“`
He caught the Three-legged Incense Burner with his left hand, and grabbed the gold-threaded White Jade Bracelet with his right.
Chen Mu couldn’t help but sigh, “This is troublesome.”
The person had died but was still able to come into contact with core members of the Netherworld Thread. It would definitely stir up trouble.
Chen Mu looked at the items in his hands, “Two troublesome things.”
The Jade Bracelet appeared ordinary, just like any common accessory.
Inside the Incense Burner, a green fluorescent liquid was stored, and a cluster of black Netherworld Thread slowly drifted within.
Chen Mu watched for a long time, but couldn’t find that exceptional meter-twenty.
“It can actually merge into one?!”
It can grow, it can split, and it can also merge.
“The Netherworld Thread is the leeks, and the Laborer Camp is the leek field,” Chen Mu realized but couldn’t help feeling sobered by the thought.
“It won’t be able to see the light of day in a short time.”
With a flick of his hand, both the Incense Burner and the Jade Bracelet disappeared.
The nine men standing upright inside the tent immediately collapsed to the ground with a thud.
…
Chen Mu also lay back down on his cot.
But five paper figures of Ghosts crawled out of the tent.
Once they flew up into the air, they immediately transformed into the form of Ghosts, scattering and flying into the camp.
“Luckily, the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse has broken through to Seventh Rank.” The Ghost-formed Five Ghosts, breaking free from the paper figure’s limitations and paired with the Soul Locking Curse, greatly extended the surveillance distance.
By Crescent Lake’s shore, the bright moonlight sprinkled over the camp, and the vast Laborer Camp was quiet. The personnel who usually patrolled at fixed points, were nowhere to be seen.
The invisible Five Ghosts hovered in midair. It didn’t take long for them to discover several emaciated elderly figures in black.
Black hoods and cloaks sparkling with green fluorescent light from the Three-legged Incense Burner, along with the occasional tinkling sound of the gold-threaded White Jade Bracelet.
“Does each person have a fixed district?” Chen Mu carefully discerned.
He noticed that each black-clothed person was in charge of a not-so-small area.
Moreover, they all acted alone, without companions.
Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief, “A large area means I won’t be pinpointed directly.”
“Acting alone means no one knows the old man’s movement trajectory.”
After some thought, Chen Mu recalled one of the Ghosts marked with the character ‘Qiu’.
He commanded it to hold the copper Incense Burner, the White Jade Bracelet, and a piece of the old man’s fallen cloak, and to roam around the camp.
It also occasionally sneaked into certain tents.
And whenever the Incense Burner approached a Laborer’s tent, Netherworld Thread would dart into it.
Before long, it had made its way around the emaciated old man’s district.
At the same time, it collected a string of Netherworld Thread dozens of meters long.
“With this, even if someone tracks by smell, they will definitely not find my location,” Chen Mu sighed with relief.
The more one does, the more mistakes one makes, and Chen Mu didn’t dare to act further.
He recalled the paper figures, leaving only one attached to the top of the tent, secretly monitoring the surroundings.
…
Deep into the night, past midnight, a dozen or more shadows rushed into the Laborer Camp.
“Father, the Netherworld Thread has been taken. There’s no sign of a fight either. If uncle five met with trouble, it must have been outside the camp,” Shangguan Yu frowned and said.
“Try the Wuding Ring,” Shangguan Ji remained unmoved.
Shangguan Yu hesitated for a moment, then raised her right hand, revealing the gold-threaded White Jade Bracelet on her wrist, and then quickly recited the Curse Command.
Hum hum hum…
A buzzing noise, like the whine of mosquitoes, emanated from the White Jade Bracelet.
“It seems to be here, yet it seems not to be,” Shangguan Yu puzzled.
“It’s right here,” Shangguan Ji squinted towards the silent camp.
“Someone capable of shielding from the Wuding Ring, I wonder which family’s rat it is.”
“Starting tomorrow, search twice a day, turn the Dingyou Laborer Camp upside down,” Shangguan Ji said flatly.
“The other party likely comes from another major family, probably with considerable strength,” Shangguan Yu hesitated.
“No matter. Just startle him out is good enough,” Shangguan Ji waved dismissively, then said, “From now on, when collecting Netherworld Thread, move in groups of three. No one should act alone.”
“Yes!” The dozen or so people beside him bowed and took the command.
“Yu’er, lead people to ambush outside. Capture any suspicious individuals. If they dare to resist, show no mercy,” he ordered.
“Yes,” Shangguan Yu nodded solemnly.
“Bai niece, I’m afraid we’ll need your help to assist Yu’er,” Shangguan Ji turned around, speaking in a mild tone to the robust figure standing behind a few people.
“Okay,” Bai Miaojin responded calmly.
The group arrived quickly and departed just as swiftly.
Leaving behind only five or six black-clothed men, hidden in form, guarding outside the Dingyou Laborer Camp.
Bai Miaojin also stayed behind.
“Dingyou section? Sun Dawang seems to be in the Dingyou section, could he be the one behind this?”
“`
Sometime, a girl in emerald green appeared out of nowhere next to Bai Miaojin.
“Don’t cause trouble,” Bai Miaojin said indifferently.
Cui Cui giggled, “Not causing trouble, not causing trouble, heh heh…”
…
The lean old man disappeared.
This triggered some disturbance, yet it seemed nothing had changed.
Besides the morning and evening checks of the iron bracelets, nothing else had changed.
The Tangshan Army still went into the mountains to capture ghosts for training.
Your next journey awaits at M-V-L
The Laborer Camp still worked, ate, and raised leeks.
In the afternoon, after dinner, the Logistics Army of Dingyou Camp lined up to head to the center of the camp for inspection.
Chen Mu popped a Bigu Pill into his mouth, maintained the Cloud Mirage Breathing Method, and followed the queue forward leisurely.
Slap!
A short, muffled sound came from Chen Mu’s chest.
The rhythm he had just adjusted was scattered.
The corner of Chen Mu’s mouth twitched.
Zheng Yuan turned suspiciously.
Chen Mu raised his hand and slapped his chest, knocking out the Silver Thread Fish he had caught the previous night, then said indifferently, “Itchy.”
“Why do you itch every time we line up?” Shortie doubted.
Chen Mu’s eyelid twitched. I don’t want this either.
Who knew Netherworld Thread would be so overbearing.
The dying Silver Thread Fish, once parasitized, immediately became lively.
“Why is there a fishy smell?” Shortie’s glance at Chen Mu was full of suspicion.
“Did you sneak out again?!” Zheng Yuan exclaimed in astonishment.
With daily checks and constant patrols, the supervision of the Dingyou sector was almost unbreakable!
And yet, this guy still managed to sneak out to catch fish?
Dawang is really skilled!
“No way, we are together all day, and I have never seen you go out,” Shortie doubted.
Of course, I didn’t go out; it was the ghost paper figure that went out.
“I will treat you to dried fish tonight,” Chen Mu said indifferently.
“Alright!” Shortie immediately grinned from ear to ear, asking no further questions.
…
For five consecutive days, the search continued, even showing signs of becoming routine.
The Dingyou Camp was quiet at night.
Inside the Logistics Army tent, it was silent.
Chen Mu stared at the top of the tent, puzzled, “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Why are they so certain that the culprit is still in the Ding sector?”
Chen Mu couldn’t help but look at the Five Ghosts Bag.
“Isolation not thorough?” Chen Mu began to suspect.
“Then these things can’t stay,” Chen Mu regretted.
He had intended to keep them to show Jie Jia, to ask what they were.
Too bad…
“Finding the Thousand Mechanism Token is more important.”
“What should be discarded must be discarded; we can’t leave hidden dangers.”
His gaze settled on the Five Ghosts Bag. The incense burner, jade bracelets, and iron ring all lay quietly in a little compartment.
Next to them was a Silver Thread Fish, which was currently flipping and flopping about.
Fished out last night, and still not dead now!
“Gotta say, this Netherworld Thread really has something to it.”
With a thought, the incense burner, jade bracelets, and his own iron ring were all taken out.
Without the suppression, the Netherworld Thread instantly flew out.
Whoosh!
The fish that had just been lively instantly turned into dried fish.
“The texture is soft and hasn’t changed, the body fluids have had most of their water drawn out and evaporated. So it looks like it’s been drained,” Chen Mu manipulated the Silver Thread Fish.
“It didn’t die from dehydration, nor from any physical injuries.”
“It’s the loss of something that instantly removed the characteristics of life.”
Chen Mu thought of the lean old man’s method and shivered, “If it can suck out a fish’s life, could it also suck out a person’s life?”
“Tens of thousands of laborers, their lives in someone else’s hands?!”
“That’s truly ruthless…”