The Strange City

As Shopkeeper Mo looked at the Sword Leaf Lu Nan handed over, his fair, plump cheeks flushed crimson.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he stretched out trembling hands and respectfully accepted the Sword Leaf.

"Many thanks, Immortal Master Lu!!!" Shopkeeper Mo said, trembling as he bowed.

The others in the restaurant watched this scene, their eyes brimming with envy and jealousy.

They wished desperately that they were the ones receiving the Sword Leaf.

"Though this is a promise, it must remain within my capabilities.

If it is beyond them, I will not concern myself with it!!" Lu Nan said softly as he looked at the bowing Shopkeeper Mo.

"This lowly one understands! Understands!!!"

Lu Nan nodded at that, then vanished in a flash.

The moment Lu Nan left, the entire restaurant became lively.

Everyone crowded around Shopkeeper Mo, greeting him enthusiastically.

It was also on that day that word spread that the shopkeeper of Mo Xian Restaurant had gained an immortal's protection.

The news swept through all of Azure Lotus Market, causing quite a stir.

Lu Nan knew nothing of the commotion in Azure Lotus Market.

After leaving Mo Xian Restaurant, he headed straight out of Azure Lotus Market.

Following the map provided by the sect, he hurried toward the Wang Family a thousand li away.

As he looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings before him, Lu Nan felt both complicated emotions and boundless fury.

Though nearly a year had passed, he had not forgotten this place.

The land beneath his feet was where he had awakened back then.

It was also where he had nearly died. Had his luck not been good,

he would likely have already entered reincarnation. He had never expected this day to come so quickly.

He had said back then that he would definitely take revenge.

After stepping onto the path of cultivation, he had learned that the masked men who had hunted him and the others down

were cultivators—and not ordinary cultivators at that.

Now that he thought about it carefully, several among them had been in the Qi Condensation stage.

He opened the map again and looked at the Wang Family, less than three hundred li away.

A cold gleam flashed through his eyes. With a flicker of his body, he accelerated toward the Wang Family.

Two more days passed before he finally caught sight of a manor hidden amid the mountains and forests.

Upon seeing the manor, Lu Nan did not rashly advance. Instead, he stopped.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Nan chose to observe first. Acting on the thought, he swiftly concealed himself.

He secretly watched the distant Wang Family Mansion.

He watched for one or two days, yet Lu Nan discovered nothing during that time.

Just as he was preparing to change tactics, the motionless Wang Family Mansion finally stirred.

The tightly shut gates abruptly opened, and a group of people dressed in black robes emerged.

Lu Nan's pupils shrank at the sight, as distant memories surged into his mind once more.

These people's attire was exactly the same as that of the group that had hunted him down back then.

Yet Lu Nan did not act impulsively. Instead, he reined in his aura to the utmost limit.

Unless one looked carefully, it was impossible to discover him.

Looking at the Black-Robed Men who were about to depart, then at the Wang Family Mansion's gates closing once more,

Lu Nan thought it over and decided to stay put for now. Since these people had gone out, they would return.

He could see whether he gained anything then. If not, he would make other plans.

Over the following days, Lu Nan remained in the same place without leaving.

Yet he gained nothing, until the fourth day, when the situation finally changed.

From afar, he sensed a group of people rapidly approaching the Wang Family Mansion.

He hurriedly concealed his aura and quietly poked his head out to take a look.

It was the group of Black-Robed Men who had left four days earlier. As he looked at their unchanged attire,

Lu Nan frowned. He sensed a thick stench of blood from these people.

It was as though they had just gone through a bloody slaughter.

A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes. Were these all members of the Wang Family?

What had they gone out to do??

Over the past few days, the entire Wang Family Mansion had given him a deathly, lifeless feeling.

It was as though there were no living people inside, yet the Black-Robed Men who had gone out disproved that.

"Looks like if I want to figure this out, I'll have to enter the Wang Family Mansion."

Staring at the distant manor, Lu Nan let out a faint sigh.

"Before that, I should first scout out the situation elsewhere."

"I remember the map showing a City a hundred li away.

Why not go there and investigate first!!!"

He gave the Wang Family Mansion a deep look, then quietly departed.

An hour later, a towering City appeared before Lu Nan.

He descended into a corner at the City's edge.

After putting away his Flying Sword in his Ring, he prepared to enter the City.

But after taking only two steps, he caught the scent of a dense stench of blood.

His expression immediately changed, and without a second thought, he flashed away into the distance.

Narrowing his eyes, he studied the towering City, watching the soldiers pacing back and forth atop its walls

and the commoners entering and leaving through its gates.

"Wrong! This is wrong!! There is definitely something wrong with this City. Such a heavy stench of blood

could only come from a large-scale massacre. If it came from within the City, then it could only be the slaughter of the entire City!!!!"

But those commoners entering and leaving, and the soldiers pacing the walls????

Instinctively, he began carefully observing the patrolling soldiers and the commoners entering and leaving.

The more he looked, the more he discovered the problem. The soldiers' routes and movements atop the walls never changed.

From beginning to end, they were identical, like puppets on strings.

The commoners passing through the gates were the same.

Over and over, it was always the same few people...

"What does this mean? Why would they reveal such an obvious flaw???"

Though Lu Nan could not make heads or tails of it, he became even more interested in the City.

At that moment, he desperately wanted to know what had happened within the City.

And he acted on that desire, slowly walking toward the City gates.

"Dong..." A bell chime from nowhere made Lu Nan's body tremble.

His somewhat clouded eyes swiftly cleared.

Looking at the nearby City gates, a trace of lingering fear flashed through his eyes.

He quickly put a safe distance between himself and the City, watching it from afar.

"There is something strange about this City. It is not something I can come into contact with at my current level."

With that thought, Lu Nan withdrew without looking back.

Unbeknownst to him, the moment he left, a Black-Robed Man emerged from the City.

After carefully inspecting the area around the City and finding nothing, he returned to the City.

After weaving and darting about, Lu Nan arrived outside the Wang Family Mansion once more.

Staring at the tightly shut gates, he was now certain that there was something wrong with the Wang Family.

At the same time, he was certain that these people had been the ones who ambushed him back then.

"Should I report this to the sect, or go in and probe the depths myself first???"

After weighing it for several seconds, Lu Nan decided to report it to the sect.

But just as he was about to turn around, several auras suddenly entered his senses.

Among them was one aura that felt quite familiar, and he could not help but look up.

His expression immediately changed. It was Su Wan, leading two men and two women as they descended before the gates of the Wang Family Mansion.

Before he could react, one of the men beside Su Wan

stepped forward and knocked on the manor gates. As he watched the gates slowly open,

Lu Nan hurriedly concealed himself and secretly observed.