CH 102

Without catching the expected body heat, Yin Ren’s heart felt empty.

Zhong Chengshuo had just broken free from his embrace. Yin Ren thought that due to the falling objects, Zhong Chengshuo wasn’t used to being restricted in his movements. Who would have thought that after a few seconds passed, he had just turned his attention away for an instant, and Zhong Chengshuo had evaporated in place.

Fu Xingchuan’s levitating spell was extremely fast. It felt like everyone was riding on a high-speed subway. As soon as they passed an unfinished building complex, Zhong Chengshuo was like a raindrop outside a window. In an instant, he was flung away to an unknown location.

In consternation, Yin Ren almost stopped in place. Luckily, his subconscious was screaming frantically, telling him that Fu Xingchuan wasn’t weak enough to be “embarrassed” in the literal sense. The usual magic spells couldn’t help Zhong Chengshuo, who had left the team completely on his own initiative.

The mountain town shook, the ground rumbled, and the tumbling mist turned turbid, all of which appeared to be warning signs of impending disaster. Coupled with those murderous townspeople, the above ground would only be more dangerous.

What was Zhong Chengshuo thinking?

This was probably the most pressing question Yin Ren had since meeting him.

The moment Zhong Chengshuo left the team, Fu Xingchuan, as the spell master, noticed a stagnation and was also aware of it.

As Yin Ren expected, Minister Fu didn’t stop for “one person”.

With Zhong Chengshuo’s character, he wouldn’t do such a stupid thing as jump frantically on the verge of death. His lover had to be very sure, so he didn’t need to worry too much…

Yet he was still worried.

After more than a thousand years of unencumbered days, Lord Ghost King, who had just tasted fetters for the first time, was irritable and restless, as if his entire body was crawling with ants. The taste was worse than he had ever imagined.

The ground was misty, and the underground was buzzing with a sound that was approaching from afar. Fu Xingchuan quickly rushed to the location of Xiang Jiang’s group. The levitation spell swept up the four of them like waves, leaving Zhong Chengshuo behind. Now, an eight-person team was floating in the sky.

“I’ll send you to Linzhen first.” In the howling wind, Fu Xingchuan raised his voice.

Li Nian was a top science post, while Qi Xin and Ren Jiying could also be considered good-quality “science post” personnel. As long as Professor Li was leading, it wouldn’t be too difficult to break through the mist.

While the dream was beautiful, the slap of reality gave everyone in Shian a few buckets of ice water.

Yellow Millet made an ear-piercing “leaky sound”, and its body shook rapidly. Countless invisible blades slashed through space, cutting everyone’s vision into neat cubes. The world in front of them was broken and rearranged like a jigsaw puzzle, as if the entire world had become a Rubik’s cube.

Their bodies were cut into thousands of pieces, spinning and tearing apart; they resembled a scrambled mess with skin, muscles, and organs randomly twisted. They couldn’t even move smoothly, let alone fight.

It was a typical cognitive confusion, which was a cognitive attack that Yellow Millet was best at.

In the gradually thick fog, the visibility was only a hundred meters, making it impossible to tell their direction.

The group of evil things was spinning frantically around the eight people as they desperately crowded towards their sides. In the fog, countless huge black shadows came forward. Xiang Jiang was already in a trance, and at this moment, he was completely stunned by the cognitive confusion, unable to move.

Xiang Hai discovered his brother’s crisis. He shook the wings of human faces, causing them to let out a mournful howl.

The surrounding evil beings stopped for an instant.

Fu Xingchuan seized this opportunity. He closed his eyes and relied on muscle memory to move. All the fire dragons that had just rescued the townspeople returned to their positions, biting their heads and tails around them to form a protective circle. The red circle formed a wall of fire, isolating them from Yellow Millet once more.

With cognitive confusion, the energy consumption of this task more than doubled. Fu Xingchuan panted desperately and fell downwards with gravity, attempting to put some distance from Yellow Millet…

A rumbling sound on the ground approached steeply, and a large stream of evil qi erupted from it.

Snake Swallowing.

Yin Ren had long been accustomed to the methods of his own sofa cushion. At this moment, his vision was clear.

The snake’s head, which was bigger than Yellow Millet, arched through the surrounding ruins and opened its mouth wide towards the group of eight.

It was unclear what Snake Swallowing did before it was submerged. Its aura was completely suppressed, and its body merged with the rocks. The scales, which were once shiny and prominent, turned into stones, and the delicate flesh beneath them turned into mud. Snake Swallowing’s eyes were reduced to two black holes, and its large mouth was filled with water-covered sharp stalactites.

Fu Xingchuan’s fire dragons wrapped around its exposed body—the firelight reflected showed it was covered with hundreds of caves and stone gates, which seemed as if it was done purposefully.

The huge and ominous beast was transformed into a living “tunnel elevator”. No wonder when they entered the “cave”, the traps and organs weren’t obvious—their enemies only needed to give instructions and the Snake Swallowing would act on its own and swallow them into the designated place.

Yin Ren couldn’t help but exhale. As expected of a town that had been infiltrated by Sunken Society for a long time. The combination of “research site” and “big trap” was just waiting for Shian to deliver themselves to their front door.

Now, there was Snake Swallowing at the bottom and Yellow Millet at the top. Their surroundings were crowded with evil beings and the townspeople had gathered nearby. Murderous auras and hostility came from all directions, mixing with the thick fog.

The eight people froze in mid-air, gathered together by Fu Xingchuan’s levitation spell. Fire dragons were constantly swimming around them.

The energy consumption was too much, and Fu Xingchuan couldn’t bear it any longer. His breathing was short and erratic, and the red tunic he was wearing was soaked and wrinkled with sweat, turning it a more wretched red. Yin Ren could perceive that the levitation spell was becoming less stable.

In order to ensure everyone’s safety, Fu Xingchuan flew closer to them; the distance was about less than an arm’s length away.

Yin Ren gritted his teeth.

If he tried to find Zhong Chengshuo, he wouldn’t escape Fu Xingchuan’s eyes, but if he didn’t…

He couldn’t do it.

The dilemma had to be resolved as soon as possible.

The evil qi around them was getting stronger. When Yellow Millet saw that their group was surrounded, it was finally willing to put in a little more effort. Yin Ren was very familiar with this attack method—

It constantly disturbed the five senses until the human brain froze due to being unable to process. At that time, the target would be like a deer in the headlights, making it easy to catch.

Even against masters, this trick could dull people’s thinking. The more dangerous the surroundings, the easier it was to use.

This was a move that he personally taught it.

It was better to wait to act decisively against his sofa cushion. Fu Xingchuan and the others were already overwhelmed, and they would…

“Help!” In the tumbling fog, suddenly a hoarse wailing of an old man sounded, followed by the strong scent of warm blood. “Don’t step on me. What’s going on? What’s wrong with you guys? …Don’t step on me. Help! Huizhen, Qiangzi! You guys, wake up—”

“Ack, ah…” The voice was full of pain.

Fu Xingchuan sighed from between his teeth. His brows were pouring sweat as he threw out a fire dragon.

The fire dragon dispelled the turbid fog and flew to the side of the caller. The white fog lifted, revealing an elderly man on the ground with blood on his face. A stout man was stepping on him, with a strong visible malice on his face.

Something brushed past the fire dragon—

There was no trace of evil qi on it, and the brilliance of the flames flashed across it.

An arrow from a short crossbow.

Fu Xingchuan realized something was wrong and shook his body slightly. However, with Yellow Millet interfering and him having to guard his companions, his movements were still a half beat slower.

The arrow from the crossbow shot firmly into his shoulder.

At the same moment, Yin Ren smelled a sweet, pungent scent.

The arrow was coated with poison.

The fire dragons that were blocking Yellow Millet and Snake Swallowing began to disperse, and the strength of the levitation spell plummeted. Fu Xingchuan swayed, and the eight of them fell towards Snake Swallowing’s mouth.

Li Nian didn’t panic. Against the influence of perception, he quickly took out something from his pocket and plunged it into Fu Xingchuan’s chest. “Xiang Jiang!”

Xiang Hai’s hemp rope knotted into a net that could hold several people.

Without the fire dragons blocking it, at the next moment, Snake Swallowing jumped up while Yellow Millet dove down.

Eight small figures disappeared in the collision of the two giants.

……

Not so long ago, in the center of the town, in an unfinished building.

Zhong Chengshuo retracted a metal hook from his sleeve and stopped perfectly on the edge of a tall building. The half-built reinforced concrete was still exposed. In just half a step, Zhong Chengshuo would plummet from a height of seven stories.

But there was only concentration and seriousness on his face.

The metal hook hooked down like a living thing, hitting every solid gap steadily. Zhong Chengshuo slid down the rope quickly and, in less than ten seconds, landed on the ground.

Zhong Chengshuo flicked his wrist. The metal hook in his hand turned into a curse like magic, transforming into the Evil Fruit. In the murky fog, the evil redness of the Evil Fruit also dimmed a bit.

He also put on a large-dial electronic watch on his other wrist. On the dial, there were dense red dots. Next to the red dots, there were also parameters, such as distance and evil qi index. The coverage area wasn’t large, but it was enough.

Zhong Chengshuo swept his gaze against the dial and then ran towards the “big red dot” closest to him.

The townspeople in the fog spotted the uninvited guest and let out indistinct growls as they lunged at him with their weapons. Unfortunately, their target was faster—he slipped into the complicated terrain like a fish in water and quickly climbed over the ruins and low walls, running quickly against the walls that were as thin as the soles on his shoes.

The townspeople only had time to realize that this person was unfamiliar, and just as they turned to attack, the target had melted into the depths of the fog.

“It can affect a large range of townspeople, but it can’t let them break through their own ability limitations.”

Overall, the townspeople still acted of their own will. From this alone, it was impossible to estimate the location.

Zhong Chengshuo neatly propped his hands on the wall, stepped on the shoulders of a sturdy townsman, and jumped briskly to a roof not far away.

His goal was close at hand. He couldn’t see it, but he could see two very conspicuous open spaces among the townspeople.

Almost at the same time, the dial trembled violently and made a buzzing alarm sound. Zhong Chengshuo hooked the corners of his mouth. The thin chain on the Evil Fruit slid out silently. He exerted force with his hand, and the cursed short knife shot out like a sharp arrow…

The blade of the knife passed through the air, and the vibration on the dial stopped. The rapidly flashing red dots disappeared, and there was a moment of dead silence in the air.

Zhong Chengshuo looked at the dial. Sure enough, when the “general” disappeared, the surrounding red dots reacted to varying degrees. Some just froze, while some moved directly towards it, as if to fill the gap left by the great evil thing.

Zhong Chengshuo smiled. He used the same technique again and rushed towards the other great evil thing.

The disappearance of the great evil thing by his hands would attract attention from the “evil being behind the scenes”, and such reaction speed wouldn’t be faked. As long as the data was sufficient, he could calculate its position.

No matter what it was.

This thick fog helped him—everyone in Shian was surrounded by evil spirits, and they had no time to mind other things, which was convenient for “King Yama” to move freely.

One, two, three…

After killing a fifth powerful evil thing, Zhong Chengshuo stopped. He lightly climbed onto a broken traffic light and hid himself at the intersection of the light poles to avoid the townspeople wandering in the fog.

The Evil Fruit was dragged by the thin chain and obediently returned to Zhong Chengshuo’s hand. He fiddled with it, causing the red blade to slide lightly between his fingers.

The location where the big red dot disappeared, the intensity difference, the reaction time difference, and the time between interval actions of the dots… Comprehensive calculations could determine the approximate location of the commander.

One computational model after another appeared in his mind.

His goal wasn’t far away.

His goal was in motion.

His goal…

Zhong Chengshuo stopped playing with the knife and looked into the depths of the fog.

……

In less than five minutes, accompanied by the long sound of brakes, Zhong Chengshuo jumped off the “temporarily recruited” motorcycle. He raised his head and looked at the huge monster in the fog.

“No wonder why I always felt that something was off.”

Zhong Chengshuo clenched the Evil Fruit as he muttered.

Since entering Gengsheng Town, it was difficult for him not to pay attention to the circular line that the townspeople respect. The train continued galloping, stopping, and circling the town on the tracks.

But since they broke through from underground, the sound of the loop line was extremely regular. In other words, it was simply too regular.

The train never seemed to stop again.

The metal hook flew out. Zhong Chengshuo climbed onto the railway track like a spider and then stood on the side. The mountain town wasn’t big, and the loop line wasn’t long. Within a few minutes, two beams of light broke through the thick fog and swept towards Zhong Chengshuo.

There was a faint smell in the air.

The smell was a little similar to Yin Ren’s, but it felt different—if Yin Ren’s smell was high-quality fragrant wood, then the smell near the train was more like a pungent inferior perfume that contained a rancid scent.

“An imitation of Yin Ren.”

Zhong Chengshuo pressed the sampling package with one hand.

“…I have to deal with it properly.”