Bailang River bank, a hidden bend in the river.
A patch of turf was suddenly flipped open.
Chen Mu leapt up, followed closely by Zheng Yuan and Sun Enqi, who crawled out of the tunnel.
“No wonder you can escape from the camp every day.” Zheng Yuan looked back and could vaguely see the outline of the camp through the reeds.
“Stop the crap, let’s move!” Chen Mu’s face was looking none too good.
It was already dusk, with only a sliver of light remaining.
Chen Mu quickly noticed a faint white mist beginning to spread in the air.
He was all too familiar with this life-draining mist.
“Cheng Yi!”
…
Bang!
A muffled sound, and the roof of the fire watchtower to the north of the city blew up instantly.
Cheng Yi, like a rock launched from a trebuchet, crashed into the ground a short distance away, bringing tiles, splinters, mud, and bricks with him.
Dirt splattered, and Cheng Yi, covered in black, lay sprawled with his arms open in a large crater about three meters in diameter.
A trickle of fresh blood hung from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were calmly gazing at the emotionless and demon-like Tu Shan. Find adventures at empire
“Do you take me for a fool?” Tu Shan spoke indifferently, “This white mist, it’s your doing, isn’t it?”
But Cheng Yi responded unhurriedly, tilting his head slightly with a smile on his face, “Without enough benefits, why should I help you kill for a blood sacrifice, just because your fists are hard enough?”
“Since we’re going to kill, I might as well refine my Magic Artifact on the side, that’s not too much, is it? Ha… hahaha… hahahaha.” Cheng Yi grinned, laughing crazily, and shook his right hand. A Bronze Bell suddenly fell from his sleeve into his hand.
The bell was ancient and substantial, with threads of black and red stripes like lightning streaking across it. A single glance was enough to unsettle one’s spirit.
Jet Black Soul Strength slowly covered Tu Shan’s entire body, his eyes coldly fixed on the bell, his aura filled with murderous intent.
“You want to kill me?” Cheng Yi’s smile didn’t fade, “Then you’ll have to wait.”
“At least wait until midnight tonight, when I help you activate the Yin Spirit Blood Sacrifice formation.”
“I just don’t know whether by that time, you, Tu Shan, will choose to kill me first or go after the Thousand Mechanism Token first,” said Cheng Yi with a smirking smile.
Tu Shan was silent for a long moment, then looked calmly at Cheng Yi, “Chao Fang didn’t die in vain at your hands.”
“I live for the path, he died for the path, of course it’s not in vain!” Cheng Yi’s smile broadened even more.
…
To the south of Qingshan County Town, a swarm of Startling Swan Gang members burst into the city.
Each one carried a torch, smashing and looting everywhere.
A hidden alleyway, where three men in black, carrying a dim lantern, tread carefully towards the west, one step deep, the next shallow.
“Is that cellar reliable, is there really treasure inside?” Kui Tuo was skeptical.
“You can doubt anything else, but you can certainly trust me on this,” Zhang Ye, the former leader of White Tiger Hall, said with confidence.
He had regained his former status, becoming the leader of White Tiger Hall once again, after his men were annihilated attacking the Tangshan Army Laborer Camp.
Now, he was leading his right-hand men into the city to make a fortune.
“Back then, I was the leader of a gang.”
“The whole Qingshan County gave me some respect.”
Zhang Ye talked endlessly about the old glorious days.
“Will you shut up? Just a small-time gang boss of a little county, and you’re blowing it sky-high!” Kui Tuo didn’t buy it.
“What’s wrong with being a gang boss?” Zhang Ye was not ashamed, but proud instead, “A gang boss’s information is always accurate.”
“The cellar is inside a warehouse in West Market, secretly constructed by City Guard Colonel Li Wenlin.”
“Li Wenlin was greedy and lecherous, extorting without limit. When I found out he was secretly building a cellar, I sensed something strange and immediately had people tail him.”
“Every month, he would bring a large cart of wooden boxes into the cellar of the warehouse.” Zhang Ye chuckled, “Guess what’s inside…”
“The treasures he’s extorted?” Kui Tuo’s eyes lit up.
“Exactly!” Zhang Ye said, his fist thumping into his palm, looking absolutely certain.
“I’ve wanted to clean him out for a long time!” Zhang Ye squinted, chuckling, “I even found three tomb robbers especially, and had them dig a tunnel right up to that cellar.”
“It’s just bad luck that I ran into a lunatic, and before I got the chance, the Bailang Gang disbanded.” Zhang Ye looked wistful.
Kui Tuo gave Zhang Ye a look that was hard to describe.
When it came to being a gang boss, you truly are a talent!
“Li Wenlin died unexpectedly, and he certainly didn’t have time to move his wealth.”
“If we follow the tunnel straight to the target, this vast wealth for us will be like taking something out of a bag!” Zhang Ye laughed heartily.
“Just follow me and get ready to make a fortune!”
“Searching your bag for something?” Kui Tuo glared at Zhang Ye with a sidelong look.
“Stop blabbering!” Zhang Ye snapped, annoyed, “Let’s go now!”
…
Advancing with a frown, Chen Mu moved through the eerie thick fog.
It had only been a light fog just now, but as the sun set, the mist had quickly grown dense. Now he couldn’t even see his own fingers in front of him.
He could only move forward by relying on memory for direction.
“Fatty, keep up, we should be there soon,” Chen Mu said uncertainly.
But after taking a few steps, Chen Mu suddenly stopped; he whipped around, only to find a blanket of fog behind him.
The figures of Zheng Yuan and others, who had been following behind him, had already disappeared without a trace.
A sudden jump went through Chen Mu’s heart.
“Fatty! Uncle Seven!” Chen Mu shouted loudly.
But as his voice spread, there was not a single response from the surroundings.
Worse still, the sounds of insects, wind, and water had all vanished. It was like he had suddenly walked into a vast, soundproof hall. The silence was frightening.
“Can’t wait any longer!” After shouting a couple more times to no response, Chen Mu promptly strode away.
He did not want to stay in this strange fog for another minute!
…
Two quarters of an hour later, Chen Mu stopped walking with a grim face.
He was lost!
The fog was still as silent as ever, with a white expanse in all directions.
The Five Ghosts Yin Spirit emerged, but as soon as they assumed their spectral form, they dissolved into black smoke and turned back into paper effigies.
“The Ghosts are suppressed? The Yin Cultivating Tactic!”
“Cheng Yi! Chao Fang!”
“With a gray wall, any skill can be honed sooner or later. I really shouldn’t have been greedy for Proficiency in the Spirit Armor Technique,” Chen Mu regretted.
“I should have left the night I got the Thousand Mechanism Token!”
While he was feeling aggravated, the fog beside him suddenly churned.
A man in a gray short tunic burst out of the mist.
In his right hand, he held a waist blade, and in his left, he protected a bloody black bundle at his chest.
Upon seeing Chen Mu, a look of terror immediately surfaced on his face.
He took two steps back instinctively, then stopped abruptly.
His eyes were densely bloodshot as he glared fiercely at Chen Mu, “I could kill you while you were alive, and I can still kill you after you’re dead!”
With that, he raised his waist blade and rushed towards Chen Mu.
Bang!
He came quickly and left just as fast, bent over and flying backward like a shrimp, only to crash to the ground and fall into unconsciousness.
The bundle he had protected at his chest scattered open, with copper coins, Silver Pieces, jade bracelets, and pearl necklaces strewn all over the ground.
Chen Mu frowned at the burly man, “Ran out here after robbing treasures? Blinded by killing rage?”
But as he looked on, he suddenly saw the burly man’s head loll, and he stopped breathing altogether.
A chill ran down Chen Mu’s spine.
He had held back in his attack, merely knocking the man out.
It was the fog!
“I must leave quickly!”
“The direction this man came from must be Qingshan County Town. I can’t go there.”
Chen Mu turned and headed in the direction from which the man had come running.
But after sprinting only a few hundred meters, another man covered in blood ran towards him.
Upon seeing Chen Mu, the man screamed in terror as if he had seen some frightful ghost, turned tail, and ran.
Chen Mu immediately froze.
“If the direction that man came from was the county town, then where is this man running from?”
Waves of terrified screams suddenly came from all directions.
Chen Mu looked around blankly.
He was completely lost in the dense fog.