Early the next morning, Lu Chen changed into his black uniform embroidered with gold, strapped the Hundred Refinements Saber to his waist, and arrived at the Imperial Guard Camp on time.
Unlike the gloomy, stifling Corpse Handling Room, this place was filled with masculine vigor and a murderous air.
On the broad training ground, over a hundred Imperial Guards were sparring in pairs. The clash of blades rang out without pause, and their shouts shook the heavens.
Lu Chen's arrival immediately drew everyone's attention.
"Look, that's the new Squad Leader Lu."
"The 'Fortunate General' who clawed his way up from the Corpse Handling Room?"
"Hmph, he's just a lucky bastard. I heard he awakened some kind of bloodline, but who knows if that's true."
"A good-for-nothing who can't even hold a saber steady, and he thinks he belongs on equal footing with us? Look at that pretty-boy face of his. Bet he won't even understand the mission board."
All kinds of talk, mixed with jealousy, disdain, and curiosity, reached Lu Chen's ears without restraint.
Lu Chen remained composed, as if he hadn't heard a thing, and went straight to the enormous wooden board displaying the missions.
Dozens of wooden plaques hung densely across it, their different colors indicating the missions' levels.
White meant routine patrols, green meant investigations into demonic activity, yellow meant clearing out low-ranked demons, and red meant death zones where Ranked Demons had been sighted.
A clerk in charge of assigning missions asked without looking up, "Which squad are you with?"
"I'm Lu Chen, newly appointed Imperial Guard Squad Leader. I'm here to collect today's patrol assignment." Lu Chen handed over his token.
Only then did the clerk look up. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, soon giving way to a knowing sneer.
From a pile of mission plaques already prepared, he took out a white one and tossed it onto the desk.
"Here. Yours. Routine patrol at Ghost Face Slope, east of the city."
At his words, several veteran Imperial Guards collecting their missions nearby glanced at Lu Chen with pity, as if they were looking at a dead man.
Ghost Face Slope!
Another infamous haunted place on the outskirts of Nanling Prefecture!
The mountain rocks had been blown by sinister winds for years, naturally taking the shape of faces that looked just like ghosts. That was how the slope got its name.
Even more eerie, any living creature that entered Ghost Face Slope would lose its way without realizing it, eventually becoming trapped inside until it died. Not even its bones could be found.
Members of the patrol teams had been lost there every so often. It was an open secret by now.
How was this a routine patrol? It was clearly another death warrant!
Lu Chen picked up the cold mission plaque, his mind as clear as a mirror.
Foreman Wang's revenge had come faster—and hit harder—than he'd imagined.
"Much obliged." He nodded to the clerk and turned to leave.
His unruffled manner left the clerk and the Imperial Guards watching the show momentarily stunned.
Was this guy... really an idiot, or did he actually have something to fall back on?
Lu Chen didn't gather his squad right away. Instead, he went alone to the storehouse first.
It was still the same corner, with the same Clerk Chen, half asleep.
"Clerk Chen, I'm here to trade for a few things." Lu Chen set a small bag of silver on the counter.
Clerk Chen couldn't even be bothered to raise his eyelids. He only gave a vague "Mm."
"I want ten of your most highly polished Bronze Mirrors, and three catties of the finest Realgar Powder."
"Mirrors? Realgar?" Clerk Chen finally opened his cloudy old eyes and looked at Lu Chen in surprise. "You're an Imperial Guard. What do you want those charms for? Why not trade for pills or weapons?"
"I have patrol duty at Ghost Face Slope today," Lu Chen said calmly.
"Ghost Face Slope?" Clerk Chen's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. A complicated glint flashed in the depths of his cloudy eyes, then he returned to his usual listless expression.
He fell silent for a moment, then slowly rose and rummaged around in the depths of the storehouse for a while before finding what Lu Chen had asked for.
But as he handed the items to Lu Chen, he suddenly spoke in a low voice only the two of them could hear.
"The ghosts at Ghost Face Slope are blind, but they love looking in mirrors. If the one in the mirror is you, you die. If it isn't you..."
He left the sentence unfinished, sat back down, and lifted his wine flask as if he hadn't said a thing.
But Lu Chen felt as if lightning had struck him!
He understood in an instant. Facing Clerk Chen's back, he bowed deeply.
"Thank you for the guidance, Clerk Chen."
Below Ghost Face Slope, a sinister wind howled.
Lu Chen stood at the mountain pass with five subordinates, all of them tense.
The twisted rocks groaned in the wind, as if countless invisible mouths were wailing.
"Squad... Squad Leader, this is Ghost Face Slope." Zhao Da Niu swallowed nervously. "They say no one who goes in ever comes back out."
The three newly recruited strongmen were even paler, their legs trembling.
Lu Chen said nothing. He simply took the ten new Bronze Mirrors from inside his robe and handed them out.
"Two each. Hang one on your chest and one on your back. Remember, no matter what happens, don't look at yourself in the mirror."
Though they didn't understand, they followed his instructions out of trust and fear of Lu Chen.
"Let's go."
Lu Chen stepped into this land of death first.
The moment they entered Ghost Face Slope, the scenery around them changed abruptly.
Though the sky had been clear and bright, an invisible gray haze seemed to blot out the daylight, leaving everything dim and oppressive.
Every rock around them looked as if it had been painstakingly carved by evil spirits, each one shaped into a hideous, twisted face that watched them in silence.
Most bizarre of all, the wind had stopped.
The entire valley was as silent as death, save for the faint footsteps and breathing of the six of them.
"Something's wrong..." Sun Monkey warily scanned their surroundings. "It's too quiet. There isn't even a bug chirping."
Just then, the newly recruited strongman walking at the rear let out a brief, startled cry.
"My shadow... Why isn't my shadow moving?!"
Everyone turned around in shock. The strongman's shadow seemed nailed to the ground. No matter how he moved, it stayed firmly in place, frozen in a bizarre pose!
And the shadow's head was slowly, stiffly lifting up at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The stiff shadow's head rose slowly. Its empty features turned toward its own body—the young strongman, already scared out of his wits!
"Ah... help... help me..."
The strongman was horrified to feel an icy chill surge up from the soles of his feet. The strength and warmth in his limbs and body were being drained away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His face quickly turned ashen, his lips purple, as if that bizarre shadow were ruthlessly devouring his life.