Plan in Motion, Rain-Performing Talisman

With the newly joined Chen Yuanye and three bodyguards, they hurried back towards the stone house. By now, the weather was no longer as hot as before.

Although Lin Yu said he didn't have time for Chen Yuanye and Yue Zhenqiao to flatter each other, the two still chatted quickly on the way.

"So, the Heroine is actually a top student of the Ming Zhen Martial Arts School? What a prodigy... to be able to teach such a master at such a young age!"

"My junior sister actually subdued the Mountain Demon Leader with ease? Making a Yaomo submit is much harder than killing it outright. That Mountain Demon Leader must be Six-Guans Yaomo... In other words, isn't my junior sister at Eight Guan? She's even stronger than me at my strongest!"

Both sides were straightforward people. Although they "exchanged information," they did not expose Lin Yu's true identity. Instead, it further confirmed her identity.

At Yue Zhenqiao's place, Lin Yu had already transformed from a mysterious master into a top disciple of the Ming Zhen Martial Arts School.

As for whether the other party was from the Jinfu Escort Agency in Willow Town... that's not important.

So what if she lied to me at the beginning? She still helped my entire caravan overcome the difficulties at Fu Yuan Mountain!

As a seasoned veteran, Yue Zhenqiao had already reached a conclusion in his mind: at the very least, this Heroine Chen Yuanye.

Of course, Lin Yu didn't let the two of them just chat aimlessly.

He listened intently, and if the conversation brought up anything that might arouse suspicion against him, Lin Yu would immediately interrupt and steer the conversation in the right direction.

However, the topics they discussed along the way were indeed quite "safe".

It wasn't far from Chen Yuanye's house to the stone house where the guests were staying, and there were no more strange occurrences like Chen Yongde obstructing them along the way.

But...

Upon arriving at the stone house, Lin Yu pushed open the stone door and immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Where... where is he?!"

Yue Zhenqiao, who followed closely behind, was even more shocked than Lin Yu, and murmured to himself.

Because only twelve people remained inside the entire stone house!

Five of them were the five Player who were waiting there.

Now Yue Zhenqiao didn't need to recall anything to know that people were missing—many people were missing!

The three bodyguards looked bewildered and panicked. Wu San stepped forward and grabbed his helpless younger brother.

"Wu Qi, how come there are only so few people left?!"

Li Nian spoke softly, "Brother over there, don't get agitated. This isn't his fault..."

Lin Yu unbuttoned his clothes and tossed them back to Li Nian, then asked, "What exactly happened?"

"One of the two missing bodyguards has returned. Although they forgot about him later, I still remember his name," Li Nian said calmly, catching the clothes Lin Yu tossed to her. "Qiao Shaowen, not very tall. He came in shouting that he had escaped from the Yaomo and asked everyone to help rescue the other one."

"I sensed something was wrong and tried to dissuade everyone from going, since it was the hottest time of day outside, but that guy seemed to completely ignore that... However, the people from Jinfu Escort Agency were very loyal, and five or six of them immediately ran off with him."

"Once people were scattered, the arrangements fell apart, and everyone seemed to be in a rather abnormal state at the time," Li Nian said softly. "Even though Master Wu Qi was relatively rational, he still couldn't manage the situation."

"In the end... as you can see, only these few people are left here."

Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu frowned.

"It seems that the mastermind behind this is indeed sentient, and even more intelligent, cunning, and greedy than I imagined."

But Lin Yu quickly realized that this was an opportunity.

After all, he had already decided to use Blade Demon Xie Chong's corpse as bait, and he had been worried that Yue Zhenqiao would not cooperate.

But given the current tense situation, Lin Yu was confident that Yue Zhenqiao would most likely agree to his proposal.

So, taking this opportunity, Lin Yu also looked in the direction of Yue Zhenqiao.

"Biaotou Yue, things have come to this point, and I'm afraid we can't wait until the temperature outside is suitable before we act," Lin Yu said solemnly. "The situation is special now, and my suggestion is... to use extraordinary measures in extraordinary times."

Even though Yue Zhenqiao was experienced and composed, he was still somewhat at a loss when faced with a crisis he had never encountered before.

Therefore, upon hearing Lin Yu's statement, he naturally immediately asked a question.

"Please speak, Heroine, what are your opinions?"

"Take the escort car and leave Chenjiabao immediately," Lin Yu said decisively, "But this is not to give up on the missing bodyguard of Jinfu Escort Agency, but to use the body in the escort car as bait!"

"Although caravans and merchant caravans have left this place without encountering any further obstacles, we have to take a gamble. We'll gamble that this corpse holds a huge temptation for the mastermind behind these disappearances, and that they will inevitably be unable to resist taking action to stop us!"

"Once it intervenes, things will definitely change... Although we don't know what the changes will be yet, it's better than being slowly boiled to death like this."

As Lin Yu spoke, Yue Zhenqiao hesitated for a moment before nodding heavily.

"We'll do as you say, Heroine!"

This was the most readily Yue Zhenqiao had ever agreed to.

However, this time Li Nian raised a different opinion. "This plan sounds a bit radical, but I agree... It's just that it's so hot outside, what are some ways to escape the heat now?"

"Biaotou Yue has some precious Talismans for escaping the heat," Lin Yu said directly. "Now that there are fewer people, it's enough... In fact, we don't even need to use Biaotou Yue's Talismans at first. We can use them later if absolutely necessary, since I also have some other types of Talismans here—although they don't directly cool down or release cold, they have similar effects, and they can be used by many people at once!"

As Lin Yu spoke, Li Nian asked curiously, "What Talismans? You've been hiding such a nice thing?"

"To control clouds and bring rain."

Lin Yu said casually, then took out a yellow "Delicious Paper," but deliberately held it in his hand without unfolding it.

"Let's go without delay!"

With that, Lin Yu walked outside, pretending to tear the Talismans, but actually just putting away the Delicious Paper.

The "Rain Prayer" ability of the [Water Prayer Necklace] was activated, and the sky outside suddenly darkened—a rare celestial phenomenon in the Fire Hell of Prison Mountain.

"Splash!"

Raindrops roll onto the ground and evaporate instantly, turning into water vapor that rises up and carries away a large amount of heat from the ground.

Although the rain felt warm on my skin, the sudden downpour did instantly cool down the already unbearably hot weather in some areas.

Yue Zhenqiao was deeply moved by this scene.

"To actually use such a precious Talismans... this Heroine is truly righteous!"

"Let's hurry, we mustn't waste this precious Rain-Performing Talisman!"