The tragic screams still passed through Xiao Xia’s palms and into her ears. However, the sound didn’t last long. After things grew quiet, Xiao Xia endured her trepidations and snuck a glance into the plaza.
The two new waterspouts had also turned red. There were now two curled-up burnt corpses in the plaza.
With a thump, Liu Hong fainted! If it weren’t for Zuo De, who was always by her side, and his quick reactions, her pretty face would have planted onto the furnace-like plaza ground and she would have been disfigured!
As for Xiao Xia, she vomited!
This kind of murder method was too excessive!
Did each new fountain mean someone else was going to die? The number of fountains meant the number of deaths, and when they turned red, it meant the intended targets had died?!
Wang Wen Ge was dead. In the end, he hadn’t been able to reveal his secrets. However, since he said “no one can clean the mud under their feet”, it meant there must be someone else within the group who knew about it. At least, Mao Fu and Zhao Jia Yuan were related. Xiao Xia remembered clearly how they utterly refused to pass through this town.
But since they were so afraid of this place, why would they choose to relocate the town here?
Xiao Xia walked up to Mao Fu who was in a daze. Zhao Jia Yuan was standing next to him as expected.
“Tell me, what happened here in the past!” Xiao Xia asked straightforwardly.
Mao Fu and Zhao Jia Yuan visibly trembled. Zhao Jia Yuan was still ok, but Mao Fu’s eyes were frozen upon the corpses in the plaza and his body seemed unable to move.
“If you speak, perhaps your confession will result in forgiveness. Or we might be able to come up with something. Even if we’re doomed to fail, we should at least die enlightened!” Xiao Xia continued speaking.
“Retribution has come!” While Zhao Jia Yuan was stammering, Mao Fu suddenly spoke up. “Retribution has come! No one can escape! Master Long deceived us. This matter cannot be resolved!”
“That won’t happen!” Zhao Jia Yuan shook Mao Fu heavily. “Master Long has never been wrong. We’re just one month away from overcoming this fate. Once we get through it everything will be fine!”
“No escape! No escape!” Mao Fu didn’t seem to have heard Zhao Jia Yuan. He muttered to himself and then suddenly burst into laughter. He still muttered the same words as he ran off as if insane!
“Mayor Mao!” Zhao Jia Yuan shouted loudly. He chased after him almost instinctively. Under the sound of Mao Fu’s crazy laughter, the two disappeared into the fog.
“Who else is related to this matter of retribution?!” Xiao Xia swept her gaze over everyone’s faces. Apart from Zuo De’s calm expression, everyone else avoided her eyes.
So it turns out these people all had a guilty conscience. They might have done something outrageous together which was why they were all gathered here. She, Zuo De and maybe Liu Hong were just born unlucky. They were swept up as extras in this execution!
This caused an obscure fire to ignite in Xiao Xia’s heart. She was about to speak when she realized the fog had returned to the edges of the plaza. This meant that their “spectator’s seats” had disappeared. In front of them was the burning ground. Staying in place or walking elsewhere would mean entering the thick fog!
Since she was standing by herself, she still had no companions and had to face the danger by herself.
“I’m innocent. You’re being unfair!” She shouted and then walked into the fog.
Since she couldn’t get out and the next part of the performance was about to start, she could only keep watching and participating! At the same time, Ruan Zhan racking his brains, trying to figure out what to do!
He had secretly followed Xiao Xia the moment she left on her business trip. He hadn’t believed Si Ma Nan had fled far away. According to his calculations, Si Ma Nan should be pretty much recovered. Although Ruan Zhan had damaged his spirit root, he was too powerful. He would definitely recover faster than others!
Someone arrogant like that had suffered his first loss at Ruan Zhan’s hands. The second and third time he had been manipulating things from the shadows, sending the Matsui family and then Guan Zheng in succession. Victory had come with extreme difficulty each time. As Wan Li would say: it’s not over until they were exhausted and injured!
Yet in the end, he had still repeatedly won against Si Ma Nan. There was no way he would leave things like this! Although he didn’t know what had happened between Si Ma Nan and Witch Doctor Ah Bai, he had the feeling that Si Ma Nan was hiding nearby!
Normally, this sort of business trip wouldn’t be assigned to a girl by herself. However, the non-profit had actually arranged things this way, making him suspect that Si Ma Nan, under the guise of billionaire Zhang Qun, was planning something.
The saying was right. Enemies understood each other best!
At least this was the case for him. Si Ma Nan understood him very well. To be precise, he understood his weaknesses. Si Ma Nan must be aware how important Xiao Xia was to him. Therefore, he would always set up his traps using Xiao Xia as bait. Even if he didn’t have feelings for Xiao Xia, or if she were someone completely unrelated, could he allow her to suffer because of him?
Therefore, he had been secretly following Xiao Xia the whole time. However, he didn’t dare follow too closely. First of all, he was afraid of being discovered by Ah Bai. Secondly, he was having more and more trouble controlling his own heart, wanting to get close to her!
However, it was due to this bit of distance that something ended up happening. He hadn’t expected something to happen with such a large group of people!
When he sensed that Xiao Xia was in danger, he immediately hailed a taxi and sped towards the small village.
He didn’t know where she was so he couldn’t use the space-warping technique. He could only use his own abilities.
The taxi driver refused to drive through the new town. The customs here dictated that they couldn’t frivolously pass through uninhabited places before people moved in. The skies had long since turned gloomy. Right as they were about to go around, it suddenly started raining.
The mountain road was narrow and slippery. It was even more dangerous in the rain. He had to spend a large amount of money before the driver was willing to take him to the village where Xiao Xia’s group had gone. In the end, they ran into three cars heading back on the way. They found out that on her way back, Xiao Xia’s cars broke down for no reason. Not long after they decided to walk back to the village, the cars mysteriously started working again.
Ruan Zhan immediately knew something was wrong. After hurriedly asking for directions, he ran off into the rain.
Due to the rain, the muddy ground left visible footprints for him to follow. However, after he passed a small valley, the footprints grew chaotic. It seemed like the group had started going in circles. Then, all the tracks vanished. Yet he saw that piece of patterned string hanging on a branch!
Something happened to Xiao Xia!
This thought chilled his heart. The terror of losing her assaulted him, but once he calmed down slightly he sensed that she was still safe. This gave him a little peace of mind. He started investigating the surroundings, trying to figure out where such a large group disappeared to!
This was a winding mountain path. There was a sharp turn near a cliff, kind of like an F1 race track’s turn. There were trees to the front and back and small hills to either side. However, the ground was more level on the left and steeper on the right.
He noticed a flashlight dropped on the floor. Using the bit of light, he searched around for clues. As expected, he saw traces of people crawling on the left hill.
These people wouldn’t have started crawling for no reason. They must have seen something horrifying or perhaps they had been caught in an illusion!
Ruan Zhan climbed that small hill and looked down. Immediately, his eyes landed on a city. What should have been an ordinary sight made Ruan Zhan’s heart clench. He immediately understood!
At this moment, the city was surrounded by a cloud of supernatural fog. Someone had clearly done something to it.
Ruan Zhan focused on his destination. He drew in the air and stepped out. Yet when his foot landed, he was actually only outside the city. He hadn’t appeared where he wanted to: within the city’s tall tower.
He was rather surprised. Although he knew there was something wrong with the city, he hadn’t expected to be blocked. Looking up, he saw a large “north” character engraved on the ornamental city gate.
Impossible! Under normal circumstances, the gate on this side of the small mountain should be the south gate. Although it could only be seen from the top of the mountain from a distance, there was no way it could be the north gate!
What was going on? Did someone twist the space here?! Could it have been Si Ma Nan?
He walked along the city gate. Whenever he got close, he felt an invisible barrier blocking his way. He felt that there was a deep resentment in this city. However, this strong resentment seemed to be from the distant past yet also contained a fresh drive. It was extremely contradictory. Furthermore, a barrier that could block him wasn’t something anyone could cast.
He tried several times more but still failed to enter! He furrowed his brows in thought and drew in the air. He stepped out and arrived in Xiao Xia’s hotel room back at the old town.
He thoroughly investigated the place and found nothing unusual. There wasn’t even any unusual aura. Therefore, he sat down and called Wan Li.
“Something happened again. It’s Sima Nan.”
“Are you sure? “Wan Li’s voice was a little worried but still calm.
“I don’t have any proof, I don’t even know where he’s hiding. However, I am extremely sure.”
“Did he capture Xiao Xia again?”
“More than that.” When Ruan Zhan heard him say Xiao Xia’s name, his heart tightened. “There was a total of twelve people. Apart from three drivers, they are all trapped inside an empty city.”
“Empty city? What’s the backstory this time?”
“I don’t know either. I only felt that the resentment lingering there isn’t small. However, it seems to have been suppressed for a very long time before finally bursting out. Therefore, it’s overflowing, but remains trapped inside the empty city. It can only vent itself inside.”
“You’re saying it’s extremely dangerous inside, and Xiao Xia is currently there?” Wan Li was also starting to get anxious, but then felt a little surprised. “You didn’t go find her?”
“Si Ma Nan set up a strange barrier outside. I’m guessing he’s leveled up his space-warping technique. Not only can he teleport, he can also allow it to flow. Then, using some spell, he set up the gate to block me. Where I go, the space will follow.”
“You can’t get in?”
“I will!”
“What are you going to do?”
“Force my way in!”
“Hey, hey, don’t mess around.” Wan Li was shocked. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to remain calm when Xiao Xia’s in trouble.”
“You don’t understand. That city shows signs of extreme aggression, like a killing formation. Therefore, even if Ah Bai is with Xiao Xia, I cannot delay. Otherwise, something might really happen. There is no time to slowly break the formation. I’ll have to force my way in.”
Wan Li remained silent for several seconds.
“We’ll need your help.”
“Of course, what do you need me to do?!”
