Zhongli Yuanjing hurried over and picked up two record books to carefully examine. One was the attendance record of the personnel, and the other was a report of the personnel’s external assignments.
Unless someone specifically compared them, no one really would have noticed the discrepancies in the timing of these two documents.
"It seems that Lan Jushi might have unwittingly come into contact with something."
No one doubted Lan Jushi’s identity. Despite some internal strife among their personnel, openly sabotaging one of their own would be a declaration of war against the Special Administration Bureau, which no one would dare to do.
With a clue, the investigation accelerated. Soon, they heard about the so-called legend from the mouths of some elderly shepherds.
Long, long ago, there was a very special small country that never contacted outsiders.
The spiritual leader of the small country was a Goddess. Whenever the small country faced disaster, the Goddess would use a heaven-sent treasure to help the common people resolve their troubles.
The people living in this small country were very happy. They could even coexist harmoniously with the animals. It was truly the most idyllic place on earth.
Until one day, a strange man entered the small country, and the Goddess fell in love with this man. In the end, she even stole the treasure of the small country for him.
The citizens of that small country and the lives that lived with them suffered Heavenly Punishment and all died an unnatural death.
At that time, the entire sky turned red, and in the sky, there was even a huge, angry eye. Since then, the original site of the small country became a cursed land.
Be it humans or animals, they would vanish without a trace as soon as they approached that place. There were no signs of life or death; it became a forbidden zone.
It wasn’t until many, many years later that an old Taoist came by, who did something unknown, and by the time someone saw him again, he was on his last breath.
The kind shepherds buried him according to his request at the location he had appointed, and only then did the area return to normal. The legend was forgotten by people.
After finishing the tale, the old shepherd then mysteriously said, "I’ve never let my kids or livestock go that way. My ancestors said that place is sinister, a man-eating spot.
"You all are brought here by your leaders, otherwise, I wouldn’t have told you any of this. You must absolutely not go near there."
At this moment, the people from the Special Administration Bureau were truly speechless. If they weren’t insiders themselves, they would really be scared by the atmosphere created by the old shepherd.
And yet the old shepherd was extremely enthusiastic, almost wishing to keep them there talking for three days and nights.
"Curator, what do you think? How credible is what that shepherd just said?"
Zhongli Yuanjing was the curator of a museum, having come across many stories from the past that couldn’t be explained yet continued to be passed down.
When someone sought his opinion, he took a moment to think before saying, "Regardless of how credible it is, it’s at least a clue. Let’s investigate further!"
This time, each of them had brought enough supplies with them, heading towards the area that the old shepherd said was absolutely forbidden.
Suddenly, a series of distant and clear bell sounds rang out. Zhongli Yuanjing stopped in his tracks and looked back at the people behind him: "Did you hear that?"
The others looked at Zhongli Yuanjing somewhat blankly.
"Curator, what are you talking about?"
"Everyone, be on full alert! The enemy has appeared!"
Although the others didn’t quite understand why, they took the advice seriously and each took out their most powerful Magic Artifact.
A wave of mist drifted over, as if they had suddenly stepped into the Immortal World.
They hadn’t heard the bell sound from before, but they could see the mist before their eyes, and everyone’s heart was in their throats.
At this moment, a childish voice, tinged with a bit of schadenfreude, exploded in their ears.
[Another bunch of tasty ones has come, once you’re here, you can’t leave~]
Zhongli Yuanjing’s expression changed; he couldn’t even sense where the opponent was and internally cursed the situation as bad.
He hastily told the people behind him, "We know nothing about the enemy’s strength, retreat quickly!"
Unfortunately, it was too late. Behind him, there was no one left.
Before coming, he actually still had some doubts in his mind, wondering what kind of enemy could have captured Yun Ran and the others without leaving a single clue behind.
Now, he seemed to understand that once you entered this place, it truly was impossible to guard against.
The missing tourists and the shepherds’ livestock might have initially been bait specifically targeting the Xuanmen people.
Lan Jushi was able to discover the situation here and leave safely to report back, bringing even more people here – it was like delivering food to them.
They were now the second batch of ’food’.
Fortunately, they had been suspicious before, which is why only ten people came this time.
If they had disappeared too, then the people outside could confirm their previous suspicions.
Within the Xuan Sect, there were many masters. Surely, they would find a foolproof plan. If they sacrificed themselves now, it would still have meaning.
Yun Ran, who was resting with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes and looked in the direction of her left hand.
There, lying on the ground, was Zhonglisu, whom she had knocked out. A Gang Wind was hurtling toward his head.
The Gang Wind carried extreme viciousness; it was as if it held a deep grudge against Zhonglisu, wishing to tear him into a thousand pieces.
It was also very fast; Yun Ran felt that if she hadn’t prepared in advance and defended with all her strength now, she would inevitably be injured.
The Heavenly Thunder Pearl floating above them had been emitting electric sparks, and just as the Gang Wind was about to strike Zhonglisu.
A extremely thin Heavenly Thunder separated out and directly confronted the Gang Wind.
A loud "bang!" sound echoed.
The collision generated a huge gust of wind that blew Yun Ran to the ground, causing her to fall in a rather embarrassing state.
Zhonglisu was flung into the air and then smashed back down to the ground hard.
Zhonglisu, who had been knocked unconscious, woke up from the pain as his buttocks were smashed into four parts, opening his eyes in agony.
Fortunately, this time his eyes were no longer filled with the previous blankness.
Zhonglisu, looking at his bound hands, got up hobbling and walked towards Yun Ran.
He had barely posed the question when he suddenly recalled the brief moment of lucidity before, when he had told Yun Ran to run away quickly.
He swiftly looked around. It was very quiet, aside from some wind noise; such a large grassland didn’t even have the sound of insects.
All this made Zhonglisu feel a bit creepy.
His eyes were filled with hope as he looked towards Yun Ran, wishing she could give him the answer he desired.
Instead, he saw Yun Ran looking at him with a face full of intrigue, her tone even carrying a hint of teasing.
"Yo, you’re awake? That’s rare. If I’d known, I would have just let the Heavenly Thunder strike you."