Ghost-Obscuring Illusory Array, Cannot Be Passive

镖头 Lin's voice startled the group of escorts, causing them to quickly turn and look.

With that turn...

Their reactions were almost identical to the caravan leader Lin's.

"Hiss!" One escort broke out in a cold sweat. "The road behind us... it's really gone!!"

They saw.

The road they had traveled on behind them had vanished at some unknown point.

In its place was... a dense thicket of thorns.

The thorn bushes, covered in sharp spikes, blocked their path backward.

Looking out...

There wasn't the slightest trace of a road.

For a moment, everyone's hair stood on end, as they all realized... they had encountered an anomalous event this time!!

A sense of inexplicable panic spread among the escorts.

Fortunately, they were a group of escorts with decent psychological fortitude. If they had been ordinary civilians, they would likely have been terrified and fled blindly, desperate to escape this accursed place.

After all, people who make their living as escorts must have much bolder hearts than ordinary folk.

In this World of Gods and Anomalies...

Who would dare to be an escort if they were timid?

"Sir, what should we do now?" The caravan leader, Lin, quickly decided to ask a professional.

He believed the Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer in the carriage was the most professional person present!

What made 镖头 Lin's eyes widen even further was that the Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer's reply was: "I don't know."

"Huh?" The escort leader Lin was dumbfounded. "Sir, please don't joke at a time like this."

"I genuinely don't know." The curtain of the carriage had been pulled aside.

The Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer inside the carriage casually glanced at the surrounding scenery before speaking, "My current guess is that we've stumbled into an illusory array, something like the Ghost-Obscuring Illusory Array. In situations like this, going back is usually impossible."

"Ghost... Ghost-Obscuring?" 镖头 Lin touched the hilt of the precious saber at his waist, as if doing so could slightly ease his tension.

He quickly asked, "Then... how can we make it possible?"

The Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer stepped down from the carriage and said directly, "Kill the one who set up the array."

"Then... sir, do you know where the person who set up the array is?" the caravan leader Lin inquired curiously.

"I don't know," the Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer answered truthfully.

Caravan Leader Lin: "..."

He somewhat regretted taking on this escort mission.

In the past, escorting for the Imperial Astronomy Bureau had always been smooth and normal.

How did this trip turn out this way?

The Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer's apparent lack of knowledge on every question made caravan leader Lin feel he was increasingly unreliable!

"Let's go check out that inn up ahead!" the Imperial Astronomy Bureau officer said. "In a place like this, with an inn appearing and encountering something like this, the only way to figure out what's going on is to go and see.

"Look, that fellow Daoist from the Dragon-Imprisoning Monastery is already almost at the inn."

Fan Wu knew that getting involved with people from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau would always lead to trouble.

Although, strictly speaking, he had no connection to this officer, not even as a friend.

Yet, it just so happened that they were traveling in the same direction!

And now, trouble had indeed occurred.

Those escorts were still utterly clueless, unaware of what had happened... that was because their mortal eyes couldn't see many other things.

But Fan Wu's eyes had long since become extraordinary after multiple upgrades!

In his vision... the surroundings were enveloped in layers of Yin energy.

The dense Yin energy was like a layer of white mist.

He could vaguely see blurry, flickering ghostly figures.

There were only three possibilities when encountering such a situation.

First: He was truly unlucky to the extreme, having stumbled into a place he shouldn't have, purely by coincidence.

Second: He was implicated by the group behind him.

Third: Perhaps people who believed in the Great Venerable had found out about him eliminating Xuan Shizi in Prison Dragon County, and the current situation might be directed at him.

Regardless of the reason, Fan Wu did not want to be in a passive position.

So...

He directly led the Old Green Ox and walked towards the brightly lit shop ahead.

"Inn."

Fan Wu looked up at the plaque above the building. The plaque only had the word "Inn" on it, making anyone who saw it instinctively think—this is a shady establishment!

At this moment.

The caravan leader Lin and his group cautiously followed.

This group of escorts numbered about a dozen people. Each of them was muscular, armed, and capable of taking on several opponents at once.

But even the best fighters would still feel apprehensive when encountering anomalous events like this!

"Sir, do we really have to go in?" Even an old hand like the caravan leader, Lin, was nervous. Although he had seen ghosts before, he had never seen one capable of creating such a grand spectacle!

"Mm." The junior officer from the Imperial Astronomy Bureau nodded.

He then turned his gaze to Fan Wu and asked curiously, "Fellow Daoist, have you noticed anything unusual about this place?"

The most unusual thing... is you, a person with a man's body, speaking with a falsetto.

Fan Wu calmly replied, "No."

Fan Wu couldn't be bothered to look back at this guy, as he couldn't stand to look at someone with a small mustache speaking in such a soft, effeminate voice.

"Oh! Right!" The junior officer suddenly remembered something and continued, "I haven't even told you my name yet!"

I'm not interested at all.

"My surname is Xie, and my given name is Jiuyi."

This fellow seemed overly friendly. "Back then, there were over a hundred beggars adopted by the Imperial Astronomy Bureau along with me, and I happened to be the ninety-first. So, the Captain who taught me the methods of slaying ghosts and subduing demons gave me this name."

"May I know your name, Fellow Daoist..."

"Fan Wu," Fan Wu replied casually before pushing open the tightly shut inn door and walking straight in.

The moment the inn door opened, a more potent wave of Yin energy rushed out!

Sensing the extremely dense Yin energy, the smile on Xie Jiuyi's face slightly faded.

His expression turned somewhat serious.

He said to the escorts behind him, "You don't have to go in. Just stay together and protect that item."

"If anything appears, wet the black dog blood powder I gave you with water—any kind of water will do. Then, smear it on your weapons."

"Remember... absolutely, absolutely do not let the cargo be damaged!"

Xie Jiuyi said grimly, "Otherwise, if it's investigated, you will die."

"And I will die too."

Such words made the caravan leader Lin feel a sense of foreboding, but they had come this far. What else could they do?

They had to go all out!

The caravan leader, Lin, gritted his teeth. "Brothers, no matter what, we must deliver this shipment for the Imperial Astronomy Bureau to Baihe County! If anyone dies today, their family's compensation will be tripled! For those who survive, the money they receive from this escort job will also be tripled!!"

The caravan leader, Lin, knew how to appeal to the desires of those escorts.

In this day and age, risking their lives to escort goods day and night...

Wasn't it all for a few pieces of silver?

Xie Jiuyi said, "If the cargo can be delivered to Baihe County intact, the Imperial Astronomy Bureau will not treat you unfairly."

After speaking.

He formed a hand seal. The Yin energy surging from the inn seemed to be blocked by a thin film, unable to erode his body.

Xie Jiuyi also walked in.

The next moment...

BANG!!!

The inn door that Fan Wu had pushed open...

Slammed shut!