Chapter 20 Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival (Part 2)
"No! No! No!"
"Keep asking, asking, asking, it's really annoying! And look how ugly your lantern is!"
Yue Shan finally ran out of patience, her face contorted as she blurted out.
Wang Dongdong and Yi Chunxian were stunned, never expecting Yue Shan to be so impolite.
Although Yue Shan usually had a fiery temper, she would never lash out at someone she had just met like this.
The stall owner, however, smiled with great satisfaction, though it was impossible to tell how a smile could be seen on a face without lips.
"Since you don't want to guess, then stay and be my lantern!"
With that, before they could even react, a pair of bruised hands reached out and tightly clutched Yue Shan's arms, dragging her into the darkness behind the stall despite her struggles.
Then, Yue Shan's cries abruptly vanished behind the blood-red lanterns.
The stall owner remained seated, grinning and smiling at Wang Dongdong and Yi Chunxian.
"Run!"
Wang Dongdong pulled Yi Chunxian, who was too scared to move, and ran.
Her mind finally cleared.
This was Guai Qi!
Although she had followed Seniors from the Exploration Division to deal with several Guai Qi incidents, she had never encountered an activated Guai Qi. They always cleaned up the scene after the Guai Qi had erupted and helped contain the weird objects, so she hadn't realized it immediately.
Furthermore, the rules of Guai Qi would cause creatures within a Weird Domain to fall into mental confusion, and even she, an Initial Realm Rank Five Cultivator, was no exception.
Although she had now sobered up, she had completely missed the chance to save Yue Shan.
Wang Dongdong was filled with regret.
But now was not the time for regret.
Because another lantern riddle stall appeared before them.
...
Liu Sheng was in the Imperial Storage, comparing the 'Yi Yu Memory Notes' she had written to research the function of the "world," when suddenly the spirit message at her waist beeped a few times.
"All Weaving Institute colleagues still in Li County, upon receiving this message, please come to the Exploration Division immediately!"
As soon as she pressed the spirit message, Zhang Yuanzheng's voice transmission sounded.
Didn't they say these few days were holidays? Why would Zhang Yuanzheng be at the Weaving Institute at this time?
And why were all of them summoned to the Exploration Division, a place she had never even had the chance to step foot in.
One must know, her only interaction with the Exploration Division was the handover of weird objects, and the Exploration Division had always delivered the weird objects directly to the Imperial Storage.
Liu Sheng was puzzled, but she also knew that there must be some major emergency for such an order to be issued.
Immediately, she quickly tucked her notes and the "world" into her Storage Pouch, locked the door, exited the Imperial Storage courtyard, passed through a series of corridors, and walked towards the Exploration Division.
These two items had far surpassed this world; she dared not leave them in the Imperial Storage.
The Exploration Division's courtyard was in the north corner of the Weaving Institute, and entry and exit required an Exploration Division pass.
At this moment, an Exploration Division colleague was already standing at the entrance to receive them.
He had a serious expression, was of medium build, and appeared to be around thirty-five years old. As soon as he saw Liu Sheng, he directly took out his pass, pressed it against the door, and once the door opened, he led her inside.
"It was truly sudden. A large-scale Guai Qi incident has erupted in the center of Li County. We'll discuss the specific situation inside. In short, we can only follow Yuan Zheng's arrangements."
Liu Sheng's heart tightened upon hearing this. Li County was currently holding the Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival, teeming with people. Once Guai Qi erupted, countless people would be implicated.
Moreover, she remembered Wang Dongdong had also gone; she wondered how she was doing now.
Currently, only Zhang Yuanzheng and another colleague from the Training Division were seated in the main hall of the Exploration Division.
Zhang Yuanzheng saw Liu Sheng had also arrived and gestured for her to sit down.
The Exploration Division colleague who brought her in then left again.
The colleague from the Training Division was a gentle, watery woman in a yellow dress, appearing to be over thirty. She actively nodded to Liu Sheng and greeted her, "I've finally met Liu Siku, our Weaving Institute's great contributor. I am Song Haiyin, Deputy Siku of the Training Division. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The Training Division was the department responsible for personnel training and advanced studies at the local Weaving Institute. Its main duties were to formulate daily training plans for the Exploration Division and prepare the necessary venues, equipment, and tonics for training. They did not interact much with the Imperial Storage normally. For Liu Sheng, she had only had contact during her initial induction training, and there had been no further contact since.
Zhang Yuanzheng was using his spirit message, seemingly contacting someone, without even lifting his head, and did not speak to them.
After a while, the Exploration Division colleague walked in alone, shaking his head at Zhang Yuanzheng with a solemn expression.
Zhang Yuanzheng sighed, "Alright, it seems everyone is here."
"Three days of holiday, either going home or to the lantern festival, who would have thought..." Zhang Yuanzheng was very worried, then said seriously, "The situation is critical now. I presume you already know that Guai Qi has suddenly erupted in Li County, and the Weird Domain is vast, encompassing the entire county town and street areas."
"Including the County Yamen."
The last sentence Zhang Yuanzheng emphasized was of no small importance. One must know that a crucial task when Guai Qi occurs is to evacuate and isolate the populace, which requires coordination by the Earth-Grade Yamen.
However, the inside and outside of the Weird Domain cannot communicate with each other, meaning that the entire Li County is now without a leader, and more innocent commoners might mistakenly wander into the Weird Domain.
"Moreover, according to the values Fu Ze detected at the edge of the Weird Domain, this Guai Qi should be above extreme danger."
Fu Ze was the colleague who had just brought Liu Sheng in; he also nodded, agreeing with Zhang Yuanzheng's words.
Song Haiyin gasped, "Guai Qi above extreme danger, and with such a wide range, should not have appeared in Tang Country for nearly several decades."
"Yes, the last time such a scale and Rank occurred was the 'Lin'an Incident' sixty-three years ago, where over six thousand people died in the disaster." Liu Sheng recited the history of Guai Qi, "The only fortunate thing now is that Lin'an's population is a thousand times that of Li County."
"But now is the Li County Pear Blossom Lantern Festival, with a dense population and many tourists. Conservatively estimated, there should be over a thousand people trapped inside," Fu Ze sighed.
"Therefore, it is now necessary for our Weaving Institute to step forward. Although everyone usually belongs to different departments and has different responsibilities, generally speaking, resisting Guai Qi and protecting the commoners is the responsibility of all personnel of our Weaving Institute," Zhang Yuanzheng said seriously.
"If it weren't for the fact that only Fu Ze remains in the Exploration Division, I wouldn't want Deputy Siku Song and Liu Siku to put themselves in danger, but now there's no choice... Fu Ze, obey the order!"
Fu Ze immediately stood up and responded, "Yes."
"I order you to lead a team into the Weird Domain, search for surviving Weaving Institute members, and work together to resolve the Guai Qi and rescue the commoners."
Zhang Yuanzheng then looked at Liu Sheng and Song Haiyin.
"Deputy Siku Song, Liu Siku, you two are hereby appointed as temporary Exploration Division team members, assisting Captain Fu in completing the mission."
If the Guai Qi is not resolved in time, as it devours more and more living beings, it will grow and spread rapidly. According to the current Rank, location, and affected commoners of this Guai Qi, both rationally and emotionally, people must be sent in to fight, even if it's just a drop in the bucket.
Song Haiyin and Liu Sheng also understood this principle. Although they had never participated in an exploration mission, they could only accept the order: "Yes!"
"I have already contacted the Weaving Bureau, and they are arranging personnel to come and assist, so you don't need to worry too much. Ensuring as many people as possible survive is more important."
Zhang Yuanzheng also knew that Song Haiyin's cultivation was not high, and Liu Sheng had no cultivation at all. Sending them in was truly dangerous, so he could only comfort them:
"I will first set up the formation to prevent commoners from mistakenly entering the Weird Domain, and then I will also go in to support you."
"Yuan Zheng, no! Setting up a formation of such a scale consumes a huge amount of Qi, and if you come in afterwards, you might be in danger!" Fu Ze exclaimed.
Especially when Cultivators are internally depleted, contact with Guai Qi can easily lead to madness. He didn't voice this, as everyone knew it.
"It's fine, only I can do this," Zhang Yuanzheng said as if it didn't matter much.
Normally, if a formation of this scale were to be activated, at least five Cultivators of Initial Realm Rank Six or higher would be arranged, but now with insufficient manpower, only he, a Mingzhen Realm Cultivator, could take the field.
"Later, Captain Fu will take you to collect your protective gear and equipment. The situation within the Weird Domain is still unclear. I will depart first. Everyone, please take care of yourselves."
Zhang Yuanzheng finally exhorted.