feng Yao immediately reached for the Rescue Order at his waist, preparing to launch the signal into the sky.

But the moment his hand touched it, his heart lurched violently—as if something had shattered it inside; his pupils dilated, his body staggered two steps, then collapsed with a thud.

"Brother Feng!"

"Feng—"

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

The surrounding guards had barely cried out when their pupils widened, their bodies went limp, and one by one they collapsed.

Only much later did a second Patrol Team discover the carnage; when they opened the other corpses, they found every organ, flesh, and bone had been devoured clean—leaving only inflated, hollow human skins stretched outward.

The situation was immediately reported upward—but no one knew what yiguai had slaughtered this Patrol Team.

The children who had previously interacted with this Patrol Team, including Jun Shao, were all brought in for questioning—but they knew nothing, and were released.

Yet no one noticed that as Jun Shao left, his eyes briefly turned black and oozed black blood—then, in the blink of an eye, returned to normal, the black blood fully reabsorbed into his body.

The next moment, Jun Shao seemed noticeably livelier and cheerier, skipping off toward the martial duel arena to watch others fight.

After this disturbance, patrol numbers were greatly increased, and Chunuan City was temporarily sealed off—no more outsiders allowed in.

Amid these measures halting entry into Chunuan City, three riders on horseback were galloping toward the city along the Official Road, several kilometers away.

"Morning—just ahead is 【Chunuan City】. This time, we won't get lost!"

"It does look like it, but this is ridiculous! Why did we mistake 【Dao Tu City】 for 【Chunuan City】 last time and waste so much travel?"

"Don't blame me! I was starving, dizzy from the journey—even in the game, I felt like I was about to die. Mistaking the map was normal!"

"... That's a ridiculous mistake! By the way, what do you even do in real life? You seem to be living in misery—want me to sponsor you?"

Since learning the game affected reality, Chen Qing had grown increasingly indifferent to real-world matters—even money no longer mattered much to him.

But Jing Yan kept shaking his head, refusing to discuss reality.

First, he didn't want to get Chen Qing caught by the United Front.

Second… he couldn't bring himself to say it.

How could he admit he was currently imprisoned by the United Front, treated like a prisoner, struggling daily just to get decent meals by playing the game?

Add to that the recent exhaustion from travel, being shipped by plane to some 【Haiyu City】, his body feeling like it had fallen apart—thankfully Lin Ling was guarding him, or life would've been unbearable.

"Are you certain Xiao Ye is in 【Chunuan City】?" asked Lin Ling, his clear eyes fixed on them, his long spear slung across his back.

Though he knew refugees had special ways of communicating, he still repeatedly questioned them, unable to fully trust.

Lin Ling already knew how much effort Fang Yue had expended to save him—deep within the Phoenix Organization, carrying him out on his back... Without Fang Yue, he would have been dead long ago.

This debt of gratitude, Lin Ling had always kept in his heart, seeking an opportunity to repay it.

Now that he learned Fang Yue had rescued 【An Dong'er】 in Chunuan City, he naturally wanted to lend a hand as well.

Yet he vaguely knew that the situation in Chunuan City was far more complex than in Gu Yue Cun and Qingsi County—even it was not under the dominion of the 【Qingsi】, but ruled by the caravan guilds!

Therefore, they must act with caution, and not let these two ignorant refugees act recklessly.

"Don't worry—I asked Ye Ge before; he's still in Chunuan City, but recently he's been in seclusion to cultivate, so he temporarily turned off his phone. Let's first enter Chunuan City to gather information. With Ye Ge's strength, staying low-key is impossible—he should be easy to track down."

(End of Chapter)