Gently brushing the dirt off the stone tablet, Lu Sheng grabbed it with one hand and lifted. With a "poof", the stone tablet was yanked out of the ground.
Large amounts of dirt and debris fell from the one-meter-tall black stone tablet.
At the bottom of the stone tablet were a few lines of words. Although they were blurry, they could still be made out.
"Treading on one's own loneliness leads to the pain of despair. Joy, life, death, hope … "
Beneath this sentence were some subtle explanations. Lu Sheng's eyes narrowed as he scanned through them one by one. He finally understood why he and the others could not find this so-called Unlaughing Master.
"What's this? A boring Bizarre game? "He put down the stone tablet and looked around.
"Everyone, return to Tea Town. This investigation ends here."
The Crimson Whale Sect members were stunned. But Sect Master's orders could not be disobeyed. No one questioned him, and all bowed their heads respectfully.
Xu Chui and Ning San scrutinized the stone tablet. They did not recognize the ancient Song script, nor did they know what Sect Master had seen, much less what the words on it meant. But they knew that the contents of the stone tablet must have changed Sect Master's mind.
The group quickly retreated, leaving only a few people behind to lead the way.
Lu Sheng ordered them to stand guard at the village entrance and instructed them not to enter. Many of the Crimson Whale Sect members had experience fighting Anomalies and ghosts, especially these personal guards by Lu Sheng's side, so they knew what to do. They were also equipped with quite a number of anti-hallucination powders produced by the pill room. Ordinary hallucinations were ineffective against them.
Without any hesitation, Lu Sheng led Yan Kai and the other two back to Tea Town. Although the three of them were puzzled, they knew that Crimson Whale Sect must have their reasons for doing so. After all, Crimson Whale Sect had an Elder-level expert trapped in an Anomaly, their fate unknown. They would not let this case go so easily.
"Just as Chao Long said, you can only go to that place at a fixed time to see what you want to see."
In Tea Sect's study, Lu Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, speaking calmly to Yan Kai, Xu Chui and the rest.
"Fixed time? Come to think of it, the legends of the Unlaughing Master all happened in the middle of the night. Could it be that the Unlaughing Master only appears at this time? "Yan Kai said in a low voice.
"Is Mister Yan Kai interested in this legend?" Lu Sheng looked at him with a smile.
"Err … a little. However, since Sect Master Lu is personally handling this matter, there won't be any problems, "Yan Kai said politely.
"But that East Wandering Jiao Chao Long actually traveled so far just to come to this small town to find the Unlaughing Master. There must be some ulterior motive behind this," Duan Rongrong reminded softly.
"It doesn't matter. I'll go there myself sometime at night. It doesn't matter how many people go to that place. No matter how many people go, they will face the same thing. "Lu Sheng shook his head.
"Do you need me to accompany you?" Out of nowhere, little umbrella girl suddenly appeared from behind a bookshelf in the study.
"There's no need. It'll be over soon," Lu Sheng said with a smile. "This time, let's reduce the number of people before going. But it might not be today. "
The others did not know what he meant. But since Sect Master Lu Sheng had spoken, the others dared not say anything else.
After they rested and reorganized themselves in Tea Sect, Tea Sect also found the person who had spread the rumor.
As expected, that person had been dead for a few days. His corpse had only been discovered after it had started to stink in his home. When Tea Sect found him, that family's neighbors only found out that he had been dead for a long time.
All leads were cut off. Everything fell into chaos once more.
Time flew. In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
When Yan Kai and the others saw that Lu Sheng had no intention of making a move, and that Chao Long was nowhere to be seen in the town, they knew that he must be keeping watch there. They grew anxious.
Yan Kai tried asking Lu Sheng a few times in front of him, but received no reply. After waiting for a few days, he had no choice but to bring his Senior Apprentice Brother Wan Hezi and Duan Rongrong to the small village once more.
…
The mountain forest was shrouded in thick fog.
Yan Kai, Wan Hezi, and Duan Rongrong returned to the village with familiarity.
Shrouded in the fog, the mountain village was silent. Not a single sound could be heard. It was eerily quiet.
Yan Kai stood at the village's entrance and looked around.
"Where are they? Aren't Crimson Whale Sect's men stationed here, and Wandering Heart Society's men? Why can't I see any of them? "
To complete the mission of investigating Chao Long, he had to follow Chao Long's team closely. Previously, he had wanted to borrow their strength and had successfully gotten in touch with Lu Sheng. But things did not go as planned. Crimson Whale Sect actually withdrew most of their men and stopped moving.
Lu Sheng seemed to be waiting for something. Ever since he saw that stone tablet, he had been biding his time.
Yan Kai and the others were helpless. Dugu Family's bounty list had a time limit. If this dragged on, Wan Hezi would be the most troublesome one.
Helpless, the three of them could only act on their own.
Standing at the village's entrance, Yan Kai turned back and exchanged glances with Duan Rongrong.
"Senior Apprentice Brother, you don't have to go in this time. Rongrong and I will go in alone at night. Use your ability to spy on the outside and find the person. Don't worry about anything else," Yan Kai said in a low voice.
"That won't do!" Wan Hezi shook his head solemnly. "I did this alone and accepted the bounty list. It has nothing to do with you, Junior Apprentice Brother Rongrong. I'll go in alone. Speaking of jokes, Senior Apprentice Brother has some confidence, "he squeezed out a somewhat forced smile.
"Senior Apprentice Brother …" Yan Kai could see Wan Hezi's determination. Wan Hezi was a man who could be very carefree at times, but when he was serious, he was absolutely reliable and persistent. Once he made a serious decision, he would never change his mind.
"Enough. I know Junior Apprentice Brother and you are doing this for my own good. But I will bear the consequences of my own actions. I will bear the consequences myself, "Wan Hezi said resolutely. Wan Hezi spoke resolutely and decisively. Finished speaking, he stepped into the village without hesitation, disappearing into the thick fog in the blink of an eye.
"Senior Apprentice Brother!" Caught off guard, Yan Kai and Yan Kai hurriedly chased after him. But strangely, Wan Hezi, who had just left them, disappeared after a few steps.
It was the dead of night and the white fog was thick. Not a single sound of footsteps could be heard.
Pulling Duan Rongrong along, Yan Kai felt his way along the wall. His hands pressed against the cold, rough stone walls of the village. Every now and then, he would touch some slippery moss. If he wasn't careful, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands steady.
Both of them were anxious. This was a troublesome place where an Elder level expert from Crimson Whale Sect had fallen into trouble. Even if they were experienced, they had to advance slowly and carefully. It was too dangerous to rush in like Senior Apprentice Brother Wan Hezi.
"Rongrong, follow me closely!"
"Got it!"
Hearing the reply behind him, Yan Kai calmed down a little. The reason why the two of them had been able to roam the world unscathed all this time was because of their bloodline's acute reaction to danger and threats. Now that there was no reaction from within their bodies, it seemed that everything was fine.
Holding Rongrong's hand, Yan Kai slowly felt his way along the stone walls, his eyes and ears on high alert.
"Pa."
Suddenly, a blurry figure flashed past in front of them. It seemed to be Senior Apprentice Brother Wan Hezi.
"Senior Apprentice Brother!" Yan Kai called out softly. Pulling Rongrong along, he gave chase.
The figure did not stop. With a sudden turn, he dashed up a flight of stone steps and turned into a stone house.
Yan Kai paused for a moment and looked ahead. Indeed, he saw a corner of Wan Hezi's robes.
Without further hesitation, he gritted his teeth and let go of Rongrong's hand.
"Rongrong, wait outside. I'll go after Senior Apprentice Brother!"
"Alright!"
Duan Rongrong's voice drifted over.
Yan Kai did not think much of it. He pushed the door open and dashed into the stone house.
Inside was an empty courtyard. There was no sign of Wan Hezi. He had no idea where he had run off to.
Yan Kai slowly unsheathed the long sword on his back and stared at his surroundings warily. Step by step, he walked towards the main hall of the house.
"Pa …"
"Pa pa pa …"
Suddenly, bean-sized raindrops fell rapidly.
As if blown away by the wind, the thick white fog began to dissipate at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within a few breaths, all the fog had dissipated completely.
"Kacha."
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Thunder rumbled and rumbled. Rain poured down in torrents.
Only then did Yan Kai take a good look at his surroundings.
He was standing in the courtyard of a stone house. Right in front of him was a brightly lit main hall. The wooden door of the stone house was shut. Through the paper window, he could vaguely see a person sitting inside.
He narrowed his eyes and slowly retreated. The fog had dissipated too quickly, to the point that it defied the laws of nature.
And the scene before his eyes — the person sitting in the main hall — was extremely similar to the way the legendary Unlaughing Master had appeared.
He was not ready to face the legend of this place head-on.
…
"Aiya, there's light here. Here, here!! Come quick! "In the heavy rain, three young figures dressed in long robes hurriedly ran towards the stone house.
The brightly lit stone house was like a lighthouse in this gloomy and rainy weather. It represented shelter from the rain and a sip of hot tea.
Chen Ziguang and Xu Pei had originally planned to rest in a nearby town, but it was too late and they did not make it in time. Then, they were delayed by an accident. By now, they had not even reached the town when it rained. They had no choice but to run here to seek shelter from the rain.
By the time they reached the eaves of the stone house, their scholar robes were soaked through.
"I hope the clothes in the backpack are not wet. Who would have thought that the axle of the ox cart would break. Sigh, this trip is really full of misfortunes," Chen Ziguang sighed.
"Exactly. I've rushed to take the examination three times, but this is the first time I've been so disheveled," Xu Pei sighed helplessly as well.
The two of them had brought along a page boy. He was the scholar who was heading to the prefecture city to take the examination. But they did not expect to be caught in the heavy rain along the way.
"Let's go in and ask the owner of this place for some hot water," Chen Ziguang suggested.
"Knock knock knock."
The page boy hurriedly knocked on the door.
With a creak, the door opened. The person inside had opened it.
Yan Kai looked at the three people outside the door in surprise. There were still people coming at this time.
"You …"
"May I ask if this is the owner?" Xu Pei hurried forward and asked politely.
"No … I'm just here to seek shelter from the rain," Yan Kai could not figure out the background of the three people before him, so he tried to cover up.
"Just as well, we're here to seek shelter from the rain too," Chen Ziguang and the other two's eyes lit up.
"Who's outside?" Suddenly, a loud and clear voice came from inside the house. The wooden door of the main hall of the stone house was pulled open. A burly man with a scarred face and a steel saber on his back strode out.
"Are you here to seek shelter from the rain too?" He stared at Yan Kai and the other three warily.
"Uh …" Yan Kai did not expect the person sitting inside to be this scar-faced man. He was instantly stunned.
"Junior Apprentice Brother! I'm here! " Another person walked out of the house. It was Wan Hezi. He was holding a broken piece of porcelain in his hand and seemed to be drinking water from it.
"Why did you come alone? Where's Rongrong?" Wan Hezi asked, puzzled. "The fog dissipated just now. When I entered the house, I saw this brother drinking water and resting in the house, so I asked for some. Then I heard some noises coming from outside. "
"So everyone's here to seek shelter from the rain." The scar-faced man came to a sudden realization. "If you don't mind, come in and rest. Although this house is dirty and messy, at least the rain doesn't leak."
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