The Living and the Dead

"Although you gentlemen are from Jinfu Escort Agency, this is your first time visiting Chen Family Fortress, isn't it? I am Chen Yongde, the Village Chief of Chen Family Fortress and an elder of the Chen Clan. I have known many of your Escort Agency leaders for a long time... Please follow me."

Led by the old man, the caravan entered the interior of Chen Family Fortress.

Lin Yu had Three Suns find a place to hide beforehand—after all, although Yue Zhenqiao and his group had witnessed how he tamed this Yaomo, it would still be troublesome to explain it when brought into a human settlement.

It's better to avoid trouble, so Lin Yu simply let it find a cave or shady spot in Double Saw Mountain to stay and avoid the hottest part of the Noon.

Anyway, Three Suns's martial prowess is very high, and the local Yaomo of Double Saw Mountain should be unable to do anything to him; moreover, although he might encounter dangers when entering Chen Family Fortress, there is no need to have this Yaomo as Combat Power.

After all, when Lin Yu subdued the Three Suns, his main consideration was finding a "local Native" he could completely trust to question.

For now, there's no need for Three Suns —although Lin Yu also has many questions about Chen Family Fortress, how could Three Suns, as the leader of the Yaomo and mountain goblins of Fu Yuan Mountain, possibly understand things about human gathering points!

Bringing along Three Suns is less effective than Lin Yu inquiring and observing on his own.

After entering Chen Family Fortress, Lin Yu did indeed observe and learn a lot of useful basic information.

Although Chen Family Fortress is a relatively closed clan stronghold where all the residents are related by blood, they still have a skilled way of receiving visiting merchant caravans and escort teams.

After all, in the Prison Mountain Realm, a human settlement cannot survive without any interaction with the outside world—caravans and convoys are essential mobile elements for every settlement.

Entering through the main gate and following the main road leading down from the center of Chen Family Fortress, the caravan's vehicles soon arrived at a plaza that was partially sunken underground. There were animal sheds made of stones and hay, as well as naturally formed and neatly carved caves.

Inside the cave, there was the sound of flowing water, and even underground water was flowing through it—such a structure was truly rare in the realm of Fire Hell.

Although the temperature inside the cave is still not exactly cool, it is much better than outside.

After stopping the escort vehicle and tying up the livestock, Yue Zhenqiao ordered the deputy escort chief and the other two escort masters to guard the cave first, and wait until a while later to find someone to replace them.

Afterwards, Yue Zhenqiao gave several strings of cash to the old man Chen Yongde as a reward.

After accepting the payment, Chen Yongde led the remaining thirty-odd bodyguards back into Chen Family Fortress.

It was nearing Noon, and there weren't many Chen family villagers active outside Chen Family Fortress. However, when passing by those small earthen forts, you could still see villagers tidying up in the small windows—and even some young children were quietly peeking out of the windows, curiously observing the caravan.

From the perspective of the "Mind-Reading Mirror," these villagers of Chen Family Fortress possess rich emotions and even seem to have souls.

However, Lin Yu was very clear...

These people, like their "Village Chief" Chen Yongde, were all not... living beings.

One only needs to use Mental Power perception to explore their spirit and soul to know that these villagers have Life Force, emotions, and thoughts, but they are not truly alive.

They were empty Empty Shell, seemingly alive—the exact opposite of the mutilated bodies being transported by Jinfu Escort Agency.

That incomplete, mangled body, which appeared to be a corpse, was alive.

These villagers, who were alive and well, were actually dead.

"It's practically like the Mental Hospital you set up on Mist Island..."

Lin Yu complained to Old Zheng.

Old Zheng said helplessly, "To be honest, I didn't do it as well as you do—I was just manipulating corpses. Anyone could tell at a glance that the 'medical staff' in my place were basically dead. But this place is different..."

"If you are not perceptive enough, you will simply think that they are still serious villagers - at least the escorts over there obviously don't know this."

"Although it's a bit strange that the people from Chen Family Fortress were 'dead,' in the eyes of these bodyguards... they would never have guessed that Chen Family Fortress was a group of 'dead men'!"

Old Zheng spoke, Lin Yu nodded.

If Yue Zhenqiao knew that everyone in Chen Family Fortress who seemed to be alive was actually "dead," he probably wouldn't have been "confused" at all—in fact, Yue Zhenqiao would have preferred to die rather than lead his team here.

The fact that he can still come now means that he has only heard or knows that something is "wrong" about Chen Family Fortress, but he doesn't know exactly what's wrong.

Led by Chen Yongde, they soon arrived at a large stone fortress.

"This is our guesthouse in Chen Family Fortress. Please rest here for three days until the sun sets completely before setting again."

After Chen Yongde finished speaking, he used a key to unlock the lock on the stone gate and opened the stone door.

"It's almost Noon, so I'll head back to avoid the heat and sun. Please make yourselves at home, everyone."

Chen Yongde then left.

Yue Zhenqiao led a group of bodyguards inside and closed the stone gate.

Although it was a bit stuffy inside, it was much better than outside—especially the inner walls of the stone fortress, where there were even a few yellow paper Talismans for warding off the heat and keeping warm.

Although the Talismans seemed to be quite old and its effects were extremely weak, the occasional cool breeze was enough to make the group, who had been traveling outdoors under the scorching sun and in high temperatures, even fighting Yaomo, feel incredibly comfortable.

The wounded and the unconscious were settled one by one near the Talismans, with "Fei Dao" among them, slowly recovering his strength and spirit.

Seeing this, Biaotou Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief, "At least we're safe and sound. We were really lucky."

His words finally gave Lin Yu and Li Nian, who had been holding back all the way, a reason to ask him questions.

"What do you mean by 'peaceful coexistence' and 'good luck'?" Lin Yu asked, feigning curiosity as if he had just noticed something amiss. "Is there some danger in Chen Family Fortress?"

Li Nian nodded. "Yes, I thought that old man was quite kind. The facilities in Chen Family Fortress are also quite good. Is there anything to worry about?"

Seeing the two people's questions, Yue Zhenqiao looked somewhat surprised.

"Don't the two Heroine know?"

However, considering the opponent's formidable strength, even though the two were unaware, Yue Zhenqiao didn't question them too much. Instead, he immediately explained it to them himself.

"It seems that the two Heroine are usually very strong and rarely need to spend the afternoon in the wild, so it's normal that they are unfamiliar with these small villages and fortresses."

"This Chen Family Fortress is probably the resting place with the highest rate of 'disappearances' and 'accidents' in this surrounding area!"