A deserted village at night. A dilapidated old house, its walls collapsed.
Ahead, Captain Wuu Jingtian was nothing but an Official Uniform, his body completely corroded by a grayish-yellow mist.
To the right, Ye Han had a small bald patch on his head and lay unconscious on the ground.
Han Anbo and Yur Ping sat together, while Deng Hex and Zeng Youqian of the Demon Hunting Bureau sat together. The four of them, faces numb, stared blankly at Li Qingxian with vacant eyes.
Li Qingxian grinned. "Not dead?" he asked.
The four felt as if they had returned from another world, having just experienced a terrifying nightmare, yet they couldn’t recall the specifics.
Countless images flitted through their minds, impossible to grasp.
Han Anbo suddenly pointed ahead and exclaimed, "Look!"
Li Qingxian turned to look behind him and to the side, a chill running through his entire body.
A dozen or so paces away, burial mounds rose and fell in undulating rows.
Withered poles stood erect, tattered banners fluttering in the wind.
There were no tombstones, only graves.
As the wind blew, the wild grass on the mounds swayed gently.
The White Tower, the Dark House, the Five Goddess Temple, the ginkgo tree—all had vanished.
Only the great pagoda tree at the village entrance remained standing tall.
Even though they were in the wilderness, they couldn’t hear the chirping of insects or birds.
Li Qingxian fell silent, recalling what had happened.
Celestial Destiny Mountain.
An old man with a white beard and hair watched as the sea of lightning and the suspended sun slowly dissipated. After a brief Inference, he thought to himself, ’An inverted sea of lightning and a sun rising in reverse... it interferes with Observing Fate and Qi. I’ve never seen such a phenomenon in my life; it could only have been triggered by Ye Han. This was a bit beyond my predictions, and Ye Han has been greatly injured. However, his Fate Grid is magnificent. This trial will certainly lay a solid foundation for his rise. Since he has passed this calamity, he no longer needs my protection. I can enter seclusion with peace of mind.’
The old man turned and left.
「The former site of Fangyuan Village.」
Li Qingxian slowly stood up and looked around.
A sliver of light remained in the western sky. Though night had just fallen, a crescent moon was already about to set.
Under a half-black, half-blue sky, the surroundings were a vast wilderness. Besides the undulating rows of burial mounds, there was only the deserted village.
Li Qingxian walked to the spot where the Deceitful Mother had left, and with a wave of his hand, he stored the Rattle and the Divine Pattern Flying Sword into his Qiankun Ring.
"Someone’s here!" Han Anbo said in a low voice.
Li Qingxian turned his head.
A figure emerged from atop a nearby slope.
The man was tall, with a scimitar and a Cone Sword hanging at his sides. A vicious scar ran diagonally across his face, having taken off a corner of his nose.
His lips were pale and chapped, the front of his chest was soaked with water, and he was chewing on dried meat.
"Uncle Xiaozhou?" Li Qingxian said.
"You’re alright?" Zhou Henn’s voice, carried by True Qi, traveled from afar.
Li Qingxian nodded forcefully.
Zhou Henn took out a Communication Talisman Disc from his back pouch, gathered the last of his True Qi, and strode over the grass. The moment they met, he held out his hand and said, "Got any fresh food?"
Li Qingxian swiped a hand over his Qiankun Ring and pulled out a fragrant roasted chicken.
Zhou Henn froze for a moment, then stepped forward to block the view. "Quick, change its form! Turn it into a bracelet," he whispered.
With a thought from Li Qingxian, the Qiankun Ring slowly transformed into a bracelet of a Black Dragon holding a black Gemstone in its mouth, which he wore on his left wrist.
Zhou Henn glanced at it, nodded, then tore off a large drumstick and began to eat voraciously, stuffing large mouthfuls into his mouth.
Li Qingxian looked back at Han Anbo and the other three. Aside from Han Anbo, who seemed slightly better, the other three still had dazed expressions.
Yur Ping sniffed, his eyes quickly clearing. He stared at the chicken leg in Zhou Henn’s hand, his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, and he asked, "Why are we in a graveyard?"
"Yeah? Where is everyone else?" Deng Hex, a young man in his twenties, asked as he looked around.
Zeng Youqian, a short, stout middle-aged man, frowned and said, "I remember we were ensnared by a Deceit..."
Zeng Youqian’s voice trailed off abruptly as a look of terror flashed in all four of their eyes.
Zhou Henn swallowed a mouthful of chicken and mumbled, "That’s right. You were ensnared by a Deceit, and I was trapped by one. It’s been four days."
"Let’s talk later. First, let’s check our surroundings." Han Anbo stood up, gave Li Qingxian a meaningful look, then drew his Night Saber. He took out a flint, lit a torch he was carrying, and held it high to slowly survey the area.
"If you’re not eating the chicken butt, can I have it?" Yur Ping asked, looking timidly at Zhou Henn.
Zhou Henn shot Yur Ping a disdainful look, broke off the tail end, and tossed it over. After a moment’s thought, he stripped the skin off the chicken neck and ate it before tossing the neck and the head over as well.
Yur Ping caught them, picked out the two yellow lumps from under the tail, and put them in his mouth, chewing slowly.
Han Anbo cursed, "We’re in this situation, and you’re still thinking about eating chicken butt?"
"Eating some ass to calm my nerves," Yur Ping said with a straight face.
Li Qingxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Yur Ping’s remark, and followed Han Anbo.
Han Anbo lowered his voice. "You were ensnared by a Deceit and vanished for days. The Black Lamp Department will definitely come. There are some things you can say, and some you shouldn’t. Of course, if you want to join the Black Lamp Department, you can say more."
"I wouldn’t join the Black Lamp Department if you beat me to death. I don’t want to deal with Deceits all day long," Li Qingxian said.
"Then you’d better think carefully about your story. The Black Lamp Department has Lying Insects..."
After the two had talked for a bit, Zhou Henn took out his Communication Talisman Disc. He listened for a moment, then said, "When we lost contact, Lord Zhou came looking for you. Halfway here, he sent a message to the nearby Lord Songg, Songg Yunjing, asking for help. Who would have thought that Beichen City, where Lord Songg is stationed, was besieged by the Demon Race? The County Magistrate was killed in battle, and Mr. Songg, as the County Magistrate, is currently fighting off the Demon Race. Beichen City could fall at any moment, so Lord Zhou had no choice but to leave the Black Lamp Department to find you while he went to defend Beichen City himself. He was very happy to hear the good news that you resolved the Deceit. He told me to contact the Black Lamp Department and have them take you back to the Divine Capital immediately. You are not to go to Beichen City."
As Zhou Henn spoke, he took a green bamboo tube from his back pouch, stood it on the ground, ignited it with True Essence, and took several steps back.
WHOOSH... CRACK!
The bamboo tube shot into the sky and exploded like a firework, finally coalescing into the shape of a Token. The character for "Night" was faintly visible on it.
"Songg Yunjing? The one who was demoted five times in a single day for his frank petition to the throne?" Li Qingxian asked.
"Besides him, what other dignified Senior Fourth Grade Great Scholar Cultivator would condescend to be an Eighth Grade County Magistrate in Beichen City? Lord Zhou said he was a good friend of your father’s."
Li Qingxian nodded. "We met four or five times, and I’m fairly well-acquainted with his son, Songg Baige—Brother Songg. When my father passed away, Mr. Songg couldn’t come, but Songg Baige kept vigil with me during the mourning period."
Han Anbo, who was standing to the side, added, "So it’s Champion Scholar Lord Songg. He was demoted during Emperor Tiankang’s reign and has never been reinstated in over ten years, which is a real pity. However, his reputation in the Scholarly Community is immense. He comes from a long line of scholars, with five consecutive generations producing Middle Grade talents, and his son, Songg Baige, was the Runner-Up Scholar. The book he wrote, *Ritual Annotation*, is said to be the most popular commentary among Literature Cultivators. Lord Zhou himself admitted that when it comes to the path of classical studies, he is far inferior to Lord Songg."
"He really is extraordinary. Demoted to County Magistrate when he was a Junior Fifth Grade, yet over the past ten-plus years, his Literature Cultivation has advanced instead of regressed, and he reached Senior Fourth Grade long ago..." Li Qingxian suddenly said, "Wait. Two Senior Fourth Grade Literature Cultivators defending the city? Has something major happened?"
Zhou Henn nodded. "The Demon Race has attacked the Great River Guard Army. Demons lying in wait throughout Yanzhou have gathered to attack remote cities. The Imperial Court’s main army can only reinforce the front lines first, they can’t spare troops for a small, remote city like Beichen City. However, Lord Zhou said that they only need to hold out for a month at most before the main army arrives at Beichen City, so you don’t need to worry. With two Senior Fourth-Grade cultivators defending the city, the Demon Race won’t be able to take it, even if they send a Third Grade expert."
"Should we head back on our own or wait for the Black Lamp Department?"
Zhou Henn looked up at the sky. "Let’s wait for the Black Lamp Department. If we take a Black Lamp Vehicle, we can get back to the Divine Capital Bureau quickly. By the way, what exactly did you all go through?"